Re: Mac vs. PC

Rowan:

>Can I do it equally
>well on either platform?

Technically yes. From the practical aspect: Maybe??

In her reply Lori made some good points but this only part of the problem.
So IF this is for personal webs there is no problem. A Mac is a fine
computer and will certainly do the job.

However, if this is to be a professional business that must interact with
clients, then there are some compatibility issues to consider.
Understandably, many Mac advocates may cry foul but in the area of no
brag--just fact, every poll and statistic taken in this area shows roughly
the same result. There are about ten PC's for every Mac in and around the
web world.

This means that your web design business will have a client base that is 90%
PC and 10% Mac. And just like Lori alluded to, there are often problems when
transferring material between the two platforms.

Example: A local entity, Shasta County, used Word Perfect on a Mac. They
sent out their agendas in that format. Using MS Word on a PC, we could read
their documents just fine. However, they could not read ours for some
reason. In fact, the county had so much trouble, they are now in the process
of a five year switch over to PC and the stated reason is to make them more
compatible with the people they serve.

Now they use Adobe PDF files and surprisingly, they get more complaints than
they did with their Word Perfect files. Apparently, ALL Adobe readers are
not the same. This time, it is the Mac users doing the complaining.

Now, one could spend hours arguing over which system is at fault and why.
The point is however, that these problems do exist. And to put it bluntly, a
business can have enough to worry over when communicating with their clients
without compatibility problems on top of it.

I personally started out with a Commodore at home and an Apple/Mac at work.
When I was "drafted" out of retirement, we looked at the trends and went
with Windows. Never--not once--have we ever regretted it.

Does this mean we are right and the owners of Macs are wrong??

Of course not.

The bottom line suggestion here is to go with the same platform that the
majority of their clients will be using. That will be far more important
than which platform is capable of making a web page.

Best wishes
Ted Temer
Temercraft Designs Redding, CA
temer(at)c-zone.net
www.temercraft.com/
www.newsredding.com/


> Dear All,
>
> I have always thought that one could use HTML & ASP (& other Website
design
> tools) equally well on a Mac or PC.  Personally, I use a Mac at home & a
PC
> at work.  But I am a total newbie to Web design & someone who wants to
> purchase a computer to learn Web design has asked me: Can I do it equally
> well on either platform?
>
> So, I thought I would ask the advice of more experienced Web programmers.
>
> He wants to get a Mac, BTW, so the question could be rephrased as: are
there
> any problems w/doing ASP & HTML, etc. on a Mac?
>
> Thank you!
>
> Rowan
>

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