Contents Notes |
The NEIC Apple Pilot Evaluation was designed to determine applicability of the Apple Macintosh SEs and an AppleTalk Network in meeting the needs of the NEIC Word Processing Center and individual secretarial/clerical workstations. Six months of use revealed that: 1. The system met the basic capabilities of the IBM System 6 (existing word processing technology). 2. The Macintosh SE, LaserWriter and ImageWriter printers are suitable replacements for the Lexitron and its applications, with some exceptions (i.e., printing of multiple-part forms, envelopes and labels). 3. The local area network provides for effective telecommunications between physically separated buildings, the electronic transfer of files, queueing/spooling of printers and configuration compatibility between Apple and IBM equipment. 4. The graphics station and desktop publishing capabilities significantly enhance current NEIC capabilities. This document details the evaluation leading to the conclusions above and presents additional features being evaluated. Areas for additional evaluation include: * Network software and hardware fine-tuning * Cost analyses * User groups * User support * NEIC's future needs |