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Date: 31 Oct 94 08:46:04 EST From: bruce grubb <72130.3557@compuserve.com> Subject: [*] Mac & IBM compare-Version 1.9.8 pt1 Archive name: mac-ibm-compare198.txt category: general information, text This is version 1.9.8 of this report & should replace mac-ibm-compare197.txt. Changes: A/UX and AIX info updated Due to the rapid changes in computers I am interested in contributions from Digest and other readers to flesh out, correct, or point out confusing parts in the report. Send comments and information to CompuServe: 72130,3557; AOL: BruceG6069; or Internet: BruceG6069@aol.com. Keep it short because e-mail limit on these sites is _much_ smaller than my sheet. This report compares the Mac and IBM machines CPUs, hardware {monitor support and expansion}, operating systems {includes number crunching}, networking & printing; it covers not only present hardware/software statistics and features but also future possibilities. Despite its condensed and generalized format it still provides some thought- provoking reading on the relative merits, problems, and deficiencies of Macs and IBM PCs. It also contains some FAQ answers about both machines and the upcoming PowerPC line. Note: for proper reading off line this document should be in 9 point Monaco. -------------------------blurb ends, report begins--------------------------- Mac & IBM Info-Version 1.9.8 {Nov 1, 1994} Note: for proper reading off line this document should be in 9 point Monaco. The reason for this general data sheet is to consolidate and condense the information out there, so that people in both camps can be clear and accurate about what they are saying about their machines. Since computer technology is always changing there are always going to be points in which the sheet will be lacking or incorrect on information. So, please just don't say the sheet is incomplete or incorrect but also give me clear and concise information to make the needed corrections. To keep this data sheet accurate please provide article citations,if possible, for the information provided or corrected and keep opinions to a minimum. As this is a general data sheet, keep the info provided short and simple. Please note that all magazine dates are in mm/dd/yy formats. Finally, keep the information relevant to the section corrected. Also, please edit the crossposting down before following this up. Thank you. Contents CPUs Hardware PowerPC rumors Monitor support Expansion Operating system Mac IBM PowerPC Networking & Printing The CPUs {July 18, 1994) Note: I am only showing Motorola & Intel CPUs used in Mac and most IBM/PC clone machines. For example, since Apple never used the Motorola 68008 and 68010 in the Mac these chips are not listed. Years indicate use of CPU chip in new machines. Cache is "where data can be stored to avoid having to read the data from a slower device such as a disk" (Dictionary of Computer Terms:61-DTC). Both IBM and Mac use caches external to CPUs which increase the speed of the CPU but are not a part of it. Since there are many different external caches, each having a different effect on CPU performance, with some built-in {present Macs}, other optional but installed {IBM}, and are machine, seller or expansion dependent, I have decided to leave them out of the list. Note: ALU is industry's de-facto standard for CPU bit classification. IBM ALU Registers External CPU Features/ CPU data address cache Notes 8088(6) 16 16 8 (16) 20 none {1981-9} {198?-9} 80186 16 16 16 20 none {198?-9?} 8088(6) segmenting 80286 16 16 16 24 none segmenting + Protected Mode* 386sx 32 32 16 24 none 80386* 80386 32 32 32 32 none MMU & 32-bit Protected Mode 486sx 32 32 32 32 one 8K 80486 w/o FPU 80486 32 32 32 32 one 8K new CPU core {~386 + FPU} 486dx2 32 32 32 32 one 8K doubled internal clock rate** 486dx3 32 32 32 32 one 16K 80486 w/o FPU; IBM chip [Blue Lightning] between 486dx2 and Pentium 5 lines in speed (BYTE 04/94:22) DX4 32 32 32 32 one 16K 80486; Intel's version of the 486dx3. Pentium 32 32 64 32 8K code, CRISC-like chip, [P5] 8K data, 2 instructions/cycle max Branch 2-issue superscalar, 386 target Write-Back, 64-bit FPU, pipelining; 114 chips/Wafer 66 MHz-SPECint92: 66.3; SPECfp92: 62.5; 13-16 watts*** P54c 3.3 volts with 6.5 watts. 203 chips/wafer 100 MHz-SPECint92: 100; SPECfp92: 80*** P6 CRISC chip, .4 micron; late-1995; transition chip (BYTE 04/94:22) P7 RISC or VLIW with a hardware x86 code translator, late-1990's**** 386sl: low power (3.3V) 386sx with built-in power management. Laptop use. 386slc: IBM 5V 386sx with a 16k on-chip cache added (John H. Kim). As far as John H. Kim knows it is only used on IBM models. 486slc: Neither of two chips that have this name have a FPU. Cyrix: basically 486sx in 386sx socket with 1k cache and improved integer math speed. IBM: equivalent to 486sx with a 16k on-chip cache. 486slcs: IBm chip equivalent to 486dx2 - FPU with a 16-bit external data path and 16k on-chip cache. 486dlc2: IBM chip equivalent to 486dx2 - FPU and with 16k on-chip cache. P24T{Pentium}: 64 bit internally, 32 bit for system I/O. Pentium/150 .4 micron, mid-1995 (PC Week 05/30/94) *16 MB maximum RAM ** ex. for 486dx2/50, chip runs 50 MHz rest of machine runs at 25 MHz. *** (Hambrecht & Quist/MacWeek 09/20/93; Len Schultz; PC Week 01/10/94; BYTE 6/94:265). {P54c is called "Pentium II" in Hambrecht & Quist/MacWeek article} CRISC {media term}: CISC chip with RISC-like feature (Computer Reseller News, Oct 28, 1991 n445 p140(2)). CPU - 60 MHz ~$575; 90 MHz - ~$600 (PC Week 07/04/94); SPECmarks are with a Level 2 memory cache and a 66 MHz 128-bit {64-bit interleaved} bus. **** Computergram International, 06/02/94; MacWeek 05/30/94. VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) is supposed to be faster and cheaper than RISC but it has a major problem in that VLIW binary code is _so_ CPU specific as to be TOTALLY incompatible with _any_ future VLIW CPUs {it would be as if 386 code would not run on 486 and 486 code would not run on a Pentium} (InfoWorld, 01/17/94 v16 n3 p29(2); Microprocessor Report, 02/14/94 v8 n2 p18(4)) Mac ALU Registers External bus CPU Features/ CPU data address cache Notes 68000 16 32 16 24 none {1984-93} 16 MB limit* 68020 32 32 32 32 256 code {1987-92} parallel processing 68030 32 32 32 32 two 256 {1988-94} 68020 + MMU, 16K burst mode. 68EC040 32 32 32 32 two 4K 68040 w/o FPU and MMU {~68020} 68LC040 32 32 32 32 two 4K 68040 w/o FPU {~68030} 68040V 32 32 32 32 two 4K 68040 w/o FPU, PowerBooks-1994 68040 32 32 32 32 two 4K MMU, FPU, pipelining, doubled