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The computer and the operating system were made by people who actually speak to each other. They built good hardware and good software, and they knew what they were doing.
  technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

What you get when you buy a modern Mac


March 24, 2002


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2002, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2002, The Post-Standard

   When I bought my new Macintosh G4 computer, I had one goal in mind. I wanted to edit my digital video tapes and make DVDs. I knew the Mac would do those two things well, as I described last week. (You can read that article from the main page on the Technofile Web site. The address is listed alongside this column.)
   But I was naive. My double-gigahertz Macintosh is a delight in every other way, too. It's faster than the speed of light, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, and keeps me smiling every minute I'm at the keyboard.
   Forgive me for the hyperbole. No one who adores modern computers the way I do could fail to fall hopelessly in love with a machine that looks so good and performs so well. I've been happily discovering the joy of using a sophisticated computer over the last few weeks, and I could not be happier.
   The secret of the modern Mac is a no-brainer. The computer and the operating system, the hardware and the software, were made by the same company. They were made by people who actually speak to each other. They built good hardware and good software, and they knew what they were doing.
   It's as simple as that. Windows users don't have it so lucky. Compaq doesn't make Windows, and Microsoft doesn't make Compaq computers. Or Dell computers. You get the point. Microsoft makes the software in hopes that the people who make the hardware actually know what they're doing, and Compaq, Dell, Gateway and all the other companies that make the hardware hope that Microsoft knows what it's doing.
   Yeah. Right. Let's get real. If you've tried to get your Windows PC to behave itself lately, you know that nobody is actually in charge on the Windows side of things. Dell blames Microsoft, Microsoft blames Gateway, and the store where you bought the Windows PC blames you.
   All of that goes away when you boot up a modern Mac. The operating system, OS X (the "X" stands for "10"), is just plain beautiful. And it's a joy to use.
   My Mac boots up right away, behaves itself all the time, knows how to deal with all sorts of files without a fuss, cruises the Internet without being invaded by Windows spyware or viruses, slips quietly into sleep mode and back again in less than two seconds, shuts down without giving me the Blue Screen of death -- ah, you can tell I am really acquainted with Windows, can't you! -- and never once tells me I have to surrender my identity to Microsoft in order to run the computer. (Windows XP users, listen up. This personal freedom is for you.)
   OS X, the standard operating system on all new Macintosh computers, is based on Unix, and Unix is an exceptionally strong operating system in itself. OS X isn't related to Windows in any way and has none of the inherent problems of Windows. I found OS X easier to learn than Windows and much, much easier to use.
   Macs running OS X behave better than Windows PCs because Macs are not Windows PCs. I know that seems like roundabout logic, but it's something every prospective Mac buyer needs to understand.
   Macs don't work like Windows PCs. If you have a Windows-based printer, for example (one that plugs into the wide printer port, or parallel port, on your PC), it won't work on a new Mac. Printers that connect by USB might work fine, however. (Check with the manufacturer.)
   Likewise, if your scanner is the old-fashioned kind that plugs into the parallel port, forget using it on a Mac. Macs simply don't handle things that way.
   Macs also won't run your Windows programs unless you take an extra step. If you simply MUST run Windows programs on a Mac, you can do it quite easily after buying a program called Virtual PC. But please don't do that unless you have no choice. Macs with OS X have a much better way of running their own software. You'd be crazy to buy a Mac just to run creaky Windows programs.
   My Mac G4 came with all the software I needed to handle e-mail. The built-in mail program is superb, and it handles multiple accounts easily. It was clearly faster than Outlook Express under Windows -- quite a compliment, since Outlook Express is known for its speed.
   OS X Macs come with the Mac version of Internet Explorer, so Web browsing is a simple matter. Internet Explorer on the Mac is better in a couple of ways than IE under Windows, but I quickly switched to a browser that was designed just for OS X. It's called OmniWeb. I bought it online for $30 after trying it out. (Go to www.omnigroup.com.)
   Image viewing is handled by a built-in program called Preview that works exceptionally well. You also have iPhoto, Apple's amazing do-all digital image manager, and my Mac came with iMovie for video editing and iDVD for making DVDs on the built-in DVD-CD-CD-RW burner. (They all worked splendidly.)
   Want more? There are more than 25,000 programs available for OS X, based on an unofficial count from a Mac-friendly Web site. I tried out hundreds of freeware and shareware programs, but I also checked into a few heavy-duty commercial ones. The most impressive was Microsoft Office X, written for OS X. It's superb, and comes with a wonderful version of Outlook called Entourage. (I don't mean Outlook Express. What I'm referring to is a Mac OS X version of my all-time-favorite personal information and e-mail program, Microsoft Outlook.)
   Windows users probably worry that they won't be able to get their work (or play!) done on a Mac, and I don't blame them. Windows excels in games, and no amount of enthusiasm for the Mac can hide the fact that there are many more games for Windows than for Macintosh computers.
   But the latest Macs can be good choices for office-type home and business tasks. The Mac version of Microsoft Office is fully compatible with the Windows version -- all files can be opened on either computer -- and Macs with OS X fit into a Windows network easily. Other so-called "productivity tools" for OS X are easy to find, too. Many of them are free or inexpensive. Check www.versiontracker.com.
   There are games, too, of course. I tried a few that were written for modern Macs with OS X. They were spectacular. I especially liked the way they took advantage of the built-in 3D graphics of OS X computers.
   Those who are worried about how they could connect a modern Mac to a home or office network of Windows PCs can relax. Without any extra software, an OS X Mac will connect instantly to any Windows computer over a standard network. I had mine hooked up within minutes, using the so-called "Samba" networking program that's always running under OS X. (I simply clicked the "Go" menu at the top of the screen and followed the prompts, then typed "smb://" followed by the name of my Windows computer, then a single slash, then the name of the shared folder or drive.)
   If you want to do fancier networking, you can buy software that adds extra features. A program called DAVE does this well. You can try it for free. Go to www.thursby.com to download it.
   Next: 10 OS X programs you won't want to be without.