Readers Respond: Comparing Apples And OS/2

When I suggested that readers wait awhile before upgrading to the Windows 95 operating system, I got screens full of electronic mail. Some of you just won't do Windows. Ever!

I spent two years researching Apple vs. [IBM-compatible machines] in general, since I use my computer for mathematics, engineering, word processing, Internetting, graphics, and game-playing as well as for music.... I also read articles by independent evaluating companies like A.D. Little, all of which maintained that the average office worker using Apple was about 40 percent more productive than those using PCs.

- Pat, a musician and Mac owner

I knew there was a reason I wasn't writing more stories.

I read your review of Windows 95 in the Monitor. I am curious why there is no mention of OS/2. It seems to me if you just want a computer to type or do spreadsheets, an Apple is fine, especially if you are ''technologically impaired.'' If you want to play all the games now available, and need support, the current Windows is fine. If you really want to exploit the full power of your machine, OS/2 has everything Windows 95 offers, and more - and has had it for years.

- ''A Warpped View'' from Louisville, Tenn.

I want to be a full-power writer. But the last time I tried OS/2, I spent three days and never got it installed.

When I got my modem and account about two years ago, I chose my screen name because it represented an area of interest that I thought I would find on-line. I did find it, but it wasn't as interesting as I hoped it would be.

However, what I did find was much more useful and absorbing. In the first place, our three adult children are also on-line with AOL, and since two of them live far away, we correspond a lot with e-mail. In fact, I hear from them more often that way than I ever did by ''snail-mail'' or phone.

The other area which I use even more concerns a very specialized topic - dog obedience.... I found a list on the Internet, which is immensely helpful and absorbing.... How can anyone say that this is not a viable medium?

- ''KittyKnits,'' an America Online (AOL) senior citizen

You're not looking at me, are you?

I'm hoping that the Aug. 1 column you wrote was given a headline by someone besides you, because it has nothing to do with the subject of the column. Your title is ''Upgrading Computer Memory Is Tricky,'' and the entire column is about upgrading the hard-disk storage....

Memory is like the temporary work space on [a user's] desk, where they keep the projects they are currently working on. Hard-disk storage is like the file cabinet where they keep everything and can pull things out and put things in as needed.

- Consuela, a Macintosh-support technician

Oops. If you're confused, just watch the numbers. If a computer ad mentions small numbers of megabytes (4 MB, 8 MB, 16 MB, etc.), it means memory. If it lists big numbers (500MB or 850MB, for example), it means the hard disk.

* Old-fashioned, I know, but somebody's got to keep Bic in business. Use your ball-point to give me a few reasons you own (or will never own) a computer. Send them to me at: The Christian Science Monitor, 1 Norway St., Boston, Mass., 02115.

Just watch the numbers: If an ad mentions small numbers of megabytes, it means memory. If it lists big numbers, it means the hard disk.