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Re: can I use Apple II with a vga/dvi monitor? how to get software?

The Wizard of Oz wrote:

Michael J. Mahon wrote:


The Wizard of Oz wrote:
Man they were lucky. When Word crashed my system the disks wouldn't even mount/read. The only thing to do was reformat and reinstall. Normally you'd expect the problems of this nature to happen to the C: drive. It took out the D: drive too. 


While I don't doubt that you were running Word when this happened,
it sounds much more likely that a hardware error caused your system
to run amok.  A problem in communication between the CPU, the IDE
controller, and the drive chain (with both drives) can do almost
anything.



    Possible, but after I changed configurations it never happened again.


Something as simple as re-plugging a disk data cable could have
fixed the problem.


It could even (some would say most likely) be a virus--it's hard
to kill multiple drives with software by accident.  ;-)



    Also possible. Not likely but possible.


Anecdotal evidence is not very good evidence, since virtually everyone's
system has a different hardware and software configuration.  Only if the
problem were repeatable could it be diagnosed to its root cause.
I realise it's like the argument that my parents cats keep the tigers away. The justification is you don't see any tigers around here. Apart from the problem happening twice the same way, I'm not sure how to repeat it... I wasn't about to let it happen a third time. 


Someone somewhere has had a Linux system bite the big one, but I'm sure
you wouldn't use that to disqualify Linux as a usable platform.
No doubt. For that person I would say they shouldn't run Linux. They need to go with what works for them. Maybe they should run a Mac, Windows, or not run a computer at all. 

O they should accept the fact that all complex systems have flaws
and recover from the problem and go on.


Of course, a journaled file system, as all modern systems have now, is
a wonderful thing--as long as something doesn't turn on all the write
heads and start seeking!  ;-)
I know journalling is installed by default but I'm not sure what it is beyond something good to have. Perhaps it may be a complement to the people who came up with the idea, that I don't know it's running. 

That's as it should be!

A journaled file system logs all updates before making them, so that
if a problem occurs, the log can be replayed to restore a consistent
file state.  It means that random failures, including power failures,
don't leave your file system inconsistent.
I won't argue Windows has a large software base. However if you take a measure of the quality of the software available you'll find there are a lot of terrible programs out there produced by guys who just want to make a fast buck. 


That is true of everything--see Sturgeon's Law.
The thing is I suspect the percentage of terrible programs is much higher under Windows than under any other operating system. I'm willing to cut some slack to authors who say their programs are works in progress. How many times do you go into a store and see on a box "this is a work in progress"? As a sample, in front of me I see 18 inches of Windows games. Fully one third are so terrible I would say to save your money and avoid them. Another third are just badly implemented. These should be "a work in progress". The rest range from OK, but not my cup of tea to excellent. 

Aside from some argument that only the elite write apps for OSs other
than Windows, I can't see any other justification for that assessment,
but that may be true.

Since "almost everyone" who writes code seems to develop for Windows,
there are bound to be lots of "kittens on the keys".

-michael

NadaNet file server for Apple II computers!
Home page:  http://members.aol.com/MJMahon/

"The wastebasket is our most important design
tool--and it's seriously underused."