[ Broken Windows ]

December 1, 1998

If you ever needed proof on why you should not buy a Wintel PC, do not listen to folks like myself, who evangelize the Macintosh platform as easier to use and be productive with. Listen to those who support Windows PCs.

This is a letter from the November 23, 1998 issue of Information Week, titled by the magazine, "Broken Windows":

"The Editor's Note of Nov. 2 asked what questions readers have about going with Windows 2000 ("Questions To Ask," pg. 8). Here's mine: Where are my total cost of ownership figures coming from?

Earlier in my career, I asked a supervisor why we sent engineers out for training on nearly everything but Macs. He replied, 'Which do you want to make: $50 per hour or $100 per hour?' There was little money to be made in Mac networking - it's too easy - but lots to be made getting Windows to run on the network.

We seem to bill two to four times as many hours for any given task with NT than with anything else. Windows 2000 will be different; it's more complex, has bigger demands, and has more ways to break."

Randy Grein
Senior Engineer
Seattle

Straight from the horse's mouth. So ask yourself: where would you rather your money go? Into this guy's pocket, supporting your Windows nightmare machine? Or into a savings account? A college fund for your kids? A retirement fund? Couldn't your money be better spent on things other than tech support?

Macs have historically been more expensive at the time of initial purchase than PCs. This has changed somewhat within the last year, and I'm sure it is something that will not change for some time to come. However, Macintosh computers have also traditionally been easier to support, and have provided a greater return on investment over the long term than a similar PC. They are simply a better value.

There is money to be made in supporting Macs. I know. I have done it. I am doing it. But more often than not, I have found that I am not fixing problems with clients' Macs, but rather, I'm assisting them in getting more productivity out of their Macintosh systems. One example was a client in New Orleans, a graphics house with several Macs. One of those Macs was a 9500/132, that we installed a Newer Technology G3 upgrade in. The graphic artist who used this machine day in and day out was instantly more productive. Photoshop and Freehand rendered faster than with the older 604 processor, enabling her to finish jobs faster, enabling her to take on more jobs, enabling her to bill more hours. There was no fiddling with jumpers or switches on the motherboard. I pulled the old processor card out, installed the Newer Tech card, installed a control panel for the OS, and it just worked.

I haven't spoken with that client lately, mainly due to the fact that I've moved from New Orleans to Dallas, but I would guess that G3 upgrade has paid for itself.

So take this into consideration, dear reader, when you contemplate a decision on whether to buy Wintel or Macintosh. How much time, and how much money, do you want to spend on the machine after that initial purchase?

Not much, would be most folks' answer. That's why I own a Mac.

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