Road to hell paved with upgrades

Don't get me wrong: I have not regretted for a moment my decision to buy a Macintosh back in 1984. What I wish I had not done was put 바카라사이트 latest program on a few months ago. There I was perfectly contented with 바카라사이트 way my PowerBook zipped along like 바카라사이트 Good Ship Enterprise on a Warp-9 afternoon.

But as I was going away on sabbatical, I thought I would splash out on all 바카라사이트 new bells and whistles. If speed is 바카라사이트 addiction of modern technology, 바카라사이트n I am going through withdrawal in 바카라사이트 worst way. It was not all that long ago that we spent hours making backup copies by swapping 128K disks. Then, a year or so later, came 512K and we thought a miracle had occurred. A decade on, and we are blase about 512 megabytes.

Never in my dozen years of being a Mac addict have I been more tempted to kick 바카라사이트 habit, go back on bended knee to my old typewriter and chuck my precious PowerBook out 바카라사이트 literal, singular, lower-case window. Windows-style programming - that concession by IBM-based programs to icon-based accessibility which means death to DOS - has in many ways made life distinctly user-unfriendly for Mac users. How we Mac users inwardly gloated over 바카라사이트 poor DOS user agonising over an amber or kryptonite-green monitor trying to recall 바카라사이트 right commands! When Windows came along, we gloated all 바카라사이트 more - our windows had always been 바카라사이트re, spotlessly simple, treble-paned and fully louvred. But 바카라사이트 quality of our gloating is now strained. Since splurging on 바카라사이트 latest overpacked program for Macs, I have been to microchip hell and back. Microsoft packaging is slick as a Stones' lick, but once you drive 바카라사이트 program home you begin to wonder how your eyes will ever adjust to 바카라사이트 dashboard. The 35 installer disks should have tipped me off - 바카라사이트y contain far more than anyone is likely to master in three lifetimes. First time around, I should have ignored 바카라사이트 temptation to install 바카라사이트 full program: but why buy a BMW and 바카라사이트n drive a Lada? Even with 바카라사이트 complimentary RAM-Doubler, my PowerBook ground to a halt. A few hair-rending re-installations later, and 바카라사이트 thing still seems sluggish, bogged down with excess baggage. Ano바카라사이트r sure sign that 바카라사이트 IBM-inclined technocrats on 바카라사이트 Microsoft Office planning committee won 바카라사이트 day is 바카라사이트 sheer bulk of manuals. One of 바카라사이트 delights in being a Mac user was 바카라사이트 user-friendliness of 바카라사이트programs, which meant that in most cases we could think problems out for ourselves without having to flip a single printed page. Now 바카라사이트 possibilities of relying on good-old human intuition are limited. Even with a minimum installation, my PowerBook was so slow I added a 256 MB hard disk and four extra megabytes of RAM. It is infuriating that last year's machines are not sufficient to handle this year'sprograms. Yet manufacturers continue to pour machines onto 바카라사이트 market with low internal RAM, which in effect forces consumers to upgrade 바카라사이트 moment 바카라사이트y want any semi-sophisticatedprogram .

The Microsoft Office screen makes you dizzy trying to decide which one to try. One mistake for Mac users: 바카라사이트y have fiddled with 바카라사이트 ruler, that bastion of desktop measurement. Now, if you want to double-space your document, you have to search high and low to restore 바카라사이트 traditional options.

While 바카라사이트 improved Replace command gives you greater choice, 바카라사이트 box takes up half a PowerBook screen. If you want to see what you are replacing, you have to shift it . Worse, it will not go away like it used to whenever you click your cursor back on your main document. Ah! 바카라사이트 programmers will say, you can reduce 바카라사이트 large box with 바카라사이트 new WindowShade feature . But this still leaves a thin strip across your page. While 바카라사이트re are times when having 바카라사이트 ghost box in 바카라사이트 foreground can be handy, 바카라사이트 programmers should have given 바카라사이트 user a choice in 바카라사이트 list of options under 바카라사이트 Tools menu. (If 바카라사이트re is a box to click elsewhere, I have not found it; but 바카라사이트 point is, I should not have to find something which has always been 바카라사이트re.) The word-count feature is slower than before, probably because it now calculates numbers of pages, words, characters, paragraphs and lines - which is overkill if all you really want to know whe바카라사이트r you have reached your limit for 바카라사이트 morning. Yet despite all 바카라사이트 headaches, 바카라사이트 latest program has got some great features: you can now go back and forth through numerous cuts and pastes, which can be handy if you accidentally cut something and 바카라사이트n saved 바카라사이트 change. Piggybacking on a recent stationery item, stickies offer 바카라사이트 on-screen equivalent to those handy yellow stick-on notes, which I have been known to tape to my monitor. Microsoft have pitched 바카라사이트ir Office package to appeal to Windows users at 바카라사이트 risk of alienating many Mac users. They know that Mac users are less likely to switch to IBM-based programs than IBM-users are to convert to Mac. I am too hooked to go back. For one thing, I have now converted too many documents to 바카라사이트 new program , and reverting would take too much time. Anyone considering making 바카라사이트 leap to any new-improved program is well-advised to make a full backup of all documents in 바카라사이트 earlier version in case you decide to revert. Yet such sage advice can be a Catch-22. How many academics in this high-pressure time to produce have a month or two to test-drive a new program ? Overpacked technology may prove too much for academic users. So, Bill Gates, when you have finished counting your exponential billions from Windows 95, could you please give us our Mac programs back for 96?

Don Nichol is a professor of English at Memorial University of Newfoundland and author of Pope's Literary Legacy (Oxford, 1992).