Every year I like to learn what photo editing software is most popular with our readers.  This helps us at MCP Actions decide where we will focus efforts for new products and free video tutorials. As a result of past surveys, we have introduced more for PSE Photoshop Elements users.

Please take a second to vote.  Just add a comment if you wish to explain your choice or if your software was not listed. We are interested in hearing what primary photo editing software you use rather than what plug-ins or actions you use.

We would appreciate you sharing this via Facebook, Twitter and other social networking so we can get a wide sampling of photographers.

Thank you,

Jodi

What is your editing taste and style?

For a change of pace, rather than share a detailed Blueprint today, we’re gonna mix it up a little.  Below is an original photo by Vickie Pewitt, and six different edited versions. This is an example of how a photo can be edited in so many different ways.  None are correct or incorrect, but I assume most of you will have a definite preference for one or two versus the rest. Do you tend to like extreme color pop, cross processing, black and white, subtle contrast, or even vintage? If you have time, quickly vote, and optionally add a comment if you wish explaining your preference.  It will be interesting to see what MCP readers like best.

1. The Original {Before}

2. The Bag of Tricks edit

3. The curves class edit

4. The MCP Fusion edit with Desire

5. The MCP Fusion edit with Passion and Rustic

6. The Frosted Memories edit

7. The MCP Fusion black and white edit

The MCP Actions Annual Blog Survey is complete. I will leave the questions up, in case you missed it, but the results are in. And while my “Back to School” Multiple Choice Test was far from scientific, it did help me understand what you like, what you want more of, and what changes I can make to the blog going forward.  Below, I will review and discuss each question and my thoughts.

At the time I am posting results, each questions had a sample size of between 1,320-1,460 participants. The drop off tells me the survey was a tad too long.  But I knew that going in. I am showing results in % so it is easier to analyze.  If you have opinions based on this data, please share them in the comment section. I welcome feedback.

At the very end of this post, check to see if you are one of the winners of the 6 Canon or Nikon Lens Mugs or the 3 MCP Actions $50 Gift Certificates.

As far as frequency, most of you read it either daily or a few times a week (68% read one of those 2 frequencies). While I love the idea of people reading it every day, I only provide content 5-6 days a week, and I would say reading 2-3 times a week, you could certainly keep up. So thank you for reading what I write…

Most of you felt that I post with the perfect frequency, 81%, which is usually Monday-Friday, with an occasional weekend post.  Sunday also is often used for contest winner notification, but I do not consider those true posts.  15% of you did wish there was even more content.  I am flattered, but when do you find the time to read so much?  I am so happy you want even more.  And only 4% wished for less materials. Based on this information, I plan to keep quantity of articles and posts at the current levels.

This is where a more scientific survey would be helpful.  I asked people to pick their favorite 3 parts of the MCP Blog.  They do not completely match other questions in the poll.  But unscientifically, the three top things readers love about the blog are:

1. Photography Tips and Tutorials (26%)
2. Before and After Step-by-Step Blueprints (14%) – these are done every Friday, and which become a permanent feature on the MCP Blog after last year’s survey!  See your feedback does matter.
3. And tied for 3rd were Photoshop Video Tutorials (13%) and Photoshop Written Tutorials (13%)

I suppose I should have had Photoshop tutorials as all one category here for more accuracy, since the three types listed, video, written and step-by-step, add to 40%, and this would mean you actually like Photoshop tutorial most, and photography articles second most. Anyway, these two areas will be primary focuses ongoing. MCP Thoughts, where I discuss often controversial topics like how to deal with competition or how to price your photography are also a favorite as (9% of you chose that).

The other slight inconsistency is that Guest Blogger Articles ranked fairly low (3%), yet many of your favorite Photography Tutorials are written by guests.  Again, this is probably due to my lack on knowledge on running a more scientific style poll.

