Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!gatech!hubcap!ncrcae!ncr-sd!ncrlnk!ncrcce!rogers
From: rogers@ncrcce.StPaul.NCR.COM (Bob Rogers)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: About Atari's, Mac's, and IBM's
Message-ID: <654@ncrcce.StPaul.NCR.COM>
Date: 9 Apr 88 08:23:07 GMT
References: <8804071811.AA05419@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Reply-To: rogers@ncrcce.StPaul.NCR.COM (PUT YOUR NAME HERE)
Organization: NCR Comten, Inc.
Lines: 40

In article <8804071811.AA05419@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> KAHNP@SKIDMORE.BITNET (I Agitate Communists) writes:
>I am thinking of upgrading from my evil 6502 based machine (Apple //e).
Why?  I'm serious - there is a _lot_ more software for the //e, and a lot
greater variety of software.  Yes, it (the //) is slower, and if you want to
do hacker-type stuff the ST is superior, but before you dump your Apple make
sure your new machine can do everything your present one can.  (Software, 
software, software.)  If possible, you may want to keep your //e - there are
times I wish I still had my old C64 (in addition to my ST).

>What is in the attachment that makes it a mac?
"Magic Sac" by Data Pacific.  It will NOT run Hypercard, and it's not cheap if
you want to be able to use Mac disks.

>How well does it emulate IBMs?
Fine, but slow - make sure you try before you buy, many people are put off by
the slow speed of the PC emulator ("PC Ditto").

>How upgradable is it?
You can upgrade the memory, but it's not designed to be upgraded, so we're 
talking surgery, not plug-in-the-card.

Flames follow:

A careful reading of the ST news group shows it to be mostly complaints about
Atari.  Most of us like the hardware - it's cheap and cheerful and reliable.
BUT Atari lies to the consumer - if you like promises listen to Atari, 
otherwise expect to only be able to buy (_ever_) what you can buy today.  The
Mac and Amiga newsgroups are not nearly as negative as the ST one is, and
I think there are valid reasons for the difference.

I thought the ST would be a "poor man's Mac"; in truth it is a "rich man's
Commodore 64".  It is, however, a great low cost C development machine - Mark
Williams' compiler has made the machine for me (I'm not too interested in GEM
development, but the Mark Williams is great for UNIX-like stuff).

I no longer recommend STs to my friends.
-- 
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Bob Rogers					        rogers@StPaul.NCR.COM
NCR Comten, St. Paul, MN