The Mac Is a Personal Computer, PCs Aren't
From John Muir:
Hi Dan,
A couple of corrections for your article: 1997 should
be 1977, and "four months" presumably "four years".
As for the case you make, I quite agree. Windows and DOS before it
have always been about office use first, and home use second. PCs were
machines for cubicle farms and information desks, ideally connected to
a corporate intranet but not the outside world. Many of the platform's
hideous security woes - which brought words like "malware", "worm", and
"Trojan" into the mainstream - originate in the PC platform's design as
a corporate computer running on a trusted network and supported by an
IT department. When you bought one for yourself, you were on your own.
And when you hooked it to the internet, you were pushing your luck!
There are some people out there who like to keep believing that Macs
and PCs are almost identical. For them, Apple's advertising is absurd
and the growing OS X user base is proof the world's gone mad. If
the industry's trend away from the dominant Microsoft model of the
1990s doesn't make sense to them, the problem is evidently in the
assumptions underlying their view. Key among which is that Macs are
just PCs, and iPhones are just phones.
John
John,
Thanks for the corrections. One of the drawbacks of
being Low End Mac's copy editor is that I have nobody to proofread my
articles. I appreciate it when you and others let me know of mistakes
like that - and they've been corrected.
Yes, the PC/Windows world is far less secure than the
Unix (including Linux and Mac OS X) world because it has its roots
in the one user/one computer world of personal computing. Unix is
rooted in the world of multiple users and accounts, so it has always
been far more secure by design.
As for other differences between Macs and PCs, it's
easy for many people to see them as "the same" because they can often
run the same programs and produce the same results. By that kind of
reasoning a Hummer and a Ferrari are "the same" because they can get
you from home to work and back again. You have to ignore an awful lot
to pretend there's no real difference between the way Macs (hardware,
software, and OS) work and the way Linux and Windows PCs work.
Dan
I Agree with Your Comments on Claris Home Page
From Philip Mayor:
Hi Dan,
I want to strongly agree with your comments about Home Page. In
fact, I found your article searching the web to see if maybe there was
a version of Home Page or something similar that would run under Mac
OS X. I still use mostly my PowerBook G4 for web designing because
it will run Classic, and therefore will run Home Page. It's amazing
what a great program Home Page is.
I thought I'd email you because your article was from several years
ago, so (you guessed it) I'm hoping maybe you might have heard some
news you could let me in on.
Just this one simple thing that Home Page can do that none of the
other programs seem to do for some reason: When you click on a link, it
will open up that page. Maybe I'm missing something, but none of the
other programs do that, and I have DreamWeaver and a bunch of
others.
I learned a lot from your article too as had no idea about the
changes in HTML no longer supported by Home Page. It's always seemed to
work just fine to me. I'm someone who really has little interest in
following the development of HTML into XHTML and whatever.
Philip Mayor
Philip,
Thanks for writing. I've written so many times about
Claris Home Page that I can't even be sure which article you're
referring to: Claris Home Page 3.0:
Still Irreplaceable? (2003.02.19), Nvu and SeaMonkey Can Supplement, but Not
Replace, Claris Home Page (2006.08.30), KompoZer 0.7.7: Getting Closer to a
Replacement for Claris Home Page (2007.08.22), and numerous
mentions in other articles as well as the Mailbag.
After a dozen years using it, working in Home Page has
become second nature. It is the only Classic app I use these days and
the only reason I'm not migrating to Leopard or an Intel-based Mac, as
tempting as both are. There's a simple elegance to the way Home Page
works, and I haven't found anything that comes close.
KompoZer is the
closest I've come. It's pretty stable, fairly easy to work with, and
supports things like Cascading Style Sheets so I can actually preview
content while I work and add styles to text and images. But it's slow
and unpolished. It works, but not as smoothly as Home Page, and it
crashes more frequently as you have more files open. It does work, and
I have great hopes for it, but version 0.7.10 is definitely beta.
Home Page may never have produced totally standards
compliant HTML code, but it always produced code that "just worked"
with every browser I could lay my hands on. I would love to find a
similar program with the same speed and polish, and I've had
DreamWeaver recommended as the best of the commercial apps, but I have
a hard time justifying spending money on new software and learning how
it works when Home Page works so well for me.
Of course, my workflow would benefit from a single app
that could replace TextSoap (for cleaning up text before I paste it
into Home Page), Home Page, KompoZer (mostly for applying styles), and
TextWrangler with the Tidy to XHTML plugin (for converting the Home
Page HTML to XHTML after KompoZer has added its own mods to the
code).
Home Page absolutely rocks as a WYSIWYG HTML editor
that also lets you quickly and easily edit the underlying HTML code. It
may be over a decade old, but for many of us, it's still the best tool
for writing, editing, and maybe even designing pages and managing
websites.
