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From: phssra@emory.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Byte review. 386 v '020
Message-ID: <2239@emory.uucp>
Date: Sat, 12-Sep-87 00:34:38 EDT
Article-I.D.: emory.2239
Posted: Sat Sep 12 00:34:38 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 13-Sep-87 08:05:39 EDT
References: <1376@imagen.UUCP> <116@faccs.UUCP> <509@sbcs.UUCP> <1179@pdn.UUCP> <2508@vdsvax.steinmetz.UUCP> <46807@seismo.CSS.GOV>
Reply-To: phssra@emory.UUCP (Scott R. Anderson)
Organization: Department of Physics, Emory University, Atlanta
Lines: 48
Keywords: sun macintosh

In article <46807@seismo.CSS.GOV> dsc@izimbra.CSS.GOV (David S. Comay) writes:
>In article <2508@vdsvax.steinmetz.UUCP> barnett@steinmetz.UUCP (Bruce G Barnett) writes:
>
>	1. i want to run affordable software in a windowing
>	environment.  there are few programs in that class available on
>	the sun or for that matter, the apollo.  there are quite a few
>	programs including pagemaker, more, ready set go, etc that are
>	extremely useful and resonably affordable (at least compared to
>	the per cpu charges for things like interleaf) available today
>	on the macintosh ii.

This is certainly true, but that will hopefully change as more
programs are developed with interfaces for UNIX-based window systems
such as X and NeWS (e.g. TeX).

The type of software one wishes to run is definitely an important factor.
For more traditional programming, though, you have to keep in mind that
UNIX boxes like Sun workstations come with a lot of standard software,
such as editors, compilers, and debuggers.  Buying these for the Mac
adds up very quickly.

>	2. i'm not personally interested in running aux on a macintosh
>	ii.  if i wanted a decent inexpensive unix box, then i would
>	consider something like a 3/50 or a 3/60 or a 80386 based
>	system or perhaps a 3b1 (hmm, i did say decent, right? :-) if i
>	purchased a macintosh ii, it's because i want to run macintosh
>	software and not unix software.

I agree; if you equip a Mac II with all of the standard equipment that comes
with a Sun 3/52 (MMU, large disk, large screen, tape drive, ethernet, UNIX),
you will end up paying a fair amount more for the Mac.

>
>	3. the macintosh ii is expandable while the sun 3/50 is not.
>	if you want to compare hardware and their costs, a comparision
>	between a sun 3/160 and a macintosh ii would be more useful.

This depends on whether you need to expand it or not.  Many people will
be satisfied with ethernet, disk and tape drive as the only peripherals.

One other advantage of the Mac II is that it provides color relatively
cheaply (it is unavailable on the low-end Sun 3/50).

*                                     Scott Anderson
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   *   *    *    **                   phssra@emoryu2.{bitnet,csnet}
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