February 1997 Issue, copyright 1997, Canada Computer Paper Inc.

As long as its black

Your January 1997 issue was the most thorough view of how exciting an all-Windows world could be. Just think: you could use any OS you want on any device as long as it Windows. Choice? Who needs choice. What we need is Windows and Windows-only from the desktop to the notebook, to hand held devices. NOT!

I'm sorry, I am being a little sarcastic. If your January issue was, indeed, directed at a new computer buyer or any other sort of newbie, then the Windows message is the one that was sent. From the article on how to read ads, to the article on the CE device, to the article on organizers, to the article on financial management software-Windows only. I realize that most of the computing world, for some reason or another, have gone to Windows and I am not really complaining about that. But as a general computing resource, I think that it is your duty to show that there is choice and that that the alternatives are valid. I would love to see an in-depth article on OS/2, an in-depth article and testing of MacOS clone systems from Power Computing, Motorola and Umax.

Most readers are Windows users but I think that some of them might have interest in these suggested articles as many computer users don't even know that there are Mac clones now. Why bother about Canadian stuff the Americans say, we are 10 times bigger. Why bother about classical music the pop music world says, we are 10 times bigger. Size has little bearing on validity. Thanks.

Barrie Barrington, via Internet

Mac reader depressed (in more ways then one)

I just want to take a few minutes to tell you how discouraging it is these days to be a Mac user and a believer in this incredibly satisfying computer platform.

All I see these days is apocalypic news about Apple's laughable marketshare in the PC world. I see Bill Gates raking in the billions every month. I read the technical demonstrations of Windows NT's superiority over the Mac platform in key, leading-edge technology sectors (memory management, multi-threading, etc.) and it makes me sad.

All those technological breakthroughs that Apple cumulated over the years (the desktop interface, drag and drop, the 3.5-inch floppy, QuickTime technology, the mouse, Control Panels, etc.,) have all been copied and pasted successfully to the Windows platform, leaving the Mac stranded on a virtual island.

There is no way the Mac platform will make it to the 21st century - which will leave the non-geek world with one computer platform: Windows.

Now, excuse me if I find this forecast painful and frightening. I'm a graphic artist and a Web page designer; a Photoshop and Bryce so-called expert. I've worked on the Space Jam merchandising project recently. Next up: Batman 4, in January.

In two years, I'll probably be working under the Windows NT platform. Big Brother is here.

I know there's nothing you can do about all that - not even devote more space to the Mac platform in your pages. That would be irrelevant.

Resistance is futile. We will be assimilated. How sad.

Martin Rivard, via Internet

Let's just clear this Mac stuff up a bit

Stacey Man-Woh writes:

It appears that PC systems become outdated in a matter of 18-24 months, whereas Macs take longer, about 4-5 years. I was wondering if this statement is true.

GB replies: Not really, but I own a Mac that is over five years old (it cost $11,000 back in 1991, though!) Want to buy it? Cheap!

Stacey M-W: When it comes to upgrades, are Macs upgraded in similar manner as PCs?

GB: No, Macs have generally not been upgradeable by swapping inexpensive CPU components, as you can on virtually all PCs. On Macs, you usually have to replace the entire motherboard. A few new models have CPU daughtercards.

S M-W: There are now Mac clones offered on the market. How do they compare with Macs in design, performance, and price?

GB: Virtually all Mac clones are a better deal than equivalent Apples. Power Computing units (www.powercc.com) are generally regarded to be the price/performance leaders. I'd buy a PowerBase 180 for US$1495 (as of the end of December, '96), personally.

S M-W: When considering a Mac purchase, are there certain trouble areas that might be of concern (i.e., comparable to the faulty math coprocessors in Pentium systems)

GB: Mac 5x00 desktop and portable units and 190 series portables are considered by many to be badly flawed. Macs with a 601 or 603 processor or a 680x0 CPU are not on my recommended list either. (603e is okay.)

Note that some models, such as Apple's new 6400, don't support 24-bit color on their (internal) video. I don't think that is too good. There are also some models such as the 5200 that lack a 64-bit bus, and others that lack a Level 2 cache. These are all standard items on today's PCs, and your Mac should have them too.

S M-W: Can PowerPCs run PC software?

GB: Yes, with varying degrees of success (fair-to-poor). I wouldn't recommend this. Buy a $2500 Mac and a $1500 PC if you need both.

S M-W: On a budget of $4000, which of the Macintosh systems would be considered a smart purchase?

