From: mathew <mathew@mantis.co.uk>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Credibility Gap (was Re: Macs cost too much)
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 92 16:31:42 BST
Distribution: world
Organization: Mantis Consultants, Cambridge. UK.

In <1992Jul24.131236.4307@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> smoon@strfleet.gsfc.nasa.gov
(Sang J. Moon) writes:
> In article <ewright.711925511@convex.convex.com>, ewright@convex.com (Edward V. Wright) writes:
> > In <1992Jul23.143042.14243@nsisrv.gsfc.nasa.gov> smoon@strfleet.gsfc.nasa.gov (Sang J. Moon) writes:
> > >I've been using System 7 with tuneup 1.1.1 for about 6 months now, and I've
> > >had to reinstall system 7 and/or rebuild the desktop file an average of
> > >twice a month.  With 75MB of stuff on my hard drive, this has been the
> > >biggest waste of my time.  
> > 
> > Oh, rubbish.  Your PC-bigot friends might be willing (happy!) to
> > belive this, but keep in mind that this is comp.sys.mac and most
> > of the people here have actually used Macs.
> 
> You have never rebuilt your desktop in system 7 so you don't know
> what you are talking about.  As far as I know, there is no modifier
> key you can hold down in System 7 to rebuild the desktop.

Well, that about wraps it up for YOUR credibility, doesn't it?

>                                                        I received
> an extension from someone which allows me to automatically delete
> the desktop FILE on startup.

Even better.

Tell me, if it's a single desktop file, what are those TWO desktop database
files I see whenever I run ResEdit and look at the top level of the folder
tree?  Or is it that I "don't know what [I'm] talking about"?

> or through email; otherwise keep this a civil discussion.  Database
> information is stored in files, and anyone playing with resedit can see
> the desktop file(s?).

You admit that you don't actually know how many there are?

> Example: Symantic Antivirus for the Macintosh
> 
> You have to read the instructions to install this properly because you
> have to:
> 1. Run a disk repair program to insure the hard drive is okay.
> 2. Run SAM from the diskette on the hard drive first.
> 3. Install the control panel by dragging it to the extension folder
>    and making an alias which you put into the control panel folder.
> 4. Install the virus definition in the system folder.
> 5. Drag copy SAM somewhere.
> 6. Reboot
> 7. Personalise both SAM an the control panel separately the first
>    time you run them.

Step 1 is only a precaution.  If you think it must be obeyed, then you should
run CHKDSK before installing every single piece of PC software.

Step 2 is also a precaution, to check your hard disk for viruses before
installing SAM somewhere where it might get infected.  You have to do exactly
the same for any piece of PC anti-virus software.

Steps 3 to 6... I make it a drag-drop, a menu command, three more
drag-drops, and a menu command.

And that's a difficult installation.  If (say) QEMM were that easy to install
I'd be laughing.

Still, I suppose to an extent it's your fault for buying SAM.  It *was* #1 in
last week's Top Ten Rip-Offs table...  I use Gatekeeper, which was dead easy
to install.  I'm considering whether to buy Virus Detective, which is also a
cinch.

[ Aside:  The reason I don't like Virus Detective is the horrible user
  interface.  All that fancy shading and the nasty bevelled edge effects.
  Ugh.  If it looked clean and functional the cheque would probably be in the
  post by now... ]

> Installing software on a mac can take definitely much more than a few
> minutes, and just clicking on the installer is not enough.
> 
> Example: Microsoft Word 5.0, Microsoft Excel 4.0, etc.

Why is it every time someone says "Mac software is crap", the example they
come up with is a Microsoft product?

Don't you think that should be telling you something?

> Example: Microsoft Word for Windows, WordPerfect, MacLinkPC, etc.
> 
> 1. Install diskette in to drive a and type "a:install".

Hmm.  I just stuck my Word for Windows disk in and typed "a:install" and it
said "Unknown command a:install".

I then typed "a:setup", and it said:

# Microsoft (R) Word for Windows 2.0 Setup
# This program requires Microsoft (R) Windows version 3.0 or higher.
#  
# To start Word Setup:
# 1.  Start Windows and run Setup via the Program Manager's File Run command.
#         or
# 2.  Start Windows and Setup together by typing "win setup" at the DOS
#     prompt.

Of course, option 1 is intuitively obvious, and option 2 will obviously work
first time as I'm bound to have Windows in my path and a:\ as my current
directory, right?

If I'm actually in Windows already and I type "a:setup" into one of my DOS
shell windows, it helpfully suggests:

# Please switch to Windows with CTRL+ESC

Wow.  Switch to Windows?  What am I running now, OS/2?  I can see pretty
windows and icons on my screen, so I *thought* I was running Windows, but
hey, I'm a naive user, maybe I made a mistake...


mathew
-- 
"Even the most bizarre of the unions (probably that between a cat's gall
 stone and a single note 'G' from CNN's ident theme) managed to convey a
 sense of rampant impropriety."  -- 'Fortran Five', Simon G. Lawrence Leonard