At 06:15 PM 1/12/99 -0500, you wrote: Ooh, like doom is so great for kids! 8^) Actually, if you wait until a kid is 8 or so before introducing them to computers, you've wasted a lot of their time. 18 months is the recommended earliest a kid should start with a computer, but if you want to sit them on your lap while you work before that, I think it's okay. At 18months, windows versus mac doesn't really matter much; it's the application software that's important. If you can get Reader Rabbit/Playroom/Jumpstart for Unix (or CP/M or PDP-8) then go for it. But to say that a kid should not be introduced to computers until they can read enough to use unix or can handle a soldering iron is to do a major disservice to the kid. For an 8 year old (the original question) who has probably already learned to read/write/type, and understands running a program, and has used other computers, a C-64 is a fine machine to muck around with, spill soda on, play with BASIC on. (Though I'd vote for Atari myself. 8^) --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/