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Running an efficient business operation often depends on having the right computer system. For owners of businesses with small budgets, however, choosing just th right computer system can be an anxiety-provoking experience. So much seems to depend on the decision, whether you're upgrading or buying for the first time.

The aim of this guide is to help reduce computer-purchase anxiety. To accomplish this, we've broken the technology down into four computer-power levels-based on price, type of applications used, and intensity of usage. For each level, we profile a corresponding business. We then suggest appropriate computer-system choices (both IBM and Macintosh), together with matching printer alternatives.

CHOOSING BETWEEN IBM AND MAC

The choice between IBM-compatible and Apple Macintosh systems used to be fairly clear-cut. Macintoshes were the pricey, user-friendly, graphics-capable alternative, while IBM compatibles were the lean, mean number crunchers.

The confluence of several industry developments, however, has changed all that. The summer 1990 advent of Microsoft Windows 3.0 for IBM compatibles did a great deal to bridge the ease-of-use gap. And with Apple's fall 1990 announcement of three new, lower-priced Macs, the price-power differential just about disappeared. With high-quality Macintosh software available in every major application category, and affordable microprocessor power for IBM compatibles sufficient to run graphic-based programs at a manageable pace, the field looks even today. More than ever before, a choice between an MS-DOS computer and a Mac will rest on personal preference rather than clear technological criteria-unless, of course, you have a major client who works with a particular system.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:58 AM