ELI5 why are Macs so popular with music /film/design people?

I work in film and the reason everyone I know uses Mac, is because it has a better support system for 64bit browser functionality, which until HTML5 becomes a reality, will be the reason most portfolio websites that run through various versions HTML and Macromedia Flash products. So in that sense, we need to be using what everybody else is using.

I am not sure if it remains true today, but years ago if you were "media" you got an insane discount on any Apple / Mac product - I'm talking 70% - 90%. This was their advertising budget, figuring the unwritten rule was "have this for virtually free, show it off". I remember the first time I ever saw an iPod it was being worn by Bowie on the front of a magazine, around 2000 or 2001, whenever they hit the market.

Beyond that, a few friends who were designers / desktop publishers in the early 90s said that the Mac was the only machine with the capabilities and software to do what they wanted/needed. I am guessing that must still remain true today.

Actually processing power is a big reason. You can't compare processor specs across OSs. Mac and Linux machines will outperform Windows at these kinds of things. *ix systems simply handle larger datasets much better.

That isn't a slam against Windows, all OS's have strengths and weaknesses. Windows's strength is compatibility. To get the level of compatibility Windows has you have to sacrifice some speed and stability.

Mac and Linux don't have nearly the same level of compatibility but are rock solid and do much better on equal or slower hardware. It all depends what you want out of a system to which system you pick. (I supported Windows, Mac and Linux environments for many many years).

There's also the factor of the way color management is done and a legacy factor regarding past tools (like Photoshop) but those don't matter as much anymore.

Removed as not ELI5 material. See Rule 2.

ELI5 isn't for everything; this post may do better in a different subreddit.