At 11:03 AM 11/15/93 -0500, David Hunter wrote:
>I am much more comfortable with the PC in general. I have had some exposure
>to both versions. I'd like to know whether anyone has been using both the
>PC and Mac versions of LabView, and whether you can summarize the advantages
>and disadvantages of both.

I had to make this decision a couple of months ago; I've been using the Mac
since Oct 1984 and LV on the Mac for a couple of years. It was a bitter
pill to swollow but I ended up purchasing at PC. ;-( Two reasons mainly: 1)
I still have an SE/30 to do all of my non-LV work on (like writing this)
and 2) there are just a lot more of them (PCs) out there; thus I believe
that I can satisfy more clients with a PC than with a Mac (although having
both is nice).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I understand that:
>1) PC hardware is cheaper

Make sure to compare Apples to apples, as it were. Just looking at screen
updates, menus appearing, and other GUI things, it seems to me that you
need a faster 486 machine than a 68k to make LV's speed "look" the same.
(This is a separate issue from raw computing performance.) Also, for a true
comparison, price out a PC that is functionally the same as a comperable
Mac--don't forget the SCSI port and out-of-the-box built-in networking
(including network printing and file sharing).

>2) Mac has more built-in graphical 9t:f3 so may be more stable

I dunno. Windoz does leave a lot to be desired when compared to Mac but NI
has implemented much of the user interface themselves so I don't know how
much of the Mac toolbox they're using. IMHO, Mac System 7 has DOS 6/Windoz
3.1 beat hands down.

>4) In general, a Pentium will run LabView faster than a top-line Quadra

But how will the pentium stack up against the power PC? (Which NI plans to
support.)

>5) It may be easier to print graphical data on the PC version

This I would find very hard to believe. From my experience maintaining a
WAN of 20 PC, printing on PCs is a nightmare. I've never found any other OS
that compares to the Mac's functionality and ease of use where printing's
concerned.