[WinMac] RE: Graphic production, which is the better platform? Typefaces are an issue.

John W. McCarthy(jwmcmac[at]flash.net)
Tue, 12 Jan 1999 03:36:45 -0600

Matt,

Terrific response. Clear, concise, to the point. Just what is needed
on the list.

Nothing against NT, but sorry to hear another Mac place is biting the
dust and going to NT. But I can see that you will take them through gracefully.

However, now that I think about it, we are trying to find out how to
make all the platforms co-exist (especially Win/Mac).

Perhaps an explanation of how you make "that" happen would be very
useful. Someone has to come up with that app you were talking about.
It seems that the Mac is best equipped to do just that. It has so many
cross-platform tools at its disposal . . .

1) Virtual PC
2) Orange PC
3) SoftWindows
4) PC Exchange
5) And many, many more . . . and more coming all the time.
6) And OS-x coming with a BSD 4.4 Unix (?) foundation.
7) God only knows what else . . . but isn't it grand.

8) Oh yeah! There's MacLinksPlus & Debabelizer. These convert almost
any document that comes across my desktop from any platform.

It seems that in a cross-platform environment, you simply must have a
Mac. It even comes in handy if you have a finicky Wintel file to work
with. Often the Mac can fix Wintel problems, even Wintel problems that
are in no way connected to the Mac.

One other thing. Since most of the above cross-platform tools are
software based, the updates and fixes make it better and better, whereas
the hardware problems of the Wintel world go on and on and on
indefinitely, similar to the Mac hardware problems mentioned by Dan Schwartz.

A thought:

Apple would be the Borg if everybody used them. Can't have that. But
everyone is missing a good thing if they haven't had the pleasure of
owning a Mac (especially if it is one of the faster ones).

Have you seen the new ones? There is a new doc for the new Macs that
has USB, ASB, firewire, and parallel ports . . . and possibly more.
Finally, a parallel port on the Mac. I'm sure there have been such
adapters before, but this one is getting top billing.

I can see that a Mac running an old copy of SoftPC or a new copy of
VirtualPC could run an old DOS program better than a modern Wintel
machine. And now we have the parallel port to hook up that 286 Scantron
machine on the side. And darn it, we might even be able to get it to
finally print correctly.

Why would anyone limit their potential? Why would anyone lock out all
the potential choices offered by a Mac?

Why don't they want to let the Mac Play the game? This is what
flaberghasts most Mac enthusiasts about the Wintel side. They seem to
be paranoid at times about even letting the Mac on the playing field.

Oh well, another mystery. Sherlock Holmes would have trouble figuring
it out.

A user friendly feature:

Speaking of Sherlock, have you seen that great Mac Search engine in
action? I never have trouble finding a file on a Mac. I struggle a bit
on a Wintel. But of course, if you want to lose a file, I think it is
easier on a Wintel. I could be wrong here. I just am not familiar with
how to find files on a wintel.

It seems, perhaps only seems, that the things it would take a Wintel
guru to do on a Wintel can be done by a semi experienced user (not guru)
on a Mac. Mac people believe this and some have even experienced it.
You don't have to be a guru to do almost anything on a Mac. You have to
be able to read and follow directions sometimes. You don't have to be a
tech to do things on a Mac that require a tech on a PC. It helps, but
is not necessary. It is a cool feeling and one of the reasons Mac Users
Love their Macs. They can almost always do nifty things on their Macs.
They can enjoy the darn thing. They can play with it and not just on it.

In truth, these are some of the same joys that come with owning a PC of
any sort. But, often, the Mac is more diverse.

*******

Right now, I have a Performa 630 CD with a 601 Powermac processor in
place of the original LC68040 which is now piggy-backed onto the
replacement 601, with a TV/Video card (gotten for about $49 recently),
with Focus Video out device, . . . and . . . running System 8.5.1
(which is not supported to run on this computer, but does very well
anyway -- for a month now).