internal clock rate** 68050 development discontinued in favor of 68060 68060 32 32 32 32 two 8k 68040 + better FPU, superscalar Branch pipelining, cache line bursts, target 3.3 V, self power management, equivalent capabilities & speeds to Pentium {P54c}*** Note: the now defunct NeXT and Amiga machines used the 68030 and 68040. *Earlier 68000 Mac designs created a 4 MB limit. ** "Current 68040 chips specified as 25-, 33-, and 40-MHz are already capable of running internal processing circuitry at 50, 66 and 80 MHz, respectively" (Electronic Buyer's News Aug 20, 1993; pointed out by Bradley Lamont and Motorola 68040 data book in 92). Apple now markets 68040 Macs as 'clock doubled' though speed is NOT in the 486dx2's class {see CPUs Comparison List}. ***Motorola claims (MC-68060.txt). Will be used in Macs _only_ via third party accelerators. The following PowerPCs are to be in both IBM and Mac machines. They are Motorola/IBM RISC CPU chips. PowerPC ALU Registers External bus CPU Features/ CPU data address cache Notes MPC601 32 int 32 64 32 32K 3 instructions/cycle max, [.6] fp 64 combined 258 chips/wafer, I/D 80 MHz-SPECint92: 77; SPECfp92: 93. 9 {66}, and ~11 {80 MHz} watts* MPC601 32 int 32 64 32 32K Faster and less power consuming [.5] fp 64 combined version of .6 MPC601. 100 MHz I/D uses 5 watts (MacWeek 04/04/94) MPC603 two 8k Systems delayed in favor of MPC603+ two 16k 603+, 80 MHz-SPECint92: 77; I/D SPECfp92: 93. 2.0 {66}, 3.0 watts {80 MHz}* MPC604 32 int 32 64 32 two 16k 4 instructions/cycle max, fp 64 I/D 373 chips/wafer, 100 MHz-SPECint92: 160; SPECfp92: 165, Systems: 95.* MPC620 64 64 128 40 two 32k 133 MHz SPECint92: 225; 64 e SPECfp92: 300 {projected} 80 v Systems: 2H 1995. (BYTE 11/94:113-20) e - effective v - virtural *(Byte 8/93:84; Hambrecht & Quist/MacWeek 9/20/93; BYTE 04/94:61; MacUser 06/94:40; BYTE 6/94:265). MPC601/50 MHz-$165; MPC601/66 MHz-$165; MPC601/80 MHz-$248; MPC601/100 MHz {Nov 94}-$399 (Announcement 10/17/94) Apple showed off a MPC601/120 Mac (MacWeek 05/23/94) MPC603/66 MHz-$165; MPC603/80-$195; MPC604/?? - $549 (Announcement 10/17/94) MPC601/80 SPECmarks are w/o a Level 2 memory cache. With 1 MB Level 2 memory cache the SPECmarks are SPECint92: 85; SPECfp92: 105 (Motorola) Both machines use 33 MHz 64-bit bus (BYTE 04/94). All MPC603 SPECmarks are with 1 MB Level 2 cache (Motorola). The 603+ which will be faster than the MPC603 and have double the cache (MacWeek 05/23/94). MPC630 and MPC7xx rumored. CPUs Comparison List As a general rule of thumb Motorola chips are faster than Intel chips at the same frequency {030/25 ~= 386/33; 040/33 ~= 486/50}, but Intel has chips at higher frequencies than Motorola, so this evens out. The Macintosh Bible 4th edition and IBM System User, 1/92 v13 n1 p43(1) support the comparisons made between Intel and Motorola chips below and statements made here. <=80186 ~ 68000 {16-bit vs 16/24/32-bit chip. The 4 MB limit on the 68000 Macs brings the chip in them down to the 80186 and lower chips, otherwise the 68000 would compare to the 80286.} 286 ~ 68020 {hardware segmenting vs. 68020's 32-bit ALU and having no usable built-in MMU unlike their successors [80386, 68030]. The use of the hardware segmenting and the 16-bit nature put the 286 between the 60000 and 68030 in features and the LC's 16-bit data path strenghthens the 286 ~ 68020 comparison.} 386 ~ 68030 {32-bit chips with MMUs, and protected memory. At present application protected memory is limited to A/UX 3.0. System 7.x uses this feature to protect a RAM disk created by the Memory control panel which is supported only on Powerbooks, Quadras and Power Macintoshes. The Color Classic and LCII 16-bit hardware data paths makes the 68030s in them comparative to 386sxs.} 486sx ~ 68LC040 {same as 486 and 68040 without the FPU; used as a low cost solution for people who do not need the FPU. Only in comparison with Windows programs does the 68LC040 approch 486SLC2 - chip cache or '486dx2sx' speeds.} 486 ~ 68040 {32-bit microprocessors with built-in FPU, MMU, 8K internal cache (which is implemented as two 4K caches in the 68040 and one in the 486). Please note that MHz for MHz a 486dx2 outperforms a 68040. For example a 68040/40 is ~95% the speed of a 486dx2/66 (Ingram 93 report)} Pentium ~ 68060 {Both are superscalar, but may flounder against the cheaper, faster MHz, less heat producing, and partly ported to PowerPC chips.} PowerPC = PowerPC {This CPU line is planned to run programs from DOS, Windows 3.x, OS/2 and Mac OS through PowerOpen OSes [UNIX] (Byte 8/93:58) and later Pink [Taligent OS] using emulators but at 486/Quadra/Sun SparcStation speeds (Byte 8/93:58). Insignia's Windows emulator for Mac produces 486sx/25 speeds on Power Macintosh 6100/60 and 486dx/33 on the Power Macintosh 8100/80. Native code runs two - four times those speeds and is ~1.50 times a Pentium of the same MHz (Ingram 94 report).} Hardware PowerPC machines IBM PowerPC: <$3,000 model delayed. Apple PowerPC $1,819 - Power Macintosh 6100/60: 8/250; 1 PDS, 1 cache slot {Speed, Native: 2-4x 68040/33, emulated 68EC040: 030/25 to 040/40} $2,899 - Power Macintosh 7100/66: MPC601/66, 8/500/1 MB VRAM, 3 NuBus 90, 1 PDS, 1 cache slot; {Speed: 1.25 times faster than 6100/60} $4,249 - Power Macintosh 8100/80: MPC601/80, 8/500/2 MB VRAM/256 Kb Level 2 memory cache, 3 NuBus 90, 1 PDS slot; 2 SCSI-2 ports. {Speed: 2.00 times faster than 6100/60} AV cards cause a video speed decrease of ~25% while VRAM causes a increase of ~10% (MacUser 05/94:83). Ethernet and GeoPort are standard features Prices are averages and do not include color monitor and keyboard. (PC Week 08/30/93; PR Newswire 10/19/93; MacWeek 11/29/93; MacWeek 01/17/94; PC Week 01/31/94; MacWeek 02/07/94; MacWeek 02/28/94; TidBITS #214; MacWeek 03/07/94; TidBITS #217; MacWeek 09/12/94) Apple has developed an 68EC040 emulator that is twice the speed of the present one (MacWeek 06/13/94) Apple Power Macintosh Configurations Power Macintosh 6100/60 - 8/250/CD: $2,029; 16/350/SoftWindows {Insignia's Windows emulator}: $2,499; AV card: $479 Power Macintosh 7100/66 - 8/500/CD/1 MB VRAM: $3,109; 16/500/SoftWindows/1 MB VRAM: $3,419; 16/500/CD/AV/2 MB VRAM: $3,699 Power Macintosh 8100/80 - 16/500/CD/2 MB VRAM: $4,850; 16/500/CD/AV/2 MB VRAM: $5,062; 16/1GB/CD/2 MB VRAM: $5,379 (MacWeek 02/07/94; MacWeek 03/07/94; TidBITS #217; MacWeek 09/12/94). 