Low End Mac Reader Specials
Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core 8GB kit $232 / 4GB kit $116 / 2GB kit $72. New Macbook 2GB DDR3-$65. HARD DRIVES available -- Free shipping / LIfetime warranty.
Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.
Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.
Miscellaneous Ramblings
Is Ubuntu Linux a Sensible Alternative for Mac Users?
A 'Best of Miscellaneous Ramblings' Column
Charles Moore - 2006.09.18 - Tip Jar
- Tip Jar
A friend of mine phoned to ask if I thought he should install Ubuntu Linux on his Macs - a 1.33 GHz G4 iBook currently running OS X 10.4 "Tiger" and a 1.25 GHz Power Mac G4 tower with OS X 10.3 "Panther" installed.
My friend had read a feature in the local newspaper extolling the virtues of Ubuntu Linux and thought it sounded interesting.
Ubuntu is a other project dedicated to making Linux user-friendly enough to be used as a mainstream desktop OS, and it's arguably the most successful iteration toward that objective to date. Ubuntu supports Intel/AMD PC hardware as well as Power PC Macs.
Does Ubuntu Linux make any sense for Macintosh users?
In my friend's case, I would say no, and I did.
He's an experienced, but not especially tech-savvy, non-power user, and the geek aspect of Linux would be of no interest or service to him. The machines he has are powerful and up-to-date enough to run OS X very comfortably. He has a suite of Mac software, and I can perceive no advantage and many potential pitfalls in his switching to Linux.
On the other hand, for users of older Mac hardware, particularly machines not supported by OS X, Linux is a way to give them a new lease on life with a modern, secure, and robust operating system that requires less power and processor overhead on their less-than-cutting-edge equipment.
Older Mac software can be accommodated using the Mac on Linux emulator - a sort of "Classic Mode" for Linux on PowerPC Macs.
Linux also has the advantage of being free.
The main advantage, as I see it, of using a Macintosh is that it runs the Mac OS, which is unmatched and unchallenged in terms of user-friendliness. Like Linux, OS X gives you the stability and power of Unix (albeit from different branches of the Unix family tree), but combined with the best graphic user interface yet devised for personal computers, ease of software installation, and, with rare exceptions, true plug and play - "it just works" - with peripherals and networking support.
...I kept asking myself, "Why would I want to put up with the aggravations and hassles of using Linux on a computer that supports the Mac OS?"
I've installed a couple of Linux distros - SuSE and Yellow Dog - on Macs in the past, partly as an exercise in curiosity. It was an interesting trip, but I kept asking myself, "Why would I want to put up with the aggravations and hassles of using Linux on a computer that supports the Mac OS?"
I couldn't come up with anything convincing.
Consequently, if I had a non-Apple PC, Ubuntu Linux would probably be my first choice of operating systems, but with a Mac, you already have the best operating system in world.
However, if you're interested in Ubuntu, it's a complete Linux-based operating system, freely available with both community and professional support being developed by a large community.
Gnome is the default desktop user interface for Ubuntu. It can also be installed with the ubuntu-desktop package, while KDE is the default desktop for the Kubuntu variant.
The Ubuntu community is built on the ideas enshrined in the Ubuntu Philosophy: Software should be available free of charge, software tools should be usable by people in their local language and despite any disabilities, and people should have the freedom to customize and alter their software in whatever way they see fit.
The current Ubuntu release supports PC (Intel x86), 64-bit PC (AMD64), UltraSPARC T1 (Sun Fire T1000 and T2000), and PowerPC (iBook and PowerBook, G4 and G5) architectures.
Ubuntu includes more than 16,000 pieces of software, but the core desktop installation fits on a single CD. Ubuntu covers every standard desktop application from word processing and spreadsheet applications to web server software and programming tools.
A standard Ubuntu install contains a selection of applications, including OpenOffice 2.0 for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations, the GIMP for image editing and the Firefox web browser more. You can Play, rip and mix your CDs with the Rhythmbox Media Player or play your videos in Totem.
You can download the Ubuntu DesktopCD and test Ubuntu without changing anything on your computer. If you want to keep Ubuntu permanently, there is an easy installer right on the DesktopCD.