I can start up with either processor . . .
 . . . or with any one of many Mac OS's back to the original that came
with this computer.

I can run an old copy of SoftPC or SoftPC Universal or SoftWindows (with
the windows 3.1) at very reasonable to reasonable speed.

I hate to say this for the purists out there, but I am running about 188
items in the inits folder (some of them folders themselves) and about 44
or more items in the control panels folder. I have many helper apps
that run in the background constantly and rarely causing me any grief.
I have so many system enhancers it scares even me to think about it. I
do make use of Conflict Catcher (and experience) to keep it all going.

But you know what. I'm having a blast. I may not be a power user, but
man my Mac computer could support one if he came by.

I am proud of our Mac Programmers, who (I think) are the fastest to
respond in the world when there is a reported conflict and who keep our
shareware/freeware/commercialware the absolute best it can be (note I
didn't say the best in the world, though I was tempted -- have to
leave room for improvement) and many whom are altruistic in their own right.

The Mac world has an environment that could be compared to MicroSoft.
And therein lies at the same time Apple's strength and one of
MicroSoft's weakness. If you are Wintel and don't use MicroSoft's tools
and apps, you just might have some trouble getting it all to work. With
the Mac, the OS has always had the kind of unity that MicroSoft has
always sought but perhaps has had to enforce by ulterior methods. Bill
Gates has sought, and nearly achieved, in MicroSoft's ubiquitous apps
and systems the Golden Apple that the multi-colored Apple has always had
from its beginning.

I have great hopes that the Mac will continue on the course of being the
champion of cross-platform OS's and will soon be able to co-exist with
or run any other OS in the world. It is at the door. Let's give it the
chance to play the game.

I for one like the position that Apple is in.

Y2k contingency plan:

Get a Mac to back up everything. With a little luck, it could do it.

Matt, despite the length and diversion of this post, I really meant what
I said about your response. It was great. Somehow, it was the spark
that sent me onto this aside. But your comment was very clear and
thoughtful and good. Thanks for that kind of comment.

Pat Kelly McCarthy at jwmcmac@flash.net

>
> Subject:
> RE: Graphic production, which is the better platform? Typefaces a re an
> issue.
> Date:
> Mon, 11 Jan 1999 14:16:13 -0800
> From:
> "Harris, Matt" <HARRISMA@Mattel.com>
>
>
>
> Dan wrote...
>
> 5) Typefaces are a non-issue: Use Macromedia (ne้ Altsys) Fontographer *on
> the Mac* to convert your typeface library to PC format. Fontographer 4.1.5
> on the Mac can read in both PostScript Type 1 and TrueType scaleable
> typefaces in both Mac Windows formats; and can generate Mac & Windows
> TrueType and Type 1 typefaces...
>
> This is false. Typefaces can be converted, however, many extended ASCII
> characters commonly used in high end production such as ligatures do not
> translate to windows no matter what you do. That is because the encoding
> Apple used back in '83 was not followed by Windows above 127. There are
> currently no utilities to fix legacy data or convert files created on Macs
> and sent to Windows.
>
> That is not to say that NT is not an excellent platform for prepress. I am
> currently in charge of a major Mac to NT transition. If you are starting a
> shop fresh with no legacy data the choice is yours. If you believe Apple
> will go out of business use Windows, if not use either. Avoid using both if
> possible.
>
> The transition, what ever anyone tells you, can be a killer so go into it
> skeptical and well-informed.
>
>
> ________ o0O0_____@^@_____0O0o _____________
>
> Matthew Harris, Mattel Inc.
>
> >>>>>>>>> Advanced Graphic Technologies
> >>>>>>> Sr. Analyst, Applied Systems
> >>>>> HarrisMa@Mattel.com
> >>> Voice: 310-252-5707
> > Fax: 310-252-5099
>
> 333 Continental Blvd., D1 0104
> El Segundo, CA 90245-5012

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This archive was generated by hypermail 2.0b2 on Tue Jan 12 1999 - 01:38:11 PST