Low End Mac Reader Specials

TypeStyler For Mac OS X is Now Shipping! Download The Free Fully Functional 60 Day Tryout at www.typestyler.com

Don't install Parallels to play poker online! Poker Mac will show you how to download and install a native Mac poker application such as Full Tilt Poker Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, apple laptops, apple macs, and LCD Monitors side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for new mobile phones, sat nav systems, or MP3 players. The Ciao online shopping community makes searching products easy for you.

Apple Archive

Tiger: Not Yet for Me, But Bound to Draw Attention of Windows Users

, 2005.05.06

Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) was released last Friday. Many Mac users had pre-ordered it, and places like Amazon.com and Club Mac apparently had shipped it a little bit ahead of schedule. Oops.

Anyhow, it's officially out now, and people starting to find bugs. They're finding that iChat 3.0 is a bit slow on the G4 processor, for example, when videoconferencing. They're also finding some problems with dashboard widgets, and Cisco said that its VPN software is incompatible with Tiger.

Will I upgrade? At some point - but I'd like to wait a little bit to see what some of the bugs are.

OS X 10.3.0 had many problems on my blue G3, but after a few updates it started working much better. I suspect this will be the same with 10.4 on certain computers, and I'd like to at least wait for the 10.4.1 update.

The other thing holding me back is the fact that Tiger ships on DVD media. Unfortunately, my blue G3 was not one that came with a DVD-ROM drive - the built-in CD drive is on its way out anyway. I'm probably going to be looking at a newer machine at the end of the summer, but for now I think the G3 will stay at 10.3.

For my mom, her 500 MHz iMac came with a CD-RW drive and not a DVD, meaning that she can't use the DVD media to install Tiger either. Her computer is newer and more capable than mine, so she will probably upgrade to 10.4 even though it will cost an additional $10 to get the install discs on CD.

My sister probably won't bother upgrading her iMac, which is sitting on the floor in my room at the moment. She hasn't used it much since she got her Dell laptop, and even though that has its share of spyware and other problems, the portability seems to be something that she likes.

Her iMac, while it has a handle on top, can't really help too much when it comes to lying in bed and chatting with friends on AOL or MSN.

I'm typing this on my Windows PC at the moment, which is sitting on my desk, half-apart because I've been trying to install a new CD-RW drive that Windows refuses to recognize. It's running Windows XP, which is a four-year old operating system that still has far too many bugs despite various updates from Microsoft.

What Apple's banking on is that people will become far too sick of Windows XP not behaving as it should, and the spyware and viruses that are written for it, and then noticing that the Mac OS has just been updated. In fact, OS X has been updated several since the release of Windows XP, and a Mac salesperson will probably point that out.

While this does get expensive for the consumer, if they upgrade to the latest version they get additional security benefits. If the latest version happens to come out every year or two instead of every four years, they're running a much more secure system.

The marketing for Tiger is just another step in Apple's 'Switch' campaign. The idea of "the features of Longhorn today, if only you buy a Macintosh" - along with the history of timely OS X upgrades - as well as prompt security updates makes people who've recently decided to buy a Mac be more likely to recommend one to friends.

Unfortunately for Apple, those who bought a Mac around the time of the transition to OS X generally seemed to have had trouble with it. Much software wasn't available, switching between OS X and OS 9 made life complicated, and peripherals that worked in 9 often didn't work in X (and vice-versa).

Now that the transition is complete, Apple is trying to make up for lost time. Reviews of Tiger have been mostly positive so far despite a few bugs that have showed up. The Mac mini was generally received warmly, and we know the iPod is a huge success.

It would seem that Apple's strategy is working out fairly well so far.

Recent Apple Archive articles

iPods, notebooks, and other modern electronics more readily replaced than repaired, 12.07. Whether it's an intermittent failure or a broken display cable, more often than not it's cheaper to replace a broken electronics device than repair it.
Options for replacing your older iPod, 11.19. Whether you've run out of space on your old iPod or want features it doesn't have, here are your options in new and used iPods.
Could the $200 'green' PC with gOS Linux become a threat to Apple?, 11.14. The low cost, low power Everex desktop comes with a customized version of Ubuntu Linux, has a Mac-like Dock, and sells for $400 less than the Mac mini.
Leopard different, a bit buggy, but worth the upgrade, 11.02. Leopard on a Power Mac G4 and a MacBook Pro: It runs well on both computers, but each has some odd bugs, and some of the changes are a step backwards.
More in the Apple Archive index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Mac mini Core Solo, Feb. 2006 - The only Mac to use a Core Solo CPU, this model ran at 1.5 GHz, has integrated graphics, and includes a Combo drive
Group of the Day: SuperMacs is for those using Umax SuperMac clones.
November 24 in LEM history: 98: Microsoft's heavy hand - 00: Looking at the iMac - 04: The best Mac for the holidays - Picking the right replacement for a dead mouse - Better battery for 15" AlBook
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best G4 iMac Deals, 11.24. Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $150; 800 MHz Combo, $229; 1 GHz, $289; 17" 1.25 GHz, $200; 20" 1.25 GHz, $509.
Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.24. Used from $899; refurb from $1,099; new 1.6 GHz/120 HD, $1,150 after rebate; 1.8/64 SSD, $1,150 a/r; 1.86/128 SSD, $1,350 a/r; 2.13/128 SSD, $1,694 a/r.
Best PowerBook G3 Deals, 11.24. Used 233 MHz WallStreet, $75; 266 MHz, $160; 400 MHz Lombard, $199; 400 MHz Pismo, $289; 500 MHz, $350.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.23. Used 867 MHz SuperDrive, $348; 1 GHz Combo, $379; SD, $519; 1.33 GHz, $529; 1.5 GHz Combo, $549; SuperDrive, $609.
Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.23. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 4-core. $1,919; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.93 8-core, $4,999; new 2.26 8-core, $2,290.
Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 11.23. Used 802.11g AirPort Extreme, $49; 500 GB Time Capsule, $150; new, $190; 1 TB dual-band, $280; 2 TB, $469; 802.11n AirPort Extreme, $170.
Best eMac Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz Combo, $100; SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 GHz Combo, $119; SD, $319; 1.42 GHz Combo, $289; SD, $498.
Best Mac OS X 10.6 and Mac Box Set Deals, 11.18. "Snow Leopard", single user, $25; 5 users, $45; Mac Box Set, single user, $139; 5 users, $180; Server, $414. Shipping included.
Best Xserve Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $649; 2.3 dual G5, $795; 3.0 4-core Xeon, $1,899; refurb 2.26 4-core, $2,499; new, $2,888; refurb 8-core, $2,999; new, $3,449; more.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Apple Archive articles copyright ©2000-07 by Adam Robert Guha. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2009 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, iPhone, PowerBook, MacBook, MagSafe, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.