Opposition to change keeps Windows at bay

I share Michael George’s frustration regarding the Mac domination of the graphic design world (Letters, DW 24 January).

Windows ’95 is not “just like the Mac”; it is more open, links with most desktop computing and plays consort to a really grown-up operating system, NT. All of the primary graphic design programs – except Illustrator – have identical interfaces and facilities on either operating system. There is no reason that a designer skilled on one cannot transfer to the other. Some of the higher-end photo-editing programs have not been ported to Windows and there is a lack of additions, plug-ins, extensions and support services. But these are symptoms rather than causes of the present situation.

Dan Margulis, the Photoshop guru, puts the predominance of the Mac down to technological conservatism and the fact there is no over-arching colour management system on the PC. I suspect it is conservatism, not colour management, that gives the Mac its pre-eminence. Designers do not like changing their computer software any more than they like changing their old drawing board. Unless they are given a Batmobile, they’ll stick with a Vespa. But then I would say that, because I prefer Pagemaker 6.5 to Quark XPress 3.32.

F D Yocum

Design for Communication

London N22