This question “do you use the search features on the MCP Blog?” was most interesting to me, as it made me wonder if everything on my site shows up for everyone.  In my redesign last year, I made search-ability a top priority. I wanted to make sure that you could find relevant articles from the past, more than 800 now exist. 31% of readers had no idea you could search.   I am not sure, other than to educate, how to rely the search features.  You can use the search box to type in any words or phrases, tabs at the top to search by popular categories, and also along the side you can search by a number of methods.

And now for the Wibiya toolbar, that strange red bar on the bottom of my site.  Since the time I installed it a few months back, I have never loved it.  And was super curious to see what all of you thought.  Well, it looks like 67% of you are undecided or just don’t care, but 16% HATE IT and say I should get rid of it, while only 7% say they love it.  Hmmm – sorry lovers… It looks like Wibiya bothers more people than it helps. I will be making it disappear sometime next week.

Based on this chart and also based on the question about what people like most about the blog, I would say that all 3 types of Photoshop tutorials, written, video and Friday Blueprints, are liked equally.  I will keep providing a mix of these.

This may have been the most sure response of all, frequency of the Photoshop tutorials. While a few people said they would like less, it was statistically insignificant and turn out to be 0%. We have learned that 25% are happy with the amount, but an overwhelming 75% of readers want more Photoshop tutorials.  I will continue with weekly Friday Blueprints and I will try and work in more Photoshop tutorials, in either video format or written in the future.  In the comments, some of you asked for Elements tutorials, and I will try and get more for you as well.  Since there are only so many days, and this blog covers such a wide variety of topics, I still can only do a certain amount. I will keep this in mind and will also look for a few more guest bloggers to do some Photoshop articles, rather than just photography.  Also remember that if you have not been reading since the very beginning, I recommend you going back and reading and watching older videos and reading past written tips and tutorials.  There is so much information already here that you might be missing out on.  So make sure to check everything out too.

The next section had to do with frequency of the type of posts. Based on the data collected, it appears people are extremely happy with the frequency/amount of Guest Bloggers (81%). Very few wanted more (13%) or less (6%).

Contests: Only an extremely small amount (2%) wanted less contests. Just over 1/2 (52%) said the amount of contests is perfect, and 46% said they wish I had more.  Due to this, I will at minimum continue the frequency.  I usually host contests weekly, and then after a few months take a few weeks off so I can have more content based posts.  The next few weeks, I will be taking my “contest break” but coming in October you will have the opportunity to win Flash Photography mentoring (during a 2 week Flash series), a Tamron Lens, and some amazing camera bags.  So keep watching for your chance to win. Every time someone wins, they always say, “I never win anything…” So remember, you could be the one.

The FAQ based posts, again only an extremely small amount (1%) wanted less of these, while 63% feel I do just the right amount of Frequently Asked Question style posts. And 36% want more.  Chances are, similarly to contests, I will continue doing at least as many as I have been, leaning towards occasionally more.

As far as business and marketing posts, the number who do not want them increased a little (7%). I assume this is due to hobbyists who have no interest at all in business related posts.  But even so, 55% say there are the perfect amount and 38% want more.  I would say for the most part, I will continue mixing in marketing type posts.  But will keep those not in business in mind too.

I occasionally get emails about my more “serious” topics in the MCP Thoughts area, like “What is a professional photographer?” or “How you should price your photography.” Photographers will write and ask why I do opinion pieces or ask for opinions on what turn out to be controversial topics. Based on the survey, you will see people enjoy these.  53% said that I have the perfect amount, while 43% which I had even more.  But another reason is they are viral, they promote thinking and self-expression.  Just click on the two example articles I just mentioned. Look at the amount of shares on Facebook and Twitter – and then look at the amount of comments, especially on some of the pricing posts. I think you will get it then.  For the few that do not enjoy these posts, you can always just skip right over them.  Or try and keep an open mind and see all sides to the story.  Listening to differing opinions often can challenge us and help us grow as both business people and as photographers.

