Free Internet for Mac Users

Q: I’ve been using many different free Internet service providers, but it seems that more and more free Mac ISPs are either closing their services or dropping support for Macintosh users. I still want free Internet access for my Mac, but I can’t find it anywhere. Are there any more free Internet access services left […]

400 MHz iMac G3

There were four different G3 iMacs that ran at 400 MHz: two introduced in 1999, one in 2000, and one in 2001. The 400 MHz iMac DV and 400 MHz DV Special Edition were introduced in October 1999. These included a DVD-ROM drive and were the first iMacs with built-in FireWire. They have RAGE 128 […]

600 MHz iMac (Early 2001)

The 600 MHz iMac 2001 SE (for special edition) sat at the top of the Early 2001 iMac family. It was the fastest iMac when released and came in graphite, flower power, and blue Dalmatian (really – see the picture!).

400 MHz iMac (Early 2001)

The 400 MHz iMac 2001 is the slowest member of the iMac 2001 family and has the least features. It is the only model to use the original G3 (PowerPC 750) processor and the only model that doesn’t include a CD-RW drive. To all intents, this is last year’s 400 MHz iMac DV at a […]

75 Mac Advantages, Part 2

2001 – Based on reader feedback, I learned there are some advances in the latest version of Windows that negate some of the advantages I wrote about in Part 1. I bow to their superior knowledge of the Windows platform (I use both platforms but am a mere user, not a network administrator or suchlike) and so, I’ve […]

iMac G3 (Early 2001)

With the early 2001 revision to the iMac line, Apple ended up with four models running at three different speeds – there were different 500 MHz iMacs for the North American and international markets. These iMacs run Mac OS 9.1 and later. The entry-level indigo 400 MHz iMac is the only CD-ROM model in the […]

Apple’s Biggest Challenge: Overcoming Stereotypes

2001: Several articles have recently touted the fact that Apple wants to compete directly with Sony in the digital appliance market. This is all well and good. Moving beyond the “computer” market and into new spaces that service Jobs’ “digital lifestyle” is a good idea – a good idea that will face an uphill battle, […]

Speed Up Internet Explorer on the Classic Mac OS

2001 – Since the release of version 5, Internet Explorer became the Mac world’s number one browser, with many Netscape users dumping the Navigator or Communicator 4.x in order to get Microsoft’s latest offering. In any case, Explorer is very popular in the Mac crowd, and a few of you may want to maximize its […]

Introduction to Unix: The Buzz Words

2001: I am sure that people are getting tired of hearing about multithreading, symmetrical multiprocessing, memory management, and preemptive multitasking. How is it really going to affect you, the Macintosh user, under Mac OS X, when you just want to read Low End Mac, check your email, and write a document.

Mac Network Appliance: Make Your Own MP3 Server

Computers are supposed to make life easier, right? It seems like if I have a faster computer, I should be able to get things done more quickly and have more free time for important things – like talking to my fiancé or getting some exercise. But often that isn’t the way it seems to work […]

Fixing the Trackpad

2001: The trackpad was launched by Apple in May 1994 as a replacement for the much-lauded trackball in its PowerBooks. It has been implemented in every subsequent Mac portable. It was used in lieu of a mouse in the Twentieth Anniversary Mac and is also used by the majority of PC notebooks now in production. […]

75 Mac Advantages, Part 1

2001 – In this series of articles I will be taking a look at Apple’s venerable 75 Macintosh Advantages brochure issued a couple of years ago but mysteriously missing from its website today. Or perhaps not so mysteriously; after Mr. Jobs and Mr. Gates declared a truce to the Windows/Mac OS wars, many of the […]

Personalize and Customize Microsoft Word

2001 – Hi everybody and welcome to iBasics.* The intent of this weekly column is to help you to tame your Macintosh and get the most out of it, whether it is old or new. Not everybody is a power user who relies on the use of a Macintosh for a living, but everybody wants […]

SmoothType: Anti-aliased Type for the Classic Mac OS

Greg Landweber is far better known for Kaleidoscope than for SmoothType. I know a lot of Mac users who love to play around with their interface; I know few as interested in how good text looks on the screen. Yet I suspect cleaner type does more to improving the interface than different colors, sounds, and […]

My TiBook, Part 6: Nearly Perfect

2001: Thanks to several readers who emailed to suggest I pick up one of those plastic fish tank thermometers to measure the temperature of various parts of my PowerBook G4. Unfortunately, we had freezing rain overnight, so I don’t know when I’ll be venturing out to find one, but it sounds like it should work […]

Down the Digital Lifestyle Road

2001: Enough hay has been made of the recent softening of the PC market to last us until next year. The PC is dead! The vultures fly around the PC market! Consumers abandon PCs in droves! Handhelds are where it’s at! Unfortunately, while Steve Jobs may not always be right, he’s probably pretty close with […]

My TiBook, Part 5: A Portable CD Burner

2001: Monday morning, I received a Podium CoolPad from Road Tools. It’s a compact device measuring 11″ wide and 8.7″ deep. The base has a swivel, so you can easily turn a laptop from side to side. It also comes with adjustable risers, which let you raise the back of your notebook computer from 0.5″ […]

My TiBook, Part 3: It’s Hot!

2001: Yes, it is a bit odd to own the newest PowerBook at Low End Mac. It doesn’t seem very low-end, does it? I could try to justify it: Apple has announced a 733 MHz Power Mac G4 and also has a 500 MHz PowerBook G4, after all.

My TiBook, Part 2: Migrating Everything

I got my PowerBook G4 on Wednesday afternoon, spent a couple hours getting it ready, and shared my initial impressions Wednesday evening. Then I got to work moving all my files from my aging SuperMac S900 (a 1996 Macintosh clone with many upgrades) to the new TiBook – it took hours.