From: bcoleman@hayes.com (Bill Coleman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: Re: PC, MAC or Amiga?
Date: 26 Jan 93 11:18:47 EDT
Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA

In article <gel212.727799334@rigaud>, gel212@gel.ulaval.ca (gif19268 Systemes numeriques avances) writes:
> 
> MAC
> ===
> 
> pros:
>     - Software support almost as good as the PC. 

Better. Better SW than on the PC.

>     - Great hardware quality. Those MACs are really well built. 
>     - The best GUI in the world. 

The best User Interface in the world. Drop the "G".

>     - Easy software and hardware installation. 
> 
> 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. 

This is flat-out untrue.

There are a large number of third party products for the mac, from Monitors
to keyboards, disk drives to cards, trackballs, tablets -- you name it,
someone makes it as an accessory for the Mac. Many of these items are of
good quality, and nearly all of them are cheaper than Apple equivalents.

In some cases, third parties have peripherals with capabilities Apple
can't match. If you want a two-page color monitor, for example, you ca't
get a solution from Apple. Ditto video cards with video capture. Apple
doesn't have products with this capability.

>     If you have
>     something from a third-party, Apple will make it difficult for you
>     to install (think of the HP LaserJets drivers). 

This is also untrue. I have installed a number of third party devices. I have
found them to be no easier or difficult than installing Apple devices.

>     - Lack of direct contact with the system. When will the MAC have
>     a shell? 

If you want a command line shell, buy MPW. 

>     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. 

FAUGH! We've been over and over this here in the .advocacy group. There's
nothing that a command line interface offers that a good visual user interface
couldn't do without.

One benefit of the Mac OS is that you don't have to go mucking around with
your system all the time, like you have to with, say, Windows.

>     - 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.

Whether or not YOU would call it that, the Mac OS is a multitasking OS.
Just because you hesitate to give it that name doesn't change the fact that
it is a multitasking OS.

Just because the technology used for multitasking differs from other types
of systems is no reason to condemn the Mac OS on this point.

> FINAL NOTE:
> 
>     Please try not to bash one platform or another. Be objective.

I didn't. You'll note I carefully did not comment on either the PC or the
Amiga platform. I just wanted to correct some of your misconceptions about
the Mac.

-- 
Bill Coleman, AA4LR                ! CIS: 76067,2327    AppleLink: D1958
Principal Software Engineer        ! Packet Radio: AA4LR @ W4QO
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. ! UUCP: uunet!hayes!bcoleman
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Disclaimer: "My employer doesn't pay me to have opinions."
Quote: "The same light shines on vineyards that makes deserts." -Steve Hackett.

Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy