Re: Mac Lab Software

[Susan Gallagher <Susan_Gallagher_at_Enfin-SD -at- RELAY -dot- PROTEON -dot- COM>]

>Reply-To:     David Tietyen <tietyen -at- PICARD -dot- MSOE -dot- EDU>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Being new to Internet, this is my first attempt at sending a message, so
>please bear with me.
>We are in the process of developing an update plan for our Mac Lab,
>which is for use by our TC students.  We are well on our way in
>defining what new hardware we would like, but my concern is that we
>also address software issues.  I teach courses covering user manuals
>and want to be sure that the software our students use reflect what
>they will be using when they graduate.
>Therefore, I am interested in what software is being used out there for
>manuals.  Or, another approach would be: If you were designing the
>ideal system for manual preparation and production, what software would
>you like to have?


If you want your lab to reflect the real world, don't limit your tools to Mac
only.  Yes, once upon a time the Mac was the only way to go if you wanted print
quality and good graphics (although before Mac I produced doc on a Wang dot
matrix and did real paste-up).   Now there's just as much being done on a PC,
maybe more.

While older shops are still recooping their Mac investment and
doc-or-graphics-only shops are heavy into the Mac world (paying megabucks for
machines with beaucoup ram) the realworld is using the machines their business
or production software runs on -- mostly PC's running Windows.  Especially in
the software industry, this platform gives the writer the most direct route
between product and production.  When was the last time you tried to port an
OS/2 screen shot to a Mac???  It ain't easy, lemme tell ya!

I'd say that if you want your students to be competitive in today's job market,
they need to be cross-platform capable, especially in Windows and with Word,
Ventura, and Corel.

Sue Gallagher at Enfin-SD