Performance tips

The question of "Mac vs. PC" has started holy wars on computer forums. It also led to the notion of platform bigotry, the condition where people are so gung-ho about their platform of choice that they actively disparage anyone who doesn't use it. (This also causes certain users to blindly accuse publications of being biased against a certain platform, even though four out of five current Videomaker editors happen to be invested in both platforms.)

Luckily, the question of which platform to buy into is now easier to approach, as a result of Apple's recent shift to Intel processors. This allows you to use Mac OS, Windows or Linux on the Mac, when used with software like Apple's Boot Camp beta, VMware Fusion, or SWsoft's Parallels Desktop (among others; this is not a complete list). Boot Camp operates as a simple boot manager, giving you the choice of operating systems upon boot. The other tools allow Windows applications to run alongside Mac applications.

On the PC side, the choice of Windows XP and Windows Vista also figures into the equation. We are not yet comfortable recommending Windows Vista at this point, but Microsoft is working more kinks out of that operating system every day. However, it's notable that Dell is again offering Windows XP for sale with certain systems as a result of customer demand. Windows Vista does have its charms, though - the Aero Glass interface is indisputably beautiful to look at, and Vista will probably become the most mainstream path to 64-bit computing. (You can, indeed, get 64-bit versions of Vista now, but unless signed 64-bit drivers are available for all of your hardware and all of your software, including installers, is either 32- or 64-bit, the 64-bit version of Vista won't help you much t…