How FM use impacts purchasing decisions

[Peter Gold]

Hi, Rene:

Windows XP official support is supposed to end soon.

Windows XP won't be shipped with Intel Macs after the end of June, I
believe. I think the same applies to PCs.

So, Vista is not just a preference, it's a deadline.

There's no compelling reason to avoid an XP-based machine. By this
time in its life, there are few bus remaining to be fixed. A good
virus-protection application should protect your system, so the
discontinuing of MS Security updates shouldn't have an effect on
working.

If the only problems on your current laptop are lack of resources, or
messed-upness from long use installing/uninstalling/updating, etc, you
could consider a new hard drive, more RAM, and deactivating the
necessary applications, then reinstalling XP on the new drive,
copying, reinstalling, activating. If the machine's resources are
maxed out, then a new PC or MacTel with XP while it's still available
is a logical choice.

HTH
On Thu, Jun 19, 2008 at 8:51 AM, Rene Stephenson <rinnie1 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> My PC laptop is beaten up so badly it's barely stable anymore, so it's getting time to start the process of identifying the next workhorse for me. (Yes, I am rough on a laptop and rely on it very heavily. Any testimonials of your laptop successes are more than welcome!)
>
> I have gotten rather irritated with Microsoft since Vista came out, and I really am reluctant to get a new PC laptop due to it shipping with Vista and all the exponentially increased hassle factor that will entail. Frankly, I don't have time to spend 30 minutes per product just to load the software and get it functional by jumping through all the hoops required now. I "get" that it's piracy protection, and I "get" the concept and am not trying to circumvent any copyright laws, but it really just feels like my time and purse are being taxed because of other people's lack of ethics.
>
> I have some friends who have moved to the Mac platform for their laptops, and they swear by them. All the IT gurus I know swear by Unix/Linux and open source development. But, then I get the cold water splashing in the face: the majority of my computer use is work related, and the majority of that work is done in FrameMaker, and FM seems viable only in PC world.
>
> Am I missing something, or is this really the trap it seems to be? If I'm going to continue working with clients whose environment, architecture, workflow, and staffing all revolve around FrameMaker, am I forced to concede to all the baggage that comes with the PC world? Or is there a viable way to use FrameMaker on a new Apple laptop/notebook/etc., or on a Linux laptop, seamlessly with FM files saved by and shared with FM PC users? I can't risk hosing anything in these single-sourced shared-file environments...!
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
>
> Rene L. Stephenson
> _______________________________________________