My comments were a sort of pick at how it seems too good to be true. Right now it seems like a good deal, I'm going to upgrade my Final Cut Pro 5 to Final Cut Studio UB for $99 so I go from final cut pro to everything in the studio, seems like a great deal if it works without costing me more $$$ for something else that I might need as a result of it. Apple history leans toward "it's too good to be true" but this could be a first!

I think if you look carefully, you'll see that Apple has a much better track record on the "it's too good to be true" front than the PC guys do. A lot of people are still running 1GHz dualie G4s and getting their money's worth. Maybe they're still on FCP4, but that is still a viable NLE for a lot of uses.

As for "What else are they supposed to do? Support your 5+ year old system you were too whiney to update?". The answer is Yes I do expect to get 5 years of compatibility and upgrades out of a system which cost me $2,500+ and for software which cost me $1,000. A PC based system that I bought for $399 I don't. So for $3,500 I can whine a bit! I would assume since you are apparently in the "education" side so you get "educational" discounts on everything?

While it's true that for $399 you can easily afford to let your PC become a doorstop at an early age, was it ever capable of cutting video? If you listen to guys like GmElliot who have (recently) played both sides of the street, the cost of a capable PC-based NLE isn't much cheaper than a Mac.

I'm on my 3rd Mac system in 4 years time. No doubt the new Intel based Mac's will be more powerful and do much more. Based on history I seem to always have to shell out more $$$ for some reason or another, one upgrade requires another upgrade and so on to fix this problem that causes another problem. Sure it's the nature of computers and those in the business of selling them.

I'm on my 4th Mac system in 4 years. All of them are running fine and producing good results. True, I had to make a leap to get into a system that is capable of running everything that Apple currently offers, but that's because the state of the art is advancing. I've done a lot of upgrading along the way (generally when I set the machine up), but basically never to fix problems. I do it to increase capabilities. If you want a 867 Quicksilver or a dual 450 G4 to run Motion, perhaps you're expecting a bit too much...

I know when I started out learing with Imovie. Something didn't work so I had to buy and upgrade, something else didn't work so I had to upgrade the OS to upgrade to a fix that I had to upgrade something else to fix that, shelling out $$$ each time...

Sounds like you didn't do any research on what it takes to make a capable NLE before you started. If you start out with a bare minimum machine and want maximum output, don't blame the manufacturer. Research what is needed, get the right gear, and go to work. Analogy: Putting a 400 HP nitrous kit on your Honda won't make it a racecar, it'll just break all the pieces you need to replace in order for it to become a racecar... and it'll break them at the worst possible time.

I'm hoping the FCP UB version doesn't break anything so that I at least get to continue to operate as I am and be able to continue to receive upgrades for a while longer. It's too tempting to be able to go from Final Cut Pro 5 to the full studio for only $99, it's a great deal, where's the catch? I can't afford to upgrade to FCP UB only to find out it breaks something and the only way to fix it is to upgrade the hardware! Hopfully that won't be the case.

What model of Mac are you currently running?