[Leica] Mac operating systems

[lrzeitlin at aol.com (lrzeitlin at aol.com)]

        Unlike some Luggers?I never get free Leica cameras. But as the 
former chairman of the small computer committee of my university I was 
regularly deluged with laptop and desktop computers and software. By the 
middle of the 1980s my committee decided that Mac computers were the class 
of the field, easiest for neophytes to learn and to do meaningful work. 
Because we were in the middle of IBM territory and IBM gave us computers 
free, we couldn?t impose our decision on students. Instead we gave graduate 
students a $500 stipend to buy whatever computer they wanted. As a packrat, 
I kept many of the computers that I was given. I currently have 10 Macs, 
dating from the original to the latest Mac Air and a variety of other makes 
of machines. All work but it is far too many. Even Goodwill won?t take the 
older ones. That being said I run a variety of Mac operating systems 
including System 3, OS 7.6.1, OS 9.1 and OS 9.2, Tiger - OS 10.4, Snow 
Leopard - OS 10.6.8, Mavericks - OS 10.9.5 and El Capitan - OS 10.11.4. With 
Bootcamp I can run all Windows software too, something I have not felt the 
need to do for years.?
        There has been a consistent recent dumbing down of operating systems 
in fave of an IOS approach. Using a modern laptop is like using a big iPad 
with a keyboard. Since my 8 year old granddaughter can use an iPad perfectly 
well, I know the intellectual level the programmers are aiming at.
        To my mind, the most useful Mac OS for meaningful work is Snow 
Leopard - OS 10.6.8. It is relatively small. almost bombproof, and lets you 
run most useful photographic software. It also works on a MacBook Pro, the 
best of the laptops. Mavericks - OS 10.9.5 is a good second choice. It 
handcuffs the user a but but all current software can run on it. Using the 
latest Mac OS, El Capitan, is like using?an iPad on steroids. Great if you 
are a teen ager who grew up using iPhones but hard to comprehend if you are 
computer literate. For legacy work on the Power PC laptops, including my 
favorite 11? MacBook, it is hard to beat OS 10.4. It runs all the legacy 
software including the original Photoshop. You can even make decent videos 
with iMovie and burn them to DVDs.?
        Now how about a Leica as a permanent loaner?

Larry Z?