> chris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> (01/27/2003 6:30 AM): >how many of the macs would still have been >bought even if MS office wasn't available for it.
>But I think you would find that most oThf the personal purchases by people >who "really like their Macs", would still have bought one, and just used >an MS compatible product. This was a little harder to do in the past (had >to use something like MacLink Plus or an app that could deal with Office >formats), but not impossible. This thread definitely triggers memories. Regardless of personal use, business use (often at great odds) has been my impetus for computer selection, but greatly affected by personal preferences. I moved from CPM & WordStar to Mac OS4 & MacWrite. This probably would have been fine until ~1990 with file exchange via the internet and remote logins (come to think of it, I had to emulate a Wise terminal and was remotely using Unix and the command line interface). I do remember the angst at paying for OS 7.x - but it was very little more than purchasing MacLink Plus separately. If it wasn't for MacLink Plus I wouldn't have been able to dump the 386 machine (the downside was I had to revert to the ImageWriter instead of the LaserWriter II). With the ability to send files via the internet, transparent compatibility dictated the investment in MS Office. That is still true today. And now using OSX, I find the inefficiencies of working in Classic (eMailer; Office 2001) constraining. Oh, I need to make a snipe at Retrospect here: my purchase of a new iBook in December was a sudden business decision - I had a family emergency that took me out of town for an extended period of time and the Duo 2300 wouldn't cut it to maintain my consulting work. So I bought the iBook and took with me the Retrospect backup CDs. I was intending to just boot in OS9, restore my old files & applications, and then explore OSX at my leisure. Damn - Retrospect 4.3 Desktop wouldn't boot in Classic and in OS9 wouldn't recognize the internal DVD/CD-RW. Inquiries and joining the Retrospect mail list revealed that even an upgrade to Retrospect 5 would not resolve the CD drive recognition. Fortunately I did an install of Office 2001 before I left and had a Toast CD of the business files I needed. But now I am definitely looking for alternate back up software. - Charlie ___________________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe send a mail message with a SUBJECT line of "unsubscribe" to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> or <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
