I’ve been using Windows-based PC’s and I’m finally getting sick and tired of the hassles with constant error messages, crashes, etc. The advertising for the new Apple computers makes them sound like they are too good to be true.The OS X operating systems seems great–plus the computers themselves look really cool. My question is, are they in fact as good as they sound? Will the transition be easy or difficult? Will I have problems interacting with programs and other computers that are run on windows? How about internet access? Any help or advice from people that use Apples would be appreciated.
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Andy: We have use Apples or Macs for approx. 10 years now, both at home at at the Trades college I work at. Took some selling to get the administration to let us keep upgrading our mac equipment for our Carpentry Dept. The very small down time or crashes or virus's and ease of use was our main argument. The staff in the computer dept. are pretty much strangers in our office. On a couple of occasions we have been the only dept. that did not need major repairs after some problems on the college server. Me and the two other guys that run the carpentry dept. are carpenters and cabinetmakers and found the macs so easy to use, from internet stuff to drawing programs to whatever.....
At home we love our imac for the same reasons..
Welcome to the cult!
I'm an unabashed Macintosh bigot. (I have one Windows machine and it's a pain in the butt.) OSX is a real treat to use. The interconnection of all the support for digital devices is awesome. The reliability is fantastic.
I use VectorWorks (CAD) on it and that is unbeatable.
It's been immune from all the stinky viruses making the rounds. It's resistance to internet hacking is superior.
I'm kinda happy with it.
What do you use your computer for? Is Mac software available for those applications? Those are the crucial questions, because writing Mac software is not easy. Macs network readily. You may run into a number of incompatibilities, but they are often caused by people who assume that propriety Microsoft standards and file formats are universal. I wouldn't own one, but in my case it's a philosophical incompatibilty. Apple, far more so than Microsoft IMO, believes there is One True Way for computers to interface to humans, and I just can't twist my head into the space where Steve Jobs lives. I do not find Mac software intuitive to learn or easy to use.
If you're willing to consider Unix, you have several other options. You can probably preserve a lot of your hardware investment by switching to Linux. You can get unsupported versions free or very cheap, or you can buy from vendors that offer more handholding. I've never run Linux, so I can't offer any more information than that. There are Linux web sites and Linux magazines available if you're interested.
Another Unix possibility is Sun Microsystems running Solaris. Suns are built from the ground up on networking. Sun used to have a slogan "The network is the computer." Like Macs, Suns are impervious to all the e-mail viruses out there that are written for Windows applications. In recent months I've been getting a suspicious e-mail about once a week. I open the message, an attachment downloads, and then nothing happens, because I don't have whatever Microsoft application the attachment was targeted at. The downside of the Sun is that if you can't find shareware to do what you want done, software is expensive, like 10 to 50 times as much as equivalent Windows software. I would dearly love to have a simple drawing program so I could post sketches like Joe Fusco and several other people do instead of trying to explain things in words, but I haven't found one I can download, nor one that I can afford to buy.
The most robust OS I've ever used was VAX VMS. In the 2-1/2 years that I did software development on the VAX, it never crashed. Period. I also liked the fact that it kept numbered versions of my files. every time a file was written to disk, a new numbered version was created, so if I decided the wording I discarded three versions back really was superior to what replaced it, I could go back and get it. There are version control programs that will do that, but only to the versions you explicitly decide to save. VMS did it every time the file was written to disk.
I was going to offer Linux as the alternative, but you beat me to it. Solid platform.
Mongo, do you run Linux stand alone or do you use something like System Commander and two operating systems? What about Linux apps?
I've been a Mac user since 1985. I love them. I've converted my wife and my brother to them.
I have to say that I hate the time that I have to spend on PC's at work. I can't stand the interface, and if somethong goes wrong, you can lose hours if not days trying to fix it and in the end you probably won't fix it anyway and wind up living with just another thing that doesn't work like it should on your PC. My boss at my old job had a 500 dollar scanner that sat there unused for literally years because no one could ever get it to work.