You may request CDs at https://shipit.ubuntu.com
Maybe you'll like it; maybe not.
Switching from Mac to Linux?
Earlier this year, longtime Mac programmers Tim Bray and Mark Pilgrim stirred the waters of the Mac community by announcing that they were switching from Mac OS X to Ubuntu. However, Bray recently expressed some sober second thought in a blog posting, For Now I'm a Macboy Again, in which he observes:
"On balance, the Mac experience is better. But Ubuntu is not that far behind, and it's catching up. I'm thinking about the endgame."
He goes on to list a variety of areas where the Mac OS is
superior. 
Further Reading
- Why run Linux on a low-end Mac?, Larry Stotler, Linux on the Low End, 2006.07.19. Linux supports older video cards and requires less RAM than Mac OS X, and it lets you run modern browsers not available under OS 9.
- Preparing your PCI Power Mac for Linux, Larry Stotler, Linux on the Low End, 07.26. How powerful a CPU do you need? How much memory? Do you need a faster drive controller? Are some video cards better than others?
- The ins and outs of booting Linux on the Mac, Larry Stotler, Linux on the Low End, 07.31. "Old World" Macs can't boot directly into Linux. They need to boot the Classic Mac OS first, then pass control over to Linux.
- Preparing your Mac's hard drive for Linux, Larry Stotler, Linux on the Low End, 08.09. Before you install Linux, you have to partition your hard drive. A look at three different hard drive strategies for Mac Linux.
- Installing Linux on a PCI Power Mac, Part 1, Larry Stotler, Linux on the Low End, 09.05. Preparing your PCI Power Mac (or clone) for Linux and getting openSUSE Linux installed.
Charles Moore has been a freelance journalist since 1987 and began writing for Mac websites in May 1998. His The Road Warrior column is a regular feature on MacOpinion, and he is a news editor and columnist at Applelinks.com.
Recent Miscellaneous Ramblings
- Blackouts and Web Access, Death of a Kanga, the Future of PowerPC Macs, and More, 01.07. Also another email client suggestion and whether a G3 iMac can handle a 7200 rpm hard drive without overheating.
- Adventures with an Overheating PowerBook, the 10.5.6 Update, and Other Things, 01.06. After three years of reliable service, the PowerBook began to run so hot that the fan was almost always on. What was causing the problem, and what would fix it?
- Pixelmator 1.3.2 Gains Some Cool Enhancements, 12.22. "Pixelmator works so well now that I've been finding myself using it more and more instead of Photoshop Elements 6."
- Love My MacBook Pro, Excellent Upgrade Advice, Unexpected Opera 10 Alpha Behavior, and More, 12.18. Also Firefox 2 and 3 as processor hogs, almost no chance of Snow Leopard for PowerPC Macs, and Eudora withrawal woes.
- More in the Miscellaneous Ramblings index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 15" 'TiBook' PowerBook G4, Jan. 2001 - A new 1" thin PowerBook design with a titanium case, 15" widescreen display.
- Group of the Day: PowerList for those using Power Computing Mac clones.
- January 9 in LEM history: 01: Macworld keynote - 02: The new iMac - Redefining Apple's market - 03: Safari shows off the Apple difference - Impressions of Safari beta - 04: The colored iPod mini - 06: Installing 'Tiger' on unsupported Macs - Time to replace 5-year-old PowerBook - 07: iPhone and Apple TV - Axiotron Modbook - Mac vs. PC price comparisons are never fair - Backup to the rescue - 08: 2008 Mac Pro value equation
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- MacBook Keyboard Among Best Ever, Glass Trackpad Less than Intuitive, TiBook Desktop Mod, and More, The 'Book Review, 01.09. Also $179 to change battery in 17" MacBook Pro, argument for an Apple netbook, MacBook Air SuperDrive hacked for any Mac, bargain 'Books from $170 to $2,299, and more.
- BYO $240 Hackintosh, HyperCard Resurrection, USB 3.0 10x as Fast, SlimBlade Trackball, and More, Mac News Review, 01.09. Also the brilliance of the Macworld keynote, businesses embracing Macs, Picasa for Mac available, Toast Titanium 10 ships, and more.
