Mac Lab Report

Mac Advantages Feedback

Part 2: Feedback on Advantages 15, 20, and 22

- 2001.03.15

Based on recent feedback from readers, I think the following points covered in our previous article are worth noting.

15. DLL libraries on Windows cause problems.

Several readers, including Greg Weston, pointed out that my comparison of DLL problems to Mac OS extension conflicts was comparing apples to oranges. Extensions add functions to the system software, whereas DLL (dynamic link libraries) are resources shared between programs and the operating system. However, they also stated, my error did not negate the Mac advantage, as Greg Weston explains:

While this statement is true, it's not an analogous situation. Mac OS extensions - the troublesome ones - are patches to the OS. The talking point discusses some relative weaknesses in the Windows shared library mechanism. Apple's shared library mechanism is very robust. I wish other systems had the powerful versioning mechanism Apple offers.

Advantage: Macintosh.

20. Ease of adding peripherals.

Because of their experiences in attempting to add multiple USB devices to PCs, several readers said I was off the mark in neutralizing the Mac advantage here. Apparently PCs with multiple USB devices can still have major driver conflicts, and the inherent limit to multiple devices in the USB standard does not negate the problems Windows itself has handling multiple peripherals. Frankly, this has not been something I have observed in my limited experience adding USB peripherals to PCs, but lacking further data, it would seem reasonable to add that advantage back in - not because ADB was bad and good riddance, but because Apple's implementation of USB seems to be easier to use in practice.

As several readers, including John Balint and Donald Michael Kraig, pointed out, on a Mac you add a driver for the new device, reboot, and go. On a PC, you have to run an installer program, which may detect a conflict, and then the game's afoot and good luck. Often you can only use one USB input device at a time on a PC.

John Balint even reported that installing a Microsoft Intellimouse was easier on his G4 than on his PC!

Advantage: Macintosh.

22. Aliases work better on a Mac.

I must have been asleep at the wheel here, too, because my understanding of aliases was way off the mark. I tested many of the other items on the list before committing to a position, but I figured I understood how aliases worked on the Mac.

Well, they say it takes a big man to admit his mistakes, and so I'm living large these days.

François Lorrain writes:

I am not sure I understand what you mean here. Suppose you have an alias for an application. Suppose this application is on volume XXX. Then moving the application to any other place on the same volume XXX will not break the alias. Of course, if you copy the application anywhere and delete the original application, then the alias will be broken! So Mac aliases keep track of where the application is on one given volume, but not of where it is copied (whether on the same volume or on another). Of course you must know all this, but what you wrote did not make this clear.

A quick and simple experiment bears this out. Windows at first glance functions in much the same way. Moving the original application on the same hard drive to a different folder had the same effect as it did with Mac OS; Windows searched for and found the application and started it.

On the other hand, moving (not copying, but moving) an application to a shared folder on the network broke the alias.

The advantage remains with Macintosh.

Join us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, use our Google+ page, or read our RSS news feed

is a longtime Mac user. He was using digital sensors on Apple II computers in the 1980's and has networked computers in his classroom since before the internet existed. In 2006 he was selected at the California Computer Using Educator's teacher of the year. His students have used NASA space probes and regularly participate in piloting new materials for NASA. He is the author of two books and numerous articles and scientific papers. He currently teaches astronomy and physics in California, where he lives with his twin sons, Jony and Ben.< And there's still a Mac G3 in his classroom which finds occasional use.

Recent Mac Lab Reports

Macs in Space: Curiosity Rover Based on G3 Processor, 2012.08.07. When choosing a CPU for space missions, NASA looks for reliability above all else - and NASA chose a PowerPC G3 as the brains of the Curiosity rover.
Bike Across the Country While in Your Basement, 2012.06.25. By linking your exercise bike to a PC running Google Maps Street View, you can virtually bike across the country.
Microsoft Word 2004 vs. iWork Pages 1.0 for writing a book, 2008.01.10. Microsoft Word is great for technical writing, powerful yet slow, while Pages lets you concentrate on just writing, making it great for novels.
More in the Mac Lab Report index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: PowerBook 5300, introduced 1995.08.25. The first PowerPC PowerBook - known for flaming performance.
June 20 in LEM history: 00: Synergy time for Apple - 01: Towards equality in the high tech workplace - 02: Real people use Macs for real work - 03: Does Mac/Windows convergence threaten innovation? - 05: No need to worry about switch to Intel - Steve Jobs on living and dying - How Gassée changed the Mac's direction - 08: Mac sales up 50%
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Mac Lab Report copyright © 2000-08 by Jeff Adkins. Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Opinions expressed are those of their authors and may not reflect the opinion of Cobweb Publishing. Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all.
Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2013 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Low End Mac, LowEndMac, and lowendmac.com are trademarks of Cobweb Publishing Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, Mac Pro, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it, and we don't share the information we have with others. For more details, see our Terms of Use.