Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!world!boris From: boris@world.std.com (Boris Levitin) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system Subject: Re: System 7 and Mac Plus/SE 68030 upgrades. Message-ID: <1990Nov6.063438.6556@world.std.com> Date: 6 Nov 90 06:34:38 GMT References: <9514@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> <1990Nov3.122558.28340@rodan.acs.syr.edu> <9516@jarthur.Claremont.EDU> <3117@murtoa.cs.mu.oz.au> <1990Nov5.065457.2872@world.std.com> <3119@murtoa.cs.mu.oz.au> Organization: The World @ Software Tool & Die Lines: 111 rob@cs.mu.oz.au (Robert Wallen) writes: >>Same goes for HyperCard. Apple has greatly improved it in v. 2.0, and it's >>still FREE, so why won't you get it? There's non-stop whining on Usenet >Rest assured I 'would' get it. Lets just make sure that I 'can' before we >start slamming around the term 'whining' please. And from what I read in the >afore-mentioned media, HyperCard is not exactly free these days, is it? NO! NO! NO! A complete HyperCard set, NOT a runtime version, will continue shipping with all Macs. The main difference between the Apple and Claris HyperCard packages is that Claris will include a 700-page manual. Also, I believe, the Claris HyperCard will be preset to the authoring level. In short, you'll keep getting all the HC capabilities free with each Mac, plus the rudimentary documentation you received previously. Apple's press release on the new Claris HC package was misleading and they almost immediately retracted it. >Also, the deadlocks caused by 'User A: I want to use the latest features of >MacNeato 7.3 but it needs System 6.12.3a. When are we upgrading?' >'User B: I need to keep using WizzoCalc 1.8 and it breaks under anything later >than System 6.11.2. Get onto the people at WizzoInc and get the latest version >from them, will you?' >Who do I keep happy? And how do you guarantee that you will even be able to? True. But much less true for the Mac platform than for DOS. I'm not even going to start comparing; just think of the zillion different printer drivers (each application has to have its own driver for YOUR particular printer) or of the seven-some and counting major imaging standards. Oh god. Also: Yes, programmers could be perfect and not write bad, incompatible or non-guideline-following code. Humanity could be perfect. Communism would then be a great idea. Unfortunately, this is not the case with our particular species. But take heart: on the Mac platform, at least, software incompatibilities are constantly decreasing (and fewer now, per number of software titles published, than on any other major platform). Yes, a business installation of more than one Mac does need an administrator, or at least a minder. (Again, this is even more true of other platforms.) He is supposed to "keep his nose up to MacWeek, MacUser, MacTutor, etc.," as you write. Maybe if more angry users complained to Microsoft about failing to notify its registered users directly about important maintenance updates such as 2.2a, Microsoft would improve its service. >>Now, the original Mac II also crashed when you tried to run MacWrite 4.5 >>(still very popular at that time), because MacWrite 4.5 (not the Mac II) >>didn't fully follow its own guidelines. Should Apple have not introduced >>the Mac II so as not to "break its own code?" If it worried about >As I recall, the change there was a CPU not just software. This sort of thing I >can deal with. Have you heard me complain about the sound software that >stopped working when I got my SE/30? Or the Thunderscanner that needs a >different serial port to get power from? Or the TurboMouse that needs a >non-adb connection. (And yes, I could get these upgraded if I thought >spending the money was worth it. For now, I just keep using the 'other' Mac >that I keep around 'just-in-case') I believe you meant "the TurboMouse that needs an ADB connection." Try to see it this way: the major software incompatibility crisis we're facing now is the one over the upcoming System 7.0 (I assume the 6.0.7 troubles are at least partly the result of the operating system code's evolution towards 7.0), and System 7.0 will be considerably more useful to many more users than any particular Apple hardware model or even something like ADB ever was. >>>Point me at a store where a megabyte costs ME $35 and my nose is yours for >>>the bopping. Although Australia may be a little far to walk ;-) >>US$35 is the bottom end of the price range for 1MB SIMMs in the US. Many >>of the mail-order vendors at the back of MacWeek (such as the Chip Merchant) >>will sell at that price, although airmail to Australia would be extra, but >Actually, my 5mb upgrade for the SE/30 cost me about $500 AUS once you factor >in our crappy dollar, freight, insurance, etc. Thats about $125 per SIMM. I meant US$35. I believe A$1=US$0.75 (?), so let's define our terms. Freight can't be all that expensive so long as you're shipping standard airmail; ditto for insurance. I suggest you call the Chip Merchant (US+619-268-4774; actually his latest ad quotes $39/1MB SIMM) and ask him how much insured airmail to Australia would cost. >And correct me if I'm wrong here but I just bet that sticking in $35 worth of >RAM gets you system errors and not much else. Dont you need at least two? Or >four? (Note: If you tell me you get TWO for $35 I really am going outside to >burn an effigy of our national treasurer!) I quoted the price per one one-megabyte SIMM, of course. Please, let's not be coy. >>then, no-one said that being a community of some 14 (?) million people >>on an island-continent far away from the nearest civilization was going to >>be easy. At least it encourages self-reliance :-) >It certainly isnt. And it certainly does. But for a machine that prides >itself on being for the international market, its software vendors sure dont >realise that there is a world outside the U.S.A. Many of them don't seem to realize there is a world inside the USA, judging by the way they treat us domestic users. Seriously, your complaints are badly needed. Write, fax or e-mail Bill Gates and let him have it. (Take courage from all the foreign users who forced MacWeek to start printing pubishers' fax numbers.) >And apologies to those who think this should be in some other newsgroup. No, actually, it all ended with a discussion of the operating system and related issues, so this thread is finally in the correct newsgroup :-) Boris Levitin ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WGBH Public Broadcasting, Boston boris@world.std.com Audience & Marketing Research wgbx!boris_levitin@athena.mit.edu ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- (The opinions expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily coincide with those of my employer or anyone else. The WGBH tag is for ID only.)