- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
For Halo 3, I'm guessing engine development is taking place on Mac G5's given the 360 CPU's similarities in architecture. I'm sure that as far as texturing and modeling, these things can be done on either, but most likely sticking with PC's for familiarity's sake with the artists. (edit: Then again, Bungie began life as Mac programmers, so the artists may also be using Macs)
3DS Max is usually the standard, but some companies employ Maya for development of 3D objects. The level editors are probably in-house tools developed for the Halo engine exclusively. Again, that's the norm for game companies. Textures are typicallly done in Photoshop.
As far as buying one platform or the other....if you're a gamer, a PC is your better choice. Best to wait until the end of this year/beginning of next and pick up a machine running Windows Vista, since a lot of upcoming games (including Halo 2 PC) will only run on Vista.
[Edited on 6/13/2006]