Welcome to Back & Forth

Low End Mac is pleased to have Jonathan Ploudre as a regular columnist.

The first thing that Jonathan Ploudre did when he got his own Mac IIsi in 1991 was to make a custom icon for the computer and give it a name. Ever since then he has been trying to make Macs as fast and friendly as possible. Comments, opinions, and ideas about this or other Back & Forth columns are gladly accepted.

Articles by Jonathan Ploudre

• Serving on Mac OS X, Jonathan Ploudre, Back & Forth, 2002.09.17. The benefits of serving Web pages on OS X and first steps in setting up your Mac.
• The value of Voodoo video, 2001.12.04. Why an inexpensive Voodoo3 video card can be a real boon for low-end PCI Power Macs and clones.
• The Digital Lifestyle: Pictures, 2001.11.28. The advantages and disadvantages of dealing with digital cameras and digital pictures.
• The Digital Lifestyle: Text, 2001.11.20. The advantages and disadvantages of dealing with digital text.
• Abandoning the low end, 2001.11.13. Thoughts on retiring a faithful Quadra and going 100% Power Mac.
• Linux: The tragic flaw?, 2001.09.11. Why open source can be both a blessing and a curse.
• Low end Linux?, 2001.09.04. Why Mac OS X isn't a low-end solution, but Linux can be.
• The paperless office, 2001.08.22. Part of the reason the paperless office failed - and why it might succeed today.
• Point one shootout, 2001.08.14. With OS X 10.1 due in September, a look back at Apple's other 'point one' releases.
• Palm power, 2001.08.07. The power of the Palm as a pervasive database that fits in your pocket.
• A revolutionary database, 2001.07.31. How Quicken can help you make better financial decisions.
• Revolutions and participation, 2001.07.24. The only real revolutions are ones we participate in.
• The fastest Mac, 2001.07.17. Computers may achieve 100 GHz in coming years, but we've had some very fast Macs along the way, too.
• Silent computing, 2001.07.10. Not just quiet computing - how to achieve silent computing.
• Celebrating 80 MB hard drives, 2001.05.28. "How much space is 80 MB? Well, the answer depends on your perspective."
• Click different with FinderPop, Mac Wares, 2001.05.22. FinderPop provides powerful control over contextual menus.
• Software subscriptions and value, 2001.05.21. A look at Microsoft, software licensing, Macs, and value.
• The underrated Power Mac 5400, 2001.05.14. "Probably the biggest attraction of a 5400/120 is the price. They regularly go for under $100 on eBay."
• NeXT: Apple's right choice, 2001.05.07. Why choosing NeXT instead of Be was the right move for Apple.
• Using BeOS on a Power Mac, 2001.04.30. BeOS is inexpensive and easy to install. Why you might want to try it.
• User Interface: Mac vs. BeOS, 2001.04.23. Be had the opportunity to make a better interface than Apple.
• BeOS and BFS, 2001.04.20. "BeOS does things a bit differently than the Mac OS or some other OSes."
• BeOS or NeXT: Did Apple make the wrong choice?, 2001.04.16. Did Be really have the better operating system for the PowerPC?
• Home network throughput, 2001.04.09. Yes, a Quadra really can make an excellent server on your home network. Here's how.
• PowerBook value, 2001.04.02. A PowerBook may be perfect for you, or there may be better values.
• What's right with PowerBooks, 2001.03.26. PowerBooks pioneered and perfected sleep, SCSI/FireWire disk mode, and AirPort.
• What's wrong with PowerBooks, 2001.03.19. PowerBooks overpromise on portability and real world desktop replacement.
• Comparing high-end PowerBooks, 2001.03.12. The best used value is often the high-end model, not the less costly one.
• Zero click Web surfing, 2001.03.05. How many clicks or keystrokes did it take you to get to this page?
• Mac Network Appliance: Sound and Pictures, 2001.02.26. How to set up an older Mac to serve MP3 files over your computer network.
• Mac network appliance: Making your own MP3 Server, 2001.02.19. How to set up an older Mac to serve MP3 files over your computer network.
• Optimizing Mac software, 7/20/00. Setting the right preferences can make your software work more efficiently.
• Picking fast software, 7/13/00. All software is not created equal: some programs let you work more efficiently.
• Three user accelerators, 7/6/00. Three tips to improve the Macintosh experience.
• Web browsing with Espy, 6/29/00. How to use Apple's Espy font as your default typeface.
• Bottlenecks: What is your Mac's slowest component?, 6/22/00. The slowest part of your computer system could be - you.
• Speed reconsidered, 6/15/00. Perceived speed is what counts. Sometimes an old Mac can be faster than a new one.
• Using the Espy font, 6/9/00. "Choosing a favorite font is sort of like choosing a favorite flavor of ice cream...."
• Macintosh System Fonts, 6/1/00. A look at the fonts Apple has included with the OS over the years.
• A history of font technologies, My Turn, 5/25/00. All about bit-mapped, Postscript, TrueType fonts, and anti-aliasing.

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