From: strobl@gmd.de (Wolfgang Strobl)
Subject: Re: Why Macs are better (and the others aren't)
Organization: GMD, Sankt Augustin, Germany
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1992 14:31:44 GMT

In <1992Sep25.064430.27111@ugle.unit.no> terjer@ifi.unit.no (Terje Rydland) writes:

>In article <strobl.717290109@gmd.de>, strobl@gmd.de (Wolfgang Strobl)
>wrote:
>> 
>> In <1992Sep23.202829.1797@javelin.sim.es.com> mmunson@animal.es.com (Mark Munson) writes:
>> 
>> >In case you can't remember, I've summarized several areas where a Mac out-performs 
>> >other personnal computer systems.  Try responding in a responsible manner to any
>> >of the following topics (or add new ones if you feel that if would contribute to
>> >the discussion in a substantial way).
>> >	
>> 
>> Ok. Please use lines shorter than 80 characters. While my PC (with
>> Windows) is able to digest these, the Unix system I'm using to 
>> answer my mail (and to read/write NetNews) doesn't like long lines
>> very much.

>Don't worry - use as long lines as you like. I'm using a Mac (with
>NewsWatcher/Eudora), 
>and my UNIX system that I'm using to answer my mail(and to read/write
>NetNews) 
>doesn't mind long lines.

Well, his original complaint was that he didn't get much responses or comments to his Mac vs. the rest list, at least not from non-Mac people. I regard your reaction to my polite request - which may point out one reason why he got no comments - as a bit strange and unnecessarily unfriendly. Btw, why do you think that newspapers usually set their text in columns containing much less than 80 characters each?

It seems obvious to me that you both are 
not interested in getting any responses.

>> 
>> >	1.  Consistent user interface - Simplicity saves time.  Apple has spend a lot of
>> >            time and effort to insure that applications have a standard look and feel.
>> 
>> Question: did Apple succeed?

>Yes. Very much so. There are a few companies that insist on breaking those
>rules.
>One of the main offenders is Microsoft. 

Perhaps because Microsoft has had to keep a standard look and 
feel for its applications on a bigger scale, which dosn't just 
include the Mac platform, only?

>> >	2.  Selecting a document (not the application) - Getting a new GUI for your PC
>> >            won't change the limmitations of the way applications are written.
>> 
>> Argh. Would you care to explain that sentence? Perhaps my English isn't
>> good enough to understand such subtilities, but I things its simply a 
>> stopgap against any kind of argument, vaild or not. Right?

>The point being that it is the data (document) that is important, not the
>applications
>that are used for creating those data.

I don't unterstand that. Neither the document nor the application make
any sense without the other. Quick: what is more important: your
laserprinter, or the paper it prints on?

>> 
>> >  On a Mac
>> >            you deal with documents, and the Mac locates and runs the appropriate
>> >            application.  You won't have to set path names, or install applications in
>> >            special areas that your system knows about.
>> 
>> How does the Mac locate that application? I remember having helped 
>> somebody who just read some document from a floppy using his Mac,
>> and the dammend thing insisted do load the application for that document
>> from the very same floppy (unsucessfully, because it wasn't there), while
>> it in fact was on his  hard disk. 
>> 
>> This is, of course, a setup problem. Oh well. And I thought 
>> this was something reserved for PC users!

>No. It is not a setup problem. Have you ever used a Mac? 

Yes, obviously. :-)

Joking aside, yes, I have. It heavily used one about six or seven
years ago, but very seldom afterwards.

>The Mac builds and maintains a database (under sys 7, a desktopfile under
>6.x)
>that contains information about all the applications that is on any disk
>currently
>mounted (harddisks, file srvers, removable media). When you launch a
>document
>the Mac checks the file to see which program created the file, scans the
>database
>to see where the application is located and then starts the application.
>Your friends desktop file (or database) was obviously corrupted, and all
>you 
>needed to do was to force a rebuild of the desktopfile/database.

It wasn't obvious to him (or me) how to do that. After you explaination,
it still isn't obvious to me. 

Application to file association isn't fully automatic under Windows
(in comparison to the way the Macintosh seems to handle that), but
it isn't a big problem: you can do it manually, by using the the
filemanagers "associate" menue entry, but usually the setup 
programm of an app makes all the necessary changes. And the
automatical method has its own problems, imho.

> 
>> >	3.  System file treatment - Need to add a font, desk accessory, or driver?  Just
>> >            drop the appropriate file into place, and all of your Mac applications will
>> >            benefit.  No need to reinstall applications, set path names, or perform
>> >            tedious editing on CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, etc.
>> 
>> You add a font to windows by using the font tool in the control panel. Big
>> deal.

>Why a font tool? In system 7 you just drop the font on the system folder
>and that's it.

Why a font tool? For example in order to show you details of the
font to be installed or removed, including a sample of how it looks.

Why a control panel at all? It is quite possible to encode each
and every parameter change in the system into some kind of file
movement ("Move the 'Green' file to the 'BackgroundColor' folder"),
but I doubt that this is the way to go.

> 
>> There aren't such things as desk accessories in Windows.This is
>> an outdated concept.  

>Nor are there in System 7 - this is indeed an outdated concept.

Fine, finally we can agree on something. :-). Nice that the
Macintosh OS has finally caught up to Windows, after six or seven
years. (Sorry, couldn't resist - in fact I don't like that sort 
of remark much; I just hear it all to often).

Wolfgang Strobl
#include <std.disclaimer.hpp>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy