From: gel212@gel.ulaval.ca (gif19268 Systemes numeriques avances)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: PC, MAC or Amiga?
Date: 23 Jan 93 14:28:54 GMT
Organization: Universite Laval



    Hi everybody! Help me with this difficult (but classical) decision:

    MAC, PC or keep my Amiga?

    Here is a resume of what I personnally think are the strengths and
    weaknesses of each of these three platforms:


PC clone
========

pros:
    - Unlimited software support. If you can't find it on a PC, you
    won't find it on another platform (maybe UNIX users will disagree,
    but the point in all this is to buy a system I can afford; those
    SUN workstations look pretty good with X-window but they're way
    off my budget).
    - Allways up to date hardware and software. There are so many
    companies making hardware for the PC market that you allways wonder
    if they are making some money out of it. The competition is so
    fierce that you see tons of new products each month with a
    much lower price tag and improved performance. This is a quality
    unique to the PC market.

cons:
    - Poor OS quality (Windows). I see PC maniacs protesting but have
    you ever worked on another platform with another GUI? First of all
    this is not an OS by itself. It's rather a graphical application
    running on top of good-old-archaic-plain-and-simple DOS. Windows
    is unstable, it offers poor performance even from fully equipped
    486DX/2 zillon Mhz PCs. The GUI is not as intuitive as the MAC or
    Amiga GUI. For example, there is no direct relation between what
    the program manager shows you and the disk directory structure
    (Altough some third-party software can correct this). Also, when
    you delete a program, only it's icon is removed; all the files
    related to this application remain on disk, hidden by the graphical
    interface. And worst of all, those nasty .INI files! I've never
    seen an OS (!) using lengthy ASCII files to keep the system
    configuration. This is so slow and clumsy! Why don't the applications
    manage their default paths, menu flags and other stuff themselves?
    On the Amiga OS, for example, an application would keep a BINARY
    file named <ApplicationName>.config in a dedicated configuration
    directory. This file holds all the information this application
    needs to store. Sometimes these files need to contain only a few
    bytes. This is what I call small and efficient. Those are problems
    PC owners are faced with every day. This is why I think there are
    so many MACs in the office where the only need is to do some
    word-processing without having to wrestle with configuration files.
    However, Microsoft being so rich and powerful, I have high
    hopes for Windows NT, which could make the OS quality a pro instead
    of a con in a near future. If Microsoft (and Intel too) can let
    go of the 86/88/286 class computers, the PC world will be a
    better place to live in. Have you ever wondered how many MIPS
    a 386 or 486 could do if the 88/86-compatible stuff was removed?
    - Multitasking??? Cooperative multitasking is a form of multitasking
    which should be banned. Too often, applications not willing or
    unable to share CPU time hang the system. This is why Windows crashes
    so often. Preemptive multitasking is the solution as implemented on
    OS/2 and on the Amiga OS (although partially).
    - Poor computer all-around quality. Have you seen those cheap
    Taiwaneese clones all over the place? Your computer case is
    probably made of plastic. The fan is roaring and when you switch
    your computer off, you feel like you're in the middle of the
    forest with no noise around you? You see those cute little wires
    on your VGA card or even on your motherboard? So you don't like
    the computer case (it's probably very ugly); so you decide to shop
    around and you discover that every computer store in the 'hood
    has the same ugly mini-tower case? They all seem to shop at the
    same place, don't you think?
    - Poor investment. This is worse than buying a Japanese car. After
    buying your PC clone, you'll see it's price lowered by $100 each
    month.

MAC
===

pros:
    - Software support almost as good as the PC. Most major applications
    can be found on the MAC. Maybe the scientific/engineering community
    is not as well served as on the PC, but it's more becoming a myth
    than a fact.
    - Great hardware quality. Those MACs are really well built. They
    look great on your desk. Good design has allways been one of the
    greatest strength of Apple. I've never seen a better laptop than
    the PowerBook.
    - The best GUI in the world. It is a simple, yet powerful interface.
    It is as stable as you can get. This is really what intuitive
    interface means. And best of all, it is consistent. All MAC programs
    work the same way; even the menus seem to contain the same items from
    one application to the other. Even today, the MAC is still the
    easiest computer to learn to use.
    - Easy software and hardware installation. Similar to the Amiga, the
    MAC is really easy to upgrade. You put the card in a free NuBus slot
    and power up the computer and it's done! No clumsy dip switches or
    drivers. Even a kid can upgrade a MAC. Due to its consistent GUI,
    software installation is just as easy. While it takes a couple of
    minutes to install software on a MAC, it can take hours on a PC. You
    allways have to tell every program what kind of hardware you have.
    Even with MS-Windows, software installation is no easy job.

