Power Guide

A decade after the Macintosh revolution of January 1984, Apple Computer released the Power Macintosh, based on the RISC PowerPC 601. Apple has committed itself to this transition from Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) to Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC), from the Motorola 680x0 to the Motorola-Apple-IBM microprocessors. However, Apple still sells attractive CISC computers. If you need a new hardware now, should it be RISC or CISC?

Software is a major criterion. The Power Macs have won rave reviews for their compatibility running CISC 680x0 software, with emulation speeds similar to Quadras. InfoWorld clocked its benchmark suite of Excel, FileMaker Pro, Photoshop, PageMaker, and Word on the high end Power Mac 8100/80AV as only 7% slower than a Quadra 605. The Power Macs really shine with software rewritten to take advantage of the new RISC chip-native mode software--and where calculations and screen redrawing had been bottlenecks.

Native mode software is appearing for the new Power Macs, but by the handful and largely in graphics areas. With many thousand Macintosh applications published some will take longer to be rewritten into native mode. PageMaker ($895/$179 List price/List upgrade), Data Desk 4.2 ($595/$45) are now available in native PowerPC mode, but dominant Microsoft programs--Word, Excel--are not. As of May94, Apple's own Apple Personal Diagnostics 1.0, Quick Take 100 digital camera, AppleShare3, and A/UX may not yet run on the Power Macs.

Considering a DOS or Windows machine? Arthur D Little's comparative productivity study found Mac users on average finished a set of 24 common tasks in 44% less time than equally experienced Windows users. In file management, Mac users were 68% faster than Windows users. The average Mac user completed 85% of the tasks correctly, Windows users managed only 58%.

Concerned with value? Macintosh v Windows 1994, an Apple video, compares the two platforms. Installing system software and a suite of standard applications left only 8 Mb free on the PC's 100-Mb hard disk while the Mac still had 50 Mb free. Expandability and setup have been largely plug-and-play on the Mac for a decade; on DOS and Windows adding anything is often a fearsome task.

Why consider a Power Mac now? They are nice machines, and in a few quarters will have much more native software. For graphics, data crunching, and related tasks, you can get several-fold speed improvements. (Thinking is still a prime bottleneck for much word-processing, disk access for databases.) Apple's PlainTalk gives your Power Mac speech and intelligent hearing. SoftWindows permits Windows emulation on the Power Mac, although not as fast or with all the options of a fully souped-up Windows machine. Eventually, according to plan, you can run Macintosh or DOS or Windows operating systems on a PowerPC chip.

Apple reports Power Macintosh upgrades will be available at least for IIvi, IIvx; Centris 610, 650, 660AV; Quadra 605, 610, 650, 660AV, 700, 800, 840AV, 900, 950; Performa 550, 600; LC 520, 550, 575; and AWS 60, 90. The new 68040 Macintosh LC 575 and parallel Performa 575-578 machines are very nice for now, if an integrated 13 inch color display, trayless CD-ROM drive, stereo speakers, and microphone are sufficient for you for a few years. If you want builtin Ethernet, a larger or detachable display, or multiple expansion slots, then consider the Quadras. And if you want your Power Mac now, the 6100/60 has been reviewed well if you dont need expansion slots, the 7100/66 gives more, and the 8100/80 is the top of the line--this week.

All information subject to change; check out your own needs; no warranty from Élan.