6100/66 and 7100/80: Nov 94 (MacWeek 08/15/94) 8100/110 {Nov 94}: designed with a MPC601/120 in mind (MacWeek 10/24/94). Nitro {Q1 95}: replacement for Power Mac 8100; 3 PCI slots (MacWeek 06/13/94) Tsunami {Q1 95}: 6 PCI slots, no built-in video (MacWeek 06/13/94) TNT Macs {Q1 95}: MPC601/03/04 <=150 MHz; 6 PCI slots, DAV slot, better and faster video {32-bit in/out} (MacWeek 08/09/93; MacWeek 01/17/94; MacWeek 06/13/94) Alchemy {June 95}: entry level machine, modular design; 1 PCI slot Catalyst {June 95}: replacement for Power Mac 6100-7100; 3 PCI slots Mac->PowerPC upgrades Apple - 68040 PDS Upgrade Card: $699; 63x MPC601/68040 card - $599; logic-board upgrades range between $1000 - $2,000. In general every Macintosh that had a CD-ROM configuration has {or will have} a logic-board upgrade option. DayStar Digital Inc. - 66 MHz and 80 MHz processor upgrade cards for the Centris/Quadra 650, and the Quadra 700, 800, 900 and 950. Have PowerMac ROMs on the cards and allow 60ns 72-pin SIMM expansion. Has trade in for owners of old cards. Value range of old cards: from 15% to 50%. Price: $1,200 to $1,700 dependent on speed. (MacWeek 01/17/94; MacUser 05/94:36) Reply Corp. - MPC603 logic boards. Other PowerPCs: Canon-NeXT (NB 05/11/93), and Sun {rumored}. Other potential sources: Radius Inc., MicroNet Technology Inc., SuperMac Technology Inc, Acer America Corp, Dell Computer Corp and 11 other companies (MacWeek 9/27/93). Spacifics vague. 217 native Power Macintosh programs out with 500 projected by the end of 94. (TidBITS #230; PC Week 08/15/94) Color Support/Display Both Mac and IBM have graphic accelerators. In Macs VRAM can act like a graphic accelerator but only boosts things by <=10%. IBM graphic accelerators include Matrox MGA-3D, ATI Mach64, S3-968, and #9's newest chip. Mac The best PC description of present Mac video is "local bus" video. From Mar 1987 to late 1988 32-bit color cards resembled the chaotic mess that SVGA would be for IBM {see SVGA}. In 1989 Apple created 32-bit QuickDraw which totally standardized 32-bit color and drove all non-QuickDraw graphic cards out of the market. All present Macs support the use of 32-bit color through 32-bit color QuickDraw {ROM} and most have a 32-bit path to video. 32-bit color QuickDraw allows the editing of X-bit images in Y-bit color in a wide range of monitors regardless of screan dpi and autosynchronous VGA, MCGA and SVGA monitors with 66.7 hz vertically and 35 kHz horizontally advalible via a hardware video adaptor (MacUser Aug 1992: 158-176)} The SE/30, II, IIx, and IIcx had only 8-bit color in ROM and needed a software patch to use 32-bit color under system 6.x (MacUser Special 1993:28-29). B&W QD could support 8 colors. To keep costs down and speed up most Macs have 8 to 16-bit display capability built-in, with a 24-bit expansion option. QuickDraw QX is supposed remove the 72 dpi display optimization. In Macs with NuBus slots or the Power Macintoshes with VRAM QuickDraw allows multiple monitor use, from several monitors showing the same thing to multiple monitors acting as one large large monitor with any degree of overlap of the pictures. VRAM: Video RAM. Standard for present non-PowerBook Mac's handling of built-in video {24-bit color palette}. Base standard was 640x480x8 with 640x480x16 rapidly becoming more common. Expansion to 640x480x24, 832x624x24, and 1,152x870x16 is possible for most of the Quadra and Power Macintosh models. IBM {In an effort to remove the 'reconfiguring the system almost every time you add something' requirement for add-in cards, drivers, video, and operating systems in the IBM world, Intel, Microsoft, and 12 other hardware and software developers are working out 'plug and play' standards (PC Week 03/08/93).} Even though PCs have ROM BIOS definitions of how OSes interacts with the video hardware (Nan Zou), the use of drivers bypassing BIOS, video hareware inconsitancies {see Super VGA below} and nonstanderzation of clone BIOS have left resolution of video display hardware/OS/program interaction up to the OS and video hardware in question (Faisal Nameer Jawdat). In addition, IBM and clone makers never bothered to provide a standard hardware mechanism for software to determine what display mode is actually present (Matt Healy) nor a standardized screen-drawing toolbox {like Mac's QD}. As a result detecting some modes and/or use them consistantly is a challange, especially with some third party cards. Things were so dependent on the interaction of the program, OS, print driver and monitor card that editing 32-bit pictures regardless of color mode, program, and monitor type/card combination as one can do on the Mac was near impossible (Fortune 10/04/93:112). DOS has the biggest problem, Windows is better, and NT-OS/2 are the best but this is a OS feature, not hardware and so is inconsitant from OS to OS and even from program to program {see OS section for details}. IBM machines are starting have integrated graphics accelerators, faster processors, and modular upgradeability and may have built-in sound cards, CD ROM, and Ethernet (PC Week 12/14/92). MDA: Monocrome Display Adapter original character-mapped video mode, no graphics, 80x25 text. CGA: Color Graphics Array 320x200x2 or 640x200 b/w with text-mode support of 80x24 color or 40x24 color, 16 color palette, bad for the eyes. EGA: Enhanced Graphics Array Resolutions are 640x350x4, 640x200x4 and all CGA modes {from 64 color palette}. Additional text-modes of 80x43 color and 40x43 color. Some versions could run at 256 colors, bearable on the eyes. VGA: Video Graphics Array* Resolutions are 320x200x8, 640x480x4 and all EGA modes. Additional text modes of 80x50 color, 40x50 color, and emulation of all MDA text modes. Can be programmed for many non-standard resolutions. All modes have 256 colors, from a 18-bit {IBM} to 24-bit {IBM/Mac} color palette. 