MAC OS X Panther?

[Charles Martin]

> From: Matthew Guemple <mo.og at verizon.net>
>
> There was a day when Macs ran great, the software was
> always ready and things seemed much simpler.

Those days are NOW for me. I have always loved Macs, but as someone who 
is always trying to do several projects at once, they drove me CRAZY 
prior to OS X with extension conflicts, memory freezes and other things 
most Mac users just blithely put up with because no matter how bad 
their Macs were, the Windows machines were worse.

Nowadays I go MONTHS without a crash, I *never* reboot unless Apple 
makes me via a software update, and my productivity is easily three 
times what it was in OS 9. And I *like* OS 9!! :)

Keep in mind that if you were to USE OS X exactly the same way most 
people used the Mac previously, ie mostly word processing/database and 
a little email, you'd probably find it remarkable. Problem is, a more 
sophisticated OS allows users to do more sophisticated things. I'm 
working mostly in video and high-def graphic design now, which would 
have been UNIMAGINABLE to me five or ten years ago. I simply couldn't 
do what I'm doing now on a machine any earlier than the 1997 beige G3s, 
and it would be TORTURE to use them now (so slooooow).

> 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!

Considering that it comes with software incorporated into it that 
previous FCP owners had to pay over $1000 to get, I'd say it's a good 
bargain. Keep in mind that FCP is not a consumer-level app -- it is 
bought by people who intend to MAKE MONEY off it. The product, like 
Quark Xpress and Photoshop and DVD Studio Pro and Maya etc are NOT for 
people who are just "playing around." It's for companies that expect to 
make back the cost of the product on their first job with it.

>  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.

Better idea: make better choices. Font Reserve, for example, was 
getting rave reviews for YEARS before Adobe decided that ATM wasn't 
worth the effort in OS X. Disk Warrior has ALWAYS been better than 
Norton. Etc.

> Plus I will have
> to buy the upgrades for Photoshop, Illustrator, AE, FCP, and office...

No you don't. I went from Photoshop 4 to Photoshop 7 ... that's a gap 
of over five years. In point of fact, I still run PS 4 under Classic on 
my OS X machine (as well as PS 7) because I am still more efficient in 
4 and because some of the plug-ins I have in 4 aren't OS X-ready yet.

You only need to buy upgrades if there are features you require in 
them. Otherwise they are not mandatory.

> 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.
>
Um, no. Distiller works flawlessly in Classic. I use it every day.

> So... it get expensive.
>
Not if you charge money for what you do. The cost of Quark, FCP, 
Photoshop etc is usually more than made up for in the first handful of 
jobs you do using them. Heck, I could afford to upgrade those apps 
*every year* from the money I make on them in one month! Luckily, I 
don't have to -- Quark 4.11 is still great, Photoshop 4 still rocks, 
iMovie 2 will do the job, iDVD2 still works just like it always did, 
etc.

But by charging a fair price for what I do, I make more than enough 
money to a) live comfortably and b) upgrade when I really need to do so 
(machine, software, what have you).

> 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...

well now that's something rather different, wouldn't you say?

> I stop now. I feel much better. Thanks for your indulgence.

NP

_Chas_

Lee Gomes of the Wall Street Journal, 24-Jan-03 , commenting on Apple's 
growing arsenal of hardware, OS and software that is clearly superior 
to anything in the Windows world: "It's like someone forgot to send 
them the Resistance is Futile memo."