Apple Inc (AAPL)

[Tex]

re speed of Dull

Having him try to work on your computer is a great way to get him to see your need. I twice took my PowerBook to law jobs because the supplied machines felt underpowered for the work I demanded (um, word processing and web use to reach online research tools), and the tools were clunky. That's not twice as in two days, that's twice as in two jobs.

*Nix rox. When I installed OpenBSD on an old box I was shocked -- shocked -- how quickly it ran. That's with X-Windows, full graphical UI, virtual desktops, the works. The price of MSFT upgrades is slothful machines. At least Apple's trajectory has been toward better efficiency; software update feels like a hardware upgrade most of the time.

I can't see a downside of deploying on *nix when it's an option, since it also helps you avoid problems from nitwits who think they will "upgrade" their MS-OS installation and break the things your app depends on. DLL hell and all that.

I heard MSFT is supposed to be releasing an OS update in a couple of years. I can't imagine how they will advertise it: Like the last one we sold you, but slower. or Like the last one you had to buy with your new machine, but decreased incompatibility with all those apps you couldn't make work like they used to before your upgrade. Yeah, I'm dying to hear it.

Actually, I have a slight fear that one day MSFT will snap to it and release a quality product. Competition could be in danger then. But it'd be the end of their release cycle, wouldn't it? What new product as MSFT really built recently?

Good luck migrating to Mac at work. Is that a plausible deployment platform, or will your company be trying to release freeware *nix behind the stuff it sells?

Take care,
--Tex.