wo weeks ago, I reviewed Apple's new iBook. Although I praised the computer's industrial design and Apple's marketing prowess, I couldn't resist taking a swipe at the Macintosh operating system. Out on the Internet, I said, I had run into problems - particularly with Web sites that had been designed with Windows users in mind, or those which required me to use programs such as telnet or ftp. I also criticized the computer's browsing speed, saying the iBook ran more slowly with my cable modem than did my Pentium III desktop.
I should have known better than to say anything negative about the Macintosh in print. Less than three hours after my column hit the pavement, my in-box was filling up with hostile e-mail from the Macintosh Faithful. People criticized my analysis, said I had an inherent anti-Mac bias, and said I shouldn't blame the Mac OS system for the failings of Windows-centric Web designers. One angry reader tried to organize a letter-writing campaign to The Boston Globe's ombudsman.
This reaction from Macintosh users is somewhat typical. Unlike Windows users, Mac-heads are quick to circle their wagons and attack the messenger whenever someone criticizes their beloved system. Apple evangelists have even organized harassment campaigns to ''reeducate'' journalists who have written unfavorable Macintosh reviews.
But rather than engage in another war of words, I want to call a truce. On this Thanksgiving Day, I want to give public thanks for the Macintosh.
Without a doubt, the Macintosh is the friendliest, easiest-to-use, and the most colorful computer on the market today. The Mac is a pleasure to operate. It's a computer that respects its user.
From the moment you turn it on, the Mac brings a smile to your face. Press the on switch of a typical Windows computer and you'll hear a nasty beep. The Mac, in contrast, plays a pleasant chord. One of the things that I hate about my Windows computer is the way it is always interrupting me. I can be in the middle of typing something in my word processor, but if another program needs my attention, it pops a window up in my face. Unfortunately, if I don't immediately stop typing, it's quite likely that one of my keystrokes will inadvertently trigger one of the buttons on the pop-up, and before I know it I've told the computer to go off and do something else - what I'm not sure. Mac programs, on the other hand, get your attention by pulsing the Apple icon in the computer's upper-left hand corner. There they will wait patiently until you decide to see what's going on.
Many readers wanted to know why I reviewed Apple's MacOS 8.5 operating system, when Apple had just released version 9.0. The reason, as I explained in my column, was that the iBook came with MacOS 8.5 installed. It was only the day after my column ran that Apple provided me with
MacOS 9.0.
Ironically, that same day I received a second operating system in the mail: a copy of Windows 98 Second Edition. So that afternoon, I upgraded both my iBook and my Windows desktop. The experience gave me another reason to be thankful for the Macintosh.
The Macintosh upgrade was fast and painless. Following the instructions on the CD, I put the CD in the iBook's CD-ROM drive, held down the C key, and turned the computer on. The computer booted from the CD-ROM. Next I ran the MacOS upgrader and was given the choice of upgrading my current operating system or performing a clean install. (Clean install is useful if you have damaged your computer and it will no longer boot.) I chose the upgrade; the job was finished in less than 10 minutes. When my computer rebooted, it was running MacOS 9.
The Windows upgrade was far more complicated. First, I had to boot my computer into Windows and run the upgrade program from the CD-ROM. Then I had to manually kill the ''MS-DOS'' box that I had used to start up the upgrade program. Then I had to type an activation key. Finally, I had to watch numerous Microsoft advertisements for the next 40 minutes, and wait through two reboots, until my computer was usable again. Microsoft has copied so much from Apple - it would be nice if they could copy the Mac's upgrading ease.
Apple's new operating system also gives us a lot to be thankful for. Just as with Windows 95, the Mac now supports multiple users, with different levels of privilege assignable to each. And it has a cool ''auto-update'' feature that lets you download operating system updates automatically over the Internet by clicking a button. Although there is a similar feature built into Windows 98, I've tried both and the Mac's is far easier to use.
Although programs such as ftp and telnet don't come with the iBook, these programs are readily available on the Internet for people who want to download them. And while it is true some Web sites require ActiveX or Windows-specific helper programs, most don't. I'm thankful the Internet is equalizing many of the differences between Mac users and PC users.
I'm thankful for the stability of the Macintosh operating system. Gone are the days when the Mac crashed every few hours. These days the Mac is an incredibly reliable operating system - far more reliable than my Windows PC.
Finally, I'm thankful for the Macintosh user community - a vocal group of computer enthusiasts who are always quick to criticize any person or company that does not properly support their computer.
Technology columnist Simson Garfinkel can be reached at http://chat.simson.net /
Dow:
