<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> Doug, Back when you purchased your Apple IIgs ALL machines were obsolete in less than a second after your purchased.  They still are.  However you are one step ahead of most people.  You know what you want the machine to do.  Simply look at what your colleagues are using and what the professionals use.  You'll still be confused.  I have always advised folks to pick the machine that calls to them.  The one that seems to interface with them on a personal level and go with that machine.  It use to be that MAC was THE machine for music folks.  Being a musician that is why I intially got into MAC when they first started making them.  I think that gap between the MAC and the Windows type machines has been bridged but I will say that between my Macintosh and my Windows machine...it is easier to install and configure software for the MAC.  Both machines have their plus' and minus' but they are both great platforms and a lot of fun. On the argument that there is more software for the Windows machine than the MAC.  If there is software available for the MAC that will accomplish the mission you set out to do I might add that it is easier to make up your mind what piece of software you want if you only have one or two or three choices instead of 10 or 20.  When I have to consider the purchase of a piece of software for my Windows machine it always takes longer than it does for my MAC because I have to check out so many pieces of software.  I usually end up buying the piece of software that runs in both machines. Hope this helps you Doug, and what ever your choice is I'm sure you will not be disappointed. ---Marvin McDonald Jr.- Associate Doug Garman wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE><style></style> I had planned to ask for input on this question for some time when I read several postings today from some obviously zealous MAC owners/users.  I have always thought I wanted to own a MAC, but the cost argument from PC users has always won out.  Truth is I purchased an "Apple IIgs" in 1987; you know what happened to them!  Now, I have a used Pentium 100 machine given to me by a church member. Concerning the MAC I've heard everything from "for that higher price you're getting a faster, more powerful machine with better architecture" to "they're more user-friendly" to "they do graphics and music applications better/easier" to "MAC will read PC files" to "in a perfect world we would all be using Macs."  I know the "RCT" runs on the MAC, and I don't yet own an ETD. On the other side I hear that "for the same money you can get a Windows machine with more memory, faster speed, bigger HD, etc." or "Windows machines are more upgradable and expandable" or "there's a lot more software available for the PC" or "MACs are not for business applications". At the last two Music Educator Conventions I attended this past school year, the overwhelming computer of choice by the exhibitors was the "iMac" followed by one of the tower MAC systems. As a musician, band director, and piano technician why should I be using a MAC?  I'm really not just looking for someone who is going to tell me what I want to hear -- well, maybe I am.  Yes, I think they're cute; so do my four children. I just need some convincing arguments to overcome the cost factor (if indeed there is one).  I got burned once by Apple.  I hope that doesn't happen again. Respond to the list for all of us to read or to me personally at <a href="mailto:dgarman@granbury.com">dgarman@granbury.com</a> .  Thanks!  :o) Doug Garman</blockquote> </body> </html>