Hi thar,
Are you satisfied with MacOS X? How does it perform in music tasks and everyday tasks? Do one need to use Apple apps or GIMP, Firefox and other FLOSS work like a charm? LibreOffice? And more importantly: JACK? Pidgin?
Media players other than iTunes? Is it really better than windows or linux? The most dissapointing thing in linux is a complete lack of synth plugins. Which I don’t like in Windows is UI, everything is hidden from the user.
So, how do you like your mac?
Steve Jobs is our MASTAH! We are rainbow coloured zombies that live in the iCloud! Braaaaaaiiiinnzzzzz!!!
I’ve been a Mac user since OSX since 2004. I can’t speak for the future but I like OSX 10.6
My daily apps are Mail.app, iCal, Safari, MAMP, Jedit, Netbeans, the bash shell, Console, Cyberduck, Filezilla, Colloquy, and of course Renoise.
Other music apps I use are Garageband, Amadeus Pro, and of course dozens of VST/AU plugins.
Firefox and Thunderbird work fine on Mac. I don’t use them. I prefer the native apps.
If you don’t like iTunes you can use VLC. I use both.
I use LibreOffice, not OpenOffice.
I don’t use Jack. Rewire works. We have Soundflower. We have IAC. I’m sure Jack works too but I have never needed it on OSX.
Gimp works, but I own Photoshop (and friends) so I use that instead. You can also try Pixelmator.
Basically a mix of native apps, Java apps, X11 emulated apps and everything in between.
The way I compare Windows, Linux, and OSX: Windows is for power users. You have a thousand ways to “power use” your system yet still have no clue how to edit a text file or use the command line. Linux is a hodge podge of interesting ideas that may or may not work together. A coders paradise. A user’s nightmare. OSX has 2 levels of UI: Idiot, and expert. You cannot “power use” a mac without understanding Unix. If you suck at Unix then you will trash your system trying to “windows” it. However, you can give your grandma OSX and she’ll be able to use it for 5 years because she won’t ever look at Unix, and that’s fine. That’s most OSX users today.
You will be joining a cult. You will be paying more money. But if you like Unix without the configuration hassles, with the added hassle of Apple corporate bullshit you can’t go wrong!
Conner puts it well.
The only thing I’ll add is there are less plugins to choose from on OSX. Wouldn’t mind some much loved free plugins from my Windows system to work on my macbook. But you find ways to work around it. 
Most of the big name plugins have plugins that work on both platforms.
OS X is just better designed for audio than the other operating systems. There aren’t as many apps/plugins though.
For an iTunes alternative there’s Songbird which works fine and it supports extensions. Automagically imports your iTunes library when it starts.
It is possible to run OS X on a PC if you are interested but it can take a lot of work depending on your hardware but it’s pretty damn cool.
Thanks for your answers.
I’m trying to figure out which OS will best suit my needs and workflow.
I have experiance in using windows from 98 to 7. Thing I don’t like the most is the way interface changed from XP to Vista & 7. I just can’t stand it, everything is hidden from me, I have to click alt to access simple menu… Apart from it, I like 7, stable and fast. Never had a serious problem with it, FLOSS software I like and heavily use runs great. The other con is it is nearly unusable without administrative priviledges. I never liked and have never used antivirus software. And I do not wish to change this.
I have also used linux, from 2005 till now. Great system for those who enjoy breaking things and getting them to work again. I like JACK (that’s why I asked) and Ardour. I like the variety of choice in terms of just everything - starting from text editor, ending on system kernel. However, as Conner wrote, it is more a sandbox of ideas than mature system (for audio purposes of course!). I find it hard not to break system with new settings I want to try… not necessary a good thing for a working station.
So I tried MacOSX for a few days, my uncle lent me his Macbook Air. Not a workstation, but I could figure out how system works, is it handy etc. My impression was it is so different from what I know it is difficult for me to use. But it was just a first impression - nothing that really matters in longterm use. I have also heard that X11 emulation is so bad that open source software is near useless. I did not like Safari and iTunes at all. I would like to stick to apps I know and like - foobar2000 or Audacious, VLC, pidgin, firefox, skype, renoise and forthcoming Kontakt 4 (or Komplete 7, haven’t decided yet).
A pros of MacOSX are that Ardour/Harisson Mixbus is supported on this platform and it is said (macos) to be very fast on decicated hardware. The cons are this hardware is ridiculously expensive when compared with typical PC. This is why I ask your opinion. Is it so much better than windows so it is worth of spending a lot more money on it? Note that I already own windows 7 licence.
I’m going to buy some hardware in near future and it highly depends on my decision which way to take…
thanks for your time fellas!
Connor I like your attitude and your summary. While not quite a grandma I like the almost unfailing plug and play simplicity as well as the elegance of the OS and the GUI. If you want to go beneath the hood it is not that hard if somebody is talking you through or holding your hand.
I think it is basically a quality is better than quantity thing. I started out on Windows but once I got into serious production and discovered Macs - there is no turning back!
Mac are great if you just want to make music. If you want to tweak your os to death, that’s not for you. Everything is hidden from regular user, but you can access lots of things via special tools or through terminal. With software provided with OS, you can do almost 90% of basic computer tasks, even working with music. There are lots of free and open source plugins for mac, you can take a look at some links on my page. I am currently in a lots of works, so can’t update that lists to often, but all instruments links should work. I am running macbook for almost 4 years now, without a single problem, have updated from leopard to snow leopard, and soon will upgrade to lion, and it is working fast and efficient like a first day I bought it. Renoise is working great, with AU and VST plugins respectively. From my perspective, most complete os to do music with. Windows is nice, lots of options, linux also has some great things, but mac os is up to my liking. Jack OSX is special version for macs and runs great, I am using it sometimes when I need streaming from one application to another. All in all, it’s best to at first try for some time and see if it fits your workflow, because it’s a big investment at first, but it gets paid over time.