RE: graphic artist work

[Todd Sutherland <TSutherland -at- DERIVION -dot- com>]

Does the long filename persist if the file is placed on a floppy 
and transferred? .... and doesn't the file depend on the three letter 
extension to allow it to be opened by the proper program?

	No, there's no prob transfering to floppies.  I was kind of a purist
for a long time, because I came right up from Atari 520STs (which also had
the DOS 8.3 naming convention) to Win 3.1 to Win95, and I kept using 8.3 for
a long time because it seemed more orderly to me.  Then I started to notice
that naming things daffield.jpg was not quite as lyric as "A Field of
Daffodils.jpg", and put 8.3 behind me.  But I transfer stuff with long file
names by floppy back and forth to work all the time.  Unless you're bringing
the files to a VERY old system running DOS 6.22, the files names are
preserved all the way.  They'll get truncated on a DOS or Win 3.1 system, of
course, but that's a limitation of the old operating systems, not the
current ones.  The file extention usually is important in Windows, yes, but
it always gets preseved in truncations.  "Superduper.jpg" would be truncated
to something like "Super~1.jpg" in DOS 8-bit naming.



>> If you really want to see the difference between a Mac and a PC, 
drag 
>> the Fonts folder from each system to the desktop.  Reboot.  Which 
one 
>> works?  That's the one you should buy.
> 
> I'm glad to see we're limiting the discussion to practical
> considerations here... don't we all like to drag our fonts to the 
desktop to
> try to confuse our operating systems?  I know that's MY idea of a fun
> Saturday...


So, you're right:  this is not a great way to spend a Saturday (or any 
other day of the week, for that matter).  On the Mac, if the customer 
messes up and removes the Fonts folder and reboots, the system still 
works.  On the PC, you're stuck.

	Generally speaking, it shouldn't be a problem, because Windows won't
let you move the Font folder (unless you boot from a floppy and the fonts
aren't loaded).  Windows won't let you move or rename a file that's open,
except by means of the program that actually has it open at the time.  If
it's the OS itself, you can't do it.  You can move non-system fonts out of
the Fonts directory, but not the system Fonts.  At least not without a lot
of grief from Windows while you try it.

Note that I haven't played with Windows 2000, so this small problem 
may have been fixed.

	I haven't either, but from what I understand, it's far more NT than
Win9x and has proved sufficiently unpopular that MS is going to keep the two
lines separate for at least the next "generation".


On the Mac, you can't eject a floppy/CD/Zip disk that has open 
applications. Not sure how that works on the PC, as I've never tried 
to run an app from a floppy ....

	Floppies are always yours to command (although if you're running an
app off one and take it out, Windows will present you with the Blue Screen
of Death, demanding it back).  But I've noticed a few Mac-esque features in
late model PCs, like the famous power button that doesn't shut off the
computer unless the computer thinks that's okay (what a pain that is if the
OS hangs) or CD-ROMs that decided when they're done with the disk.


> There were things about the Mac I liked better, but Apple makes it 
hard to
> love -- for most people.

.... until they play with one for more than a minute, usually.

	Funny you should choose the word "play". :)  Well, most people have
been exposed to Macs by now.  But most people still use Windows.  Macs have
a prestige aura tied up to them but the little disadvantages stack up and
most people just shrug and stay with what they know.  And I've heard the
same thing in reverse: people who want to get into the PC side because of
the advantages, but who stay with the Mac because it's what they know, and
the little horror stories both sides can haul out scare away converts.  I
think it pretty much comes down to what you learned first.  People tend to
be the same way with everything, from stick shift VS automatic, to toilet
paper hangs TO the wall VS toilet paper hangs AWAY from the wall.


MetaCreations is gone, now, alas ... another victim of shortsighted 
management-types.

	I have to admit, I wasn't really happy to hear that Corel took them
over.  In more jocular moments I sometimes imagine that Corel is really a
big plot run by Microsoft to buy up all the competition and flush it down
the toilet by means of -- whoops! -- "mismanagement"... :)

Okay, I'll agree with that -- to a certain extent.  Just be sure that 
if you're buying a PC, you try to avoid the "Two-Guys-in-a-Garage" 
type companies.  Sure, the price is low ... but will they be around 
when your system has problems?

	That's true.  I recently bought an Athlon from Compaq through
Business Depot.  The price was pretty good; I got a lot more for two grand
than I got when I bought my 486 just five years ago, and I'm reasonably sure
of the parts and that the people selling it will be around for a while.  The
486 I bought was from a couple guys in an industrial park, and later on I
began to suspect it was a display model because it had, of all things,
PageMaker installed on it, but not Word...  Not your typical start-up
software.


Don't forget that antivirus software ... and don't forget to factor in 
the next version of "I Love You" on your lost productivity.

	Nobody makes viruses for the Mac... the market just ain't there. :)



*************************************************
Todd G. Sutherland        100-65 Allstate Parkway
Technical Writer         Markham, Ontario L3R 9X1
tsutherland -at- derivion -dot- com    905-947-9730 ext. 382
http://www.derivion.com          905-947-9744 fax
*************************************************

"Be a scribe! Your body will be sleek, your hand will be soft....You are one
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