Dan
Important Tip for iMac G4 Upgraders
From Florian Dingler:
Hello,
here is an important hint to the 17" iMac G4. I think it'll be
useful for other user who plan to expand the RAM on their G4 iMacs. RAM
is cheap nowadays, we paid only 18 EUR (US$25) for 512 MB
PC2700/333.
This machine (iMac G4 17" FP 1,25 GHz) can be expanded to 2 GB
RAM. It has 2 slots:
- One user accessible slot is on the underside of the sphere: Just
open 4 screws, and you have access to a SO-DIMM DDR 200-pin slot.
- The other slot is inside the sphere, where the "factory installed"
RAM sits. This is easy to open too, just unscrew the 4 T15-TORX screws
on the underside and lift of the bottom plate of the computer.
But now its gets difficult!
Inside you find a memory module in a 184-pin DIMM slot(!) - not
SO-DIMM but normal size (we bought two SO-DIMMs, *rats!*).
To put the baseplate back on, you absolutely have to attach
some 'thermal paste' (which transmits heat) to two places so the heat
of the CPU can get away. If you forget to do this, you can easily
fry your CPU and kill your iMac. We found this out after
searching the Net for advice on opening the iMac to get to the second
slot. We should've read the whole article, not only the first
paragraph.
Nevertheless, the G4 iMac is running again, it has 1 GB now
instead of 512 MB, and my girlfriend is happy again and able to go
drawing her sheep.
Best regards
Florian
Florian,
Thanks for writing. I have no real experience with the
G4 iMacs (or anything later, except for the MacBook Pro that my wife
uses), so I'm not at all familiar with how they're put together. Apple
has an online
tutorial, but it only covers the "user accessible" slot.
Accelerate Your Mac has a good article on iMac G4
upgrades: iMac
G4 - Exchanging Optical Drive, Hard Disk, and RAM. It looks like
this covers every version of G4 iMac, and the do point out the
importance of removing the old thermal paste and replacing it with
new.
Dan
G4s and PC3200 184-pin DDR 512 MB DIMMs
From Jesse Carroll:
I have been promised a "Mac G4" as I may have mentioned.
The "go between" is a nice PC person . . . he has family
working in Cupertino, but he has no idea just what model G4 it is
. . . just that it's been heavily upgraded and maxed out
. . . something I take with a grain of salt . . .
it really could by almost any Mac made since about 2000 . . .
even a B&W G3 for
all I really know....
Jim did say it was only a "few" years old . . . maddening,
these PC people, no??
Besides being my personal therapist, he's become a truly good
friend, we have similar interests in computers, sports cars, the
sciences and politics. He once was our couples counselor
. . . so he knows just about everything about me....
But I digress.
I take it that only the last two models of G4 will take the 18-pin
DDR RAM.
They came to me in a upgrade deal, done by a third party!! People
gave them to me for my efforts at the Mac recycling program
. . . I only was a matchmaker in this deal . . .
funny how things go . . . I think they came from a G5
iMac....
And I understand only the next to last model G4, the one with the
Mirrored Door, will take this RAM and work with OS 9.2.2
. . . correct? That last is important to me....
I have two 512 MB PC3200 DIMMs, in case it turns out to be one of
those last two models . . . and is not as maxed out as he
says....
A crap shoot....
I also have some FW 400, USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 devices, PCI
cards . . . USB 2.0 cards and devices that I bought by
mistake or given to me unknowingly....
I do use a Seagate 100 GB USB 2.0 2.5" portable hard drive
that Kathy found in a trash can in front of our Newberry Library,
actually in Chicago's "Bughouse Square" . . . summer, 2005
. . . still in it's box and shrink wrap, with cards and cable
. . . I should put it in a FW 400/USB enclosure someday so it
can be bootable . . . I never sent the cards in, as it's
bound to be "hot" . . . very slow with USB 1.1
. . . but it works as storage....
I just want something better than my iMac 600 SE to play DVDs
with. Something that will handle a 19" monitor and with much better,
external sound . . . no room for either anywhere near the
iMac....
I do search local dumpsters on "moving days" . . . it's
amazing what people throw out....
Cheers
Jesse
Jesse,
Yes, the MDD Power Macs take the same RAM. Some are
designed for PC2100 RAM, faster ones for PC2700 RAM, but your faster
PC3200 should oughta work. And if you get an MDD model that doesn't
have FireWire 800, you will be able to boot into the last version of
Mac OS 9.2.2 (there are two versions - the earlier one will not boot
it).
If you end up with a 1.25 GHz or 1.42 GHz eMac, it
takes the same RAM as well, as do last generation G4 iMacs.
Yes, it is amazing what some people will throw
out.
