By Janet Christian

Since I don't have anything particular to tell you this time with regards to the Information Alley, I thought I'd share my Apple experience with you. When I came to Apple a year and a half ago I was primarily what some people call a "UNIX Geek". The Macintosh took a bit of getting used to -- not because it was hard to learn, but because I was used to having to do everything the hard/long way.

The first time I asked how to install software on my Macintosh, I was told to "just double click on the Installer icon." My next question was, "then what?" I was surprised, and pleased, to learn that there really wasn't a "then what." And, to add to the beauty of the design, the simplicity of installation is consistent across most Macintosh applications.

This consistency and simplicity were brought back to mind this past weekend. My husband is still working diligently in the DOS and UNIX worlds. He has had an Apple MessagePad (Newton) for months, and he dearly loves it; he never goes anywhere without it. However, it's only since I aquired a PowerBook 520c that he has started to become familiar with Mac OS. It is interesting to watch his experiences and remember that I went through a similar "disbelief curve" -- "You mean that's all there is to it?" "It's that easy?" "That's all I have to do?" I just smile and nod.

He is also surprised to find the amount of consistency between applications -- even shareware games. For example, for the most part, Command-Q is always Quit; Command-P is always Print; Command-S is always Save. This makes it easy to be productive right away with new applications (or games).

Many people who haven't used a Macintosh computer often believe, because it is easy to learn and use, that it is a simple computer. Once upon a time I fell into that category. But nothing could be further from the truth. It is the ease of use that makes it so powerful. Instead of dealing with AUTOEXEC.BAT files and CONFIG.SYS files in DOS, or .CSHRC or .ENVIRON files in UNIX, users can concentrate on their applications.

For example, Macintosh multimedia software is some of the most powerful software on the market today. Many of the current high-concept, digitally-produced commercials and sports promotional spots on television are created using QuickTime and QuickDraw (and, soon, Quicktime VR and QuickDraw 3D). Hollywood and the advertising industry have discovered that they can accomplish sophisticated effects without having to be operating system gurus.

This same ease of use also applies to external media. Users access CD-ROM-based information as simply and easily as one, two, three (insert the CD, open the desktop icon, run the application).

I still have a UNIX system at home; I can't wait until the Macintosh 9500 series is available for purchase through the employee plan.

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