Themed photo shares… I have gotten away from these a bit lately as I have had so much content.  But in case you have no idea what these are, I would ask on the MCP Facebook Page for photos that fit a theme. People would submit them and my twins picked 10-15 for me to share.  These posts are fun since I get to share reader’s pictures and they can provide inspiration too.  It seems that 62% feel I have the right amount – on average about one every month or two, though it has been a while. 27% wish I had more. And 11% want less. I likely will continue to do these as I have time and space for them.  But for now, my blog is packed with some great content coming up, so it could be a while. Basically they will be low priority since they were toward the bottom of the list as overall favorites from one of the other questions too.

What software do you use?  This was about what I expected, but is always interesting.  The numbers speak for themselves. The top software readers surveyed have is Photoshop CS4 (19%), followed closely with CS5 (13%) and then CS3 (10%). As a 4-way tie for 4th most popular, coming in at 9% each: Adobe Camera Raw, Bridge, Lightroom 2 and Lightroom 3.

About the same amount of you have just my free Photoshop actions (44%) as have my fee-based Photoshop actions (43%). And only 11% don’t have any MCP Actions. 1% each said that you either do not use actions or not own a program like Photoshop or Elements that can run them.

As for my online group classes, while I have a few thousand people, in more than 18 countries across the globe, clearly very few who have attended them did the survey, relatively speaking anyway. I do see that many would attend but times did not fit your schedules, and the upcoming months, I will consider options that might work for a broader audience.  So thank you for sharing. For those of you prefer get the information for free on my blog and other sites, I always welcome you with open arms. You can always come rad, watch and learn from my tutorials, free actions, and guests. You never have to buy a thing – I aim for my free products and services to be of the same quality as my paid ones.

And lastly, social networking… Without much interpretation, you will see that most of you interact with me from Facebook (71%) and a small percent in other ways like Twitter and Flickr, etc. Social networking is so important for my business. So please, as a favor to me, keep recommending my website, blog and Facebook Page to your colleagues and photographer friends. I appreciate it!

And if you made it this far, or just scrolled down… here are the lucky winners:

To claim your prize, you need to contact me by Tuesday, September 21st, 2010. No exceptions. Prizes will be forfeited if I do not hear from you.  For action prizes, just let me know what product you want to use your Gift Certificate on or toward.  For the Lens Mug winners, please email me (jodi@mcpactions.com) your complete name and mailing address and I will have these shipped out to you within approximately 1 week.

The $50 Gift Certificates go to:

• Beth Benoit
• Sharon Ellman
• Cayce Elms

The Canon 24-70 Lens Mugs go to:

• Elizabeth Alexander
• Tabitha Frohardt-Johnson

The Canon 70-200 Lens Mugs go to:

• Mike Le Gray
• Mary Ann Pegg

The Nikon 24-70 Lens Mugs go to:

• Valerie Fuller
• Laura Kersey Beane

Please participate in the MCP Back to School Blog Survey. Multiple Choices * Easy * Win Prizes!  I need your help to determine the direction and future of the MCP Blog.

While I am sure the blog cannot be all things to all photographers, I want to learn what the majority of readers like, dislike, and what they want to see more or less of on my blog in the future. Please take a few minutes and answer each of the polls below to help mold the direct of the MCP Blog. If you have thoughts that are not covered in the polls, or that you want to expand on, please leave your thoughts or ideas in the comment section below.

Thank you for your participation.  The more feedback I get, the better I can understand your needs.

HOW TO WIN:

• And as an extra incentive, after completing your “Back to School Questionnaire,” just leave a comment on this post saying that you answered all the questions. Winners will be drawn at random.
• For an extra entry, tell your friends about MCP, by writing on your personal or business Facebook Wall – and linking to my blog. Come back and let us know you did.
• For another extra entry, go my the MCP Fan Page, and under my logo on the left, click “Suggest to Friends” – and recommend the MCP Fan Page to your friends on Facebook. Come back and let us know you did.

PRIZES:

• 3 names will be chosen at random to each receive $50 gift certificates for the MCP Actions Store (good on Photoshop action purchases only).
• 3 additional names will be chosen to win Canon & Nikon Lens Mugs (I have one of each to give away – so if you have preference, please indicate that – Canon 25-70, Nikon 24-70, Canon 70-200).

Winners will be announced once I have a strong enough sampling. Around 1,000 is what I am thinking.  I will keep you posted on the Facebook Wall.

Thank you so much for participating.  Make sure to leave your comment telling us you completed your “MCP Questionnaire” so you are entered in the contest.

Semi-finalists for the MCP Actions Photoshop CS5 Contest

Big thank yous to all who entered the contest to win Photoshop CS5 Extended.  There were so many great pictures using MCP somewhere in the image.  Here are the 15 finalists, chosen by my twins Ellie and Jenna, age 8. They had a very hard job narrowing down to these 15.  But now it’s your turn.  Each of you gets to pick your 3 favorites based on quality, creativity, and the use of MCP in the picture. You may vote only 1 time, picking your top 3.  Please spread the word and encourage all of your photographer friends, Facebook and Twitter followers, and those you know on photo forums to come vote, whether or not your image is here.

Good luck to all participants – the one with the highest number of votes on Sunday, July 25th at 6pm Eastern Time is the winner.  Winners will be announced Sunday the 25th for both the Photoshop CS5 Extended AND the MCP Actions Gift Certificates.  If you have not entered to win the gift certificates, it is not too late.  You can ENTER HERE!

Entry 1:

Entry 2:

Entry 3:

Entry 4:

Entry 5:

Entry 6:

Entry 7:

Entry 8:

Entry 9:

Entry 10:

Entry 11:

Entry 12:

Entry 13:

Entry 14:

Entry 15:

Photoshop CS5 has many new, exciting features for Photographers.  It will be available very soon, so pre-order your upgrade or full version now, so you can play right away.  As a beta tester, I have gotten to play with some of the fun new toys.  My favorite two are content aware fill (which you will see in a minute) and the crop guides.  You can actually see the rule of thirds overlaid on your images as you crop.

I just finished editing vacation snapshots and decided to play with the content aware so you can see what I was able to do in under a minute.  And while my play was not perfect, for a 4×6 in a family photo album, it was amazing, fast, and simple.  If you are looking to make random objects disappear, or clean up distractions in your images, you are going to buy Photoshop CS5 right away.  I would say it alone is worth the upgrade price.

Are you going to upgrade?  Which features are you most excited for? What version of Photoshop or Elements are you using now.

Click on the image to see results using Content Aware Fill in CS5.

If anyone knows why the embedded image will not animate correctly when it does in the wordpress editor, please let me know via the comments.  Thanks.

Congratulations to all entries! Reviewing each and every entry and selecting the Top Ten Finalist was a very very difficult process and decision.

Therefore, in working with Smugmug, we have decided to do the following:

- All Top Ten Finalists will receive a free 1-year Pro Account.

- ALL ENTRIES will receive a 25% off their 1-year Pro Account. Therefore, all entries win something! Offer expires November 30, 2009. If you already have a smugmug account, you will receive $20 in referral credits which can be used upon your next renewal process.

- Top Ten Finalists and ALL ENTRIES who wish to have their Smugmug site customized by jR Customization will receive $50 off their final customization price. Offer expires April 1st, 2010.

Next steps :

1. Click here and fill out the form to receive your coupon codes. Your coupon codes will be e-mailed to you
with further instructions upon validation.

2. Please take a moment to vote for the finalists below. The winner will have their Pro Site customized.

Thank you to MCP Actions and Markham from Smugmug for supporting this wacky idea of mine!

Good luck to the Top Ten Finalists.

- jerry (jR)
jR Customization

1. Kim Clark

A few weeks ago I was in Russia teaching an impromptu photo class to university students. I was there to help our film guy gather stories from the field. We work for an organization called OneHope which reaches out to children worldwide. One of the students asked for my site and all I could do is direct them to Flickr. I have quite a collection of photos over the past few years but have not been able to use them to the advantage of my needs and the children I work with.

I travel a lot taking photos of kids on assignment for OneHope. This past year I worked in South Africa, Honduras, Haiti and Russia. I am self-funded and considered a missionary. I need a website to display my photos and to fund my equipment needs which my budget does not cover. I also want to raise money to fund photo projects for children.

Thank you for consideration,

~Kim Clark
KimArt4children

2. Rachel Perry

My heart longs for creativity and learning and teaching. As I am nearing the end of my college career I want to find a way to merge my love for photography and the ingenuity that goes into it while serving others and helping. I want to make it so that a portion of my profits goes to charity. Each month I plan on highlighting a Non-Profit so I raise awareness. I feel that using my craft, which attracts attention, to show what is happening in our neighborhoods, our cities, and our world, could better those around me and myself.

I would love the help of fusing this into a cohesive and thoughtful website that would make it much more appealing so I can reach more people. Thank you for doing this giveaway and good luck everyone!

3. Jen Webster (Jen Webster Photography)

What a great giveaway! I am just starting out and need to get a website set up. I am the only photographer for a local non-profit and make zero money on those images since I put them on Shutterfly I would like to be able to offer them to everyone in a central location that is not down-loadable and recoup some cost for my time.
Jen Webster
Jen Webster Photography
No current website, but I do own the domain.

4. Kelly Manley

My name is Kelly Manley. I am half blind, deaf and 30 years old. The photography have always been my passion ever since I was 5 years old. Being a photographer gives me a chance to have a ìnormalî eyesight. Many people don’t always understand or see what I mean in the viewfinder. Some of them are scared to give me a chance to prove them wrong that I can do what any of other photographers with 20/20 eyesight do. I fear that my website are not as good as any of the professional/freelance photographers out there even I tried my best setting it up. All I know is that the pictures I took made people smile, feel a little emotional, remind them of a memory, or anything that made them feel. I want to be able to have a website that is professional and affect the clients the same way I shoot my pictures. I am a freelance photographer and I am proud at what I do and I think i deserve this kind of help.

5. Erica

What a fun question and what a difficult one to answer when I think of all the other photographers who could use this as much as I can.

I have been taking pictures since my mother handed me her 35 mm camera and instructed me to take her photo when I was 8 years-old. Every significant moment (not necessarily event) I have recorded whether it was beautiful or heart breaking. That, for me, is what photography is. Capturing all those moments because they tell a story.

I am a mother to a beautiful 17 month-old boy and am in the process of adopting a sibling for him. I am also the sole bread-winner in my house. During the day I work as an RN in the hospital which is often soul breaking work. In my free time I choose to capture the beauty around me. I love taking photos of families, children and volunteer my skills at events and for families experiencing loss. I would really like to have a nice site to increase business and referrals and to better advertise the wide range of services. Currently I am using a blog and it is not capable of all the things that I see on all the beautiful customize sites out there.

Thank you for your consideration and good luck making this difficult decision!

6. Jeanine Krupp

This would be so great. I would really appreciate the customization and getting some help in setting up a stellar website! I’m afraid to change things on my current blog and don’t know how to do much besides a simple post. My photo hosting site leaves A LOT to be desired. I’m watching every penny since our income is based on automotive in MI (nuff said) so I need all the help I can get. It’s hard to move forward without funding for essentials like a great website. Thanks for another great opportunity mcp and jR Customization.

7. K Stone Photography

You never know when your luck may change someone told me just the other day. I wonder, after reading this post, if November 21st will be that day?! I don’t even know if I believe in luck but maybe, maybe, someone will take a look at my website (which is a free blogspot account) and determine that this girl is in need of a website makeover and we are about to change her definition of luck!í I love photography ó I love the opportunities that come from my work ó but honestly, I would just love a bit of good luck! (What an incredible blessing that would be!)

K Stone Photography

8. Brittney Melton

I would so love (and need) and custom designed website My blog is LACKING! I just use blogspot and have tried to customize it to no avail. My husband and I just got married this past May bought a house this September and the Holidays are coming up. So, add all that up and there is just no room for making my blog look like I want it to look. I am also in the middle of renaming my business and creating a new logo. I’m just going to use my actual name as my brand – Brittney Melton – but I’m doing both graphic design and photography now and I would love to start off totally fresh with a brand new blogsite with this new name. I just had my first 2 weddings this year as a photographer, which was very exciting. I have been wanting and needing to get this going for the past couple of years it is TIME!

little side note ***I absolutely love the ìMoments Photography – http://www.louisianamoments.comî blogsite gorgeous and oh so cute!***

9. Annmarie

SMUG MUG where have you been all my life!!!!!!!!! I am in need of an extreme site makeover. HELP ME PLEASE!!!!! I am the busy mom of three little girls under the age of three (yes all in diapers still *sigh*) Who knew that in the midst of the chaos, I would be launching a photography business! It all started with the standard blogger template to keep the family posted, than the photography bug bit hard. (Taking pictures of kids and newborns will do it to you) I changed my template to one styled after a more traditional photography blog and increased the size of my photographs. But that is where its ended-as far as a blog/website. I have loads of people who lurk my blog and am getting calls and referrals, but don’t know how to get that WOW factor. I would LOVE YOU TO GIVE ME THE WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW factor!!!

10. Michelle

Hello! I feel I need a new web site for my photography business because I do not have one! I am soon to graduate with a Bachelors Degree in Mass Communication emphasis in the Visual Arts. I look forward to starting my photography business pretty soon and would love to have a professional and stylish web site to help my display my photography! I love the designs SmugMug has created and would love to have them design a web site for me!
Thank you for this opportunity!

The word FREE is a very interesting one. I was thinking about this word the other day when someone asked me about FREE Photoshop Actions and FREE Web Sites. Free, by definition, means a lot of things.  For the purpose of this discussion, we will use the definition “without charge.”

Here are a few of my thoughts as it pertains to Photoshop products, training and photography.

• There are many photographers, action makers and designers who offer some FREE products.
• Free products or information can be used as a marketing tool.
• Free can be a great way for someone to try your service or products.  I offer some actions free so you can enjoy and see how my actions work. I know a company who offers webinars to teach you basic photography.  They have 1,000 people on at a time, and it is free.  But they want you to buy the videos.
• I often have businesses that want to give away free things (contests or downloads to all) on my blog. Their hope, that you visit their site.
• In the new era of blogging, for some “free” sites where everything is free, money comes from another source like advertisers.
• Free does not always mean good or great.  Some free stuff will be amazing, but some is just free.
• Free can be an ego thing.  I see this on certain forums where most members are very genuine in helping but others use offering free products or tutorials to boost their ego.
• Why are all my actions and trainings not free? This is my business.  I spend hundreds of hours on development and implementation of my actions and workshops. I provide a lot of information on my blog that is free and have free actions so that you can try my product.  While there is no obligation ever to spend a dime with me, I do have products and services for sale.
• I often see people on photography forums asking, where can I find a free action that does…  Nothing is wrong with wanting free over paid.  But what if your customer came to you and wanted a free photo session, free prints, and free canvas. How would your business do?
• Free has its place in photography too. People LOVE the word FREE. As a photographer you can offer a free 5×7 print with a session or offer free print credit of $50 or spend $1,000 get 4×6 proofs free, etc.
• Do you offer your photography completely free? What if someone wants FREE from you? Do you do free promotions?
• As a buyer of productions (like photoshop actions, textures, photography workshops, etc) how do you feel about free?  Do you only download free?  Do you have a mix of free items and paid?

Comment away – I am interested to here your perspective on FREE!

This is an opinion gathering post.  Please add your thoughts in the “comment section” of my blog.