cons:
    - Closed market to third-party manufacturers. If you have a MAC, it
    is likely that everything on your desk has an apple on it; from
    your monitor to your printer, Apple has the monopoly. If you have
    something from a third-party, Apple will make it difficult for you
    to install (think of the HP LaserJets drivers). The lack of a MAC
    clone market helped widen the gap between the number of IBM-compatible
    (I wonder why they still call them IBM-compatible???) and MACs.
    Will this is a con, I would like to think of it as a pro because of
    the quality of Apple hardware. While historically, this has kept
    MAC prices high, recent price cuts have brought the MAC to a level
    comparable to any quality name PC.
    - Lack of direct contact with the system. When will the MAC have
    a shell? Every DOS or Amiga enthusiast knows how important a shell is
    for a programmer. It lets you examine your system closely and do
    things the GUI never thought of. Again, this is reminescent of the
    great user-friendliness of the MAC OS. The MAC designers don't want
    you to bother with system configuration. The GUI should be all you
    need to use the MAC. From a user perspective, this is a great asset.
    - Multitasking??? I'm sorry, but the MAC OS is not what I call a
    multitasking OS. The problem is not that it can't do it, it's the
    way it does it.

AMIGA
=====

pros:
    - The most underestimated operating system and GUI in the world. The
    GUI is almost as good as the MAC GUI. It is highly flexible and
    customizable. The OS is not as stable as the MAC OS though. But
    it is still better than Windows.
    - High performance multitasking OS. For all of you who think Windows
    multitasks applications, try this: while using your favorite word
    processor, transfer a file using your favorite communications
    program and format a 3 1/2" disk in your drive. I know you CAN'T do
    this with Windows (I tried it). I can do this with my Amiga and
    still have CPU left for other things. This is a very well thought
    multitasking OS and Amiga programmers love it.
    - Well-integrated graphics co-processor. PC users are beginning to
    see the enormous benefit of a graphics-dedicated processor. Moving
    windows and drawing lines are not tasks suited for your CISC
    microprocessor. This frees the CPU for other operations. CPU time is
    really critical in a multitasking OS because the CPU is never really
    idle. The Amiga was the first personnal computer integrating a
    graphics coprocessor years ago. Ironically, this brought a bad
    reputation to the Amiga because people thought of it as a games
    machine. Nobody could then see a reason to put a graphics coproc in
    a computer other than to build a game machine. Today it is an
    essential component of a computer and the PC community knows it.

cons:
    - Lack of software. This is the biggest drawback of the Amiga and
    the reason why I think about getting another computer. Amiga
    programmers are enthusiasts but few. Most software has been ported
    from UNIX. Despite this, software quality is great. This is in
    part due to the great OS the Amiga is built on and the development
    tools available.
    - Hardware developement time too long compared to PC market. This
    is of course unfair because they are one against thousands of
    developpers for the PC market. Nevertheless, it is a big drawback.
    Commodore engineers cannot keep the pace with the PC market. They
    are outnumbered. While Commodore was ahead of its time a few years
    ago, the PC bandwagon is running too fast. Graphics and sound
    coprocessors, multitasking, were found only on the Amiga when it
    was released. Now they are part of every PC.
    - Extremely poor marketing. The famous Video Toaster from NewTek
    has done more to sell the Amiga than Commodore itself. Now that
    NewTek plans to build its own computer, where will Commodore go?


FINAL NOTE:

    Please try not to bash one platform or another. Be objective.
    I tried to make a fair comparison of each computer. I brought
    a negative perspective on each of them because I don't think there
    is such a thing as a perfect computer. Each computer has strong
    and weak points. If it were not true, there would be no reason
    to have so many different computers on the market.


COMPUTERS I OWNED AT ONE POINT IN TIME:

    - VIC/20        (3 years)   This was the best time I had. It was
                                special. Maybe because nobody had
                                computers then; it was rather new.
    - Commodore 64  (3 years)   Never had so much fun. Everybody I
                                knew had this machine.
    - Amiga 500     (2 years)   Wow! This machine was really ahead of
                                it's time. Great sound, graphics,
                                multitasking. PCs weren't even close!
    - 286 clone     (1 year)    This was a dark period in my life.
                                What have I done?? I sold my Amiga
                                and my soul to this ugly machine.
    - 386 clone     (2 years)   Much better computer. Much faster.
                                I am beginning to enjoy Windows!
                                I'm certainly going crazy...
    - Amiga 3000    (1 year...) I've had enough of Windows! I want
                                a computer which can really tell
                                me how much memory I bought. When
                                I pay for four megabytes, I don't
                                wanna be told I've got ~589K...
    - What's next?? MAC???


    Although I never owned a MAC, I worked with the MAC and with the
    NEXT, APOLLO and SUN computers quite a while. So I know what I'm
    talking about when I compare computers...

AUTHOR:

+===========================================================================+
| Eric Gailloux                                E-mail: gel212@gel.ulaval.ca |
| Department of electrical and computer engineering,                        |
| Laval University, Quebec, Canada                                          |
|                                                                           |
| ONLY AMIGA MADE IT POSSIBLE...              ...now every computer does... |
+===========================================================================+
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy