classiccmp-digest V1 #768

Dick; Without getting too far into religious issues, its been my experience that Macs have consistently supplied a good computing environment for me since 1984. My company uses both Macs and the latest Dell and Compaq PCs, and I lost count of the times our Wintel people have replaced hard disks and reloaded Windows. I have yet to see any of our Macs fail, and we have owned one of virtually every model. I own a G4 with a Cinema display that I wouldn't trade for any Wintel box made. What has impressed me is the level of integration between hardware and software - natural since they own them both and can ensure a high level of compatibility. This lends itself quite well to adding new peripherals and other devices and have them working quickly and without a hitch. I recognize that Apple lost the OS wars. The reasons are numerous, but one of the main ones stems from the corporate mentality of the early 80's when you could never get fired for buying IBM. Hence, truckloads of IBM PC's with Lotus 123 appeared on managers desks. Marketing and sales liked Apple because their desktop publishing capabilities were far and away better than Windows toward the late 80's, but these people were in the minority, and as Windows came along, there became less and less reason to go Apple, from management's point of view. And once Apple was forced from corporate desktops, they were relegated to a niche market, where they will remain. I am productive on my Mac. You are productive on your PC. I'm sure both are terrific matches for their respective users. And as all of us on this list can attest, there have been numerous computers and OS's that, while they may be terrific machines, fell by the wayside for one reason or the other. And you never know. Linux may just be eating Microsoft's lunch by 2005 and those Wintel boxes may start to look nostalgic :-) Craig Landrum Chief Technical Officer Mindwrap, Inc