Ted Hastings wrote:
And I suspect that it's the only one with which you've tried to use the complex mixture of applications described above.
Not at all, and also about the 'no-one is obliged to install... etc'. We are. When you publish reviews of peripherals and software, you can not turn one company down and say 'well, I reckon your stuff may cause us problems' - even if that is your past experience. You have to give each revision a fair trial and that usually means installing it.
You're not comparing like with like. "'ownership' issues and access privileges" only become an issue if you're running a server, which should only be done if you have the appropriate training.
Not so. On Mac OS X and similar opsys, ownership and privileges are concerns with any installation. It doesn't have to be a server, because this ain't Windows. ALL machines are servers, and have been since about 1986. Networking and file sharing are part of the system. OS X just firms it up a bit with Unix-style login etc.
What I don't understand is why all the people who raved about the Mac OS for years have quietly dropped it in favour of Unix, which has been around a lot longer than Macs.
Because the Mac operating system goes back to the Xerox GUI (which we first used on Apple Lisa computers, before Macs existed, and also used on Xerox workstations where it was even 'purer'). Unix can sit behind almost any GUI, and Mac users never raved about the actual opsys behind the GUI, only the way in which the GUI worked. The new operating system is actually not much enjoyed by those who preferred the economical simplicity of the orginal GUI, but then, Windows users don't often enjoy the child-friendly interface of XP either.
For my business, Windows was never even an option. All the key software we use has now been ported to Windows, but back in the 1980s a PC was frankly unable to drive any of the scanners, imagesetters, or even the layout and graphics programs necessary. Windows owes it present font formats, colour management, printer drivers and just about everything else (including Microsoft Office, believe it or not!) to stuff which started out on the Mac platform.
We do get many readers who clamour about obscure low-cost Windows programs which do wonderful things and say 'this isn't made for Mac!'... and then you look at what they are talking about, and realise they are using something which resembles a bit of Mac freeware from 15 years ago, which indeed does not exist for Mac today, since no-one in their right mind would pay the $49.95 asking price.
There are payroll programs for Mac, but I don't trust them. Just the same way I don't trust graphics programs on PC. Accounts depts use PCs, and it follows that the most solid and reliable accounts stuff will probably be on PC. But for sound recording, magazine production, digital studio work, animation, etc I'll pay the extra for the similar dedication of Macs to those fields over the years.
I don't criticise PC/Windows per se, just the way in which the entire market was contrived to keep 'consultants' in business instead of letting the user control their own machine. It still happens. One client of ours just paid several thousand for an ACCESS database when two hours with a copy of FileMaker Pro would have done the job (on Windows OR Mac, fully cross platform compatible). The consultant trashes FileMaker Pro and promotes ACCESS not because FMP is inferior, just because if the client gets FMP, they no need the consultant's services. And this particular aspect of the Windows/PC world is one which I deeply dislike as I hate deception for commercial gain.
David
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