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From: tdrinkar@cosmos.acs.calpoly.edu (Terrell Drinkard)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Now that the smoke had cleared (Honest Mac/IBM questions)
Keywords: Junior League Yuppie Drug Abuse Containment Program
Message-ID: <1989Dec30.190234.2938@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU>
Date: 30 Dec 89 19:02:34 GMT
References: <1284@marlin.NOSC.MIL> <970@v7fs1.UUCP>
Sender: news@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (News Guru)
Reply-To: tdrinkar@cosmos.acs.calpoly.edu.UUCP (Terrell Drinkard)
Organization: Cal Poly State University -- San Luis Obispo
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> jbjones@marlin.nosc.mil.UUCP (John B. Jones) writes:
>>All this Mac/IBM blood-letting reminds me of a couple of questions I had
>>about the Mac interface.  With a mac, how do you
>
>>1. Activate something out of sight (in a sub-folder).

There are several ways.  I use On-Cue 1.3.  Several other macro
utilities exist that will perform the exact same functionality.
Quick-Keys, Tempo II, etc.

>>2. Copy something out of sight to the current or another directory.

For this one I use a desk accessory, DiskTools II, which has a
really nice graphic interface, and I never have to leave my current
application. There are, as you might have guessed, several other
utilities, desk accessories, etc, that will perform the same
function.  For instance - DeskZap, FileInfo, FileTools...  In fact,
you can create new directories and ad files to them even when in
modal dialog boxes with these and others like Boomerang.

>>3. Redirect the output from one program to another as input; example:
>>      prompt>awk -f fil.awk this | awk -f fix.awk >> that

I'm a bit baffled on this one.  I not even sure what an awk does,
much less how to duplicate the function on my box.  If I knew what
it did, I could probably do it on the Mac.  In fact, I probably
already do it.  But if you are a dyed-in-the-wool unix junkie, you
may not want a Mac, its interface is just something you won't be
able to handle, no matter what functionality it provides, after
all, the Mac is a *users* machine, not a guru's machine.
 
But, just in case you have an open mind, AUX provides unix on a
Macintosh platform.  I don't use it, but there are many others who
do, and you can read about it on comp.sys.aux.  For those who don't
want to go the expense of AUX there is the MPW shell, primarily
used for development, and it is just as abstruse and esoteric as
unix, with pipes and redirects and all manner of other hacker
pacifiers.  I have it, and use it occasionally, but am not an
expert on it by any means.  More information can be obtained on
comp.sys.mac.programmer.

>>4. Write batch files(i.e. is there any highlevel, simple programming
>>   feature in the Mac OS?)

Batch files are primarily kludged macros, so far as I have seen in
my somewhat limited experience (only a year or so on DOS boxes).
The funtionality is provided on Macs by many different kinds of
utilities.  Some are free, like the over-maligned Macro-Maker from
Apple (I've never had any problem with it), Tempo II, Quick-keys,
and several others.
 
For background printing, there are several options available.
SuperLaserSpooler, MultiSpooler, BackPrint25, and even the OS comes
with some background printing stuff - PrintManager (?), and
Backgrounder.  I have three computers networked, so I rarely ever
need to do background printing; therefore, I can't really comment
on their efficiency.

As you  may have gathered, I am primarily Mac-oriented, however, I
have owned a '286 and now have a '386.  I feel more comfortable in
the Mac environment, but that does not mean that unix (half my
'386's disk is partitioned off for Xenix), or DOS are beyond my
feeble intellectual capabilities.  If you are comfortable in a
command line interface, and like the 'nothing is standard on an
80x86 machine', then I heartily recommend you buy one.  If you
prefer a graphical interface, and don't really care how the
operating system gets its job done, they buy a Mac.  Don't let
other people tell you what to spend your money on - after all, they
aren't going to be there when you need some help.
 
these and other views brought to you by-
                                          the Rockman

Disclaimer et la Signaturo:
Hell no, I'm not responsible for what I say!  If everyone were
responsible for what they said, we'd have had a balanced budget in
1984.