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Mac Merit Badge Archive

Every now and then we select an outstanding Mac related web site - the best of the best of the best. It's always one very useful to the Macintosh community. A track record of excellence is key for consideration. Content is king, but appearance and download speed also count.

These are previous recipients of our award.

  1. 12/28/97 Ric Ford's MacInTouch, "the original Mac news and information site since 1994." Ric Ford, who writes the MacInTouch column for MacWeek, deals in facts. His site is the first place to look for new developments in the Mac OS Planet.
  2. 1/4/98 Ben Kimball's starmax.net, the unofficial Motorola StarMax information site. Ben has tracked many issues with the Motorola StarMax and other systems using the Motorola motherboard.
  3. 1/11/98 Ted Landau's MacFixIt. The online adjunct to Landau's Sad Macs, MacFixIt is the first place to go when looking for bugs, incompatibilities, patches, updates, and workarounds.
  4. 3/10/98 Growing from a PowerBooks classified site, PowerBook Central is an up-and-comer. With lots of PowerBook information, a price guide, and free classified ads, it's one of the best PowerBook resources.
  5. 1/21/98 David Engstrom's Mac Speed Zone. Not only a source for benchmarks on complete systems, Mac Speed Zone digs into the nitty gritty of Speed Doubler, cache size, and how much difference a video card can make.
  6. 1/29/98 The Complete Conflict Compendium has been providing information on software compatibility issues since 1995.
  7. 2/5/98 MTN MacHound is the best arranged Mac news site on the web.
  8. 2/12/98 MacKiDo. It's a temple. It's a dojo. It's a Mac advocacy site. It's about living in this world. David K. Every and his associates, including Fred Giuffrida and his AppleBits, serve up a fascinating mix of common sense, pro-Mac, technical, news, and historical pieces.
  9. 2/20/98 With the tagline, "We don't do Windows," you've gotta love Macs Only! by Bill Fox. Over the past month or so this has become one of my favorite news and advocacy sites on the internet.
  10. 2/27/98 Peter Lewis of Stairways Shareware makes some of the best Macintosh software, both freeware and very reasonably priced shareware. Anarchie is a leading FTP client. NetPresenz handles HTML, Gopher, and FTP services on a Mac. Internet Config, Mac TCP Watcher, and Rumor Mill are just a few of their offerings. (The usual reminder: Please pay your shareware fees.)
  11. 3/20/98 They're everywhere, the ubiquitous banners from the Mac Web Network. The first banner exchange specifically for Mac-related sites, MWN (aka macinsearch.com) has evolved to cover news and more. With hundreds of active sites, it deserves a Mac Merit Badge.
  12. 3/30/98 Can't keep up with software updates? Visit The Mac Orchard regularly; it's updated daily.
  13. 4/6/98 Ben Garland's Mac Opinion combines its own editorial content, links to some of the best editorials on the net, and a fast-loading design that deserves an award. Updated daily.
  14. 4/14/98 Looking to buy? Then you have to visit dealmac, the preeminent site for finding best prices on hardware, software, media, and more.
  15. 4/25/98 Until MacPromote came along, there was only one major Mac banner exchange. Offering a 01.1 display ratio and up to three banners per site, it grew to nearly 100 members in four months. A recent study on Mac Webmasters rates it second only to Mac Web Network (a previous Mac Merit Badge recipient) for Mac-related sites.
  16. 5/2/98 Sometimes you have to use Windows. At least we have MacWindows to help Mac users work with DOS cards, software emulators, and operating systems (DOS, Windows, OS/2, etc.) designed for "the rest of them."
  17. 5/16/98 Predating the World Wide Web, TidBITS has been publishing electronically since April 16, 1990. Adam and Tonya Engst have gathered several Mac experts for their weekly newsletter which is must reading.
  18. 6/9/98 I don't know how I overlooked Webintosh this long. It's a great news site that deserves a Mac Merit Badge. Usually updated several times per day beginning around 10 a.m. Eastern time.
  19. 6/27/98 Apple Wizards isn't like most ezines. Sure, there's a monthly issue, but there are also regular Apple Seedlings articles on a huge variety of topics.
  20. 7/17/98 As webmaster of Low End Mac, I'll always have a soft spot for sites supporting vintage Macs. The Internet Classic Mac Users Home Page is an excellent site: lots of software available to download, helpful information and links for older Macs, and a clean, friendly, fast design.
  21. 7/28/98 Over the past months, MacCentral has distinguished itself among Mac news sites by offering more analysis, commentary, and just plain news than anyone besides the headlines-only sites. And their forward migration reports are always encouraging.
  22. 9/9/98 For a nice selection of headline links and some good editorials, visit Apple's Orchard regularly.
  23. 9/18/98 It's not just about benchmarks. Accelerate Your Mac! is about getting the most performance out of your Mac. (The focus is mostly on newer models and G3 upgrades.)
  24. 10/8/98 Some software you just can't survive without. The StuffIt family from Aladdin Systems is a case in point. For all the compression and decompression we do, Aladdin earns a Mac Merit Badge.
  25. 10/16/98 The Oceania Macintosh Archive, "Asia's #1 Macintosh Resource," is not only an excellent site, but a daily reminder that the Mac is part of a global community.
  26. 10/24/98 Remember the Power Mac Resource Page? Webmaster Steve Tannehill passed it along to others he could concentrate on The DVD Resource Page, a leading site in its field. But why a Mac Merit Badge? Because Steve judges Mac-friendliness when reviewing DVDs with enhanced content. (Case in point: Lost In Space is Windows only.)
  27. 11/14/98 Lots of sites gather headlines: Mac Surfer, MTN MacHound, and a lot more. MyAppleMenu does it very nicely indeed. Scroll beneath the top stories to see lots of worthwhile links. Nicest of all: if an article fits two or more categories, it's listed in each one.
  28. 12/30/98 There are lots of Mac sites with headline links, but MacMadness goes a step beyond and tells you a bit about the article before you jump - plus select software updates. Worth a visit every day.
  29. 1/8/99 Nobody does headline news better than Mac Surfer's Headline News. Nobody. And a lot of people have tried. Making a good thing even better, a while back Mac Surfer started grouping headlines topically. A required daily stop for the Macintosh web surfer.
  30. 3/5/99 There are a lot of sites with Mac classified ads, but Mac Trading Post offers something I'd been thinking of doing on Low End Mac: they have realistic price guides for 68K Macs, Power Macs, and PowerBooks. If you're looking to buy or sell, these pages will help you set a reasonable price.
  31. 5/1/99 If you're really into the Mac, you've got to love the name of this site: Mac Geeks. Updated most weekdays, Mac Geeks combines news shorts with links to other interesting content on the web. My day wouldn't be complete without a visit.
Dan Knight , publisher, Low End Mac
 
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