It would help to know what tasks you want to do. All 3 systems can be used for DAW's but depending what you want to do each would perform differently.

Hi Dave,

I use all three for various aspects of media. IMHO:

Linux: least expensive but least supported. A lack of accelerated video drivers and incomplete applications, you'll need to get into the O.S. side of things to get what you need out of it. It's great for communications and office work as it's mostly impervious to virus' and the like.


Windoze: higher costs than Linux (if you care about staying legal that is), runs on common PC hardware that's less expensive than Mac and also not as reliable. There's more apps available than all the other platforms put together and more open source software every day. Windoze 2k and XP are pretty stable, but I akin running a Windoze or Linux machine to having an older car: if you're a mechanic by nature then it's Ok. If not, it can be a real pain in the a$$, the worst problems seem to appear when you have time constraints.


Apple: Highest cost and quality of all. A smaller selection of apps, but the ones available generally work well. If you don't want to spend a lot of time messin' around under the hood and just wanna get to work, well, there's a reason many creators go Mac.

Mac Mini - lowest cost mac, the 2.5" form factor HDD limits you to about 160gb internally. Those smaller drives usually have less cache and are limited to 5400 RPMs. Access to external HDD's is over USB or Firewire, and there's a performance hit for doing that. There's no expansion slots and video memory is shared system memory. This machine will do you just fine with GB but you may find it limiting later down the road if you gt into bigger apps.

iMac - similar limitations to the mini and tricky to get inside, you might wanna order this one with extra RAM so you don't have to deal with the high cost and warranty violations of DIY. Nice space saver and a great display.

Mac Pro - This machine kicks much ass, there's plenty of bays and slots to expand until your bank account is dry. One of these could be a longer term investment, they can also run Windoze in parallel or by itself and often better than PC's do. They're expensive, but very good machines.



Always a trade-off.