
  A Reasonable Approach to '95





                      Reflections of a ModemJunkie

                   copyright 1995 by Leonard Grossman




 This Month's focus:    The real problem with Windows 95.
                           A revolutionary approach.

 Last week I got a real shock.  I happened to look at a notice from my
 bank.  The details aren't important but it was really scary.  I've never
 paid more than $4,000.00 for a car.  I bought my computer in a pawn shop.
 I make a decent salary.  How can things be that bad?  I began to take
 stock.  The process isn't over but some things are becoming clear.  I
 don't do anything unreasonable or more to the point,  I just try to do
 many reasonable things.  So, getting back to the bank balance,
 something's gotta stop.  How do I get off of this train?

 Windows 95 is reasonable.  Only about $89.  Why not get it and be right
 on the cutting edge?  What if I need a little more RAM at only 40 or 50
 bucks a meg?  A bigger hard drive?  Everyone has heard the mantra:
 "Storage is cheap these days." Remember when a 40 meg drive cost over
 $200 bucks.  I can probably get a gigabyte for that    today.  At that
 little computer shop in down the street I can get a 486 motherboard with
 CPU and one of those cute little fans for under a hundred bucks.  So why
 not jump in?

 Why not? Indeed!  Because it never ends.  Because it is so seductively
 reasonable.  It's not just computers.  Its been going on for years, from
 fins in the '50s to full access to the Internet.  Its just all so
 reasonable, -- and we have to have it now.  Whatever it is, somehow it
 always costs just a little bit more.  Many of us have to stop somewhere
 and Win95 is my line in the sand.  Thus far and no farther... at least
 for now  !!

 Please don't get me wrong.  I wouldn't buy a new machine today without
 Win95 on it.  But before upgrading the operating system (OS) on your
 current machine, I suggest asking yourself a few questions:


     Do you have trouble operating Windows 3.1?

     Do you really multitask?

     Why do you need it?

 The principle advantage of Win 95 is that the interface is easier to
 learn--if you don't already know how to operate a computer.  If you
 successfully downloaded this magazine that probably is not an issue. In
 fact, you will have to unlearn a few tricks and habits to get comfortable
 with Win95.

 It won't be hard.  You may even like the interface.  But it won't really
 be easier for you than your current OS.  On the other hand, if you are
 about to learn a completely new application, it may in fact be easier to
 learn under Win95, just as my learning curve on internet applications was
 greatly speeded up by the use of the Windows interface.  Finally, if you
 are buying a computer for a someone completely unfamiliar with computers
 it may well be worth the jump.  But this is about you and me, not about
 tyros and neophytes.

 The second purported advantage is the improved ability to multitask.  Those in the know say Win 95 can't compare with Windows NT or OS/2-Warp when it comes to real multitasking.  For the sake of argument, though, lets agree that it multitasks better than the existing Windows operating systems.  Bottom line question: How much multitasking do you really do?  Is it a quick look at a spread sheet while in your word processor?  Do you play solitaire while waiting for your e-mail on the internet? (I caught my daughter doing that last night.)  If that's all you are doing, Windows for Workgroups is quite sufficient.  On the other hand, if you are seriously into heavy multitasking and really like the Windows interface, Win95 may be the likely answer for you.

 Conservation of resources while multitasking is one of the hyped advantages of Win95.  That's really the test for whether you really multitask.  Its true, at least it seemed so to me, that the various Internet tools worked better with a number of open and running applications under 32 bit Win95.  But they also work fine under W4WG.  Therefore, it seems to me that if you rarely run out of resources under Window 3.x, you won't need Win95.

 I concede that WordPerfect for Windows seemed a little less starved under
 the new  operating system.  But how much time is really saved? How many
 lock ups prevented?  Even on my pawn shop special -- not much--not many.

 Of course, you can use true 32 bit applications.  How many do you have
 now?  How many do you expect to buy in the immediate future?  But here's
 the trap.  If you think you need Win95, then you'll want to run out and
 buy the 32 bit version of every application you use.  Will your checkbook
 balance be any better at 32 bits?  In truth, each upgrade won't cost that
 much.  Most of them will be reasonable, just like Win95 itself.  And, of
 course, it's all so reasonable. Only there are so many reasonable things!

 What can you do with Win95 that you can't do now?  Do you really need to
 do it?  I resisted Windows altogether for years.  It was only when I
 found something that I couldn't do under DOS did I make the leap.  The
 advent of Windows clients for internet access combined with repeated
 failure at the Unix command line, convinced me to make the move.  I am
 glad I did, but I'm also glad I held off.

 So, when something comes along that I can't do under Windows for Work Groups,
 I'll take a good hard look at it and decide if it's even something worth
 doing.  Only then will I make the leap.

 And in the meantime I won't have that MSN (MicroSoft Network) icon staring
 me in the face, tempting me to log on every time I boot up.  You see, I did
 bring this month's column back to communications, after all.

 Join the revolution!! Stop doing reasonable things!!

 Leonard Grossman is a lawyer for the Department of Labor.  He is a
 regular WindoWatch contributor and can be reached  at
 leonard.grossman@syslink.mcs.com




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