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APPLE MACINTOSH GAMING IS BACK!

    Through extensive studying, we found that we needed to ask a basic question of Windows, and here is our basic conclusion:

               Q. Is Windows a virus?

               A. No, Windows is not a virus. Here's what viruses do:

1.They replicate quickly -- okay, Windows does that.
2.Viruses use up valuable system resources, slowing down the system as they do so -- okay, Windows does that.
3.Viruses will, from time to time, trash your hard disk -- okay, Windows does that too.
4.Viruses are usually carried, unknown to the user, along with valuable programs and systems. Sigh...Windows does that, too.
5.Viruses will occasionally make the user suspect their system is too slow (see 2) and the user will buy new hardware.
  Yup, that' with Windows, too.

               Maybe Windows is a virus.

               Nope! There is a difference!

Viruses are well supported by their authors, are frequently updated, and tend to become more sophisticated as they mature.

               So there! Windows is NOT a virus.

Farside

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more @ http://www.macworks.com/html/stuffthis.html

 Thursday, May 7, 1998 01:34 PM

 By Scott Gerlach

 NEW YORK, May 7 (Reuters) - Worried your computer isn't Year 2000 compliant? Some simple guidelines and publicly available software can tell you if your system is ready for the next millennium, or if it can only party until 1999.

 The Millennium Bug may lurk in any of three locations on a personal computer: in software applications, in the operating system or in the BIOS, the basic instruction set that governs the computer's operation.

 Once turned on, a PC relies on its BIOS (basic input/output system) to check the data stored in the system's real-time clock (RTC). The operating system then grabs the date and time from the RTC, and applications draw date information from the operating system.

 Software compliance should be checked with the program's manufacturer, and there is a good chance such information can be found on the World Wide Web. Diagnosing hardware and operating system susceptibility proves a bit more straightforward.

 Users of IBM-compatible machines might face problems if their systems rely on a Pentium processor or an older chip. Some Pentiums, 486s and their predecessors are not century date compliant. Machines with more recent Pentium chips or Pentium II processors should have no hardware problems.

 A diagnostic software utility may be downloaded free of charge from the Web site of the National Software Testing Laboratories (http://www.nstl.com/html/ymark_2000.html).

 The program, called YMARK2000, temporarily sets the computer's internal clock to read 10 seconds before the millennium and then monitors its ability to roll over to 2000.

 Microsoft  Windows, the dominant operating system for Intel  -based computers, also exhibits mixed millennium compliance.

 Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0 -- and any evolutions thereafter -- should have no century date problems. Windows 3.x and older revisions of Windows 95 may need to be upgraded in order to elicit full compliance.

 Microsoft maintains a Web site with information on the millennium readiness of all of its products (http://www.microsoft.com/year2000/). A mountain of information resides at this site, not just regarding Windows but also focused on applications like Word and Excel.

 Apple (Nasdaq:AAPL) Macintoshes and compatibles have been ready for 2000 since their genesis, in 1984. Interestingly enough, however, current Macs will have trouble in the year 29940 -- keep that in mind if your business plans extend 28,000 years or so.

 Mac-related millennium information can be found on Apple's Web site (http://www.apple.com/macos/info/2000.html#macos).

