On Tuesday, August 20, 2002, at 02:13 , Alan Sargent wrote: >> What I would like to ask the listers here is whether you, as a Mac >> user, >> believe that it is absolutely neccesary to be dragged unwillingly into >> the >> future, and forced to abandon programs and OSes that continue to be >> perfectly >> suited to one's needs, just to satisfy a computer company's efforts to >> continually 'improve' things?
Personally, my beliefs are that, no matter what computing platform you're using, you have a right to continue using whatever software, operating system or hardware you wish, so long as it continues working for you. But making the leap to a more advanced system might be of more benefit that you might imagine. For example, given the fact that you have over 300 megs of RAM, running OS X on your old Rev A should be a cake walk. Unless, of course, you still have the original hard drive. If so, it'll be a bit of a squeeze getting OS X into 4 gigs, though it CAN be done. I did it on my Rev B (I have a Flat Panel iMac now). Personally, I stuck with OS 8.6 throughout Mac OS 9. At that time, I didn't see OS 9 as a significant enough an improvement on my existing OS to pay good money to make the upgrade. So, until OS X, I used 8.6, just as you do. However, when OS X came out, the improvements from Classic OS were dramatic. I didn't feel the upgrade from 8.6 to 9 was worth it, but I felt the jump to X was very much worth it. So I went directly from 8.6 to X. As hard as it is to imagine, 8.6 doesn't "work" NEARLY as well as OS X. When I had 8.6, it was more stable than the Windows 98 I was using at work at the time by a long shot, but I still had a crash that brought down the whole machine every week or so. I got Mac OS X in July of last year. In ALL THAT TIME, I've only had the machine crash badly enough to need to be reset FIVE TIMES. And all but one of those times were before 10.1... I haven't had a bad crash like that on this machine PERIOD since I bought it four months ago, and I had had no further serious crashes on the Rev B before selling it. In other words, thanks to Mac OS X, I haven't had a serious crash in over SIX MONTHS. If you feel that 8.6 still works for you, then by all means stick with it. But you should be aware that it's not even HALF as reliable and stable as Mac OS X. For the astonishing stability alone, it might be worth giving that upgrade a second look... Regardless of what you decide, though, I don't think you need new HARDWARE. With so much RAM and, perhaps, a bigger hard drive, your old Rev A should be able to service you well for many years to come. Although, I have to admit, these Flat Panel iMacs really kick a**... ;) > On my PC I still use several DOS applications under Win98 (which is > itself > officially about to be EOLed). I use apps that are 14 years old every > day . . . Actually, at work, it's the same way. The company I'm working for is still using DOS-based software that I still use every day. Although I'd prefer to have some of the more advanced features available on Windows software, I can't argue the point that what we're using still works and works pretty darn well. And, while most of our Windows machines now run Windows 2000 Professional, a few still run 98. :) So yes, older software CAN be useful for many years if it meets your needs... but sometimes, an upgrade can bring advantages that the person so used to using the old software can't see... My suggestion is, do the research and find out what the newer OSes and software can do. If you honestly and truly don't think you need the extra capabilities of the newer software, then I agree: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. :) John A. Ardelli Owner/Moderator BIFIDA-L: The Original Spina Bifida Discussion List The Crystal Corner - The Original Dark Crystal Discussion List -- The iMac List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | - Epson Stylus Color 580 Printers - new at $69 | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> iMac List info: <http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/imac-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
