This is just my own opinion, but I still believe that Intel is better as it offers higher single core performance which is key when it comes to gaming or heavy programs such as the ones from Adobe. Also, many of my friends who upgraded to Ryzen reported that they are not happy and I would probably wait for what Intel has to offer in the upcoming year. Anyway, what kind of tasks are you planning to use it for?
As of its today, Intel is still better as long as you spend money on the high end segment, namely the Core i9 9900k/ks and at some degree the Core i7 9700K. The rest of the stack is just not worthy.
As for single core performance, and Adobe software, if youre on the latest version of the software and fully patched then either Intel or AMD will deliver great performance. In some cases Intel may have a small lead, while in others AMD is going to have have a small to huge lead. The amount of resources AMD cpus have right now is just too big for Intel to catch up in some areas. Does everyone need those extra resources, the answer is no (for now atleast, not until all the software can catch up).
Everyone is entiled to their own choice but knowing that the new PS and XboX consoles will come with an AMD cpu with 8 physical cores and 16 execution threads, is my opinion that investing on a SMT or HT enable cpu is the best bet future wise. And in this departmant AMD is the clear winner no matter where you look (and not been the case for the Ryzen 5 3500X which only comes with 6 cores/6 threads cause SMT has been disable)
As for some of your firends not happy with AMD It will be great to know exactly what they bought, how they build thier system, if they may have mistmatched some components that could lead to bad perfoemance, if they all have updated BIOS and downloaded and installed the lastest chipset drivers from AMD website, if they have thier memory set in dual channel, etc, etc, etc. Knowing the details and the problem they are facing is the only way to know if AMD is to be blame here.
I have upgraded from a Core i5 to a Ryzen 5 3600 and i couldn't be more happy with it. Performance at 1080p 60Hz panel is soo awesome that I don't even have any boost technology enable in BIOS (the base clock 3600MHz is more than enough to run every game I tried soo far, including Shadow Of The Tomb Raider and Battlefield 5 single player and multiplayer modes).
Anyways, if the OP is really into Overclocking I suggest he looks somewhere else, meaning Intel K series and thier expensive mobos.
AMD new zen 2 cpus don't really overclock to any great gain, having PB and PBO enable on BIOS is enough to get the best results on those CPUs.
Cheers