Re: Now, about running Windows on a Mac, isn't it great?

On Sat, 4 Aug 2007 04:47:23 -0400, The Natural Philosopher wrote
(in article <1186217248.76028.0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>):

J.J. O'Shea wrote:
On Thu, 2 Aug 2007 20:44:50 -0400, The Natural Philosopher wrote
(in article <1186101892.57429.0@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>):

If you have a postcript printer, printing works.

Bull***. I have, sitting right here in front of me, a HP Deskjet 5550.
Last
I looked this was NOT a PostScript printer. It prints from OS X. I have,
elsewhere, a HP PSC 1350. It is not a PostScript printer. It prints from OS
X. I have, in a closet, an Epson Stylus Color 850. It's in the closet
'cause
it's, well, rather elderly and crotchety. However, it prints from OS X
(when
I can get it to print at all...) In the same closet are an original Apple
Stylewriter and a Color Stylewriter. They also both print from OS X, though
only from machines which have serial ports, which means my beige G3, also
in
the closet, or from machines which have AppleTalk, also my beige G3, or the
AppleTalk-to-EtherTalk converter, which was supposed to be in the closet
but
which I can't find and was probably tossed out years ago. Do you have _any_
idea just how incredibly _ancient_ the 850 is, much less the Stylewriters?

I can print with the majority of USB-equipped printers produced since 1999;
the ones which _don't_ work with OS X don't work 'cause they're
WinPrinters,
designed to use Windows for a RIP. And even some of those can be used if
you
have the right 3rd-party software.

Also, just in case you're gonna quibble, yes, I know that you can use
3rd-party software, including _free_ 3rd-party software such as Gutenprint,
to make many printers into PostScript printers 'cause Gutenprint installs a
PostScript clone (GhostScript) RIP which uses the _Mac_ to RIP pages and
then
sends the data to the printer in a format it can understand. That is
exactly
how those WinPrinters mentioned above can be made to print from Macs...


Or ad in my case, NOT.

I put in Gutenprint, and got NOTHING out of the plotter, except from GIMP.

If you got it to work with _one_ app, then it should work with others. I
suspect operator error.


If you don't, you are
in deep doggies for the most part.

Absolute bull***.

Likewise a TWAIN scanner..

The scanner built into the PSC 1350 mentioned above _is_ a TWAIN scanner,
dolt. Apple includes with the OS a freaking TWAIN app, ImageCapture, which
works with many (not all) scanners and cameras! (It works with my cell
phone
camera, but not with the PSC 1350, for example.) I have used TWAIN scanners
and scanner sections built into MFDs from HP, Epson, and Canon over the
years. In addition, Hamrick Software's VueScan, which runs under OS X, OS
9,
Win NT through XP, and several Linux distros, handles over 700 imaging
devices with ease! Have you actually even _tried_ to scan anything using a
TWAIN scanner on OS X?!

\
Doesn't work on my Scanjet4100C.

Possibly because it's one of the few devices which is absolutely, positively,
completely, tied to Windows. You saved a buck and got a machine which can't
be used elsewhere. Goody for you. Buy a real scanner. Or don't. Your choice.

\
and don't
MENTION parallel ports...

No Mac has _ever_ had built-in parallel ports, going back to the original
Mac
in 1984. None. Zero. Not-a-one. There was once a card for, I think, the SE
and the SE-30 and a NuBus card which offered parallel ports, but they
didn't
sell well. If anyone made a parallel port card for PCI, I never saw it. Any
modern printer has USB and/or some network connection, often _both_
Ethernet
and wireless. Older printers often had some way of connecting to Ethernet
(or
AppleTalk...) and in times past there were many parallel-to-USB converters
available. If, at this late date, you have a printer which has parallel
ports
only, and can't get hold of HP DirectJet module either internal or
external,
or a parallel-to-USB converter, you will get no sympathy from me. Buy a new
printer. Or turn on printer sharing on a WinBox and have the Mac print via
the WinBox. Warning: if you use Services for Macintosh to share the
printer,
only 300x300 dpi output will be sent to the printer. There are 3rd party
systems which print with the max resolution the printer can handle, and
have
been out for years. If Mickeysoft wanted to fix sharing printers with Macs,
they could. They haven't. Draw your own conclusions.

to I believe a USB<->parallel converter is a
path for that one. Except I've run out of USB ports already...

Bloody hell, USB hubs are available for $20 to 50, depending on number of
ports!


You may live in a society in which $20-$50 is simply something you add
to your few million dollars of debt. Mostlty owned by China.

IOW, you're a cheap Charlie.


I choose NOT to be owned by China.

Bull***. You're just cheap.



Sure I could replace everything and spend $10,000 on a new mac, new
apps, new printer and scanner, and live miserably ever after. Sorry:
Thatt sort of money is what we live off for 3 months....

Bull***. A _new_ laser printer is $100-200... for a Brother. Not made in the
PRC. I have a Brother HL-2070N. A _network_ laser printer, list price when I
bought it, $200. I got it for $135. I've seen it advertised for $100, on
sale; list price is currently $150, looks like Brother is about to introduce
a new printer family. There's a little banding in graphics, but it prints
text very very very well at sizes down to 3 points. I use it to print text. I
have a HP PSC1350 MFD and a HP DeskJet5550 inkjet; got the PSC1350 for $30,
list price was $130, $100 off 'cause I bought it with an eMac. List price for
similar MFDs from HP is now under $100. It prints graphics quite well,
especially if you use HPIJS (free 3rd-party) drivers. It has a scanner built
in, which is the one I usually use. The DJ5550 cost, I think, $50 new. Using
3rd-party (free!) Gutenprint or HPIJS drivers, it delivers _excellent_
graphics output. There are _swarms_ of Epson, Canon, and HP scanners which
cost less than $150. There are _swarms_ of Epson, Canon, and HP MFDs which
cost less than $150. The most expensive Mac is under $5000, and cheaper ones
abound. Including second-hand ones for $200, which will run OS X 10.4
perfectly adequately. (My old eMac, for example...) Free and cheap (under
$100) software abounds. You're talking out your ass.



--
email to oshea dot j dot j at gmail dot com.

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