Unproductive Corp. (U.C.) uses Windows NT on IBM PC clones that are networked together. Each computer is password protected so no one (such as part-time students, janitors, etc. ) can mess up the files on that computer system per user. When a user is not working that day, his or her computer is unused. They don't have shifts because it would be too expensive to get another set of computers for another shift.
Mr. I. M. Stupid just got back from a month long vacation. When he got back to his desk, he could not use his computer because he forgot his password. Now he has to wait for a technician to come in and reset the battery backed memory and reconfigure the computer system. That took a whole day.
The next day, Mr. Stupid had a network problem because he needed to upgrade Windows NT. That took another half a day. Then he decides to upgrade some of his other software but a virus erased his hard disk. Now he has to start over. He lost a weeks worth of work because he forgot to backup his hard-drive. So, he spent two more days reinstalling software and checking for viruses on floppy disks. The next day, everyone at his work had to go to a boring refresher course on viruses. Mr. Stupid finally decided to give up his career on collaborative writing on computer networks and be a salesman.
Productive Corp. (P.C.) used network computers (N.C.) connected to a mainframe. Each N.C. has a zip drive, 3.5'' extra density floppy drive, and an ink jet printer. P.C. has two shifts in order to keep up with demand and to make the most of it's hardware/software investment.
Because the N.C. does not have a hard drive, the computer can be used by anyone by assigning a password to the user. The user can be assigned a home directory or one or more group directories or both via the network file system. The N.C. gets its software over the network. The systems administrator upgrades software, and does numbered backups ( backups based on age of files) daily. The Central Processor of the main frame has a supervisor mode so that a virus cannot penetrate the kernel of the operating system as long as the system administrator does not run a Trojan horse or there are not any serious security holes. (Unix systems don't get infections but sometimes they get worms.)
Mr. I. M. Stupid comes back to work after a month long vacation. Mr. Stupid forgot his password so the system administrator assigned him a new password in just five minutes.
Mr. Stupid has group access to a directory that contains an encyclopedia which many writers are working. He checks out an article through the revision control system and saves it on his zip disk. He then begins to update the article. Then Mr. Stupid decides to try a program he got from the Internet. Suddenly, the computer starts formatting his zip drive. He turns off the computer and calls tech support. They found that the program he ran was a Trojan horse. He lost half a day of work. He won't have to reinstall any software. By the end of the day Mr. Stupid got some work done in spite of some difficulties.
The next day, everyone in his department went to an exiting writer's conference. Mr. Stupid decided that he enjoys his job.