Untitled Essay, Research Paper

Battle of the Bytes

Macintosh vs. Windows 95 It used to be that the choice between a Mac and a PC was pretty clear.

Ifyou wanted to go for the more expensive, easier to use, and better graphics andsound, you went to buy a Macintosh, for the cheaper price, it was the PC. Now itis a much different show. With the release of Windows 95 and the dynamics ofthe hardware market have changed the equation. On the other hand, Apple has made great price reductions on many oftheir computers last October. You can now buy a reasonably equipped PowerMacintosh at about the same price as a PC that has about the same things. Thismakes the competition much harder. Windows 3.x have been great improvements over the earlier versions ofWindows, and of course over DOS, but it still didn’t compete against the ease ofuse on a Mac. The Windows 95 interface is much better than Windows 3.x. Itborrows some from the Macintosh interface and has improved on it. Some improvements are the ability to work with folder icons that

representdirectories and subdirectories in DOS. Windows 95, unlike the Mac, logicallygroups data and resources. A Taskbar menu lets you call up and switch betweenany software application at any time. Thus feature is better than the Mac’sbecause its use is more obvious. It clearly shows what is running and allows youto switch programs with a single click of the mouse. Control panels have beenadded so you can configure your hardware. There is easy access to frequentlyused files. You can make very long file names on Windows 95 instead of shortand strange names that leave you wondering about, such as on Windows 3.x Icould not name a folder This is stuff for school it must be a lot shorter. The Helpsystem helps you implement its suggestions. A multilevel Undo command for allfile operations safeguards your work, something Macintosh does not have.Something that Windows 95 has, similar to the Macintosh Alias function, isshortcut icons. It calls up a program very easily, instead of searching throughyour hard drive. The Windows 95 shortcuts go beyond the Mac’s, they can referto data inside documents as well as to files and folders, and can also call upinformation on a local area network server or Internet site. Windows 95’s plugand play system allows the operating system to read what’s on your machineand automatically configure your new software that you need to install, however,this only works if the added hardware is designed to support it, and it will for amajority of hardware. All these things are major improvements, but hardware and CONFIG.SYSsettings left over from earlier programs can conflict with the new system, causingyour hard drive to crash. This is something all users of Windows 95 will dread. Even though Microsoft has made many wonderful changes to Windows,Apple is working on developing a new operation system, called Copland. It maybeat many of the Windows 95 improvements. Apple is still deciding on what newthings to add when the system will start shipping later in the year. Some newthings may be a customizable user interface and features such as drawers,built-in indexing and automatically updated search templates to help usersmanger their hard drives much more efficiently. The biggest improvement is tobe able to network systems from multiple vendors running multiple operatingsystems. Like Windows 95, Copland will also have a single in-box for fax, e-mail,and other communications. The disadvantage of Copland is it can only be usedon Power Macintoshes. I would personally go for a PC with Windows 95. I choose it because ofthe many programs that can be used on PC’s. Whenever I walk into a computerstore, such as Electronics Boutique, half of the store is taken up by programsthat can be used on an IBM compatible PC. There is only one little shelf forthings that run on Macs. It seems that the more people use PC’s. I have met veryfew people with a Macintosh. I can bring many things from my computers totheirs and the other way around without worrying, "What if I need to find this fora Mac?" Schools should use Windows95 PC’s because of the many moreeducational programs available for PC’s. Since of the making of Windows 95many companies now make programs for the PC. It may be a long time, if ever,that they will decide to make it for a Mac. Plus since of the many people with IBMPC’s at home, people can bring their work to and from school. If everyone hadthe same kind of computer on a network, students could go into the computers atschools all over the world to use programs there. So since now that the quality of computers are equal it is very hard tomake your decision. For those that are not computer literate, the best thing to dois to go for the Mac because of the easiness involved in using one. This meansyou get less choice of programs in a store, and if you go online, many people willbe using something different from you so you have no idea what they are talkingabout. If you know how a computer is basically used, a Windows 95 PC will beno problem. It doesn’t take that long to learn. You will have a bigger choice ofprograms and may be able to do more things with other people that have acomputer. It comes down to this choice. Most of the choosing will go to schoolsbecause of the many using Macintosh computers, which most of Apple’s moneycomes from. It is only recently companies that made software for PC’s that gotinterested in making programs for educational purposes. So if you are deciding a computer. I leave you to decide this. Windows

95or Macintosh, the choice is yours.

I feel that this is the best journal entry I have ever written. It

informs thereader a great deal about the subject and it helps you make a decision that isvery important if you decide to buy a computer for work or home use. It is veryhelpful because it can educate people in the world that are not computer literatein a world that is being taken over by computers. Things such as the internet areused by many people, and it would certainly help if you needed to know what kindto buy so your would be compatible with someone else’s. This entry tells that I amone that is around computers a lot and have an interest in them.