Klarinet Archive - Posting 000613.txt from 2003/08

From: "James O'Briant" <jobriant@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Computer/E-mail Hell
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 12:33:26 -0400

Suzanne Stanton wrote, in part:

> Why anyone would run a Windows Based
> operating system is beyond me. ...

Bill Stephenson replied, in part:

> AMEN to that! My Mac Cube has crashed
> once ... in the two years that it's
> been running ... Macs may cost a bit
> more than the cheap garbage being
> peddled by the Windows people, but
> in terms of total cost of ownership,
> Windoze can't begin to compete.

I realize that your opinion is shared by the vast majority of Mac and
Linux users (who comprise about 3-5% of all users worldwide), there are
other factors that can come into play.

I have a close friend who does some of her "day job" work at home, using
software supplied by her employer -- software which runs only on a
Windows-Based Server/Client network. It isn't available for Mac, and
part of the "work from home" agreement is that they supply the software
license, but she provides the hardware.

My current PC is ten months old, and in that time it hasn't crashed even
once (running Windows XP Professional). Its predecessor was equally
reliable, and it ran Windows 98 for four years with only one small
difficulty, which was quickly solved. I replaced it only for the
purpose of increasing processor speed (from 200Mb to 2.1Gb).

You ought to read all the whining on the Finale Lists, from Mac Users
who don't want to spend the money to upgrade their five-year old systems
running versions of Mac OS that new software releases don't support.

I've heard this perpetual "my Mac is better than your PC" litany
compared to the marching band player with three left feet, who
stubbornly plods ahead saying, "All the world is out of step but me!" I
think that's an overstatement, as Macs are clearly better than PC's for
certain kinds of applications, but it's getting to the point where I'd
rather see a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses coming up the front walk than
I would read more Mac proselytizing.

Jim O'Briant

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