All that said, if you need autocad or chief architect, you have no choice. I like VectorWorks as my cad program though, and it's cross-platform. I avoid Microshaft programs at all costs, but have to use MS Wierd and MS Expel every now and then. I have four different browsers loaded on my machine and only use Internet Exploiter when the web site requires it. I like the Chimera (Mozilla) browser a lot.
There would be some transition time for you, but I doubt you would regret it if you switced.
Steve
Ah, a DEC guy. S/36 and AS/400 were also really robust.
Back to the topic, you don't switch to MAC, you add a MAC; if you're using a PC now, you'll always need it..
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
Uncle Dunc asks the right questions. I've been frustrated as you, maybe more so, with Microshaft Windows. I've stuck with it because applications I use such as AutoCAD are available only for Windows. I've upgraded my year old Gateway to Windows XP. Its a revelation after struggling with the constant blue screens of death with Millenium. XP is far more stable than previous versions of Windows, being based on the NT kernel. XP is what Windows should have been all along.
XP is a big improvement over the previous versions. I went from 98 SE (which wasn't as bad as millenium) to XP and noticed quite an improvement. That was 6 months ago and my machine hasn't locked up once.......not 1 blue screen. I am an aggresive computer user and really put my PC through a lot. I've networked 4 PCs in my house.......and have had minimal problems. Also, in XP if you want to restore your computer to a previous date that it worked better, just open restore, and a calendar pops up........pick a date. I don't know much about Macs.....'cept I know they really have a cult following........
The person or persons at Microshaft who ever decided to release Millenium on an unsuspecting public should be hung by their (name a body part). Several companies I worked for (I was a CAD temp) yanked it off brand new computers because it had so many problems and went back to 98SE. Millenium may very well be responsible for a whole lot of new Mac users and Apple's revival. With XP, Microshaft may have redeemed themselves but for some, its too late. To my way of thinking, the last good version of Windows was 3.11 for Workgroups. Later versions (95, 98, 98SE, Millenium) offered more features but less of what I think is important .......... things like stability. Microshaft should have shifted everything to the NT platform long ago.
We're going through the exercise this weekend of stripping Windows 2000 Professional (NT) off a Dell and replacing it with Win98 - I'll put Bootmanger on the machine, and on the 2nd "C" we'll put DOS/2000 (I may have to back off to DOS V7 in order to run Win3.11, it doesn't seem to like DOS 2000), WIN3.11, and OS/2 V4 FP5 in a dual boot setup.
No matter what, OS/2 is still the best operating system that ever went on a PC. .
Phill Giles
The Unionville Woodwright
Unionville, Ontario
I too have been using Macs for about 10 years.
Their new operating system, called Jaguar - it's version 10.2 of their new OS is fantastic. Important is that fact that Jaguar is based upon Unix. Almost no crashes and if one does happen to occur, it only effects that particular program, not the entire computer or OS.
I also installed Virtual PC which emulates (actually included Windows 2000) so I can run Windows programs on it.
Check out a coulpe of web sites for Mac users about Jaguar and peruse some of their articles. The current issues go into detail about Jaguar.
Also, Microsoft Office for Macs automatically transfer to PC Windows. That means that if I initiate a file I Mac Word or Mac Excel, and email it to a Windows uses, s/he can open it in theri Windows computer flawlessly.
I just installed Jaguar on my G3 laptop to get familar with it before retiring my old 6500 desktop and buying a new Mac screamer in Jan, when the new ones come out.
http://www.macaddict.com/
http://www.macworld.com/ (more tech inclined)
http://www.machome.com/
One more: http://www.macdesignonline.com/
XP is actually a big step backwards from NT4 service pack 6. Like DOS 3.1, that will probably turn out to have been the high water mark. In XP, the so-called explorer goes from merely annoying to totally useless. And there's no winfile to fall back on to do what you really need. A personal gripe, they've removed the Dvorak keyboard support, so I can't use it for text. The XP machine is my wife's computer now.
-- J.S.
