Independent review of OS8

Jay Thomas (jpthomas@ix.netcom.com)
Fri, 26 Sep 1997 08:02:26 -0400


[This is a snip from an online diary I've been hooked on for the
better part of a year. Obviously there are still folks out there who
refuse to abandon their Macs. Pretty glowing review. For more, see:

http://www.aloha.net/~ophelia/Diary/September/970924.html
Jay]

I've got a date -- as the cheesy posters say -- with OS8.

I stopped by the bookstore last week to play with the Macs on display
(the funky green
eMate 300 in particular), and had a chance to see the much touted
update to the
Macintosh operating system.

I don't know exactly what impressed me about it. The basic look was
new, but nothing to
write home about since I use Kaleidoscope to get even wilder looks.
The integrated
internet suite is meaningless to me, 'cause any geek knows how to find
exactly the same
stuff for free online.

And with the guy behind the counter more interested in pushing IBM
Thinkpads, there
wasn't any "suggestive selling" going on.

It just felt snappier -- quicker, slicker.

It probably isn't, but I'm also one of those people who swears a
clean, recently vacuumed
car runs better than a dirty one.

What can I say, it was shiny and new. Momentarily forgetting my
cynicism over endless
"software upgrade" scams, I decided to get it.

I held on to enough sense to not give any more money to the bookstore,
though.

So, I ordered it online (reluctantly accepting half a dozen cookies in
the process) --
further asserting my mastery of the 'net thang -- and now I've got a
new brain for my baby
sitting here on a little plastic disc.

I don't look forward to sorting out the mess it'll probably make of my
computer's current
setup. A setup carefully tweaked to work exactly how I want it to
work, perfected after
months of clicking, dragging and crashing... just waiting to collapse
like a house of cards.

Nervous, I waited to hear some encouraging words from Mac guru (and
fellow
Kaleidoscope fiend) CJ. She could run a space station from her desk,
so if the change
didn't leave her sobbing on the floor, then dammit I can handle it
too.

On the other hand, if you don't hear from me for a while, watch the
news for the horrific
story of a Waikiki moped rider fatally brained by an airborne Frooter.