25.175 MHz Pixel Clock (Mel Martinez). Monitors use analog input, incompatible with TTL signals from EGA/CGA etc. MCGA: Multi-Color Graphics Array* subset of VGA that provides all the features of MDA & CGA, but lacks some EGA and VGA modes, like VGA 640x480x4 (DCT). Common on the initial PS/1 implementation from IBM and some PS/2 Models. SVGA: Super VGA {Quality of 99% of color Mac video monitors}* This is not a standard in the way the others were, but instead was a 'catch all' category for a group of video cards. As such, with each manufacturer using their own implementation scheme, SVGA was chaos with people debating as to what is SVGA and what is not. In an effort to make SVGA more of a standard VESA was established and is used in the newer units, but things are still a mess. Video is either 512K [~1990], 1MB [1992], or 2MB [today], resolution of 800x600 and 1024x768 at 256 and 32,768 colors are common with most 24b at 640x480. Speedwise, too much variation and change. Most old limiting factors overcome by 40 MHz VL Bus & 386's linear address. Other non-SVGA standards: 8514/a IBM's own standard, graphics accelerator with graphics functions like linedraw, polygon fill, etc. in hardware. IBM version interlaced. TMS34010/34020: high end graphics co-processors, usually >$1000, some do 24-bit, speeds up vector-oriented graphics like CAD. XGA: eXtended Graphics Array {May be used in IBM PowerPC} newer and faster than 8514/a, only available for MCA bus-based PS/2s, clones are coming out soon. Emulates VGA, EGA, and CGA (DCT). Max resolution: 1024x768x8, also some 16 bpp modes. XGA-2 Accelerates graphics functions up to 20 times faster than standard VGA in Windows and OS/2, including line draws, bit and pixel-block transfers, area fills, masking and X/Y addressing. Has an intelligent way to detect and co- exist with other XGA-2 cards, so multiple desktops like on the Mac may not be far away. Since this is an architecture, its resolution and color depth isn't fixed {IBM implements only 16-bit [65,536] color, while other companies can have 24-bit color through IBM technical licenses}. Refresh rates up to 75 Hz, ensures flicker free, rock solid images to reduce visual discomfort, and is VGA compatible. Up to 1280x1024 on OS/2. *some monitor types usable by Mac. See Mac section above for specific details. Expansion {Speeds are baced on: throughput = (bus_clock_speed x byte_width) / transaction_overhead (Mel Martinez)} Both Mac & IBM {and maybe PowerPC} {July 25, 1994} IDE: Integrated Device Electronics Asynchronous {~5 MB/s max} and synchronous {8.3 MB/s max} transfer. Currently the most common standard which makes its drives ~10% cheaper than SCSI. Limited to 528 MB max. Outperforms SCSI in single-tasking OSes while underperforms SCSI in multitasking enviroments {it was not clear if this also applies to co-operative multitasking}. (BYTE 08/94:116) Limited to two drives per controler. Apple uses IDE internal drives that support logical block addressing in the Macintosh 630 series though many 3rd party hard drive formaters need to be updated (TidBITS#235, MacUser 09/94:77). Enhanced IDE: supports larger hard drive sizes and non-hard drive devices. SCSI: only external device expansion interface common to both Mac and IBM. Allows the use of any device: hard drive, printer, scanner, Nubus 87 card expansion {Mac Plus only}, some monitors, and CD-ROM. Normal {asynchronous} SCSI is 5 Mhz; fast {synchronous} SCSI is 10 Mhz {software drivers}. SCSI is limited to a total of 8 devices and an _ideal_ total cable length of 6 m {which cheap cables, terminators, connectors, and device impedance can shorten substantially} (BYTE 8/94:112). Main problems: Since SCSI is supposed to be terminated ONLY at the begining and end of the SCSI chain, internal terminated external devices are the biggest bane of SCSI. This along with other problems are planned to be fixed with SCSI-3. SCSI-1: 8-bit asynchronous {~1.5 MB/s ave} and synchronous {5 MB/s max} transfers. Asynchronous 8-bit SCSI-2 is often mistaken for synchronous SCSI-1 {see SCSI-2 for details}. SCSI-2: fully SCSI-1 compliant. Since asynchronous 8-bit SCSI-2 runs at synchronous SCSI-1 speeds using SCSI-1 hardware/software drivers, it is sometimes mistakenly consitered part of SCSI-1. 16 and 32-bit SCSI-2 require different ports, electronics, and SCSI software drivers from SCSI-1. Ports are 68-pin {16-bit} and two 68-pin/one 104-pin {32-bit}. Transfer speeds are 4-6 MB/s with 10 MB/s burst {8-bit}, 8-12 MB/s with 20 MB/s burst {16-bit}, and 15-20 MB/s with 40 MB/s burst {32-bit} (BYTE 08/94:114). SCSI-3: In development, 1996. No internal terminated devices allowed, access more than 8 devices, and support for fiber-optic cables and Serial SCSI. Speed: 20 MB/s with Serial SCSI ranging between 51 Mb/s {~6.4 MB/s} to 1 Gb/s {128 MB/s}. Firewire {IEEE P1394} is one of the possible Serial SCSI options for SCSI-3 being considered (BYTE 08/94:114). FireWire [IEEE P1394; Serial Bus]: intended to replace ADB, RS-232, RS-422, parallel and SCSI (BYTE 07/93:90). Has six shielded wires with speeds of 100 Mb/s {12.5 MB/s}, 200 Mb/s {25 MB/s}, 400 Mb/s {50 MB/s]. Does not require terminators and ID numbers and has limits of 63 devices per port and up to 1022 buses being bridged together. FireWire cards for Mac planned by 1995 (MacUser, 03/94 v10 n3 p40(1); Microprocessor Report, Mar 07/94 v8 n3 p18(4); Byte 07/94:37; Byte 08/94:120) Mac SCSI: asynchronous SCSI-1 built-in standard since the Plus. Even though Apple developed some specifications for SCSI controlers, the OS SCSI Manager needs to be rewritten to take full advantage of the features of all SCSI interfaces. As a result, present 8-bit SCSI-2 Macs are at synchronous SCSI-1 Speeds. Quadras and Power Macintoshes are only Macs with a SCSI-2 controller chip built-in (BYTE 04/94:47) though they only support 8-bit. Due to a CPU-NuBus bottleneck on older Macs, 16-bit SCSI-2 cards are very rare. Since SCSI is built-in, overall cost is lower for Mac than for IBM and PC clone machines though the gap is decreasing. IBM SCSI: SCSI-1 is new pretty common but it is generally not bundled with systems, except as add-on with EISA and VESA Local Bus adapters avalable {See IDE information}. Like the Mac, 8-bit SCSI-2 is used as a very fast SCSI-1 by most controllers out there. Unlike the Mac, IBM had no exact SCSI controller specifications {until CorelSCSI} which resulted in added SCSI incompatibilities (Byte 10/92:254). In fact some PC SCSI are incompatible with Mac SCSI. PCI: Peripheral Component Interconnect Intel's version of Local Bus is designed with a PCI->ISA/EISA/MCA bridge in mind (PCI spec (rev 2.0)) and Apple will use it to replace Mac NuBus {PCI->NuBus 90 adaptor will be provided} (PC Week 5/31/93; MacWeek 5/31/93)]. 