Hi Christina,

>Recently, uncertain of
>Apple's fate, my supervisors have wanted to explore switching me from a Mac
>to a Windows NT workstation environment. The current plan is to set up an
>NT workstation side by side with my Mac, and purchase peripherals that will
>function well with either platform. At least this way we will have an
>opportunity to test if I can manage to do the same graphic tasks and
>interface with print and other vendors without undo glitches on a Windows
>platform BEFORE the switch is a done deal. (Note: I use Illustrator,
>FreeHand, Photoshop, PageMaker, QuarkXPress, PowerPoint, Persuasion, and
>DeltaGraph Pro to do my work.)

While certain issues concerning graphics and NT took a little while to be
resolved, you should find now NT to be a solid and productive O/S. With
Adobe's new release of Illustrator 7 and Adobe Type Manager for NT, there
are few reasons to not migrate. I am unfamiliar with the current Windows
status of Freehand, Persuasion, and a couple of other packages you
mentioned. I work with a Mac at work and an NT workstation at home. I hope
to do as you are now planning and get an NT computer to work side by side
this Mac over the next year. I don't anticipate retiring the Mac, as it
serves us well.

>The only given we have so far is that we're purchasing a HP laserjet (5M?)
>printer, since my inhouse technical support finds that HPs function
>reliably with both platforms.

The current model you want would be the 5MP.

>I remember a discussion some time back on the listserve comparing the
>CoolScan with some other brand of slide scanner (which I believe either
>Frank Ippolito or Britt Griswold liked better and/or said did a faster job
>of scanning).

Yes. I was remarking on the high quality/fast operation of the Polaroid
Sprintscan 35 Plus for scanning slides. It has a 2700 DPI res and higher
tonal depth than comparable models. You should be able to find one fro
around $1500. As far as a flatbed is concerned, you can't go wrong with
either the Argus or the the Microtek ScanMakerIII. In the latter case, we
purchased the unit with a tranparency adapter (now standard) and Fractal
Painter bundled for around $1700.

>Last question: I need to purchase a good, crisp 20" (or so) monitor to go
>with the Windows machine (but could also be paired with the Power Mac
>8100). I'm MOST concerned about whether it really appears sharp to the user
>across the whole screen. I currently have a Sony Trinitron that, in my
>opinion, is better than the equivalent Apple monitor. However, I wonder if
>anyone has experience with any other brand whose clarity and crispness they
>would recommend?

I was very happy with the Nanao trinitron monitor I purchased for home. It
comes very highly rated. I belive you could drive it with a Mac- but am
uncertain. Anyway, Nanao recently changed their name to Eizo and now if you
search for Nanao banded monitors you can find some very good deals. About
25% price reducion over their Eizo models, but are essentially the same
unit in a different box. Check out www.nanao.com

I am very interested as to how your little cross O/S network behaves. Keep
us appraised.

Cheers,

Frank

Frank Ippolito    [log in to unmask]
American Museum of Natural History

"Wherever you go..., there you are."
                                                -Buckaroo Bonzai