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Subject:Re: Macs vs Pcs From:Rose Wilcox <RWILC -at- FAST -dot- DOT -dot- STATE -dot- AZ -dot- US> Date:Wed, 12 Apr 1995 11:56:00 PDT
And the winner is... :-)
>What hardware and software do your companies provide?
I have worked on dedicated wordprocessors, PCs, Macs, IBM mainframes,
and UNIX and AIX platforms. I have used wordprocessors (from DisplayWrite
to Word 6.0), desktop publishing (PageMaker, then Ventura, then Frame),
BookMaster (tagging language)... and more. I have done stuff in Lotus
1-2-3,
Excel, etc. I have done project plans in various Project Management
software
packages. My point is, if you contract or change jobs often, you might
use anything at some time or other.
Currently I'm in a Windows environment writing Winhelp using Robohelp and
Doc-2-Help, hard copy docs in both Word 2 and Word 6, and project plans in
MS Project.
>What computer brand do you feel more comfortable using at home and at work?
I'm an IBM PC person, but I feel very comfortable with Macs. I even help
my friends figure out problems with their Macs. I also feel somewhat
comfortable hacking around in UNIX. At work, I feel comfortable using
the best I can beg, borrow, steal, appropriate, wheedle, or otherwise
obtain from management to do the task at hand. I feel comfortable
being employed and thus I'll use whatever you want me to if you pay me!
>What computer do tech writers use most often, Macs or PCs?
At the STC meeting last night, the consensus at my table was PCs
at present, although this is *not* a scientific measurement. :-)
The agreement was if you know PCs more jobs are open to you
than if you know Macs, but knowing both, of course, presents you
with still more job possibilities.
>Is either the PC or the Mac more appropriate for creating on-line
>documentation?
Mac for on-line Mac documentation, PCs for Windows and
docs to be ported to many environments. Other tools are more
appropriate for other platforms. I'm still very much in the learning
process on this topic, which is a fascinating arena.
******
Rosie (NorthCrowe)
rwilc -at- fast -dot- dot -dot- state -dot- az -dot- us
ncrowe -at- primenet -dot- com
"Although our information is incorrect, we do not vouch for it."
Erik Alfred Leslie Satie
