BTS INFORMATIQUE DE GESTION

SESSION 2008

Option « Développeur d'applications »

Option « Administrateur de réseaux locaux d'entreprise »

E1.2  Langue anglaise appliquée à l'informatique et à la gestion

Durée : 2 heures                                                                                               Coefficient : 2

L'usage d'un dictionnaire bilingue est autorisé

Les  calculatrices sont interdites

I'M A PC. I'M A MAC

1  A couple of years ago, the notion of replacing a PC with one of Apple's stylish Mac computers was fraught with risk, uncertainty, and incompatibility. Today, the computing landscape is not so black and white. Thanks to Apple's conversion to the same Intel-based computing platform used by mainstream Windows-based PCs and a host of software tools that make it easier than ever to interoperate between the Mac OS X and Windows worlds, buying a Mac is easier – and smarter – than ever. Sure, there are some hurdles to overcome. But for many people, choosing between a Mac and a PC doesn't have to be an either-or proposition anymore.

2  We can credit Apple CEO Steve Jobs for correctly seeing the future once again. For years, Apple has secretly developed Intel-based versions of its flagship Mac OS X alongside the PowerPC-based versions it was selling to the public. Dramatically, in 2005, Apple announced that it would move the Mac to the Intel platform over time, transitioning its OS and hardware to the new systems, eventually leaving the stagnating PowerPC platform behind. What Apple has accomplished in the intervening two years is impressive. Today, all of the company's hardware runs on standard PC-based Intel hardware, and for the most part, the Intel version of Mac OS X "Tiger" runs even PowerPC-based software just fine, thanks to a low-level emulator built into the OS.

3  Historically, Macs have been more expensive than comparable PCs, but prices have come down in recent years and Apple's machines are now much more competitive. Here's the difference today: because Apple only offers very specific Mac configurations with few customization options, you don't get the wide range of price points in the Mac world as you do with PCs. So you will generally be able to find much less expensive and much more expensive PCs than Macs. But if a particular Mac model does meet your needs, you will generally find that it is comparable in price to similar PCs.

4  All Macs share certain characteristics. They are incredibly well-made, beautiful to look at, and are generally devoid of any extraneous ports and other doo-dads. This can be bad in some ways – for example, you'll never find a useful Flash RAM reader on a Mac – but for those who appreciate design, Macs are top-notch. All Macs come with Mac OS X and Apple's highly-valued iLife suite of digital media applications. In some ways, iLife is reason enough to own a Mac: there is nothing like iLife on the PC side. Mac OS X isn't as full-featured as Windows Vista, but it is also a lot less busy looking. Aimed more at technical users than consumers, Mac OS X isn't so much friendly as it is austere and Spartan. But master its quirks and you'll find you can be as productive as you are in Windows.

5  With less than 3 percent of the market for computers worldwide, you might think that Mac OS X and the hardware it runs on are not a viable alternative to the Windows hegemony that most of us simply take for granted. Nothing could be further from the truth: Macs offer the best of both worlds, giving you the ability to run both Windows – with its huge software and game libraries – and Mac OS X – with its better security and iLife solutions – side by side on the same hardware. You might argue that a Mac is, in fact, the ultimate PC, simply because it can do so much more than other PCs. I believe this to be the case for many users.

Paul Thurrott, Connected Home Media, April 18, 2007 (abridged and adapted)

QUESTIONS

1^re PARTIE – RÉSUMÉ (12 points)

Après avoir lu le texte en entier, vous traduirez de « In some ways... » jusqu'à « ...for many users ».

2^e PARTIE – EXPRESSION ÉCRITE (8 points)

Répondez en anglais aux deux questions suivantes et indiquez le nombre de mots :

A - Has Paul Thurrott, the author of this article, convinced you that a Mac can be an attractive alternative to a PC? (80 mots +/- 10%) (3 points)

B - Do you share the European Commission's point of view that "Microsoft's hegemony" is a problem?  (150 mots +/- 10%) (5 points)

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