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Avid's Biggest Limitation

And Apple's biggest advantage is modes. Or, rather, the lack of them in Final Cut Pro. It goes back to that heritage thing I was talking about yesterday. Due to Avid's age, their software relies on modes, trim mode, etc. This was probably due to the limitations of the hardware at the time. Apple has the distinct advantage of being made much more recently, and not being strapped with this limitation.

In Final Cut Pro you can cut, trim, slip and ripple anytime you want by just choosing the correct tool. If you want to grab a clip and move it to another track, just grab it and you're done. On an Avid, whether it be an Express Pro or Media Composer, you have to enter the "Red Arrow" mode. Then, when you want to go back to laying in subclips, you have to exit the mode. It may seem minimal, but it's a significant limitation. It's much like the switch from Mac OS 9 to X. It may have been painful at first, but once you got used to it, there's no going back.

I doubt you could find and editor who has worked in both extensively that would prefer Avid's method. They may prefer Avids in general, but not the modes.