Has Apple got Mac users by the proverbial plums?

Apple has cost the design industry vast sums of money by creating [operating system] Mac OSX, and I’m not even convinced OSX or the Power Mac G5 is real progress. It feels and looks like a tacky PC to me. Possibly paving the way for a Microsoft/Apple merger?

I recently upgraded to a G5 from a G3 and, technically, I need to upgrade my software. I say technically, because I actually prefer using my G3. I have started upgrading my software with QuarkXPress 6, already superseded with Quark 6.1 (what a joke), but I’d like to do as Hania Oleksiuk mentioned (Letters, DW 29 April.): hold my nerve, draw a line and stay put. I stopped upgrading at Adobe Photoshop 3 and Adobe Illustrator 6 because, by using multiple shift and command keys, operating these programs became second nature to me. I know where everything is and how it works.

I tried new versions of Illustrator and Photoshop a while ago and became frustrated as I couldn’t find where the menus had been hidden (progress?). But I need to upgrade my software packages for OSX.

Upgrading my software will cost me time, money, frayed nerves and retraining. Upgrades aren’t created in the interest of the user but to perpetuate the profits of the manufacturers. Or am I stating the obvious?

Alan Clarke

Creative director

Firefly Design

Devon PL20 6DZ