Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!AECLCR.BITNET!01659
From: 01659@AECLCR.BITNET (Greg Csullog)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: The ST as a PC or a Mac
Message-ID: <8905151535.AA13997@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: 15 May 89 15:36:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 54

Several times,  seemingly anti-ST types have marvelled at the fact
that ST users are infatuated with software/hardware that lets  the
ST become a PC or a Mac.  Somehow,  they feel that the ability  to
run like another system means that ST users are unhappy about  the
ST being an ST. Not so!

PC in ST's clothing:  I purchased PC Ditto to use on my ST at work
for  two  reasons.  First,  it  was next to impossible  to  buy  a
computer unless it was IBM-PC compatible.  A user had to bare  his
soul to justify not buying a PC. Therefore, if I could say that my
ST could run PC software I could buy the machine. Second, I had to
use a PC for about a year (acquired to do some contract work)  and
ocassionally  I  had to go back and do some work using  dBASE  and
Word  Perfect (my award winner for the most inappropriately  named
software  on earth).  All I did was uninstall  these  applications
from  the PC and put them on my ST.  Then,  when I had to do  work
related  to previous PC based jobs,  I could get it  done  without
leaving my ST.  Now,  I have abandoned Word Perfect in favour of a
word processor made for humans (Word Writer) and I bought dbMAN to
handle  any dBASE work.  All I use PC Ditto for is to  run  Norton
Utilities to re-pack files. Had PC Ditto-II been out, I could have
kept using dBASE on the ST and forgotten about dbMAN since I  made
the  switch for speed reasons.  (Oh yes,  I also use PC  Ditto  to
teach  unskilled users the difference between an MS  DOS  command-
line interface and the GEM interface on the ST; students turn pale
at the thought of dealing with DOS instead of GEM).

Mac  in  ST's clothing:  Just like ST  enthusiasts  at  work,  Mac
enthusiasts ran up against a brick wall when trying to justify not
buying a PC.  Now there are quite a few Macs on site (115 Macs  as
compared to 60 - 70 STs).  Two persons in my work group have Macs;
they  went that route because of great software (better  than  was
available on the ST ) and user friendliness. Since I support users
in the work group,  I acquired Magic Sac and then Spectre to learn
the ins and outs of being a Mac.  Now I have HYPERCARD and  EXCEL.
However,  when I do spreadsheets,  I prefer the LOTUS /  interface
instead of the mouse so I create sheets in the ST program LDW  and
I import them to EXCEL for final graphing.

So,  while emulation has given me a lot,  I still return to the ST
when I want to be most productive.  Emulation allows me to use the
best  of the other guy's systems and the best of my ST,  all  with
the same keyboard. Yeah, I get hyped up on PC Ditto II and Spectre
GCR  because they open up lots of possibilities for me and my  ST.
But, that does not mean I do not get the most out of my ST.

One last note.  I understand that the Mac program called "II in  a
Mac" lets the Mac run Apple II software. Schools that have lots of
Apple II software are apparently interested since they can  bridge
the sofware gap with Apple II emulation on a Mac.  I was also told
that "II on a Mac" runs under Spectre.  That means you can turn an
ST into a Mac that turns into an Apple II.  No doubt,  some hacker
has  a  code to let the Apple II run  Commodore  64  codes.  Think
about that one for awhile!