Battle Of Computer Bytes
Battle Of Computer BytesMacintosh vs. Windows 95
It used to be that the choice between a Mac and a PC was pretty clear. If you wanted to go for the more expensive, easier to use, and better graphics and sound, you went to buy a Macintosh, for the cheaper price, it was the PC. Now it is a much different show. With the release of Windows 95 and the dynamics of the hardware market have changed the equation.
On the other hand, Apple has made great price reductions on many of their computers last October. You can now buy a reasonably equipped Power Macintosh at about the same price as a PC that has about the same things. This makes the competition much harder.
Windows 3.x have been great improvements over the earlier versions of Windows, and of course over DOS, but it still didn't compete against the ease of use on a Mac. The Windows 95 interface is much better than Windows 3.x. It borrows some from the Macintosh interface and has improved on it.
Some improvements are the ability to work with folder icons that represent directories and subdirectories in DOS. Windows 95, unlike the Mac, logically groups data and resources. A Taskbar menu lets you call up and switch between any software application at any time. Thus feature is better than the Mac's because its use is more obvious. It clearly shows what is running and allows you to switch programs with a single click of the mouse. Control panels have been added so you can configure your hardware. There is easy access to frequently used files. You can make very long file names on Windows 95 instead of short and strange names that leave you wondering about, such as on Windows 3.x I could not name a folder “This is stuff for school” it would have to be much shorter. The Help system helps you implement its suggestions. A multilevel Undo command for all file operations safeguards your work, something Macintosh does not have.
Something that Windows 95 has, similar to the Macintosh’s Alias function, is shortcut icons. It calls up a program very easily, instead of searching through your hard drive. The Windows 95 shortcuts go beyond the Mac's, they can refer to data inside documents as well as to files and folders, and can also call up information on a local area network server or Internet site. Windows 95's plug and play system allows the operating system to read what's on your machine and automatically configure your new software that you need to install, however, this only works if the added hardware is designed to support it, and it will for a
majority of hardware.
All of these things are major improvements, but hardware and CONFIG.SYS settings left over from earlier...
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