From: bcoleman@hayes.com (Bill Coleman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: Re: IBM SUCKS!
Date: 29 Sep 92 14:06:52 EDT
Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA

In article <1665@anagld.analytics.com>, sammy@anagld.analytics.com (Sam Blackburn) writes:
> 
> Macs are tied to ONE OS. 

Not true. A/UX, Minix and OS/9 68K are known to run on the Mac. There may be
more. 

While the Mac isn't limited to one OS, that OS is so good that the majority of
users use it.

> The PC app can be any one of a number
> of operating systems whereas the Mac is hindered by one OS.  

While *ONE* PC application can be under any number of operating systems, what
happens to the user who needs to run several applications on the PC, that
just happen to run on incompatable OSes. This leads to a situation where 
the user can't run the software he wants to without rebooting the machine
for the correct OS. Ugh.

I fail to see how the mac is hindered by its OS, despite this simplistic
numerical suggestion. Quantity does not indicate quality. What would you
think of a personal computer that has hundreds of operating systems? Would
that be better than the PC?

> But back to the point, I have never programmed for a Mac so I cannot compare 
> Windows development against Mac development.  

While I personally have not performed Windows development, I am currently
surrounded by Windows developers. Windows development isn't much different
than Mac development, except for two problems.

1) Windows development tools aren't as mature as the Mac. They are pretty much
   in the same state as the Mac was back in about 1985 or 86. 
2) Windows documentation really reeks. Early Mac documentation wasn't too
   bad, and it has gotten better over the years. A lot of the windows stuff
   lacks some of the thought and organization that went into the early Mac
   development documentation. (eg No human interface guidelines)

The Mac certainly isn't perfect in this department, but the headaches are much
larger for the Windows developer. Compound this with the fact that there are
few people with extensive long-term Windows experience.

> Windows development over DOS development takes a 
> little getting used to but is not very difficult.  In fact, I would even call
> it easy.  

You sir, must be living in a dream world. 

The Windows developers that surround me are all at least DOS developers,
many have also done Mac development. I regularly hear screams of anguish,
along with under-the-breath mutterings that "Windows sux." Easy. Hah.

> Maintenance is a beast unto itself.  For example, if something blows up
> inside a your computer.  If it's a Mac then you've got one source for parts,
> APPLE.  If something blows up in a PC, you can get replacements almost
> anywhere.  The downtime of a PC is less than an Apple.

Maintainence doesn't always mean waiting to replace something when it blows
up. Maintainence also includes getting things set up in the first place and
keeping them running.

Apple isn't the only source of parts either. There are several companies that
make peripherals and components for the Mac in the form of drives, monitors,
memory, keyboards, mice, etc. There are also companies that re-sell board-level
components.

Apple quality is a lot better than many PC clones (many of which don't even
meet FCC emissions standards), and there's less tendency for breakdown in
the first place. 

I don't accept the conclusion that PC downtime is less than Apple downtime.
Do you have any facts to support this position. (And I mean stuff like
studies and surveys, not apocryphal stories)

Finally, you didn't include the costs of training. If an organization is
going to effectively use a computer system, there are training costs,
regardless of platform. That's another kind of downtime you didn't factor
in. It doesn't matter how fast you replace components if people haven't
figured out how to use their systems yet.

-- 
Bill Coleman, AA4LR                ! CIS: 76067,2327    AppleLink: D1958
Principal Software Engineer        ! Packet Radio: AA4LR @ W4QO
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. ! UUCP: uunet!hayes!bcoleman
POB 105203 Atlanta, GA 30348 USA   ! Internet: bcoleman%hayes@uunet.uu.net
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