[MacDV] Re: MAC OS X Panther?

[Matthew Guemple]

Sorry to unknowingly start up such a scattershot OT thread.
I promise not to post again until it is something On Topic..
I guess my real point is simply this (and you wont have to read my  
moaning below) There was a day when Macs ran great, the software was  
always ready and things seemed much simpler. I think that was mainly  
because the difference between 5.0 and 6.5 was all refinement. Now with  
each new OS being the next great leap forward you get a different set  
of problems. I liken it to the change between a stick-shift, to  
automatic, to one of the shiftable automatics. You can do it, they are  
better in their way, but they don't feel right right away. I just miss  
the days when you could turn on that taupe box and just work!

My comments about the cost is exactly as Chas mentioned... Quark 6 will  
ship in June and then break in the fall. You know it will, I know it  
will.

RANT: I know Panther will be cheap... but cheap (at $50-$100-$200 X 7  
or 8, well you do the math)  We already know the upgrade for FCP is  
$400! We also know that the OS is the cheap part of the equation. So I  
will have to pay for the upgrade and then wait for the patch and then  
buy a new font management program (because at that point like Adobe  
has, whoever makes the one I use will decide to get out of the font  
management ) program, and a new archiving program, and something that  
will tide me over until Norton catches up and some other patchy thing  
so I can make pdfs.... not to mention the new machine. Plus I will have  
to buy the upgrades for Photoshop, Illustrator, AE, FCP, and office...  
But the real drag of it all is that I literally just did that not 6  
months ago AND none of it will come out in a timely fashion so that I  
will be back in the same boat I am now... running 9 so I can use quark,  
but also working in InDesign because I don't want to wait for 9 to boot  
(and crash or have some sort of font management conflict-which happens  
a lot) But if I want to make pdfs easily I have to re-boot into 9 so I  
can utilize Acrobat 4 - which gives me a simple pdf option instead of  
having to print it to a PS file then Distiller... etc ad nauseam...)  
END RANT.

Is it better? Yes. Is it faster? Yes. With the exception of those that  
are doing really extreme 3D or other processor intensive stuff, does it  
need to be? No. Back in the day if you needed a monster machine, you  
built one. Now it's monster in a box. Overkill for most users.

So... it get expensive.

I will write off as much as I can, and love the fact that I have a  
beautiful fast mac that runs beautiful software, and go to bed happy  
knowing that my beautiful machine is busily purring in the corner  
rendering 2 hrs of FCP (and being surprised that the little chime goes  
off an hour later...) BUT Right now I'm going to buy a 20" Cinema  
display because the 18" CRT I have does not work well with my decor...  
as long as we understand that Mac has tapped into not only our  
imaginations, but our vanity as well, it's OK.

I stop now. I feel much better. Thanks for your indulgence.
M
________________
Matthew Guemple
Art Director/03
mo.og at verizon.net
646.734.6601
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