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From: jcav@ellis.uchicago.edu (john  cavallino)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Amiga coverage in Byte
Message-ID: <1991Mar2.004532.13380@midway.uchicago.edu>
Date: 2 Mar 91 00:45:32 GMT
References: <91059.184958CXW148@psuvm.psu.edu> <1991Mar1.024207.29305@en.ecn.purdue.edu> <1991Mar1.112510.1947@sugar.hackercorp.com>
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In article <1991Mar1.112510.1947@sugar.hackercorp.com> peter@sugar.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva) writes:
>In article <1991Mar1.024207.29305@en.ecn.purdue.edu> stevew@en.ecn.purdue.edu (Steven L Wootton) writes:
>> Let's take this from the top.  There are some 75 million DOS boxes out
>> there.  There are 4.5 million macintoshes.  Lord knows how many unix
>> systems are currently running.  How many Amigas have been sold?
>
>Over two million. About half as many as Macs... but many of those are now
>obsolete and incapable of running the latest software.

<sigh>  It depends on what you mean by "software".
If you mean the OS, then the only Macs incapable of running the current
version are those with the original 64K ROMS.  According to an Apple market
research estimate (of a couple of years ago) there were less than 25,000 such
machines left in use, the vast majority having been upgraded.
If you mean application software, then the major gulf is between programs that
REQUIRE color and those that take advantage if it's there but still work
fine when it's not.  The architecture of Quickdraw is such that most programs
fall into the latter category.  Programs that REQUIRE color tend to be high-
end graphics and video which would be pointless without it.
My point is that, however many Macs are actually out there, it is safe to
assume that almost all of them can run current software.

--
John Cavallino                      |     EMail: jcav@midway.uchicago.edu
University of Chicago Hospitals     |    USMail: 5841 S. Maryland Ave, Box 145
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"Opinions, my boy. Just opinions"   | Telephone: 312-702-6900