Dan
Cloning the Classic Mac OS to a New Hard Drive
From Sean Sheridan:
Dear Low End Mac,
I have two older systems that I absolutely refuse to let die. One is
a Performa 631CD running 7.5,
and the other is a WallStreet PowerBook running
8.1. Both of the hard disks are failing, and I need to get the data off
so I can replace the drives and get them back to original working
condition. The problem is, I don't know what I would use to make an
image or clone of a hard disk running those OSes, and I'm not really
sure how I would get that image off of the machines and then back on
again. You seem to really know your stuff and it doesn't look like it's
limited to just what's out right now so I was hoping you might be able
to help. If you have any suggestions, I'd really be very grateful.
With high hopes,
Sean Sheridan
Sean,
It's probably not going to be cheap. The replacement
drives will be relatively inexpensive, but the external drive you back
up to probably won't be.
These classic Macs can boot from an internal IDE hard
drive, a floppy, CD-ROM, or an external SCSI hard drive. Unless you
have access to a newer Mac that supports two or more internal IDE hard
drives (which would make it easy to dupe your drive), you're going to
have to use an external SCSI hard drive - and for the WallStreet
PowerBook, you're going to need a SCSI adapter for its oddball SCSI
port. I suggest finding a used one with higher capacity than your
Peforma and WallStreet have, as new SCSI drives are not cheap.
The Classic Mac OS makes copying a bootable
installation easy. You don't need to image a drive. All you need to do
is copy everything to your new Mac-formatted hard drive, "bless" the
System folder (if necessary), and you have a bootable hard drive. If
you're copying your drive while booted from it, it should automatically
be blessed on the new drive. If you're copying while booted from a
floppy or CD, the copied System Folder won't be blessed.
To bless a System, open the System Folder, locate the
System file, double-click it, close it, and you're done.
Dan
Used iBook Price Doesn't Match
From Chi:
Thanks so much for what you do - its so helpful to someone that
wants to switch to Mac but knows very little.
I was looking at the G3 iBook page & saw the BetaMacs price of
$299 for a 900/combo - its the last one on their list. When I clicked
on it I could not find it - I think it may be a mistake.
Also - when I read about the failure problems w/the G3 I wonder now
If maybe I should not get one of these - I see some of these on
Craigslist for around $300 & up but now I am thinking the G4 would
be better - unfortunately I think they are too expensive right now for
me. I want one to learn Macs & don't have the room for a desktop
& anyway where I live - Hurricane threats mean everything - grab
& go makes sense. For a novice computer user w/a PC switching to a
Mac - yes - it sounds crazy & dumb - its confusing to know what
makes sense to start with if you can't spend a lot. I guess its about
OS & how similar the older ones are to the newer. For example - if
I learn Tiger or an older - one will it be anything like a newer one
when you upgrade? Most people say - why bother - everyone knows PCs - I
don't mess with Macs.
Anyway the $299 price must be a mistake.
Thanks
Chi
Chi,
We make sure we include the date when our price
trackers are updated, as it may be two or three weeks between updates,
and we have a note that prices may be subject to change and are limited
to inventory that was in stock when we last updated prices.
BetaMacs doesn't list a 14" 900 MHz iBook G3 now, but it did when
we did the previous update to our Best iBook G3 Deals. It wasn't a
mistake, but when you're dealing with used equipment, stock may be
depleted quickly - especially on a deal like that.
The dual-USB iBooks had a spotty repair record, but at
this point most of the ones on the market have either had the fix or
never had the problem. For the money, they're a decent way to get
started with the Mac OS, but the G4 iBooks are significantly more
powerful and better suited to Mac OS X.
Mac OS X is pretty consistent from version to version.
If you learn how to use version 10.2 or 10.3, you'll be able to apply
that to 10.4 and 10.5.
Dan
How about a Windows App Store?
From Matthew Reed:
I enjoyed your Low End Mac article "The Mac App Store". Ever since
I heard about the iPhone App Store, I have wondered if a Mac App Store
is the next logical step. It makes sense to me for many reasons,
although I suspect that Apple might have to reduce their cut slightly
to compete with shareware payment services.
Here's another idea: if a Mac App Store became successful, then how
about a Windows App Store? Many people would welcome it, and the idea
is not as preposterous as it might sound. It would be amusing if Apple
made a dent in the Windows software market. That is looking much too
far into the future, but I think it could happen under the right
circumstances.
Matthew Reed
Matthew,
The same thought crossed my mind, but I can't imagine
Apple ever doing a Windows App Store, since the only Windows Apps it
makes are freeare - iTunes and Safari. If that were to change, I could
definitely see a Windows store happening.
Dan
Dan Knight has been publishing Low
End Mac since April 1997. Mailbag columns come from email responses to his Mac Musings, Mac Daniel, Online Tech Journal, and other columns on the site.
