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Certainly a bigger issue for Layout -- which I do use and like quite alot... but the question came from a Mac user who was wondering if there was an advantage to switching to PC and the answer is there is none unless you are doing it for non-Sketchup related reasons.
Best,
Jason.
Ruby doesn't run better per se -- or at least I cannot see how it would.
However there are parts of Ruby that you can have access to that do not exist in the core version distributed with Windows Sketchup installs -- If they want to use any of that extended functionality plugin authors have to add those parts into their plugin for Windows users. It's not a huge issue but it is certainly a limitation (not something you are likely to worry about unless you get into Ruby coding -- which I will if Layout gets a API).
Here's a quote from: http://code.google.com/apis/sketchup/docs/faq.html
@unknownuser said:
What are the differences between the Mac and PC when it comes to the Ruby API?
The biggest difference between the two platforms are the WebDialogs. On the PC, the embedded browser is Internet Explorer, and on the Mac it's Safari. See the WebDialog documentation for details about all of the differences. if you're not using the WebDialogs for anything, then you don't have to worry about it.Another difference is the fact that the Mac supports "MDI" (Multiple Document Interface), meaning there can be more than one SketchUp model open at a time under the same SketchUp process. This can cause Ruby scripting challenges if your code is doing something with an entity only to have the user change the active model out from under you. There's no easy answer for how to handle all of the potential problems with this... it's probably enough for you to be aware of it and be sure to test what happens when a Mac user changes the active window while your script is active.
Finally, there is a difference in the way that the Mac boots up SketchUp that you should be cautious about: there is no Sketchup.active_model when the Ruby scripts are first loaded. So if your script is making changes to the active_model at load time, it will not work on the Mac. The answer? Ensure code that references the active model is part of a UI event handler, responding to the user selecting a tool or a menu item. You can also use an AppObserver to get a callback whenever a new model is opened, at which point it's safe to talk to the active_model.
Best,
Jason.
With the install of Sketchup for windows they include a simplified core version for Sketchup to use, but Ruby is much larger and that complexity can come in handy for automation purposes if you re in a production environment -- from that POV Ruby can be used in the same way Adobe uses ExtendScript/JavaScript.
OpenGL is very limited by Windows policy on the matter (I suspect it has to do with them pushing DirectX) but since the Sketchup dev team has shown a willingness to utilize the better features of a Mac in those builds I would not assume that they have limited access to needed OpenGL features of later versions... Lets not forget there is a cold war going on between Google and Microsoft.
Best,
Jason.
A few stand-outs are the ability to customize the toolbar, import PDF files (Sketchup), Greyscale and CYMK support, Drop shadows on fonts(Layout), custom kerning of text(Layout)... there's more too but conversely there is hardly anything that the PC has as an advantage.
Two other things really stand out -- a full install of Ruby comes standard on the Mac which you have to manually install on PC and OpenGL support is much more current on a Mac... both are very useful for Sketchup users.
Best,
Jason.
Thank-you 
I am working on a "Google Sketchup to Maxwell Render Workflow" series, which is the culmination of my last several series -- I did one on the free version of Sketchup and one on the Pro version of Sketchup and another on Maxwell Render... so now that I have all the basics out of the way I wanted to do something a bit more indepth and since I'm not an architect it didn't make sense for me to do a bunch of archviz scenes (I'll do a bit of that too).
If you'd like to see my video series they're all linked from here:
http://www.vtc.com/modules/products/authorInfo.php?author=360
Here's the latest.
Best,
Jason.
Thank-you both
A little progress on details:
Best,
Jason.
I would just add that if you are really going to be primarily working on Sketchup (and Layout) then the Mac is the better choice -- there are some really nice options for both with the Mac that do not exist for the PC versions and don't seem likely to be ported because they come direct from the Mac OS itself.
It's enough of a difference to make me consider getting a Mac Mini for my Sketchup machine and doing Linux/Windows machines for the render nodes for Maxwell... if all you use the machine for is rendering then Linux allows you to spend the money for more processing power instead of an OS license.
Best,
Jason.
Maxwell you can render Z depth as a render channel -- you can get something similar in a pinch in Sketchup by using fog and setting it for black and adjusting the ranges to suit.
Best,
Jason.
Thank-you
Somebody asked to see the wires on the Maxwell forum so I thought I'd post them here too:
Best,
Jason.
Thank-you
Maxwell is 195 Euros currently for new student purchase... the nice thing is that covers any of the softwares they have plugins for at no extra charge -- and they have a ton of plugins (and more coming soon).
I never had this toy -- but I always liked the series and I'd like to do some epic battle renders at some point in the future... Any extra refference is appreciated 
Best,
Jason.
If I was more savvy with Ruby I'd be trying to find a way to automate this from the lines... there's a bunch of scripts that are halfway there but none that I know of that get the job done.
Maybe we should create a request thread in the Plugin forum?
Best,
Jason.
I would also be very interested in this for a project I'm working on.
Best,
Jason.
A DVD/CD hard copy set will be out soon -- but they charge $99 for them... I've seen them run promotional deals before, so maybe keep an eye out for that.
It is worth mentioning that they have a TON of different softwares and subjects (including Ruby) that are covered by that $30 and you can pay for just the one month if that is all you want... I've seen similar pricing by other video tutorial companies -- but of course there are several great free tutorials like the ones linked above and a couple straight from Google here:
Best,
Jason.
Very inspiring modeling and I also really dig the texturing work... I enjoyed your tutorial as well!
Best,
Jason.
A wip for my current video series.
Best,
Jason.
Here's the link to the series:
The VTC course is designed to highlight the new features in Google SketchUp Pro 8. The easy-to-follow course will help you to maximize SketchUp Pro's Potential & work files are also included.
vtc (www.vtc.com)
The first 13 videos are a free preview, but the parts relevant to DC come later in the series (in chapters 5-12).
Best,
Jason.
I'll record a video example when I get to the studio.
Best,
Jason.
Thanks Fredo, this is all magic to me -- so many of the things Curviloft can do didn't seem possible in Sketchup to me just a few weeks ago... I might have gotten a bit carried away by your wizardry 
I did get it to skin in a few configurations but nothing I was completely satisfied with.
BTW I have noticed on my system that has an ATI Firepro (workstation video card) the vertex matching function is very temperamental -- when I switch to my system that uses a Nvidia Quadro it is very smooth.
Best,
Jason.
If this is possible it will most likely be through the use of trig functions -- I have not tried it myself but check these out for some ideas:
http://forums.sketchucation.com/viewtopic.php?p=109276#p109276
Best,
Jason.