Mac or PC? Final Cut or Premiere Pro?

Truly successful decision-making relies on a balance between deliberate and instinctive thinking. Malcolm Gladwell

We recently wrote about Grass Valley’s EDIUS 7, an NLE (non linear video editing software) that impressed us so much that it made the cut into our NAB 2014 Wrap-up Top 10 List. Since the article was published we’ve been getting a ton of emails—some ecstatic, some shocked, some confused, but they all have a unifying theme: EDIUS 7 is Windows only!

A clear trend we are seeing right now is the quickly diminishing loyalty toward Apple products. Many factors are contributing to this: the steady growth of parallel platforms like Android OS, companies like Samsung joining the VIP “innovation playground,” as well as others like HP in the “performance playground.” The introduction of robust cloud-based, OS-agnostic packages like Google Apps and Adobe’s Creative Cloud (or one of the MANY Cloud-based apps we have discussed before) where applications like Lightroom or Premiere Pro look and work exactly the same on Windows OS or MAC OS have certainly shaped the way consumers are now approaching hardware upgrades. In addition, Apple’s lack of long-term commitment with the pro photo and video markets has perhaps made the biggest dent on the company’s previously profitable monopoly.

In other words, many users wouldn’t have even considered switching from Mac to Windows just a few years ago. Things are changing, and quickly. Now we are seeing individuals, midsize studios and even large educational organizations making the switch. Here’s an article by Richard Harrington, who describes in detail his  decision to switch from Final Cut Pro to Adobe Premiere Pro and why part of his post-production department is running on Windows.

 

This is not a post about which NLE or OS is better. So, please save your hateful comments for another site. We have used PCs for over 20 years and Macs for a dozen years. We learned video editing on Final Cut Pro, but switched to Premiere Pro about four years ago. The point is this: in a world that changes faster than ever, it is not a good idea to have fixed plans or stick to “tried and true” approaches. Feel free to join the conversation on Twitter (@EA_Photo)