I am not here to fan the flames of the "Wintel" vs. Macintosh controversy. But, I do feel it incumbent upon me to offer a short discussion regarding the differences in image display between the two platforms.

As a general rule Macintosh displays are brighter than the displays of PC's. Therefore an image that looks right on a Mac may seem dark on a PC. The converse is also true, and image that looks good on a PC may seem washed out on a Macintosh display.

As your intrepid webmaster I am faced with a dilemma. Do I optimize for PC's? Do I optimize for Macs? Do I make two parallel web sites and direct users to "PC's turn left here; Macs turn right?" Or do I try to average the images so they appear acceptable on either platform? I have chosen the last option. I happen to work with Macintosh computers, one of my last steps in preparing an image is to adjust the gamma to make the image appear "a little light." I can only hope that our customers and browsers allow me a little leeway. I ask that those viewers with "Wintel" PC's "think a little lighter" and those of you using Macs "think a little darker."

Below you will find a couple of two of the same image that are optimized for the differing conditions found on the different platforms.