30 Apr
2002
30 Apr
'02
1:07 p.m.
FWIW, most Macs since the Centris/Quadra 650 (1994?) have had on-board
ethernet. Unlike the competing product, it's pretty much plug and PLAY.
As the early iMac commercial said:
Three steps to get on the internet.
Step 1. Plug it in. (scene shows power cord being plugged in)
Step 2. Get connected. (scene shows RJ-11 plug being plugged in)
Step 3. There is no step three!!! There *is* no step three.
It's really about that easy.
With my systems, I run the wire to the hub, select "connect via
ethernet" in Remote Access and configure the TCP/IP control panel to
either use DHCP or manually enter the necessary IP numbers. Takes all of
three minutes. Much less time than it takes a winbox to find and load
the NIC card drivers with its so-called Wizard.
With Novell, just load and configure the Netware Client for Mac. It's a
much longer process, but what can one expect from Novell...
Jim
Richard Erlacher wrote:
We'd best just agree to disagree about Apple Computer Co product quality.
My position is based on what I saw in '81-'82 with then ][ and ][+, where 10
complete data losses per hour were the rule rather than the exception. I
remember watching a client's hired hand reboot and retype six times in the
course of a single phone call (on the customer's dime, so that wasn't good
either) culminating in the loss of the customer, not to mention the loss of
the order. It may not be that bad any longer, but I'm operating on the
"once-bitten-twice-shy" principle. At that time, my partner and I were in the
retail business, and wherever we saw an Apple, we made a sale, no exceptions.
My experience with the MACs was limited to what was then "leading edge"
implementations, which often led to trouble. I imagine the problems were
resolved, but I didn't get to see that. Consequently, the bad taste lingers.
I am quite impressed with the seamlessness of the integration of the MAC
stuff, but since it's all from Apple, you'd expect nothing less.
One thing that I've wondered is how one gets an old MAC to talk on the
Ethernet when it's a mixed environment with Netware and Windows NT servers. I
know Netware has a provision for MAC namespace, but I've only seen one
ethernet-capable MAC, which leaves me wondering how folks who use MACs install
an ethernet interface.
What do you know about that?
Dick