32 bit {64-bit expandable}, combining EISA and VLB advantages; supports up to 10 slots {5 cards} (Jay C. Beavers; MacWeek 5/31/93). Burst mode: 132 MB/s {32-bit}; 264MB/s {64-bit}. QuickRing: Apple's 64-bit peer-to-peer local bus - "architecture is identical to that of the VL-Bus, since the high-speed PDS interconnect taps directly into the CPU's signal lines and bypasses the slower NuBus control logic." (Byte 10/92:128) Base through put: 350 MB/s (Byte 10/92:128); supported up to 16 nodes each at 200 MB/s for a total of 3.2 GB/s (InfoWorld, 3/15/93 v15 n11 p1(2)). Was planned to be compatible with present NuBus and PDS systems (Byte 10/92:132-133). Would allow 180 MB/s networks (Byte 8/93:27). Shelved in favor of PCI. Mac Memory expansion: Memory data width must match the CPU data bus (Noah Price). Until Feb 15, 1993 the Mac has used non-parity 30-pin 8-bit SIMM memory expansion since the Plus. While 30-pin 9-bit parity SIMMs could be used in these Macs, only special IIcis could make use of the parity feature. The IIfxs used 64-pin SIMMs with a parity option. Non-PowerBook Macs made after Feb 15, 1993 use 72-pin 32-bit SIMMs. The Mac does a complete memory check at startup by writing/reading every memory location; if something is seriously wrong with a SIMM the Mac will not boot and give a sound chord indicating what the problem is. Sound output: Standard in all Macs since 128K. Stereo 8-bit 22 kHz sound became standard with SE/30. 16-bit 44.1/48 kHz stereo became standard with Sound Manager 3.0 and av Macs. Printers, ADBs, and modems: built-in ports standard. Sound input: mono 8-bit 22 kHz since IIsi; stereo 16-bit 48 kHz in C660av, Q840av, and Power Macintoshes. Monitor interface: built-in on most present macs. Of at least SVGA quality. The best PC description of present Mac video is "local bus" video. CD-ROM: option for all Macs released after August 1993. GeoPort {AV Macs, Power Macintoshes}: built-in V.32 9,600 bps modem via software and adaptor{PhonePod}. 14,400 bps speed can be achieved presently (MacUser 10/93:89), but this speed will not be officially supported until later (MacWeek 08/02/93). Via software the GeoPort-PhonePod provides a 9600 bps FAX, answering machine, phone, and speakerphone. Later adaptors will allow PBX and ISDN use when the Telephone Tool comes out (MacUser 10/93:88-9). Supports normal serial devices. Composite and S-video in/out ports: standard on av Macs. PDS {SE & all present non-Powerbook Macs except Q840av}: 16-bit {SE, Portable, LC, LC II, Classic line} and 32-bit {QuickRing is 64-bit bus}. Operates at CPU's MHz. Maximum through put: data path * CPU's MHz. Standardized around LC, 040, and 601 bus designs. With an adapter one NuBus card can be used in IIsi, Q610 and Q660av. Problem: some cards have timing dependency which slows throughput down. NuBus 87 {Mac II, Built-in support - most Modular Macs}: 32-bit, 10 MHz bus clock, 1-to-1 transaction/bus cycle ratio, and contiguous, hand-shake transactions at ~10-20 MB/s; burst mode: 37.5 MB/s (Computer Design, 06/01/89 v28 n11 p97(1); I&CS (Instrumentation & Control Systems), 07/92 v65 n7 p23(2)). First Mac standard bus; cards 12". There was SE/30 adaptor and Mac Plus SCSI->NuBus. Limited to 8 {old Macs} through 24-bit video, accelerators {some with expansion to parallel processing}, CPU-ethernet task sharing, 8 to 16-bit SCSI-2, DSP, DMA cards {block transfers}, real time video input, PC compatible cards, and Ethernet. NuBus 90: NuBus 87 back compatible. avg throughput: ~30 MB/s (I&CS {Instrumentation & Control Systems} 07/92 v65 n7 p23(2)); burst mode: 20 MHz 70 MB/s (Noah Price). I/O bottleneck removed with Quadra 660av and 840av (MacWeek 08/02/93). 6" card standard is enforced in new machines. DAV {Digital Audio Video} connector {av machines}: provides YUV video and digital audio (Noah Price) as wall as full speed sound/video compression cards such as JPEG, MPEG, DVI and H.261. CPU expansion: handled either through the PDS or the NuBus. Unlike PDS, Nubus CPU cards can allow use of multiple processors at the same time {Like MCA; example-RocketShare} via parallel processing. Each NuBus card needs its own memory but most NuBus cards of this type come with 8 MB RAM of SIMMs on the card standard. IBM Memory expansion: parity SIMMs, non-parity SIMMs {some newer models do a Mac- like SIMM memory check}, or a dozen or so different types of memory boards. As with Macs SIMM expansion, memory data width must match the CPU data bus. HD Interfaces {limited to hard drives by design or lack of development}: MFM: Modified Frequency Modulation, RLL: Run Length Limited Obsolete interfaces only used with old small [<= 60mb] hard drives. ESDI: Enhanced Small Device Interface ~1.25MB/s throughput. generally considered better interface than SCSI-1 in many ways but not common enough for practical consideration. Device choices are very limited compared to SCSI-1. BUS interfaces {New 'plug and play' ISA and EISA compatible cards may have problems working with old cards (PC Week 03/08/93).} PC-bus {used in ISA machines}: 8-bit ISA {equivalent to most of the Mac's built-in ports} 16-bit bus. Has 24-bit address path limit {produces 16 MB limit for which there are software workarounds} (PC Mag 4/27/93:105). 1.5 MB/s (Byte 3/92:132), 5.3 MB/s max. Uses edge-triggered interrupts, can't share them, hence comes the IRQ conflict. Busmastering capabilities provided by individial cards which tend to conflict with each other. Some cards aren't bandwidth limited {COM ports, LPT ports, game ports, MIDI card, etc.} while others are {video and disk controllers}. Dominant factor, but it's showing its age. All ISA motherboard designs must be 16-bit (PC World 02/93:144-5; David Charlap). Rumored to be part of IBM Power PC PReP specs. MCA: Micro Channel {NuBus 87 equivalent (Personal Computing, 09/88 v12 n9 p115(1))} IBM's 16 and 32-bit bus; "allows use of more than one CPU in a computer" (DCT) with any two components 'talking' as fast as they can handle it, up to 20 MB/s (Computer Design, 06/01/89 v28 n11 p97(1)). Also has a 80 MB/s burst mode. Never took off because it was incompatible with ISA/EISA. Was planned to be IBM PowerPC 601's bus interface (Carl Jabido). EISA {compares to most of the Mac's built-in ports and NuBus 87} 32-bit, 8.33 MHz, burst mode: 33 MB/s. Back supports ISA cards. It also has the ability to self-configure cards like MCA and allows multiple bus masters, sharable interrupt and DMA channels and multiple CPU use. VESA Local Bus: VLB {PDS equivalent} Local Bus standard. Runs at CPU clock rate, up to 40 Mhz (BYTE 07/93:84), Burst modes: ~130 MB/s {32-bit} 250 MB/s {64-bit} (Byte 10/92:128). Heavily tied to the 486 CPU line (BYTE 07/93:84). Limited to three slots but allows bus mastering and will coexist with either ISA or EISA. Consitered ideal for video and disk I/O. DELL has filled a claim that this violates one of their patents (Mel Martinez). 