©1996 *When it comes to the Mac- Most PC experts don't know jack! *

Fact: Apple is vastly larger than most PC users would believe. Don't take our word for it; just check the Fortune 500 where Apple Computer was ranked #114. (ahead of McDonald's, Federal Express, Time Warner, and General Mills), and over 100 spots ahead of, you guessed it, Microsoft (whose Fortune 500 rank is down at #219).
Fact: More web pages are created on a Macintosh than any other platform. Recent reports show that Macintosh is the #1 platform for Worldwide Web authoring, with 41 percent market share.
Fact: Apple is the most popular. Year after year,  Apple Computer, Inc. leads the computer industry in overall customer satisfaction for desktop personal computers, according to the J.D. Power and Assoc.Desktop Personal Computer End-User Satisfaction Study.
Fact: The Mac OS is more popular than Windows NT servers on the Internet. After Unix, the Mac OS is the most popular platform for World Wide Web servers. More than 20% of the servers on the Web are Macintosh systems.
Fact:  Apple's worldwide marketshare is much larger than the public has been led to believe. In fact, Apple's worldwide marketshare is greater than the COMBINED marketshares of Chrysler, Mitsubishi, Cadillac, Lincoln, Acura, BMW, Volvo, Lexus, Mercedes, Eagle, Infiniti, Saab, Land Rover, Jaguar, Audi, and Porsche. Over 26,000,000 Macintoshes have been sold and over 56,000,000 people worldwide use Macintosh everyday!
Fact: The fastest PC is a Macintosh!  Macintosh computers based on the PowerPC chip, significantly out perform comparably equipped Intel-based PCs. Independent tests, using 10 applications available for both Windows and Macintosh, showed that a 120 MHz PowerMac 9500/120 was, on average, 51% faster than a 120 MHz Pentium processor-based PC. Tests by Byte Magazine confirmed these results.  The fastest PC is a Macintosh- Period! Look for even more dramatic developments on the Mac platform. The 500 MHz and 600 MHz chips are not that far away.
Fact: Macintosh isn't just for graphics! Macintosh has a 50% share of chemical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, scientific, and engineering computing markets.
Fact: Macintosh is still the only true "Plug and Play" computer. But don't take our word for it. Here's what Computerworld magazine had to say, "The full benefit of plug and play technology in Windows 95 is still two years away."  A better term would be Plug and Pray!
Fact: Apple holds the #1 market share position in K-12 education. Apple has 63% of the installed base in U.S. K-12 institutions, according to QED. Apple's market share in K-12 has risen four points in the last year and is significantly higher in K-6 schools. When your kid brings home a document disk from school, can he work with it on your computer?  He can if you own a Mac.
Fact: Even PC magazines have to admit Macintosh is better! The February 1996 issue of PC World magazine rated the Mac OS the best 32-bit operating system, over Windows 95, Windows NT, and IBM OS/2 Warp.
Fact: Apple leads the industry in customer loyalty! 87 % of those who use Apple computers, repurchase Apple computers, a figure that no other computer company comes close to matching.
Fact: Macintosh is still significantly ahead of Windows 95 on features. Just ask Byte magazine which wrote, "To see tomorrow's PC, look at today's Macintosh." Or  Computer Reseller news who wrote, "Market acceptance not withstanding, Windows is far, far behind the Macintosh." Or perhaps consider what PC Computing said: "Macintosh System 7.5.2 is by far the easiest, smoothest, most usable operating system out there."
Fact: Apple software exclusivity. There are currently over 1,000 "Macintosh Only" products that are not available for PC users. Macintosh held its position as the #2 software platform in 1995. In the wake of the Windows 95 launch, Macintosh software revenues actually grew from Q3 to Q4 1995 at a faster rate than during the same period in 1994. Specifically, SPA data reveals that revenue growth increased 26.2% from Q3 to Q4 in 1995, compared to 9.7% for the year prior.
Fact: Apple has international appeal. Apple is the most used personal computer brand overall in Australia, per IDC, and is the number one brand in Australian small business, education, and consumer markets. Apple is the number one U.S. computer vendor and the number three vendor overall in Japan with 14% to 15% share per IDC and Dataquest. Macintosh was the number one selling brand of desktop computers in the U.K. in the fourth calendar quarter of 1995, per IDC. Apple's share was 13.0%, followed by Compaq at 11.9% and Packard Bell at 9.6%. The Macintosh Performa 630
and Performa 5200 were the number one and number three best-selling personal computers in the European home market in 1995, according to Dataquest.
Fact: Users who use both Mac and Windows 95 on a PC, like the Mac better! An independent study by Evans Research shows that people who use both system rated the Macintosh higher in every category including overall satisfaction, productivity, and ease of use.
Fact: Apple leads in computer industry innovation. According to the Jan. 29, 1996 issue of Information Week, Apple Computer was awarded 53 U.S. software patents in 1995, more than any other vendor.
