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

OWC: Plug & Play Hardware RAID up to 8.0TB. High Performance, Data Redundant Solutions. FireWire 800, FireWire 400, USB2, or eSATA. Hot Swappable Bays, Data Rates over 200MB/s. Click here

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.

Vintage Mac Living

Using Apple's Lisa for Real Work

- 2007.04.02

Popularity:

Ever since I can remember, I have loved computers. For the last ten years I've loved the Mac OS, but now I seem to have found something better - the Lisa Office System (LOS).

I know that LOS is old and outdated with no upgrade path whatsoever, but something else has drawn me to it: Its functionality.

It doesn't crash, I don't have to remember to save my work, I can turn it off with all of my documents open, and I can continue working right where I left off when I turn it back on.

LOS isn't without it faults: It's slow (very slow at times), doesn't support color, can't really use any other software except for the 7/7 suite, and can't go online. (It can do some of those things under MacWorks, but MacWorks isn't LOS.)

What do I use it for, you ask? I use it for writing.

As I have said before, I find that old machines inspire me to write, and the Lisa has that effect on me more than any other machine. It feels great to say, "I have a working Lisa, and I use it for real work."

Some people simply can't understand why anyone would want to use an old computer. One person asked me: "Why use a Lisa (or any machine more than three years old) for writing or anything else? Sure, it's cool to have old stuff, but you can't use it - anything you make on an old machine looks nasty!"

Apple Lisa 2 I responded: "Why not use an old machine for writing? I dare you to look at one of my articles and tell me what kind of machine I wrote it on. Granted, you wouldn't want to use a Lisa to make a big presentation for work and you can't edit Photoshop files, but you can use plenty of modern applications on 8-year-old G3s and iMacs for stuff like that if you just give them a chance."

I can't believe how naive some people are. I mean, really, just because something is old doesn't mean it's useless.

I think it's a shame that LOS didn't take off like the Mac did. It was far more advanced than anything else in its time - and in some ways it's more advanced than anything we have now.

Because I like the Lisa so much, I plan to do most (if not all) of my writing on it from now on. I just feel safe knowing that I'm not going to forget to hit Save.

I like being able to turn it off and have everything come back up the way I had it, even if there's a power outage (try doing that on a newer desktop machine with sleep).

As for those of you who think I'm nuts, please don't try to sell me on new machines unless you can show me why Word 2007 is better than LisaWrite - and don't say Spell Check, LisaWrite has that.

Recent Vintage Mac Living articles

If a Mac Plus can run System 7.5.5, why can't an 800 MHz G4 run Leopard?, 10.19. Apple supported the Mac Plus for over 10 years after its introduction. Why should Leopard cut off support for Macs released 4-6 years ago?
60 Mac models left behind: The ridiculously high cost of Leopard, 10.17. Mac OS X 10.5 officially doesn't support any G3 Macs, most G4 Power Macs, most titanium PowerBooks, half the G4 iMacs, early eMacs, or the first 12" G4 iBook.
What a waste! Some schools would rather store old computers than put them to use, 09.12. Denver Public Schools is one example of a school district so ready to buy new computers that it has tens of thousands of old, usable computers sitting in storage.
Why I don't want an iPhone - and really want an iPod touch, 09.06. The iPhone offers a lot of capabilities, but at too high a cost for someone who doesn't need a mobile phone or doesn't want to change carriers. The iPod touch is nearly perfect.
More in the Vintage Mac Living index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: Power Mac 4400, Nov. 1996 - Apple does cheap to compete with clones - and nobody is impressed.
Group of the Day: Puma List is for anyone using Mac OS X 10.1.
November 7 in LEM history: 00: PowerBook Lite dreams - Our first Macs - 01: OS 9, OS X, or Linux? - 02: Xserve for the classroom - 03: Panther on slot-loading iMacs - High capacity Lombard/Pismo battery - 05: Clean keyboard residue from laptop screen with ROR - SeaMonkey - 06: Dan Bricklin, inventor of the spreadsheet - Turn any Mac into a gameshow buzzer - 07: The transforming PowerBook 1400 - PowerBook 540 on Compact Flash
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best Mac Pro Deals, 11.03. Used 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,300; 3.0 8-core. $2,299; refurb 2.66 4-core Nehalem, $2,149; 2.93, $2,549; 2.26 8-core, $2,799; 2.93, $4,999.
Best iPhone Deals, 11.03. New 8 GB iPhone 3G, $$99; refurb 16 GB 3GS, $149; new, $199; 32 GB, $299.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.03. Used 867 MHz SperDrive, $348; 1 GHz, $499; 1.33 Combo, $298; SD, $559; 1.5 Combo, $448; SuperDrive, $589.
Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; G4/366, $49; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.02. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733 MHz, $69; 933 MHz, $209; 1.25 GHz dual, $299.
Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.02. Used 2.0 GHz, $800; 2.2, $900; 2.4, $1,000; refurb 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,949; 3.06, $2,169; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
Best Mac mini Deals, 10.30. Used 1.33 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.42, $389; 1.5, $419; 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $350; Core 2, $439; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $770; Server, $990.
Best G4 iBook Deals, 10.30. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $225; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1 GHz, $349; 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz SuperDrive, $498.
Best Classic Mac OS Deals, 10.30. System 6.0.8 floppies, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5, $20; 7.5 CD, $4; 7.6 $13; 8.1, $11; 8.5, $20; 8.6, $90; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $30.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Vintage Mac Living articles copyright ©2005-07 by Ted Hodges. 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.