31-Oct-94 13:51:26-GMT,20355;000000000001 Return-Path: 72130.3557@compuserve.com Received: from arl-img-1.compuserve.com (arl-img-1.compuserve.com [198.4.7.1]) by CAMIS.Stanford.EDU (8.6.8.1/8.6.5) with ESMTP id FAA07654 for <macgifts@sumex-aim.stanford.edu>; Mon, 31 Oct 1994 05:51:24 -0800 Received: from localhost by arl-img-1.compuserve.com (8.6.4/5.940406sam) id IAA07798; Mon, 31 Oct 1994 08:50:53 -0500 Date: 31 Oct 94 08:47:31 EST From: bruce grubb <72130.3557@compuserve.com> To: "sumex-aim.stanford.edu" <macgifts@sumex-aim.stanford.edu> Subject: [*] Mac & IBM compare-Version 1.9.8 pt2 Message-ID: <941031134731_72130.3557_CHL34-3@CompuServe.COM> OSes {assumes full installation [print drivers, fonts, Multifinder, etc.] and multiple application use.} PowerPC OSes IBM OS based {see IBM OS section for details}: AIX PowerOpen, NeXTStep, Solaris OS, Expose and Novell DOS 7.0 Mac AIX [UNIX] {1995}: This OS is planned to replace A/UX. MAE {Macintosh Application Enviroment}: Apple's Mac-on-Unix 680x0 emulator. MAS {Macintosh Application Services}: Apple's Mac-on-Unix 680x0 emulator that also runs PowerPC Mac programs on PowerOpen versions of UNIX. Pink [Taligent OS]: Alpha version is out (MacWeek 07/18/94}, final version expected in 1995. PowerOpen version of OSes will likely contain parts of this OS (MacWeek 01/25/93). System 7.1.2: first OS for the PowerPC Mac. Windows NT: Possible port (MacWeek 04/05/93). See IBM OS section for details. WorkPlace OS: OS/2 for the PowerPC with Pink features. Will run Mac, Windows, and AIX programs and may have parts of the Mac OS (PC Week 09/20/93) and may even run Mac programs (MacWeek 09/27/93). It will run first on PowerPCs then on the x86/Pentium line (PC Week 09/20/93). Mac {July 18, 1994} Apple puts 512K to 4 MB of API and OS internals in its ROMS {which gets bypassed as the system moves away from that code base via upgrades, patches, etc.}, and urges programmers NOT to call the hardware directly. These two factors allow programmers to write smaller programs since commands are consistant regardless of the internal hardware. This also allows Apple to write a smaller disk OS and have a lower RAM requirement then a totally disk based OS. Macs use 'Masked ROM' which is as fast as DRAM (Jon Wtte). 6.0.7: Single program usage base requirements: 1 MB and DD floppy, cooperatively-multitasking base requirements: 2 MB and HD floppy. Features a GUI, cooperative-multitasker [MultiFinder], standard program interface, & standard stereo sound support [snd], and Network receiving part of AppleShare software. This 24-bit OS has a 8 MB RAM barrier. Some third party products allow 14 MB of Virtual Memory as long as real RAM is below 8 MB. 6.0.8: 6.0.7 with 7.0.0 print drivers. 6.0.8L: System 6 for some Macs that required System 7.0.X. Rarely used. 7.0.X: Base requirements: 2 MB, 40 MB hard drive, and 68000; De-facto standard to run all features well: 4 MB, 80 MB hard drive, and 68030. Using up to 10.08 MB of hard disk space this 24 and 32-bit OS has 6.0.7 features plus program linking within and between computers [IAC], built-in server capabilities {Filesharing can be used by older OSes using AppleShare Client software and can be accessed by 10 Macs max; 4-5 is more speed practical, IAC requires 7.X}, Virtual Memory in machines with MMU, drag and drop, QuickTime, wildcard search/selection & built-in TrueType support. Supports sound input [AIFF and snd] for most present machines. Can access up to 1 GB of true RAM and 4 GB of virtual memory. To use real RAM beyond 8 MB it must be in 32-bit mode; older machines require 'Mode 32' extension. Apple's last 'free' OS. More useable than MS-DOS or Windows (Consumer Reports) 7.1.0: 7.0.1 with WorldScript support, speedier {10% faster on Quadra line (sys71_vs_70_speed.txt)}, and less RAM usage than 7.0.X (MacWeek 9/14/92; PC Week 9/7/92). To run in 32-bit mode on older machines this requires the 'Mode 32' or '32-Bit Enabler' extension. Marks the start of Apple selling its Mac OS: Bundled with new machines, $49 for 7.0.X upgrades, $99 otherwise. Programs take up about the same hard disk space as comparitive DOS programs and about one-half less disk space than their x86/Pentium Windows counterparts (Byte April 93:102; Ingram Report 10/93). Thread Manager {prototype-7.1.0 extension} allows preemtive multitasking for programs written for it. 7.1.2: 7.1.0 rewritten for the PPC chips with PC Exchange. 32-bit OS. On Mac without Power Macintosh ROMs this adds 4 MB to RAM requirements. (PC Week 02/28/94). Native code programs are 10 - 30% larger {i.e these programs are only 57% - 65% the size of comparitive x86/Pentium Windows programs} (calculations from Motorola & Apple announcements; Byte 04/93:102; Ingram Report 10/93) Rumor-best speed is with VM set at 1 MB above real RAM. QuickDraw GX: display PostScript equivalent for QuickDraw that improves font handling, background printing, and color management (by using ColorSync). 7.5.0: 7.1.2 with AppleScript {scriptable Finder}, MacTCP, Macintosh Easy Open, QuickDraw GX, PowerTalk, PlainTalk, Thread Manager, Drag and Drop Manager {between programs}, improved Find File, and Apple Guide {balloon help replacement}. Also includes WindowShade, a hierachical Apple menu, a menu clock, and Sticky Memos. 680x0/MPC601 version requires 2.5/4.5 MB {4/8 recommended} RAM for core elements, 3/5.5 MB {8/16 recommended} for adding QuickDraw GX and PowerTalk. (BYTE 8/94:188; MacWeek 7/18/94; MacUser 09/94:79). Copland: 2H 1995. Microkernel based, multitheading, Memory protection, OpenDOC, and new I/O. To be written in native PowerPC code; asynchronous file system will access volumes up to 256 terrabytes {~262000 GB}. Support for non-Mac systems and files will be provided (BYTE 5/94:40; MacWeek 7/11/94; PC Week 7/11/94). Gershwin: 1996. Microkernel based, preemptive multitasking, a concurrent File Manager and configurable allocation block sizes with a 4 KB default (MacWeek 7/11/94). A/UX 3.0.1 {3.1-wgs 95} [UNIX]: Base requirements: 8 MB RAM and 80 MB hard Drive. To run well: 16 MB RAM and 240 MB hard drive. Apple's version of Unix based on an old AT&T SVR2 release, with extensions from more recent SV releases, and BSD releases. The memory and disk requirements are about average, for a networked protected mode preemptively multitasking server OS (Faisal Nameer Jawdat). AIX [UNIX]: this is planned to replace A/UX as the Mac's UNIX OS. MachTen {by Tenon}: Mach that runs on top of System 7.x. Note: sound output was provided in OSes 3.2 to 6.0.5 via many third party formats including the following: snd, WAVE, ASND, FSSD, QSSN, SMSD, SOUN, dc2d, and DCFL. In 6.0.7 the sound manager formally established sound 'snd' and AIFF as standards which causes some playback problems for the other formats, though most still play correctly. IBM/PC clone OSes Due to their modualar nature these machines have little