Re: A Tale of Two Apples

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article bjblackbear@ibm.net (B.J. Major) writes...

>Mitchell Spector <spec@vax2.concordia.ca> wrote:
> 
>> In article bjblackbear@ibm.net (B.J. Major) writes...
>> 
>> >To make an analogy that's a bit more realistic, the current crop of PC's
>> >can't run the oldest PC software--or very old versions of DOS.  
>> 
>>     Could you give some examples of old PC/XT software that will not
>> run on a Pentium system? All the old 8088 titles I have seem to run
>> just fine on my 486 and my brother's Pentium.
> 
>Naming examples of software would be meaningless to you because the
>titles I am referring to are developed for a particular line of business
>and not available to the general public.  

    Well you've just made my point, the incompatible software titles are
some rare and obscure business programs (furthermore, your saying they
were not even available to the public!). How about naming some software
titles the general public as access to that will not function at all?

>> >The modern architecture of the machine simply won't permit it.  PC's also
>> >haven't shipped with 5.25" floppy drives for some time, and there is
>> >still a lot of older 5.25" PC software floating around.  Yet I see no
>> >one like yourself running around and complaining to the masses about
>> >this.  
>> 
>>     That is because unlike a Macintosh, what your PC "ships with" is 
>> not what it is stuck with. 
> 
>Is is possible for you to respond to any message without making
>derrogatory statements about Macintosh???!

    Is it possible for you not to be so offended by comments about the
Macintosh? It is a machine, not a person. What I said is a truth about
the PC in respect to the Macintosh. The Macintosh is limited in what
can be added to it as it is a proprietary system. The PC is not, and
uses generic parts. For example, if the SuperDrive in a Macintosh fails
and needs to be replaced you _must_ purchase the replacement part from
Apple Computer. On the PC, I could purchase several types of 1.44 MB
drives from an uncountable number of vendors and distributors. I can
also stick in an old 5.25 drive in there too, since it is backwards
compatible not just in terms of software, but hardware as well.

>> If I have a need to run old software on 
>> a 360K 5.25 floppy disks, I just have to install a 5.25 drive into
>> on of my free external bays (the same built-in motherboard controller
>> that operates the 3.5 drive will also operate 5.25 drives). Also, the
>> data on those floppy disks are not fixed to run from them, they can 
>> easily be copied to a 3.5 disk, or better yet, to your hardrive. 
> 
>You have to have a 5.25 disk drive before you can do any copying to
>either 3.5 disks or a hard drive.  Newer machines just don't come with
>the 5.25 drives.  My point stands that floppy drives for PCs are very
>hard to come by these days (except for used ones), as are 5.25 disks
>themselves.

    Your confusing the PC market with the Macintosh. I will repeat it
again, what it ships with is _not_ what it is stuck with. Also keep
in mind unlike an Apple Macintosh, many people out there (myself for
example) don't buy pre-assembled computers. We buy the separate parts
and put in what we choose. That is a nice thing about not owning a
proprietary system.

    5.25 drives are very hard to come by these days? Gee, I just looked
on the home page for one of my favorite local computer shops, they list
brand-new 5.25 drives for purchase (if you don't believe me, go have a
look for yourself: http://www.microbytes.com). They are also extremely
common to find used, both double-density and high-density, the last PC
Expo I visited had a box filled with them for about $5/ea, and the used
computer stores I've visited have shelves full of them. The are by no
means rare. On the other hand, when I wanted to find a SuperDrive mech
for my Apple IIgs, it took me about 3 months of searching and I had to
pay a high price just to get one used. 

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca