There is not the hardware quality, consistency and the reliability of a Mac (especially for those of us who have access to an Apple Store). Until relatively recently, Microsoft didn't make its own hardware, and compared to macOS, a Windows machine can still can feel like a selection of parts and drivers. While on the surface, performance, value for money and configurability all seem like obvious wins for Windows, there are potential downsides to consider. The odds are, there is likely to be a Windows machine that could suit a bespoke working environment more readily than a Mac.

The biggest advantage to moving to Windows is that there is a much wider choice of form factors available to you: everything from touchscreen laptops to enormous 12 GPU card-equipped desktops and tablet computers that are capable of any 3D work you want to throw at them.

Wacom's MobileStudio Pro range show Windows' ability to adapt to a variety of form factors (opens in new tab) The second benefit of Windows is its speed – I have always found viewport performance in 3D apps to be superior on Windows to Mac. Only the HTC Vive (opens in new tab) is currently supported on macOS. If you want to work with a VR-certified machine, Windows is still a better environment – and especially if you're using Oculus Rift (opens in new tab).

Get Adobe Creative Cloud here (opens in new tab).

Most software is now tied to the user and for all the big names – Cinema 4D (opens in new tab), Maya (opens in new tab), the Substance suite and Adobe's Creative Cloud suite – you can access your account by simply logging in and downloading the Windows version. First of all, app switching is, on the whole, pretty painless. Let's start by concentrating on the good points about Windows.

Get free admission to VERTEX 2019, the ultimate event for 2D and 3D artists (opens in new tab)Īs an artist who has used a mixed Windows and macOS environment for my professional work for the past four years, I can offer some insight to macOS users who might want to make the switch.

With Thunderbolt 3 and solid external GPU support now key parts of macOS, can this new push by Apple make macOS-based 3D artists ignore the pull of Windows? That said, the iMac Pro still a very compelling option for a large number of digital content creators.

Reasons to switch from mac to pc