- iPhone Reaches Vermont, 15 iPhone Tips, Apple's iGlove, First Editable Office App for iPhone, and More, iNews Review, 01.09. Also WebEx collaboration on the iPhone 3G, hands-free visor kit from Kensington, portable iPod and iPhone power, new cases from Speck, and more.
- Hooked on Classic Macs, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 01.09. Tommy Thomas is back with a renewed focus on Macs that can run the 'classic' Mac OS.
- Software Should Come with a Fresh Date, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 01.09. Sooner or later, some hardware or OS update will probably break a program you own. Software vendors should be up front about how long they'll support it.
- Thanks for the IBM PC, Dad, L. Victor Marks, My First Mac, 01.09. Dad, thanks for bringing home that first IBM PC way back in 1981.
- What a Legacy: The Origin of the IBM PC, Tom Hormby, Orchard, 01.09. IBM introduced its PC on August 12, 1981, shaking up the entire personal computer industry. Today even Apple makes its computers IBM compatible.
- Our Debt to the IBM PC, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 01.09. A Mac user looks at the legacy of the IBM PC.
- Heat Management for 'Books and the Last Mac to Run OS 9.1, Phil Herlihy, The Usefulness Equation, 01.08. Tips on keeping a first-gen MacBook Air from throttling back with CoolBook, using G4FanControl with a G4 PowerBook, and the fastest Mac that can boot Mac OS 9.1.
- Surprise, Average Broadband Throughput Is Lower than Maximum Throughput, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 01.08. If a service is advertised as 8 Mbps maximum, it shouldn't surprise anyone that the average speed is below that number.
- A History of Apple's Lisa, 1979-1986, Tom Hormby, Orchard, 01.08. Originally envisioned as a business computer to replace the Apple II, the Lisa brought the mouse and GUI to the computer market - only to be felled by the less costly Macintosh.
- Lisa's DNA Is All Over Modern Computing, Ray Arachelian, Apple Seeds, 01.08. Those who label Apple's Lisa a failure are ignoring the computer's legacy that shows up in every personal computer sold today.
- The Innovative Lisa, Dan Knight, Online Tech Journal, 01.08. Apple's Lisa and how it paved the way for the Macintosh.
- The Lisa Legacy, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 01.08. We should always remember how Apple's innovation paved the way for all future computers.
- Waterfield First with SleeveCase for New 17" Unibody MacBook Pro, Charles W. Moore, 'Book Value, 01.08. Waterfield has a reputation for top quality bags at appropriate prices, and it's already designed a sleeve for the new 17" Unibody MacBook Pro.
- The 17" Unibody MacBook Pro Value Equation, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 01.07. The new model is a bit faster, a bit smaller, a bit lighter, and has an incredible 8-hour battery life.
- How Netbooks Impact Microsoft and Apple, Tim Nash, Taking Back the Market, 01.07. Netbooks are keeping Windows XP alive, which may slow adoption of Windows 7, and perceived value keeps the Mac market share growing at the expense of Windows.
- Apple's Worst Business Decisions: Another Perspective, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 01.07. Apple's poor business decisions predate the Macintosh. Let's hope they learn from their mistakes.
- The Ill-Fated Apple III, Jason Walsh, Apple Before the Mac, 01.07. "...not only was the Apple III mind crunchingly expensive, it was made with none of the passion of the Apple II or Macintosh."
- 2 Apple Failures: Apple III and Lisa, Tom Hormby, Orchard, 01.07. Apple's two not-so-great product lines between the Apple II line and the Macintosh.
- Apple III Chaos: Apple's First Failure, Joshua Coventry, Cortland, 01.07. Apple had known nothing but success with its Apple II product line, but when it tried to enter the business world with the Apple III, the learned the cost of failure.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best MacBook Deals, 01.09. Used 1.83 GHz, $595; 2.0 SD, $650; refurb 2.1 GHz, $849; 2.2, $899; 2.4, $949; new 2.1 SD, $945 after rebate; 2.4, $900 a/r; 2.0 Unibody, $1,199 a/r; more.
- Best G5 iMac Deals, 01.09. