Mac Pro + Illustrator CS2

[TonyDev]

Hey all --

I'm sure this is a much discussed topic (as I've read through endless threads around the net) but I wanted to ask people who are working with this combination on a regular basis:

Our lead illustrators Mac just went south on him. The repair costs for the G5 are nearly that of a brand new Mac Pro. Having in mind the idea to upgrade his machine sooner than later, we feel it would be most appropriate to just take the plunge now and purchase the new Mac Pro.

However, his main application is Illustrator CS2. Probably 6+ hours of his work day exist within Illustrator and it's usability is essential to his work flow. I've read 'horror stories' of CS2 (Illustrator, namely) crashing left and right running under Rosetta. All sorts of oddities from the pathfinder crashing the entire application, to just random general application shutdowns.

I would appreciate any suggestions from someone who has either used CS2 on a new intel mac, or has any amount of knowledge regarding whether or not this would be a poor choice to make.

Regards,

Tony DeVincenzi
BullseyeCreative

PS. If it matters, we are planning on buying a very high spec'd machine, 4g ram, etc etc.

[Danger_Mouse]

We are on PC's at work and Illy CS2 crashes more often than not. We are heavy into use of the inhouse created variables (variables pallette). We create alot of files in CS2 but save them back to Illy 10 for stability. We haven't switched to CS2 entirely due to other issues unrelated. But Illy 10 runs much smoother with less memory hogging and has been entirely stable, so maybe that would help you out by having a copy on file. We use Illy 10 about 85% of the time in an 8 hour workday.

Not sure on the Mac issues with it, but that's issues we have been having.

[(gra-ph!c-D'sig-nah)]

I have actually never had a problem except on time but I believe it was the conflict of another program (PS) that caused the close of adobe....Although I do not have problems with it crashing or closing....lucky i guess

It seems as if price is not a matter, so go with the one with the track record of no errors...!

I work on a G-5 at one site, a 24" imac and PC at home, and a Mac pro at another sites studio. I have had much experience on all systems and never really have a problem with illy.....

[Danger_Mouse]

Wondering what kind of work intensity and type of work you are doing on Illy?

I ask this because I have friends that work on new INtel macs that say they have never had a problem (I asked them when our own problems started). So maybe it's related to the type of work your Illustrator is doing. Any imports of scripting or use of xml files tend to crash us as far as our variables go (which we use extensively)/

[(gra-ph!c-D'sig-nah)]

I am sure that is a factor as well....I do alot of illustrations, most are life like and use a lot of the mess tool. I have had layer counts out of this world....but that is only because I am picky with my layers....I will sometimes create same object over and over for color and filter choices that I can look at over and over.....

I wonder though! How hard do you have to push to make this program close!?

[tZ]

CS3 is rumored to come out the begining of 2007 even though some sources say it won't be untill spring. Other wise, I have used cs2 on my macbook and never had any promblems. Didn't really notice any performance gap either.

[MPI]

I tried running Illustrator on my MacPro, but pretty much had to fully retreat back to the PC. Crashes, hangs, lag, you name it - if there was a problem I got it. I found actually doing work to be impossible.

And I run on 4G ram, so I doubt the problem is with memory; the problem is Adobe's.

If Illustrator is a tool you need to use, I'd strongly suggest finding another solution until CS3 comes out.

[Danger_Mouse]

If you have a powerful enough system you probably wouldn't notice the gap. We are on PIECE of crap Dells at work with one main MAC for bigger projects. I notice it. (cries to self)

[jimking]

I tried running Illustrator on my MacPro, but pretty much had to fully retreat back to the PC. Crashes, hangs, lag, you name it - if there was a problem I got it. I found actually doing work to be impossible.

And I run on 4G ram, so I doubt the problem is with memory; the problem is Adobe's.

If Illustrator is a tool you need to use, I'd strongly suggest finding another solution until CS3 comes out.
It could be a memory problem. I have an Intel Mac that was giving me a fit with Illustrator, constant crashes. Even when I had it opened in the background with no illy file opened, it would crash by itself. I added one more gig of ram to a total of 2 gigs and it runs alot better. As far as 4 gigs of ram I've read that if you add too much ram you can end up with the same issues. Not sure if that's true but the source is credible.

[tZ]

yeah… I have 2gigs worth of ram that could be reason I have never had trouble.

[popejoydesign]

I also have a MacPro and run the entire CS2 suite on it. Illy does crash on me some, but it's not a constant problem. Usually it's when I am opening files from a CD, that's when I have noticed it most. Other wise I don't have any problems with it at all...just save from time to time.