The real choices we must make are less about the hardware and more about the software, less about the individual machine and more about the entire network infrastructure, less about how a person uses his or her own computer and more about how our data is accessed, shared, and distributed. The other day a faculty member wanted to share a file with his students. But some of his students were using Microsoft Word and some were using Corel WordPerfect. Some were using the Windows version of WordPerfect and some were using the Macintosh version. Because of application compatibility problems and file attachment issues, less than one-quarter of his students were able to use the file he sent.
Students attempting to share common documents have similar experiences.
The problems are not caused by the operating system or platform, but by the applications. Word and WordPerfect are strangers to each other on the Macintosh. WordPerfect routinely alters formatting between its Macintosh and Windows versions. Claris Emailer sends attachments using compression and encoding not easily understood by most email packages on either platform. The applications we recommend to students affect the applications that must be available to faculty and staff.