GB: I'd buy a PowerBase ($2000 - $3000) and upgrade the slow internal IDE drive for a fast SCSI drive, and fill the DIMM slots with about 48MB of RAM, and then invest in great software and a decent printer. Pay $100 extra for a tower case if you want one.

S M-W: I've made visits to several large computer retailers in the hope of finding out more information. But the salespersons push sales more than service. If possible, please recommend several reputable Macintosh dealers. Any assistance provided will be greatly appreciated. Thank you very much.

GB: If the local dealers that advertise in TCP don't satisfy you, then maybe try looking on the web. MacZone, MacMall and MacConnection are all major vendors, although mail-order service is a bit of an oxymoron.

For more Mac info, see
http://tcp.ca/gsb/Mac
http://www.dentalsite.com/macvantage/macsurf/
http://www.macworld.com/index.shtml
http://www.macuser.com/ (they have ratings of all new Macs and clones) and/or
http://www.macintouch.com/

Winnipegger wants more SUN

I've been an avid reader of TCP for several years but have yet to see any regular discussion regarding, in my opinion, the best hardware and OS yet developed by human minds. I hope that future issues of TCP will devote more pages to SUN PC's, for example, comparing with other RISC PC's. I personally own a Pentium, solely because of games for our family and because of the common software available out there.

"Bubble gum" wrapped software aside, SUN offers the best platform for anyone who uses their PC's for work - a PC after all is simply a tool, n'est pas?

I love TCP. Please keep up the exceptional work ... VERY informative and excellent service to computer users, both novice & experienced. A comparison of various more robust OS's (OS/2, NT, X-win) would be nice.

Andre Hamel Winnipeg

Sounds like . . .

If I go to the Windows 95 web site (http://www.windows95.com) using Netscape Navigator 3.0 the site won't give me any music.

(unidentified reader via Internet)

GB replies: Unfortunately, interpreting Microsoft Internet Explorer-specific BGSOUND or DYNSRC tags is not possible using any Netscape software or plug-ins I've seen. This is because IE uses different tags than Netscape to embed audio and video into a web page. the BGSOUND, MARQUEE, DYNSRC, and a handful of other tags are thus not supported by Netscape. For what it's worth, the web authors *could* rewrite their pages to use EMBED tags, which MSIE3 also supports. That way, the pages would work on both MSIE and Netscape Navigator.

In lieu of that, your only options are to either keep a copy of IE3 on your system (i.e., in addition to Netscape Navigator), or to view the source of the web page, copy the section of the HTML code that contains the reference to the audio or video clip, and then paste that into Netscape's location bar, so that Netscape Navigator's multimedia plug-ins can interpret the clips and play them for you.

Hope this helps.

Leaving the bank vault open
http://www.windows95.com/
In the January issue of TCP you have an excellent wrap up of the current financial software. There is a concern that I believe you may wish to cover in a future issue. With the amount of information in the data files of the financial packages, anyone that gets a hold of this file has enough information, especially once electronic transfers start, to do a lot of damage.

This could be a thief who steal your machine, (computers are usually one of the first things stolen), a thief who liberates your laptop, and lastly a rogue Java app that obtains your data file and up loads it without even your knowledge. While Quicken allows password protection of the data file, this is a very false sense of security. It provides only application level security and the data is not encrypted in anyway. Not sure about the other packages, perhaps this could be part of the investigation you do. This would seem to leave the security up to the user. If you the user are concerned, then it's up to you to manually encrypt and decrypt the data files. The problem - most users don't know to even think about this.

Anyway, thanks for the paper, I enjoy it.

John Galea, via CompuServe

DT replies: We will be revisiting the world of online banking in a few months, and hopefully will have information on what the latest developments to help protect our financial data.

Where's the HiNote?

I was suprised not to see any of Digital Equipment Corporation's Hinote line in your January Lab Test. The HiNote Ultra is only 1.2 inches thin, weighs just 4.0 lb and comes with many other options. Because of the thought and enginereeing put into the HiNote, a 133MHZ Pentium proved to be faster than A 150MHZ Machine of a different brand with the same specifications.

The Hinote VP is worth mentioning as it is available with NT 3.51 and 4.0 or Win95 configuration among other great features. I'm sorry they got missed!

Sue Rodya, via Internet

SH replies: We had in fact tried to obtain a unit from DEC, but due to circumstances beyond anyone's control, it was not possible to get one shipped to us. We've let them know of our upcoming notebook survey, and will work on getting a unit at that time.the web. MacZone, MacMall and MacConnection are all major vendors, although mail-order service is a bit of an oxymoron.

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