Gees....I have like no idea what a NT4 service pack 6 is...........I'm sure you know what you need for your level of expertise. I have a Dell Pentium 3 & 2, both with XP.....and 2 other machines with 98 SE. They are all networked together with a Linksys switch to share our internet connection. We use QuickBooks Pro for our businesses and QuickBooks for our personal finances......and perform almost all our bank transactions online. My wife and I both use software particular to our businesses. I've never had a problem that has made me think of switching to a different operating system. I guess whatever works for your individual needs......but I love my window based machines.....I have no reason to change.
jocobe
XP is actually a big step backwards from NT4 service pack 6. Like DOS 3.1, that will probably turn out to have been the high water mark. In XP, the so-called explorer goes from merely annoying to totally useless. And there's no winfile to fall back on to do what you really need. A personal gripe, they've removed the Dvorak keyboard support, so I can't use it for text. The XP machine is my wife's computer now.
...Started in P.C. world with theTimex Sinclair 64K, with the piggyback, cassette drive...Apple II GS...Mac Classic...[now, the big mistake]... Beige Amd, 900 PC MS Thing-a- ma- boob...
Next, and soon ... a Mac anything! Ti Book!...or an iMac... Never, ever would I trade...Hay Phill, want a P.C.?
BUY A MAC! More energy efficent, also...
PeaceNewf
The original Google guy: accept no substitutes
The morning after their wedding, Melinda Gates turned to Bill and said, "Now I know why you named it 'Microsoft'".
-Peter
Gravity is faster than the speed of light.
Wow...........I think it's great you guys like Mac's as well as you do. It's nice to be passionate about something.........but if XP works for me ......and all that I need a computer for........why would I go to the expense of changing?
Different strokes for different folks!
John
P.S.- Hey you Mac dudes........you still got Beta VCRs?.....just kiddin'
Why would we have a Betamax when we have iMovie and can burn our own DVDs?
View Image
“Systemize the Routine; Humanize the Exceptionâ€-
from Customer Culture: How FedEx and Other Great
Companies Put the Customer First Every Day
by Michael D. Basch
I was just kidding............you can burn DVD movies on a Mac? What happens if you see something on ppv and want to record it........it is possible to hook it up somehow? I'm still using VHS for the kids movies and stuff. I put all the keepers on my Dish Tivo type receiver. Those Tivo hardrives are getting bigger and bigger.......I wouldn't see why you'd even need a media to record it on.......unless you were lending the recording out.
By the way......I was a Beta holdout...........I just recently threw my Super Beta HiFi away!
John
Edited 10/25/2002 10:11:45 PM ET by JOCOBE
John I was being facetious. I never had a Betamax and I've had one VCR in my lifetime (now
broken) and my video library is all of maybe twenty tapes and half of them are
probably Tauton videos. I don't watch much TV although I read about a book a
week. Just never been my thing.
However yup to DVDs. I may actully get one of those now since there is all
this great Apple Software for Video and Music
QuickTime
iMovie
DVD
Studio Pro
My borther is in to all that stuff so I'll ask him tomorrow about what's out
there. (I'm helping him move).
Here's also some Apple information regarding switching
over to Jaguar from Windows (really for Andy Charron but John you might
find it interesting to consider just for fun)
View Image
“Systemize the Routine; Humanize the Exceptionâ€-
from Customer Culture: How FedEx and Other Great
Companies Put the Customer First Every Day
by Michael D. Basch
Not a computer guy at all....but I did hate our last PC......a gateway re-loaded with windows 98......when it died of old age.....it was replaced with the new PC....a Dell loaded with XP....and it's worlds apart.
new comp is better......XP is better. If your desired programs aren't Mac approved......maybe it's not the end of the world. More power is a good thing.
for what it's worth......I bought our new PC off the Dell site......reconditioned.......got it for $900......saw a very similar set up on some home shopping network special about a month later.....on sale.....for $2800.
We kept the old moniter.......as a computer expert buddy said we still had pretty much the top of the line........a 17" gateway.........saved a few bucks.
Jeff..............Al-ways look on......the bright......side of life...........
.......whistle.....whistle.......whistle........
...I still have 8-tracks too. Depending on your age, you may have to Google that...
...Think Different...Newf
The original Google guy: accept no substitutes
Is AutoCad incompatible with Virtual PC? I don't have a Mac because of work, but I thought Virtual PC was supposed to allow you to run Windoze applications of the Mac (as if anybody would want to!).
Truth is I don't know. I suspect if it did work, it might be slow because of the method Virtual PC uses- emulation. AutoDesk at one time supported the Mac platform- R12 was last version for the Mac if I recall correctly. Maybe they will once again. My gut instinct tells me using emulation to run a CAD program is asking for trouble.
If you had the fastest Mac with lots of memory, and didn't try to do too much stuff with AutoCAD (i.e. stick to 2-D drawings), you'd probably be OK. But the Windows emulator adds a lot of processing baggage - ACAD runs on Windows, Windows runs on VPC, VPC runs on the Mac. If you're stuck on AutoCAD (AutoDesk is the Microsoft of the CAD world, with PTC running a very close second), keep your PC, but get a basic Mac (like an eMac) for everything else.
didI opened the box, and the first thing I pulled out was - well, ya know, it's just surreal being me right now...
I use windoze based pee sees, but my brother and his wife use macs. Based on what I have seen, if it was up to me, macs all the way. As the computer tech guys at her university said, "we never hear from you mac users; you turn it on, and it works"
You've had some good responses, but I'll add anyway - if you're using a PC the way most people do, you can almost certainly switch seamlessly. Mac OS X can read Windows directory structure, so if you're on a PC network, you just plug in - you can get at any file you could with your PC. Also, MS Office for OS X uses the same file formats as Office XP - they are truly interchangeable. And, by MS's own admission, Office X for Mac is better than the same thing for Windoze. Apple's iApps (iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, iDVD, and now iCal and iSync), which are included free with any new Mac, are best-in-class applications. iTunes is by far the best MP3 player I've encountered. iPhoto is incredibly slick - plug in a digital camera, and iPhoto launches and automatically dowloads the photos. iMovie is similar, if you have a digital camcorder (we're getting ourselves one for Christmas). The email app learns what you consider spam and filters it. There seem to be a number of Linux applications being ported to the Unix-based OS X, too - OpenOffice is one.
Another thing to consider is MS's penchant for the proprietary and the tightly controlled. Read up on their Palladium project - they'll be giving themselves the power to reach into your PC and delete anything they find objectionable. Apple is clearly committed to open-source software.
Security is basically a non-issue with Macs. Last I heard there were NO known OSX viruses (virii?).
Downsides? Up-front cost is generally higher, although I'd bet long-term they're cheaper to own (fewer problems, longer lifespan). You have to deal with people who look down their noses at Mac users (but admit they've never used one). There's generally less choice in software, although I've never not been able to do something as a result. You'll be irritated every time you're forced to use a PC, as I am every morning when I come in to work at my clapped out HP Kayak workstation (can't run ProE on a Mac, dammit!).
Do it, you won't regret it!
did
I opened the box, and the first thing I pulled out was - well, ya know, it's just surreal being me right now...
I'm going to make my bottom line opinion the top line here.
You plug a Macintosh in and it works. And it works. And it keeps on
working. I want to do stuff with my computer. Not have to do stuff to it.
I'm a long time Mac user who always wondered why my windows brethren torture
themselves the way they do with their machines. In the first two years that
my G4 desktop machine was sitting here running OS 9.x I had only two problems
of any kind of significance that I can recall and I was able to take care of
them probably only inconveniencing me for a total of six hour over those two
years. I occasionally have a program crash here or there but only those two
system problems that I was able to take care of myself.
