🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <5325bbINNr91@duncan.cs.utk.edu> digh@cs.utk.edu (Andy D. Digh) writes:

	   I'm in the market for a computer for a five year old.
   I'm not sure whether a Macintosh or IBM compatible would be best.
   The Mac seems to be more user friendly for young children, but
   yet more children's software seems to be available for the IBM.

I own both a Mac II and several PC's; neither of my children has had any
trouble using either machine, starting at age 2 or so.  Mostly they prefer the
PC, but that's because the software on it is newer.

I usually recommend PC's rather than Mac's because

  o as you say, there's more software for them

  o they're cheaper to buy (in terms of bang-for-your-buck) and cheaper to
    upgrade (price of peripherals and CPU upgrades)

  o they are more easily configured to make it difficult for kids to mess up
    the desktop (i.e. random dragging and typing doesn't result in total chaos
    the way it does on the Mac) -- though Win95 may have largely negated this
    advantage. 
 
  o you can run Linux on your PC when the kids are done with it (you can run
    it on a power Mac, too, but the kernel is newer and hence less stable).

If you get a PC, try to buy a generic clone from a local dealer, rather than a
mail-order brand-name system that may have proprietary components and cost you
more to repair.
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