GUI code, data, and hooks present in hardware for programmers to work with, so most of the coding must be provided in the OS. Since hard disks were slow the disk OS code is read into RAM along with what little ROM code there is {Shadow ROM}. This results in faster implementation since RAM is faster then PROMS or EPROMS. Disk based OS code has the advantage of being able able to optimize code for a certain piece or collection of hardware instead of using a 'ROM patch' The modular nature of code reduces patch size for major revision of hardware support. MS-DOS 5.0: Conventional Memory mode is limited to either 640 K {DOS's own memory manager} or 1 MB {third party memory managers}. XMS allows up to 16 MB but is usable only by certain programs. Protected Mode Interface (DPMI) compliant programs running in 32-bit Protected Mode [386dx] also allow 16 MB. Contains DOS 4.0 GUI shell. Advantage: allows the best computer speed/cost ratio of any OS. Disadvantage: needs extensive programming knowledge and is very expensive to train people to get the great speed/cost ratio (Gartner group). MS-DOS 6.22: DOS 5.0 with the added features of a disk defragmenter, debugger for the CONFIG.SYS file and built-in file compresion. It needs a $80 module for networking. (InfoWorld 8/29/94). MS-DOS 7.0:In development (PC Week 04/05/93). Will come with Windows95. Windows 3.0: Runs on top of DOS. Breaks 640K/1 M barrier but still uses DOS file structure. Base requirements: 1 MB, floppy and 286; to run well 2 MB, hard drive, 386sx and fast display adapter {> 8-bit}. Has Mac's QD equivalent called Windows GDI [Graphics Device Interface]. Does not have consistent application interfaces {Like 84-85 Mac programs} nor a very large program base {compared to DOS}, still tends to slow the machine down (Info-IBMPC Digest V92 #186) with speed more dependent on the display adapter then on the CPU (Bill Coleman) and "A user pumping up a Windows machine past 64 MB (or even 16 MB in some cases) can encounter some nasty conflicts." (Computer Shopper, 07/93 v13 n7 p180(7)). Some programs need editing of config.sys, autoexec.bat, or system.ini to run/display correctly (Fortune 10/04/93:112). Window programs tend to be disk and memory hogs compared to their DOS counterparts (Byte April 93:98-108). Windows 3.1: A faster version of Windows 3.0 with better memory managment. Base requirements 2 MB, hard drive and 386sx; to run well 8 MB, hard drive, 386sx (PC Magazine 94). Takes a 12-15% performance hit in enchanced {32-bit} mode (BYTE 11/93:85). In general Windows and its applications occupy 1.84 times more disk space than their 680x0 Macintosh counterparts (Byte 04/93:102; Ingram Report 93). Windows for Workgroups: To run well: 4 MB RAM and 386dx (PC World Feb/93:160). Intermediary between Win 3.1 and Windows NT. It is basically Windows 3.1 with built-in peer to peer networking support. Windows 95 [Chicago] {May 95}; Requirements {rumor}: 8 MB and 386 (Washington Post 9/26/94). 32-bit OS combining 3.x and NT features that does not run on top of DOS. Windows NT: ~50 MB of disk space [including swap file] 16 MB recommended (PC Week 07/19/93). This 32-bit OS has protected mode multitasking, multithreading, symmetric multiprocessing, recoverable file system, and 32-bit data GDI. Has built-in OSF DCE compliant networking and can handle up to 4 GB RAM. Windows programs ran up to 10% slower on the beta (PC Week 03/15/93). Windows upgrades: $295 for upgrades, $495 otherwise (PC Week 03/15/93). Daytona {NT 3.5}: Smaller memory requirments, PPC, and OpenGL Cairo : Object File System, New GUI, and intergrates Plug and Play. Non MS-OSes AIX: IBM's UNIX system, planned to be a subset of PowerOpen and Taligent OS. 3.2.5 is a precursor to PowerOpen-compliant 4.0 (PC Week 09/13/93). Being used for IBM's first PowerPCs. AIXlite: 4 MB RAM, 80 MB disk space. May be used as a PowerPC OS (PC Week 06/28/93). PC-DOS 6.3: IBM's version of DOS. It runs Windows much faster then MS-DOS due to faster file I/O and video handling (InfoWorld 8/29/94). DR DOS 6.0: same as DOS 5.0 with some extras {like built-in data compression} and memory management enhancements. Still has 640K/1MB barrier. Expose: Novell DOS 7.0 with a Linux 1.0-based kernel: $99. also will run on PowerPC chip (PC Week 05/16/94) OS/2 2.1: Base requirements- 4 MB RAM, 40 MB hard drive, 386sx; to run well- 8-16 MB RAM, 60 MB hard drive {uses 17-33 MB}, and 386dx CPU. This 32-bit multithreaded, multitasking OS with UNIX-like features can address up to 4 GB RAM but on ISA systems using their own DMA {Direct Memory Access} drivers ALL memory above 16 MB RAM is used a fast swap file. Windows programs run faster on this than on DOS and Multimedia support built-in (BYTE June 93:193) IBM plans to use Taligent's OOPS in future versions of this. OS/2 3.0 {Warp}: too fragmental infomation. NeXTStep 3.2: Base requirements-8 MB {2-bit grayscale}/12 MB {8-bit grayscale}/16 MB {16-bit color}, 120 MB {330 MB with Developer tools} hard drive, 486sx. Suggested-12 MB {2-bit grayscale}/16 MB {8-bit grayscale}/24 MB {16-bit color}, 200 MB {400 MB with Developer tools} hard drive , 486sx (NeXTStep CD-ROM). Object-oriented Mach(UNIX)-based microkernal GUI OS with built-in multi-architecture binary support, preemptive multitasking, multithreading, virtual memory, multimedia e-mail, on-line help, Display PostScript Level 2, networking support {NFS 4.0, Novell, Ethernet, Token Ring}, Pixar's Interactive- and Photorealistic- 3D RenderMan, Pantone color support, and Object Links. Can read, write, and initialize Mac and IBM disks. (1993 NeXT, Inc. literature - Dayne Miller). Lacks device-drivers for some hardware cards, DriverKit to write above lacking device-drivers, and supports Portable Distributed Objects and OpenStep. (pcu@umich.edu) Solaris OS for x86: a SunSoft port. A 32-bit OS with symmetric multiprocessing and multithreading, built-in networking capabilities with tools to allow remote configuring and adminstration features, and a communication package. WABI {windows emulator} runs Windows programs 60% faster than Windows 3.1 does on a 486. Client: $795, 50 users server: $1,995, 1000s users server: $5,995. Developer kits-software: $495, hardware: $195. OS Number Crunching (Mel Park) Mac Arithmetic is done in a consistent numerical environment {SANE or Standard Apple Numerics Environment}. 680x0 floating point numbers are 96 bits long when an FPU is present and 80 bits otherwise. The Power Macintoshes use a totally different method. Exceptions, such as dividing by zero or taking the square root of a negative number, do not cause an abort but are handled in a logically consistent manner. 