Back on September 7th I made the switch to OS 10.2 Jaguar and I've had nary
a blink of any kind of problems at all. I am stunned with how my good Macintosh
life got even better. After a week with the new system I made a post over on
Joe Stoddards JLC Computer Solutions forum regarding my Jaguar experience and
I post that again here. Tomorrow I'll give a look at it again and make any revisions
based on my experience with it after four or five weeks it's been now.
The one thing I can say if your life depends on AutoCad you are out of luck
because running it under Virtual PC isn't worth the money or effort. Either
keep or buy a cheap PC for the AutoCad forget the Virtual PC idea. Please take
my word for it. However my real CAD application is VectorWorks (which happens
to be cross platform) and there are other Mac CAD alternatives too.
Andy if you can fill me (us) in more on what you do businesswise and what you
are considering in the ways of software I be happy to fill you in what out there
as far as estimating, job control etc.
View Image
“Systemize the Routine; Humanize the Exceptionâ€-
from Customer Culture: How FedEx and Other Great
Companies Put the Customer First Every Day
by Michael D. Basch
>However my real CAD application is VectorWorks
Jerrald,
A question for you. Have you looked at Doodles, the plug-in for VW? Just curious on your thoughts. I tried the test version, but cannot seem to make it do anything.
And I downloaded an object from VectorDepot--piano.mcd, but it stays a generic icon and isn't recognized by VW or VW Viewer, etc. Any ideas? OSX 10.1.5 VW 9.5.2
Wow--I post what I thought was a simple question, leave for two days and come back to find 30 replies, all full of great information!! I guess I'll have to give this a good deal of thought, but it seems the consensus is if I keep a PC on hand for certain applications I won't go wrong switching to a Mac for my daily use. To answer some of your questions, I use a computer in my office for very simple things--ie word processing, UPS shipping, Quick Books Pro and Internet access. Home computer does all the same plus some games for the kids and our camera software. Maybe I'll keep the PC at work and ad the Mac at home. Thanks for all your replies and the great information.
Cloud, I tried Doodles back when VectorWorks was known as MiniCad. For a while I used to use it on perspectives and elevation sketches but after using it for while, a lot of people who knew me pretty well, while they thought it was nice said they liked the character of my own hand drawn drawing and sketches and style better . I thought it was a great tool back then but realized that there was something to doing my own hand drawn sketches that was appealing and I stopped using it and had almost forgotten about it until you jogged my memory here. I'll have to find it again ( it's probably on a floppy disk oh no!) and see if it's upgradable or whether I have to license it again from scratch again since it's been so long.
While I have used VW 9 a little on some other machines I 'm still using VectorWorks 8.5.1 so I really don't know what to tell you about about about that download glitch you've encountered but I should be getting around to upgrading it real soon. The one possible downside to a OS X upgrade was the cost of upgrading all my applications to the OS X versions. I'll be upgrading to v10 (which is fully Carbonized if I am correct?). I haven't done it yet since it isn't a pressing need. V8.5.1 is still doing the job for what we do and I have a real good hunch you use CAD a lot more often than I (we) do. Since I do have a lot of shop drawing production on the horizon possibly coming as early as mid-November I may be making that switch/upgrade any day now. When I do one of the first things I may do is get to checking out what you just described to me to see if VectorWorks v10 on Jaguar 10.2 makes any difference. I'll probably come to you and others for answers regarding a new set of VectorWorks problems I am sure I will have.
I found the more I use CAD the more my hand drawing skills go to pot. Just like any skill I guess you need to stay in shape so I went back to trying to draw concept sketches and illustrations by hand. I'm in a phase again right around now where my hand drawing (and painting) sucks again so while I do want to upgrade to VectorWorks v10 I also want to get back to real drawing and painting too.
View Image
“Systemize the Routine; Humanize the Exceptionâ€-
from Customer Culture: How FedEx and Other Great
Companies Put the Customer First Every Day
by Michael D. Basch
Thanks. I was never good at the hand-drawing. Never could be as patient as it required, and when I go as fast as I like, I get sloppy. Especially with lettering. The computer forces a discipline on me. VW v10 should be here any day now. They've significantly upgraded their NURBS capabilities, which is what I use constantly for the compound curve shapes.
