What computer is the fastest? What computer is the easiest to use? What computer is number
one in education, and multimedia? That's right, the Macintosh line of computers. A strong
competitor in the realm of computing for a number of years, the Macintosh is still going
strong. The reasons are apparent, and numerous.
For starters, who wants a computer with no power?Macintosh sure doesn't! Independent
tests prove that today's Power Macintosh computers, based on the PowerPC processor,
outperform comparable machines based on the Intel Pentium processor. In a benchmark test,
conducted in June 1995, using 10 applications available for both Macintosh, and Windows
3.1 systems, the 120-megahertz Power Macintosh 9500/120 was, on average, 51 percent
faster than a 120-megahertz
Pentium processor based PC. The 132-megahertz Power Macintosh 9500/132 was 80 percent
faster when running scientific and engineering applications, and 102 percent faster when
running graphics and publishing applications. You can understand why the education market
is almost entirely apple based.
Recent surveys confirm that from kindergarten through college, Apple has cornered the
market in education, and remains number one in this U.S. market. Apple Macintosh
computers account for 60% of the 5.9 million machines in U.S. schools for the 1995-96
school year. Only 29% of schools use the Microsoft/Intel platform, and DOS only accounts
for a measly 11%. Also it was reported that 18.4% of 4 year college students own the
Macintosh. 55% of college students own a computer, and Apple's in the lead for that
market too! The reason Apple says for this continued success is the Mac's ease of use.
There is no doubt that the Macintosh is the easiest computer around. The scrolling menu
bar is the first example. If a Macintosh menu is too long to fit on the screen, you can
scroll down to see all of the items. Windows 95 menus, by contrast,
don't scroll up or down. So if you put too many items into the Windows 95 Start button,
some will remain out of reach, permanently! Windows 95 hierarchical menus can become
confusing as they become more crowded. When you install many applications onto a PC, so
they form two columns from the Start Programs menu, the menus may not be able to flow
well together. You'll have to jump quickly across from menu list to menu list, which can
be difficult to do. The second example I site is the better integration of hardware and
software. Because Apple makes both the hardware and the operating system, the two work
together easily; when a change is made
at the hardware level, the software automatically recognizes it and acts accordingly. In
the PC world, Microsoft develops Windows 95 and many different manufacturers make the
hardware systems. So, the software and hardware don't always work well together. Here
are a few areas that the Macintosh is particularly strong in concerning compatability,
floppy disks, memory management, monitor support, mouse support, adding peripherals,
connecting to a network, and internet access and publishing. And the last example I'll
show, is the ease of adding new resources. When you add capabilities to your Macintosh,
it seems to anticipate what you're doing, and even try to help. For example, to add fonts
or desk accessories to the Macintosh, all you have to do is drag them to the System
Folder. The Mac OS, or operating system, places all of the items where they need to go,
automatically. Here are the steps for Windows 95:
1.Double-click on the C: drive in "My Computer."
2.Open the Windows folder.
3.Open the Fonts folder.
4.Click Install New Font in the File menu.
5.Click the drive and the folder that contain the font you want to add.
6.Double-click the name of the font you want to add.
As anyone can plainly see, the the choice is obvious and the Mac's the best!
Multimedia is an exploding business throughout movies, advertising, and graphic design.
Most multimedia developers create their applications on a Macintosh. According to one
research company, Apple's Macintosh is the leading development platform for multimedia
CD-ROM titles by a 72% to a 28% margin. As a recent article in the San Francisco Examiner
puts it, "Walk into any newsroom, desktop publishing center, design studio, or online
service office, and nine times out of 10 you will see a wall of Macs." That's quite a
statement! There are definite reasons for this too.
Installing and using CD-ROM titles is easier with Macintosh computers than with PCs
running Windows 95. Today's PCs have multiple standards for sound and graphics, and each
standard and each piece of hardware requires a different
software driver. As a result, PC owners have problems matching the hardware and software
in their systems to the hardware and software requirements of different CD-ROM titles,
and different titles can run much differently. In contrast, CD-ROM titles for Macintosh
are easier to install and use. Macintosh computers have a single, built-in
standard for sound and graphics, so no special drivers are required. And Macintosh was
the first home computer to include built-in MPEG hardware playback for full-screen,
full-motion video.
Apple's Power Macintosh 7500/100, and 8500/120 computers include nearly everything a
user needs to quickly and easily begin videoconferencing. QuickTime Conferencing
software, high-speed communications capability, and video/sound input are all included.
Users need only connect a video camera to the Macintosh video-in connector. With Apple's
QuickTime Conferencing software, users can call other videoconference participants over
their existing local area networks. Users can see multiple participants at once, take
snapshots during sessions, record sessions, and
work together on a shared document. Compare this simplicity and power with
videoconferencing products in the Windows 95 world, where users must still purchase
expensive add-on cards, and software totaling $1,400 or more, and then deal with the
complexities of integrating the hardware and software themselves.
Speech integration with computers is the wave of the future, and guess who's got the
jump in that department. With PlainTalk, you can open any Macintosh document or
application by speaking its name. Just move an alias of the item into the Speakable Items
folder, and the built-in PlainTalk and Speakable Items technologies
take care of the rest. For example, a user who wants to check her stock portfolio without
opening several folders and launching an application can just say "check stocks," and the
Macintosh will execute the necessary commands. Speakable items can also be AppleScript
files, so users can execute an almost unlimited series of actions--including copying
files, cleaning up the desktop, and so on, simply by speaking a command.
In conclusion, the Macintosh is the computer that can do it all. Handling business
tasks, creating breath taking multimedia, and lots, lots more, all at the fastest speed
available. It is no wonder Apple has made such a name forf itself, and will likely be in
the market for a long time to come.
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