cc: David Hunter <dhunter@ishtar.med.jhu.edu>, info-labview@PICA.ARMY.MIL
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On Tue, 16 Nov 1993, Brad Hedstrom wrote:

> 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

Remember to compare like functionality to like functionality
1) PostScript vs PCL
2) Max memory and segment sizes
3) Size and speed of hard drives (scsi vs IDE)
4) Minimum timing interval
5) DDE vs PPC and Apple Events
6) Visual Basic vs. Labview
extensible user interface
vs. unextensible user interface
7) Mac substitutes for Quinn-Curtis tools
printing of graphics
8) Mostly keyboard or mostly mouse interfaces
9) Inboard or outboard hardware
10) Slot vs. virtually slotless
11) Passive backplane vs motherboard construction
12) Stable vs. non-stable hardware

> >2) Mac has more built-in graphical 9t:f3 so may be more stable
>
You will find many literature references about how kludgy Windows/DOS
really is. (Circuit Cellar INK).

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

Don't know.

> >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.
>
Anyone have any ideas on how to print to a printer from LabVIEW on the Mac?
I envision a few possiblities:
1) CIN and Quickdraw
2) CIN and talk to printer directly
3) Use another application and 'Apple/Events or DDE'
(I will be using Excel to print a TEXT file)
(No formatting is allowed in this approach)
(but files are portable: Unix, IBM and Mac)
4) Print the front panel

The Mac vs. PC decision

I recently went through 'The decision' for my application and beleive that
the choice would be different with a different set of circumstances.

The hardest concepts to let go of were:
Passive backplane construction is not available on the MAC platform
You need to be a member of the Mac of the month club.

The decision for Mac resed primarily on the operating sytem
characteristics and the way memory is handled on the Mac. We went through
the memory limitation probles on the PDP-11 and RT11 systems. I know
first hand the agrivation involved.

All in all, If I were creating a system for the industrial control
marketplace there is a very strong tendency to go IBM If I were
designing for the research environment and wanted minimal CARDS in my
computer, I would have a tendency for the Mac Platform.

Embedded systems have their function as MAC's and PC's. The Mac or the PC
is not an embedded system, but many are trying to make it one.