Cloud we may be confusing issues on a difference in semantics. I think of "Drafting"
and "Drawing" as two different things and I have a hunch your Drawing
is my Drafting. Drawing to me is like the thumbnail sketch I did here for a
set design I did years ago. Italian
American Reconciliation That's what I call a "drawing", an illustration,
or a sketch.
However when I am drawing up plans or working drawings for something that's
really what I think of and call "drafting". I came form an art background
and I went to college to be trained as a theatre set and lighting designer and
scene painter so my point of view and terminology is all screwed up I guess.
I could never "draft" as fast or as well as I do using CAD as I would
by hand. Nah no way. "Drafting" it's VectorWorks. "Drawing"
it's more often than not with a pencil or marker. I have done some really neat
illustration stuff using Photoshop and Painter but with my best stuff the underlying
drawing was done in pencil and then I scanned in the drawing and just used those
progams to manipulate what I had drawn or "colorize" it.
View Image
“Systemize the Routine; Humanize the Exceptionâ€-
from Customer Culture: How FedEx and Other Great
Companies Put the Customer First Every Day
by Michael D. Basch
No, I meant drawing, too. I've tried and just can't slow down or be neat or accurate enough. With pencil in hand and a piece of paper, I'm the only one that can tell what I mean. I do drawings for myself, but I could NEVER share them with a client. I've pretty much learned to use the computer as a better drawing tool than a pencil for me. Except when I wanna watch TV and doodle. <G>
I have to stay with a Wintel box. Without the decorative keyboard impressions pounded into my forehead during the chronic fits of machine induced frustration my friends wouldn't recognize me.
The post I made over on JLC regrading my upgrading to Jaguar Experience
Mac OS X Jaguar (10.2) Jerrald Hayes 9/15/02 12:23 a.m.
Joe I’ve been a long time Macintosh user and just this past week I finally
made the upgrade switch from OS 9.2 to OSX (10.2) Jaguar and I was wondering
what your take on it all.
In the past I’ve always found upgrading system software on the Mac to
be relatively quick, painless, and inexpensive. This time around I found it
a little bit different.
While making the upgrade (installing from the CD ROMs) couldn’t have been
any easier or less trouble I’ve found it’s taking me some time to
find my way around and I’ve had to completely reacquaint myself with the
operating system. On the plus side I have had any extension conflict resolution
to worry about or take care of at all but that’s what I expected given
what I had heard and seen so far with the initial releases of OS X.
So far after a weeks use I had Microsoft Word “quit unexpectedly”
once but didn’t take down the system and that’s the complete list
of crash type problems I’ve experienced. I am stunned by how smooth and
stable everything is (…so far).
The “trouble” I found is to really take advantage of OS X it costs
a lot more than the $130 bucks for Jaguar. You need to upgrade all you applications
too which can start to get pricey. I’m very willing and happy I did but
unlike previous system upgrades which can be more incremental, as you slowly
update applications one at a time, this upgrade calls for a quantum leap with
all your applications for it to really be worth it. From the list of what I
running you can see how that can get expensive.
What am I running and what have I found?…
even smoother and easier than in the past.
I’ve been used to. And it’s ability to automatically correct spelling
and grammar as you type is really surprising me and the format changing and
editing is easier than ever.
while I haven’t been a big excel user since abandoning the Turtle Creek-MacNail
system years ago for a FileMaker based system I created but I can see myself
using it more and more now in the future. It’s given me some new ideas
of uses and things to try.
Does anyone out there either Mac or Windows based use PowerPoint for presentations?
I can see it happening and being a good tool that way but if I did start using
it I would be the only contractor that I know that did.
e-mail. Switching from OutLook Express I’m having a little bit of difficulty
making the switches from the keystrokes I been used to using for years. Since
I probably not going to be using the Calendar, Contact Management modules
I may switch back to OutLook Express. Any thoughts, reasons, or ideas on why
I should continue with Entourage?
thing as the regular 5.5 for all intents and purposes. It’s just the
developer edition has a script de-bugger that I need and use.) Running native
OSX it’s great, runs quick, and I like the Aqua interface on it.
