OT : Re: "OS problems thing is a myth"?

oscwilde...

>Date: Fri, 28 Apr 2000 23:00:27 -0400
> From: Steve Mullany <smullany@...>
>
>In response to "Neil" <neil@...>, who says:
>"Sorry, but this "OS problems" thing is a myth. Nowadays
I don't believe
>there is a single technical reason for buying a Mac rather than a
PC..."

<snip>
Hi Steve,

While I agree with some of what you have to say....this is a post which
borders on "platform wars"...and the last time I checked, this was
a
banning offence which I'm sure Joeri will advise you of, should he feel the
need.

Outside of being a done to death topic (MacOS vs. Win), this is the Logic
Users Group....where we discuss Logic in it's various flavours.....
I appreciate that while related technologies are discussed here, I don't
recall ever seeing a Netscape, Sound Recorder, Photoshop or a Word or
Director query here, for that matter ;-)..."(The Mac, by contrast, has
networking, audio, graphics (and much else) as part of the OS original
design)"

The original question posed which elicited Neil's response was related to
Logic Audio's use, not generic troubleshooting or use on either OS.
It certainly had nothing to do with Windows or MacOS
communication/networking services.

<snip>
Although
>Mac customers comprise about 20% of our user base, they comprise less
than
>4% of the customers who actually call in for help. 

I agree that the MacOS is more "obvious" to a new user and when
additional
files/extensions etc. need to be added, the MacOS advises you where to put
it to add the functionality.
This is smart and elegant and should be part of Windows...and could
conceivably be one of the primary reasons why only 4% of your Mac clientele
call in.

Driver/hardware installation is the issue that affects many PC users who
subscribe to the LUG and similar lists for other musical apps.
Interestingly, in recent times, a great many USB-based Macs have caused
grief for many of the LAM subscribers to the LUG and while the PC owners'
technical queries would outnumber the Mac user's queries, this is a
byproduct of the greater number of LA PC users, in general.
Add to this, the lack of documentation available to crack users (PC only
unless there's a Mac crack I don't know about) and the balance evens up
somewhat.

>There is no counting for customer stupidity (which is endemic amongst
all
>users and accounts for a great many of our calls) but if you wanted to
>design a "fool proof" general purpose computer, a PC running
Windows 9X
>would be a poor choice.

The bottom line is that a well configured Mac or PC will do a good job of
running Logic Audio. Conversely, a poorly configured Mac or PC will run
badly.

This list isn't about "general purpose" computing...it's about
specific use
with Logic Audio unless I'm sadly mistaken ;-)

Once again, while much of what you say has some merit, ultimately your
being "tired of reading, on these pages and elsewhere, that "Macs
and PC's
are about the same" in terms of the typical user experience" is
unfortunate...
Believe me when I say that I truly sympathise with you in your role in tech
support. It can certainly be trying.
...but ultimately "general purpose" computing (and your post) has
little to
do with running Logic Audio specifically ;-)

For the record, I run both LAW and LAM on a couple of NETWORKED computers
and have no trouble with either version (or my "general purpose"
computing
;-))....and this is with the added bonus of beta software on both machines.
Truly the best of both worlds ;-)
Dave Bellingham

Consultant, Musician, Webguy
Author of the Wizoo guides to LAW/LAM
Check out the Logic Audio FAQ at:
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~oscwilde
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