I am not a blog stalker, but I often do end up perusing websites and blogs of well known photographers to the photographic community. People often ask me how they can get their work to look like “x” photographer.  Often I end up wondering why they want their work looking like a specific person’s.

I do not plan to “name names” here but so many break rules of photography.  I often see blown skies and even blowouts on clothing, sunspots on skin, oversaturated almost neon color, skin that has a blown red channel or lacks detail…  The biggest offender is isolated color casts, skin tone way off, or white clothing and whites of eyes has a clear color cast.

So the question I am posing to you today is when looking at the art of well known portrait and wedding photographers who have sharp shots, great background blur, solid composition, or are just famous – but who have some exposure, color issues or problems with other fundamentals – do you:

• Let it go – they are artists and once they learn the rules – they can break them.
• Art is subjective, even the technical stuff is a gray area.
• Get frustrated – these are the same issues I have and yet I would get criticized for producing the exact same image if I posted it on my website or a photography forum.
• Wonder how they do not see these imperfections in their own work.
• Wonder if they do not know how to expose properly or know how to avoid or correct color issues. Or is this their artistic intent.
• Think to myself, my work is better than theirs.  How come they are well known and I am not.
• Realize that there is more to photography than technical skills. Business skills, networking and personality often can propel a photographer further than their actual photographs.
• Think that technical skills are overrated – as a photographer I should be able to do what I want and so should they.
• Try not to look at their work – all that matters is what mine looks like.
• Other – the above where just some thoughts you may have.  Please elaborate on these or any others you have.

What computer should I get next? I would love your help choosing. I posed the question on this Facebook Thread – but it is hard to layout the whole picture in such few words.

Currently I use a Dell Precision 17” high resolution laptop (fully loaded – well 2 years ago it was anyway…) Every time I am about to purchase I consider buying a Mac.  And every time I have ended up staying with PCs.  I had considered getting a desktop, but I realize I much prefer laptops.

Why I have stayed (Pros to PC):

- I have all the software already

- I am familiar and comfortable with using it

- Overall they are reliable – well besides that blue screen I get maybe once every 6 months – or the occasional virus/malware issues

Why I might want to switch to Mac (Pros to Mac/Cons to PC):

- I always hear how I would LOVE using a Mac

- Viruses and malware

- Many say Photoshop runs better on a Mac

- Would love a lighter, sleeker 17” laptop

- Those commercials are just too funny

And why I never have switched and would still be nervous to make the change (Cons to Mac):

- Much of the software is not Mac compatible:

1. Camtasia (which I use to record all the photoshop video tutorials you watch here)
2. Windows Live Writer (how I am writing this blog post right now – it is awesome!)
3. Thunderbird for email (there may be a Mac version but would my emails transfer)

- Some software is compatible – but would require I purchase a Mac version or give up my PC license.

1. Photoshop is my biggest problem – since I do trainings, I need to sometimes use older versions. Well if I transfer my license it would be for CS4.  I would not have access to older versions – as you cannot download past versions for Mac when you have the PC disks.  Also, I need to test action sets in older versions.  As of now I have v7, CS, CS2, CS3, CS4 and elements 5 and 7. I could keep them on my PC laptop, but then, if I need to use it for training or testing, why bother getting a Mac?
2. Lightroom – similar issue as Photoshop but not used nearly as much for my MCP work so transfer is less of an issue.
3. Would need to purchase new version of Word and Excel for Mac.

- Setting up, transferring info (an issue when I get a new computer no matter what – but more complex going PC to Mac).

- Might need the PC side on my Mac – as I could get Vista, parallels and then load on my Photoshop versions.  But I would need to re-purchase photoshop for the Mac side –since they do not have dual platform licenses.  And I would need to get virus protection and spyware programs then too.

- Learning curve – getting use to the new keys and commands as well as the new operating system

After reading my Pros and Cons, what do you think I should do? If you vote switch to Mac explain how I can overcome the Cons?  Please vote and leave comments as to why you voted the way you did.