Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!apple!agate!stanford.edu!leland.Stanford.EDU!jessica.stanford.edu!aaron From: aaron@jessica.stanford.edu (Aaron Wallace) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc Subject: Re: give me solid facts: Windows/Mac Message-ID: <1991Mar28.005016.4469@leland.Stanford.EDU> Date: 28 Mar 91 00:50:16 GMT References: <1991Mar27.033317.23763@cs.uoregon.edu> <91086.010558CXT105@psuvm.psu.edu> <1125@nih-csl.nih.gov> <61034444@bfmny0.BFM.COM> Sender: Aaron Wallace Organization: Academic Information Resources Lines: 64 Something deep inside me is saying "Keep out of this flame war..." But... In article <61034444@bfmny0.BFM.COM> tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff) writes: >It's true that Mac users master more apps than PC users. Is this true? I work in an environment with a lot of both kinds of users. Mac users in general know of and have toyed with more kinds of applications (read: they tend to have many illicit copies of everything their friends have), but few that I know of have *mastered* more than a few apps. By mastered I mean knows inside and out. If someone can't tell you how to enter a section break or a formula in MacWord, they haven't mastered it. Most Mac users I know know enough about the apps they use to get by. They get work done, and that is good and as it should be, but they don't often do things the "best" way, such as by using a feature they are unaware of. "Masters" will use such features. When I think of "master" three kinds of users come to mind: old WordStar users (the ones who could patch the program with DEBUG to change a feature they didn't like), 1-2-3 users (the ones who refuse to use anything else because they know 1-2-3 so well--and because it's probably all they really need), and WordPerfect users (the ones who can tell you the F-key for any command you ask without referring to the template). The general contention is that Mac users use more apps than PC users. This is probably true, possibly because: + many PCs are used as dedicated-task machines--just think of all the copies of WordPerfect sold to turn a PC into a better typewriter for clerical staff to use. + sharing PC software is more difficult because of multiple disks/setup options and such or maybe... >This is because it takes more Mac apps than PC apps to get your work done! although I'm not sure I agree here. The $64K question, of course, is where do us Windows users fit into all this? I'd imagine from what I've read on this group that most Windows users that have access to many apps toy with them all, eagerly. Master them? Quick: what's the command in Winword to move a selection without cut/pasting it? >The Mac fulfills the Marching Morons theory. The user is as clueless as >ever about what he's doing, but he looks a lot better doing it. There is certainly pre-selection at work here. A voluntary Mac user is one because s/he wants a machine that can be used without having to learn about the machine per-se, in general. A voluntary PC user probably knows that DOS requires some learnin' and is prepared for this--if not eager to learn something new. Thus it would not be surprising that Mac users don't know the depths of their systems (or want to!) as much as typical PC users. Just compare the major PC and Mac magazines--would a Mac magazine ever publish assembly listings or hardware I/O descriptions like PC Mag does? Disclaimer: I've made a lot of generalizations based on my experiences at work and in the dorms at school (which is predominantly Mac-oriented). Your milage may vary. Aaron Wallace