CIS professor tries Mac - and likes it.



Author: James H. Blaisdell

Date: December, 1989

Keywords: mac vs. ibm ms-dos msdos

Text:
     Imagine me, a die-hard IBM-PC user, being asked to write an
article on ''How I use the MacIntosh.''
     How could such a thing have happened?  
     It happened because the people I work with at NASA Ames Research
Center moved from PCs to Macs and dragged me kicking and screaming with
them. But, why would they have done it?  
     For the reasons you already know  --  the user interface and
because the Mac II finally provided some expandibility through the
slots and optional displays, a feature missing from its ancestors.
     So what do I actually do with my Mac?
     I use it as my preferred interface wherever I go because, with the
Mac interface, I can sit down to a new piece of software and produce
results almost immediately. Comparatively, it takes hours of investment
with other operating systems and application-dependent interfaces to
achieve meaningful results.  
     As an example: I recently headed out to Washington, D.C., for two
weeks of intense work. There were Macs available and I had carried my
usual software with me.  
     They were using Word 4.0 at the site, and I had heard good things
about the embedded Postscript and outlining features.  So I just sat
down and started work in Word.  Imagine doing the same (moving from
WordPerfect to Word) on a PC with an important deadline in front of
you!
     I also use Excel.  I haven't had the chance or necessity to really
learn to use the product; I know from watching others that it is very
powerful. I just sat down and started using the features I needed; I
just get by with it.  
     It would be impossible to achieve results with a traditional PC
product without investing time with the documentation.  I stress
traditional because it is changing.  With windows, it is getting pretty
hard to tell PageMaker or Excel on the Mac from PageMaker or Excel on
the PC.
     Lots of presentations; I do lots of presentations.  
     I have used Power Point and Cricket Presents, but my favorite is
More II. More II has a good outliner. When you are ready, each bullet
item in the outline automagically becomes a slide for a presentation.  
     I think the largest gain in productivity I get comes from using
Adobe Illustrator with a couple of good encapsulated postscript clipart
sets. I'm no artist, but with this combination I get very credible
results.  
     The fact that More II imports lots of file formats (most
importantly for me, Adobe Illustrator) for graphics display is critical
to my preference of More II.
      Here is an example I like --  an Illustrator graphic developed
with eps clipart that later moved directly into an outline bullet item
in More II. Unfortunately, you are looking at a screen captured pict
format (at left) representation because WordPerfect won't import the
Postscript file from Illustrator.  You should see it printed on a
Postscript printer.
And then there is networking.  
     Using a network product on a PC: 1) costs money for add-on boards,
2) takes work to install, and 3) is relatively hard to use (for
example, look at Tops on the PC versus Tops on the Mac).  
     With the Mac, you plug in a couple of connectors, stick in a disk,
pull-down a menu, and you're networking! Printing to a postscript
printer on the network, sharing files with another Mac.
     Do I still use the PC?  
     Yes, anytime there is a specific piece of software that won't run
on the Mac!  For Example, E-R Designer is a database design tool that I
really need and it is not available on the Mac.  
     NASTEC DesignAid is a CASE tool that I need, and it too is only
available on the PC. Another great use I make of my PC is as a file
server via a LocalTalk network to my Mac. 
     After all, I had already paid for my PC hard drives.

Copyright © december, 1989 by James H. Blaisdell