Platform of Choice

Subject: Platform of Choice
From: Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- AXIONET -dot- COM>
Date: Wed, 12 Feb 1997 19:06:52 -0500

"Rodney A. Hoiseth" <roth -at- GOL -dot- COM> wrote:

>Is there any particular reason the list presumes the use of >Windows?

Yes, there is: most people use an Intel-chip computer, and the most
popular programs for technical writing are MS Word and FrameMaker, whose
later versions don't run in DOS or OS/2, the other two most common
operating systems for Intel chips.

>Do these indicate a prevalence of problems with MS & Windows, >lack of use of other OS's, preference for the Microsoft >platform, or what?

Problems, I think. Everyone uses Windows, but few people have used
another operating system care for it. And, often, Windows and Windows
programs are buggy.

>In other words, what's the Platform of Choice for the users on >this list -- DOS, Windows, Mac, Unix, other, ...?

Put me down for OS/2. I have Windows 95 installed on the boot manager of
my machine (as well as DOS and Windows 3.1), but I don't use them except
when I have to.

I can run MS Word 6.0 and FrameMaker 5.1 under OS/2 4.0 (I just got
Frame running today, which eliminates most of my reasons for going into
Windows!), which differ only in minor ways from the latest versions of
their respective products. The sacrifice is minimal, and when a GPF
occurs, I don't have to restart the machine.
--
Bruce Byfield (bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com)
Technical Writer
Burnaby, BC, Canada
(604) 421-7189

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