Running under Classic it runs the same as it did before.
allow me to use my Palm m505 to record TimeCard data and lookup Project Information
data while on the job and running about.
there was a newer OS X Palm Desktop. I couldn’t get my conduits installed
for Now Up-To-Date and Now Contact and eventually I figured out that was the
problem. The upgrade was free but finding it or finding out about it was the
difficult part. While I like the newer Palm Desktop 4.0 application I think
I am still going to replace them with the Now applications.
DreamWeaver/UltraDev which I had been using before and already liked a lot.
Palette management, which had been my main bugaboo before, is much better
with MX. Plus there are a lot of other things I like better too.
but that may be related to a lot of recently added memory
look through it and I like what I saw but it’s too soon for me to make
any kind of critical evaluation. They’re a lot to re-learn there and
new stuff to explore.
point. This is my first experience with Flash so I am at the primal early
learning stage but it looks kool and interesting.
decided to make this my primary application for calendar and contact management.
in action I'm wondering what’s your take on comparing the two?
this a demo and probably will deploy and integrate it with my FileMaker based
systems. It also has a Palm application, which I will have to check out too.
new OSX version due this winter. So far no problems running it under Classic.
but I haven’t made the switch over yet while I am still using....
program but I want something that will help me “library” and file
my photos.
I consider this application an absolute essential and it was the first OSX
upgrade I purchased. I rely on it heavily and the new OSX version is very
very good with some new features I am just beginning to learn and deploy.
always opens up document full screen and with a 21” monitor I thinks
that’s a waste and a pin in the butt and there doesn’t seem to be
anyway to prevent it in setting the preferences. The good thing is that OSX
allows you to save documents as PDFs ( “You can use the Print dialog
to save documents in Portable Document Format (PDF). Open the document, choose
Print from the File menu, and click Save As PDF.”) That I really like
and I had been using PDF Writer in the past to do just that. I take the document
output from my FileMaker based systems and issue them as PDFs for distribution
to clients and trade partners.
One of the things I am still wondering about and I haven’t been able to
get a clear answer on is if OS X Jaguar will run on a G-3. My PowerBook laptop
with Firewire (being repaired right now) is a G-3) and while Apple says it will
run on that platform I am wondering how successful it will be?
It took me a little while to figure out and get used to the new way OS X does
it Save and Open Dialog boxes (called sheets) but being about to click out of
them and navigate through the other applications you may have running is a plus
over the older systems.
With this upgrade I actually had to buy a book to learn about the system and
how to use it; Mac OS X The Missing Manual by David Pogue. I always do by the
books on the operating systems anyway but this time I HAD TO. I needed it to
understand how the UNIX and NEXT conventions were changing my Mac life and to
introduce me to the new features and applications. It’s going well so far
but I can see there is a Brave New World out there in front of me to learn and
explore.
One closing thought and maybe a question seeking you opinion Joe (and anyone
else’s opinion too) Given the caveat of the lack of construction specific
software developed for the Mac and putting that aside isn’t the Mac platform
a “better” platform for the small builder and remodeler? I’m
thinking the small contractor doesn’t have time or shouldn’t be spending
time learning all the glitches and nuances of computers such as viruses, problems
with improperly installed or missing .DDLs, service packs etc.etc. A plurality
of small SOHO contractors run their operations using their own Excel spreadsheets
for estimating and Word for construction documents rather than the commercially
developed applications. Given that wouldn’t they find life a lot easier
on a Mac? I mean pretty much all you have to do to get a Mac to work is just
plug it in to the wall. It’s been incredibly low maintenance for me all
these years and give the stability of OS X I can now expect even more stability.
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“Systemize the Routine; Humanize the Exceptionâ€-
from Customer Culture: How FedEx and Other Great
Companies Put the Customer First Every Day
by Michael D. Basch