From: spector@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
Subject: Re: Resurrection!!!!!
Date: 5 Oct 92 08:41:00 GMT
Organization: Concordia University
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

Soenke Behrens writes...

>A) Be very aware of the fact the the GS is _not_ the power
>machine of today (and not the medium-sized machine of today, either).
>B) Keep in mind that in order to use your GS, you need at least a HD and
>an accelerator.

   Although your partly correctly, I do find my myself in disagreement over
a few of your comments about the Apple IIgs. Yes, the GS is no longer a
state-of-the-art machine in today's computer world, but it's certainly not
as worthless as you've made it sound. There are many tasks a IIgs does as
well as an IBM or Mac, and in some cases even better. Software which proves
that fact has been few and rare, but nevertheless there's a number of good
examples out there!
   Most current GS software require a hardrive and accelerator to run smoothly,
as you'd except from other systems, but the GS still works fine without either
of the two. I've managed to complete important tasks on -both- my IIgs systems
for the past couple of years with no HD or extra speed (although I do plan
on upgrading with a hardrive -- as I would with any serious machine).

>So, try to get it _really_ cheap. This should be possible now, as the GS
>is virtually worthless (not to me, but in the used computer market). 

   Unfortunate, but true. (thanks to Apple -Mac- Computer Inc.)

>it depends on what you want to do with the computer ... if you're into gra-
>phics, I'd say stay away from the GS. If you're into highly CPU-intensive
>things, stay away. If you are into all the newest and hottest games, stay
>away. In all these cases, you are indeed better off with an IBM (yuck)
>system, possibly running OS/2.

   I'd wouldn't quite say you'd be better off with graphics on IBM system
than with an Apple IIgs. I know...IBMs have VGA and SuperVGA where you can
have displays of 640x480x16/256 or 1024x768x16/256. All very nice, but what
good is that is virtually no (or _very_ few) software application support
those modes? From my knowledge games and other products are written to only
support MCGA mode, being 320x200x256. On top of that, IBM's 320 mode has
very course pixels (blocky) while the IIgs and other systems have smaller
(round) pixels giving a better looking display. Compare IIgs 320x200x256
color graphics with IBM MCGA graphics, and IBM will seem very "yuck"! :-)
   However, the 640x200x4+ resolution, while decent, is still too low for
things like true WYSIWYG desktop publishing on a GS. 640x400 would make the
GS much more useful in that area, and certainly others. 

>On the other hand, the GS is perfect for small home use, for experimenting
>with a computer and programming w/o getting punished by a brain-dead OS
>all the time, and for having fun with the famous // community.

   I wouldn't limited it to just that. You'd be surprised at what can be done
on a IIgs, and what people are currently using it for! Most of us really
underestimate the power and potential the GS has, and it's easy to do so
at a time when so few programs are written for it! Believe me, if the IIgs
were as "powerless" as you made it sound, I would have moved to a Macintosh
or IBM (ack!) a long time ago...! :) 

>Soenke
>===========================================================================
>More than silver, more than gold, I need   !    behrenss@informatik.
>electricity. I need it for my dreams.      !    tu-muenchen.de
>(RACTER)                                   !  FIDO: 2:246/13 Soenke Behrens
 _________   _,
|| IIgs! || (_(
||_______||
|  _____  | Mitchell Spector
\_|[]  ||_| spector@vax2.concordia.ca
  ~~~~~~