How FM use impacts purchasing decisions

[Paul Findon]

Hi Rene,

If Adobe had done the right thing by its customers and given us  
FrameMaker for Mac OS X, we wouldn't be having this conversation, but...

I know several people who run Windows FrameMaker on their Intel Macs  
with Parallels. I've not tried it with FrameMaker, but My son had  
been on to me about installing parallels on his Intel iMac for a  
while so he can run Microsoft Publisher, so last month we took the  
plunge. Installation was surprisingly easy. In fact, installing  
Windows seemed to proceed quicker than the last time I installed it  
on my Pentium 4 PC.

Our copy of Windows XP (pre-SP1) is an upgrade, so we had to insert  
our Windows 95 full version CD during installation (used the CD/DVD  
Disconnect function), but Parallels handled it with ease. Then we  
installed Windows XP SP2, AVG Free Anti-virus 8.0, Office, and Firefox.

Things were a bit tight with 1 GB of memory, but everything worked.  
And running in Coherence mode, Windows apps appear side-by-side with  
Mac apps, which is uncanny. The other day we popped in 4 GB memory  
and Parallels runs even better. My son is happily producing his  
Runescape booklets in Publisher, which we then print to PS, open in  
Preview, save as PDF, and impose with Cheap Imposter. Even Mac OS X's  
Spotlight search tool finds files on the virtual machine's C: drive.  
Cool!

Popular Mechanics recently commented that "Macs run Vista better than  
PCs" and from what I've seen so far, I can believe it.

<http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/04/17/macs-run- 
vista-better-pcs>

One advantage of Parallels on Mac OS X is that if Windows or a pesky  
app goes pear shaped (perish the thought), it doesn't take your  
entire PC with it and require a reset. You simply kill the virtual  
machine and re-open it. Parallels offer a 15-day free trial.

Incidentally, I've also tried Mac FrameMaker 6 and 7 on my son's  
Intel Mac with Mac OS 9 running inside SheepShaver, an open source  
Power PC emulator. Considering it's converting Intel and PowerPC  
instructions on the fly, it's incredibly snappy. Much faster than  
Virtual PC ever was. I can print to my networked LaserJet, connect to  
other Macs on the network, access all of the files on the Mac OS X  
side, sound works, boots up in 30 seconds, even the scroll ball on  
the Mighty Mouse works (up/down only). It's not 100% stable and I'm  
not suggesting anyone use it for work, but at this price...  Anyway,  
I was gob smacked the first time I saw Mac OS X, Mac OS 9, and  
WIndows XP all running simultaneously on the same Mac.

As you know, Mac OS X comes with an interactive spell checker built  
in. I've gotten so used to it, that now I right-click while working  
in Mac FrameMaker expecting a list of possible spelling suggestions  
to appear. Alas, all I get is FrameMaker's contextual menu. OS X also  
comes with a dictionary. OK. Not that exciting on it's own perhaps,  
but if you press Command-Control-D in any app, a little dictionary  
window instantly appears as you move the mouse over words. Now that's  
cool!

Paul



> 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
> _______________________________________________
>