Fact: PC Magazine awards Apple top honors in customer service and reliability. Apple leads in reality. For the third consecutive time, Apple has received top marks in 1996 for reliability and service from PC World magazine. Apple's customer support staff received the highest possible ratings in technical knowledge, courtesy, and follow-up. Apple also received "best"ratings in the survey's three product reliability categories. Apple also received the top ranking for quality and reliability from a Home PC magazine survey published in Nov.1995.
Fact: Apple's still on the cutting edge! InfoWorld magazine named OpenDoc the winner of the 1995 Landmark Technology Award, given to the most significant original idea or advance in a current technology each year.
Fact: For most of itâs history, Apple has been the annual top seller of personal computers. Currently, due to temporary setbacks, Apple ranks as third largest personal computer manufacturer in the world. If Apple's third, who's fourth? IBM. Appleâs Goal of course is to recapture #1.
Fact: Apple's got some jack! Through all the doom and gloom of the national media, it's rarely mentioned that Apple has a healthy cash position of over $1.3 billion in reserves (that's billion with a "B"). And Apple just posted a $25 million dollar profit for their latest quarter (when Wall Street had predicted a .30¢ per share loss. For 11 straight years Apple proves the Wall Street analysts wrong!)
Fact: In a head-to-head public battle staged by the Software Publishers Association, the Macintosh beat Windows hands-down. The "Ultimate Mac
vs. Windows Challenge." pitted a senior technical editor from Windows Sources magazine, and his assistant, against a 10-year-old Mac user. In a series of real world tests (which included assembling the computer, connecting a printer and a Zip drive, connecting to the Internet, etc.) the youngster finished in *half* the time taken by his opponents.
Fact: Apple is worldwide market leader in digital camera sales. According to BIS, the Apple QuickTake share is greater than the sales of all other digital camera manufacturers combined.
Fact: Apple was the number one vendor in the Canadian consumer market in 1994 and through the first half of 1995, per AC Nielsen Marketing Research. Apple's unit growth in Canada through the first half of 1995 was double the overall Canadian market growth.
Fact: Apple is the multimedia king, as reports show that 63% of all multimedia applications development is done on Macintosh computers. And 33% of existing multimedia computers are Macintosh.
Fact: Macintosh is the undisputed choice of commercial publishers. Apple has a 63% share of the U.S. commercial publishing market and a 26% share of the corporate publishing market.
Fact: Using Macintosh computers to develop software saves money! On average, the cost to develop and support Wintel (Windows/Intel- based PCs) applications is 50% higher per dollar of revenue than the cost to develop for Macintosh. Also, the Software Publishers Association (SPA) reports that although the Macintosh hardware market may be 10% or less, Macintosh software makes up over 18% of all software sold. The report went on to point out that Macintosh users actually use more applications than Windows users and cited ease of installation of Mac applications as one of the reasons.Macintosh rules the CD-ROM market.
Fact: 72 percent of all multimedia CD-ROM titles are developed on a Macintosh; Regardless of the platform they run on, 42 of the 50 top-selling CD-ROM titles worldwide were developed on Macintosh; and Apple is the Number 1 multimedia vendor in the world...for the second year in a row.
Fact: Interest in developing for the Macintosh is growing! A survey of several hundred top industry executives at Agenda 96 indicates growing interest in Mac development. While 57 percent of respondents developed or sold products for Macintosh in 1995, 65 percent expect to develop products for Macintosh in 1996.
Fact: Color publishing IS Macintosh! Eighty percent of all computers used for color publishing jobs in the advertising, graphic design, printing, publishing and pre-press industries are Macintosh, according to a 1996 study by Griffin Dix Research Associates.
Fact: Apple has large share of Internet client and Server stations. Apple's share of Internet client and server stations is twice as high as their general market share. And the Mac OS is the second most popular OS platform for Worldwide Web servers, according to a Georgia Institute of Technology survey; more than 20 percent of the servers on the Web are Macintosh systems.
Bottom Line Fact: Apple is #1.
The Apple Macintosh is number one in ease of use, number one in processing power, number one in customer satisfaction & loyalty, number one in schools, number one in Web publishing, number one in print publishing, number one in multimedia software development, and has the number one installed base for multimedia computers in the world!
For those who remain doubters,  I might point out a couple of amusing facts-The first several "Intel Inside" TV ads were  made 100% with a Mac and there is a  large Mac presence at both Intel and Microsoft company headquarters for use in producing company graphics.