1/0 produces the internal representation for infinity (INF). 1/(1/0) produces zero. The above treatment of 1/(1/0) occurs in an FPU-equipped machine even when SANE is bypassed and the FPU programmed directly {which Apple says not to do.} IBM Floating point numbers are 80-bits with a hardware FPU, 64-bits when emulated. The way they are handled is dependent on the coding of whatever compiler or assembler was used for a program. On older DOS complilers exceptions could cause program aborts; 1/0 and 1/(1/0) would abort to the DOS prompt at the point where they occured. Most present compilers handle this better. Result: there is little consistent handling of numbers between DOS, Windows and OS/2 programs nor between programs for just one OS. Networking [Includes printing] WYSIWYG printing can be a problem with either Mac of IBM machines especially if one sends TrueType fonts to a older style PostScript printer. Mac Hardware: Built-in printer port and a built-in modem port. LocalTalk has moderate speeds (230.4 Kb/s), requires special connectors for each machine ($15 and up), and is run through the printer port. Some third party networking programs use the modem port. Built-in Ethernet is becoming common with transceivers available {Power Macintosh, Quadras and some Centris models} but many older Macs require a PDS or Nubus card at about $150-$300 for each machine. These cards provide three connectors and transceivers {thick, thin, and 10BaseT} for Ethernet. TokenRing has been a network option since 1989. Over five years a Mac is the cheapest overall (The Gartner Group - cited in Fortune 10/04/93:110). Software: AppleTalk {the suite of protocols} standard with Mac OS, which can use variety of media types. AppleShare client software included with the OS and can connect to file servers such as Novell Netware, 3Com 3+Open, Banyan Vines, DEC Pathworks, Apple's AppleShare servers, System 7 File Sharing machines, and AFP servers running on variety of UNIX hosts. MacTCP allows typical TCP/IP communications (telnet, ftp, NFS, rlogin). Third-party software to connect to NFS servers. DEC Pathworks provides DECnet support. Peer-to-peer file sharing software built into System 7.1 (See OS section). Full server software is extra. Printing requires connection of the printer and the printer being selected in the chooser. Changing printers is by selecting a different name in the chooser. The same is true of connecting to servers. Printing bugs: Monaco TrueType font is different then the screen bitmap font. {QuickDraw GX is suppossed to fix this and similar problems.} IBM Hardware: LocalTalk [not widely used], Ethernet, ArcNet, and TokenRing. Software: Novell Netware, IBM Lan Server, Banyan Vines, DECNet, Windows/Work Groups, AppleTalk protocols, and AppleShare {subset of AppleTalk}. Each of the MS-DOS networking schemes are, in general, totally incompatible with the others. Once you have chosen one, you are pretty much locked-in to that product line from then on. Windows/Work Groups is a little more forgiving and removes some of this problem. Novell Netware is the biggest, {~80 percent of the corporate market.} and in general is more powerful and offers better control/management/security than AppleShare, but it's also more complex to set up and manage. This will change due to the use of the Mac finder and file management system by Novell (MacWeek 3/22/93). Printing {Very OS dependent} DOS: If it's a single user, then you plug the printer into the parallel port, and don't worry about it {Tweeking may be needed with poorly written software}. Network Printing is not controlled by the system, but is mostly implemented by the actual program, therefore performance varies from one software program to the next. Windows 3.x: supports standard drivers and can do a good job of showing "jobs" in the print queue, but it can list printers as "active"... even if they are not. This becomes a problem if there are several incompatible printers on the same net, because there's no way for software to reliably determine which printer is active right now. Windows for Workgroups is more Mac-like and intelligent about this. OS/2: Mac-like; the os deals with printers, with apps making calls to the OS. Printing bugs: due to poor programing some programs for all the above OSes do not have WYSIWYG printing. This is the fault of the programs in question and not that of the OS involved. Price issue: This is very dynamic with Mac providing more build-in features than IBM and IBM being more 'get only what you need' then Mac, and price wars going on in both worlds. In general, when one adds all the standard Mac hardware features to an IBM {built-in input/output sound support, SCSI, PDS, built-in monitor support, built-in networking, standard interface, and NuBus equivalent in higher machines} the Mac tends to be cheaper then an equivalent equipted IBM machine at purchace and over five years. (IBM System User, Jan 1992 v13 n1 p43(1) {91 Ingram report}; Fortune 10/04/93:110 {92 Gartner Group report}; BYTE 9/94:79 {93 Gartner Group report-Windows PC}; 93 Ingram report; 94 Ingram report). {Since some IBM monitors can be used with Macs the over all cost of a Mac can be cut even further (MacUser Aug 1992:158-176)} These are the facts as they were known to me on 11/01/94 and may be changed by new developments, announcements, or corrections. Corrections to the information are welcome. Please email corrections to CompuServe ID: 72130,3557 AOL: BruceG6069 Internet: BruceG6069@aol.com Bibliography notes 'Info-IBMPC Digest' back issues were available from wsmr-simtel20.army.mil {discontinued Oct 1993 in directory PD2:<ARCHIVES.IBMPC>. 'Dictionary of Computer Terms 3rd ed.' (ISBM 0-8120-4824-5) jay@seaspray.uacn.alaska.edu (Jay C. Beavers) bericksn@ac.dal.ca (Sean) david@visix.com (David Charlap) bcoleman@hayes.com (Bill Coleman) matt@wardsgi.med.yale.edu (Matt Healy) cj00+@andrew.cmu.edu (Carl B Jabido) fj05+@andrew.cmu.edu (Faisal Nameer Jawdat) dana@vnet.ibm.com (Dana Kilcrease) jokim@jarthur.claremont.edu (John H. Kim) lamont@catfish16.rtsg.mot.com (Bradley Lamont) mem@jhufos.pha.jhu.edu/mem@pha.jhu.edu (Mel Martinez) dayne@u.washington.edu (Dayne Miller) mpark@utmem1.utmem.edu (Mel Park) pcu@umich.edu noah@apple.com (Noah Price) terjer@ifi.unit.no (Terje Rydland) lschultz@ichips.intel.com (Len Schultz) especkma@reed.edu (Erik. A Speckman) d88-jwa@nada.kth.se (Jon Wtte) nan@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Nan Zou) 
