Some people may know of the Macintosh LC 475 or Quadra 605. When these came out in late
1993, Apple really pushed to sell them. "Macintosh. Does more;
costs less." For a little more than US$1,000, you could get a nice
Quadra 605 with 4 MB of RAM, a 160 MB hard disk, a 25 MHz '040
CPU, and ClarisWorks software.
In that same year, a 25 MHz 80486 system cost considerably more
once you added all of the features the Mac had that the PC did not.
Apple later released a PowerPC upgrade for the LC 475/Quadra 605.
The only major upgrade for '486 computers was the Pentium
Overdrive, which only worked on certain models - most of the clones
were left out. Apple's had PowerPC upgrades for all of its 68040
and 68LC040 desktop computers.
The Macintosh is more cost effective, easier to use, more
compatible, and quicker to start up and shut down than a PC.
While there are many '486s in use today, they are not nearly as
upgradeable as a Quadra 800 or
Centris 650 from the same era.
Macs cost less over time because they last longer and have more
features built in - which means fewer compatibility problems with
future versions of the operating system. When you buy a Mac for
someone, you are making a solid investment in something that will
last the user several years.
The Mac is easy to use. Of course, all Mac lovers know that, but
some people think that the Mac is for beginners. If the Mac is for
beginners, how come you are able to go into the System Folder to
move around extensions without harming your machine? Try moving
around DLLs on a PC.Ö (Make sure you have your Windows CD
around while you are doing it!)
In the mid-90s, Apple hit it right on with their advertising -
the voice recognition ad (how smart the Mac is), the floppy disk ad
(how compatible the Mac is), and the Christmas present ads (it took
those poor people so long to figure out how to install that program
into the PC that they had to break it down into two ads!)
Some people admit that the Mac is great, but they don't want
have one because they don't want to look like a Machead in front of
their friends. In fact, many people who own a PC own a Mac as well.
I openly admit that I use a PC, too - I have a 200 MHz Pentium
tower and a '486SX IBM ThinkPad 360cs that I use along with my
Macs. I prefer working on my Macs, but the PCs are there in case I
need them.
A Mac is compatible. Very compatible - in fact, so compatible
that you can run Windows on it! If you are looking for a computer
for someone who currently uses a PC and has Windows programs, get a
Mac and Virtual PC. On a new Mac, it runs almost as fast as a
recent PC, and it can run almost any PC program out there (as long
as it doesn't need access to a serial port).
Another reason to use a Mac is its quick startup and shutdown
time. Think about it. A PC goes through it's long memory test
first. If you have 64 MB or more RAM, it can take a while. Then it
will look for drives. That takes a few seconds. Then up comes the
system information, if your computer provides it. Then it loads the
config.sys and Windows. That's almost a minute there. That's not
counting the fact that you may have some startup programs your
computer launches or a server to log onto.
A Mac, on the other hand, first shows a happy Mac, then a
"Welcome to Mac OS" screen. It then proceeds to load extensions,
and, if you have a fairly recent Mac (G3 300 or better), your
extensions will load very quickly and total boot time will be about
a minute.
When you shut down a Mac, it will turn itself off pretty much
right away. When you shut down a PC, it has to exit Windows first,
so that takes longer.
PCs are not bad machines at all. Many new ones, made by
companies like Dell and Sony, are very fast and very inexpensive.
Nowadays, PCs are coming out at speeds up to 1,000 MHz. That's
quite a ways from the original 60 MHz Pentium chip.
PC companies have come a long way since the original Pentium as
well. Compaq now seems to be focussing on the Internet with it's
Internet keyboards and "Instant Internet" access. Dell is focussing
on making sure you never forget it's name, www.dell.com, when the
computer starts up, "America Online provided by Dell," even a Dell
CD player program. IBM is trying to focus on other things besides
just computers - like e-business solutions and the PowerPC
processor. Gateway is starting to become less and less popular, and
clones, like my tower, are almost nonexistent (other than the ones
that PC-geeks build themselves).
You are making a big decision when buying a computer for someone
else - a decision that they have to live with whether they like it
or not. Buy a Mac and you can guarantee that it will last them
several years, that it will be compatible, and that it will be
quick and easy for them to do their work on.
Before I go, I would also like to wish everyone a happy and safe
holiday season and a happy "real" millennium.
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