Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 13, 1994 TAG: 9403110208
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAN GILLMOR KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
From the beginning, the Mac offered a wonderful change from IBM-compatible PCs and, for that matter, earlier Apple machines. The Mac let users do things with pictures and menus rather than text and commands. Instead of typing long, arcane commands to delete a set of files, for example, you just pointed at the files with your mouse and dragged them on top of a tiny trash can on the screen.
And unlike computers that forced you to start, say, a word processor and then load the file you wanted to work on, the Mac let you click on the file itself.
Apple insists that software writers conform to strict standards for menus and other functions. To enforce this, Apple keeps control over the Mac's operating system, a layer of software that makes sure the applications, such as the word processor, and the hardware all work together. The result: Most programs written for the Mac look and act a lot like other such programs.
Some contend that the Mac isn't as useful as other personal computers, but there is Mac software in just about every category.
The Mac comes with built-in networking, making it easy to share files between computers. And when you want to add peripheral hardware, such as a scanner or hard disk, all you have to do is plug it into a special port in the back of the Mac. Both remain more difficult on IBM-compatible machines, although that's changing.
Still, the earliest Macs, which appeared in January 1984, were horribly underpowered. There was a tiny screen, a limited keyboard, too little memory, one floppy disk, no hard disk and almost no expandability. All that changed.
"Killer applications" - combinations of software and/or hardware that you can't find anywhere else - can make or break computer lines.
The Mac's killer application was desktop publishing. In 1985, a tiny software company called Aldus released Pagemaker, a desktop-publishing package for the Mac. Almost simultaneously, Apple began selling a breakthrough desktop laser printer.
Another smart move was 1991's Powerbook, the second line of portable Macs. (The first ones bombed.) The superb design made it a hit.
What didn't change soon enough was the Mac's premium price. For too long, you could buy an equally powerful IBM-compatible computer for half the price.
So when Microsoft released Windows 3.0, a somewhat Mac-like shell that ran atop the unfriendly DOS operating system on IBM-compatible PCs, the Mac's advantage began to fade. And although Windows remains far inferior to the Mac in some ways - you can do only so much to improve DOS - it did narrow the gap. Windows 3.1 and the many add-on programs sold by other companies couldn't entirely fix DOS or match the Mac, but in a few key ways they are more functional than the Mac. Some people think IBM's OS/2 2.1 operating system has virtually closed the gap.
Mac hardware has come way down in price, with several reasonably powerful models now less than $2,000. It also remains easier to put together and upgrade, by almost all accounts. But here again, the IBM-compatible PC types are making progress. Later this year, manufacturers will start releasing products conforming to a new Plug and Play industry specification, which supposedly will ease the vexing process of adding components to IBM-compatibles.
Apple's newest Macs, notably its audiovisual models, are enticing. But the next generation looks especially interesting. Beginning in March, a line of machines will have new brains: the PowerPC, developed with IBM and Motorola. The PowerPC is much faster than the current chips powering Macs.
But super speed won't be enough. Apple and the entire industry also have to make their products easier to use. They're trying, but the stuff is still too hard for too many otherwise intelligent folks.
by CNB