__/ [piperut] on Wednesday 14 September 2005 20:32 \__
> Someone I know is using an old Machintosh computer with OS-8 on it.
> Now I have managed to round up some hardware, and think I can put
> together something like an 833mz computer for her.
>
> At work we are stuck with windows.
>
> However, if she is used to a Machintosh running OS-8 - just how much of
> a learning curve would it put her on to move her to a SuSe box?
>
> I have 9.3 right now, and I was going to order 10.0 anyway when it
> comes out.
> I don't know if I really need the treeware that comes with it.
>
> I really don't know much about a Mac...
> Anyway, just how much different is Linux then Machintosh?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> roland
Hi Roland,
I have a Mac OS 9 machine at work although I use SuSE most of the time.
Maybe I can think of a few difficulties that would arise:
-As already mentioned, right-clicking is something to adapt to. In KDE, this
is rarely necessary. Even drag-and-drop (left clicking in right-handed
mice) would bring up the context menu.
-Scrolling - relates to the point above, but Not a crucial factor however.
It is a matter of productivity. In the Macs, believe it or not, unless you
use the keyboard, you must drag that annoying little thing on the right (or
left?).
-Installation has been mentioned, but with SuSE there shouldn't be a need
for frequent installations. The software that's bundled is rather
comprehensive already.
-Login screen - not a serious peril, of course.
-Command-line - may be a big deterrent. Mac users might be scared to see so
much text when booting up. Better stick to the SuSE progress bar, which
equates to that smiley face icon, which gets shown from the very first
instance of booting (not even BIOS, I remind you). Kernel panic or Debian
(and derivative) command-line-like booting is as bad as can be.
-Browsing and file management - Netscape/IE on the older Macs are not any
simpler to use than Konqueror/Firefox.
Make sure you have the hard-drive icon on the desktop. The file structure
may be deceiving. Hide all conceivable 'junk' that does not make sense to
the user. Only programs and personal files (e.g. documents) should ideally
show up.
Task bar - significant change there. The idea of a (usually) horizonal task
bar might be baffling. Avoid external taskbars if possible.
Lastly, do the following: (based on what I see in KDE 3.1)
Control Center -> Appearance & Themes -> Style -> Miscellaneous -> Tick
"Menubar on top of the screen in the style of MacOS.
Hope it helps,
Roy
--
Roy S. Schestowitz | "Seeing bad movies only encourages them"
http://Schestowitz.com | SuSE Linux | PGP-Key: 74572E8E
4:20am up 20 days 17:25, 3 users, load average: 0.35, 0.44, 0.40
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