Re: Mac and Xy

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≪I'm quite sure it does in fact install apps, etc.  It's just that
Mac has long been very good at keeping such things "under the
covers" in ways that hide the gory details -- and much of the need
for hands-on intervention -- so that the user does not normally
need to deal with them. ≫

The general procedure for 'installing' apps on the Mac is to drag the
new app from its folder on the delivery cd/dvd to the Applications
folder on the Mac. The general procedure for uninstalling an app is to
drag the app from the Applications folder to the trash. No doubt there
is a lot more going on under the hood. The main thing you'll notice, or
rather not notice, is the, for windows typical, subsequent search for
dlls and drivers. Macs don't need that sort of thing.

≪I'm unconvinced that one would be using a Mac for several years, and
never run into issues where it would be necessary to call in a Mac
consultant.≫

Use one for several years. You'll see. As with any system new to the
user, there is a steep learning curve while one learns the ropes and
adjusts the system preferences.

≪More useable RAM always helps the computer as a whole, but it may not
do anything for Fusion or Parallels.  I haven't done this for a while,
but a year or so ago I tried different allocations of physical memory to
Parallels, thinking that performance would improve fairly quickly and
then round off into diminishing returns. In fact, beyond a surprisingly
modest allocation, performance actually deteriorated!  I can recall the
exact numbers, but is was somewhere around 512 to 640 MB that things
started to slow down. At the time the optimal allocation to Parallels
for my setup was 384MB.  On my MacBook Pro with 3GB of memory, Fusion
recommends that 512MB be allocated to Fusion-WinXP.≫

This confirms my experience, too. The emulation seems to get allocated a
maximum/optimum amount of RAM, however much RAM the rest of the Mac may
have.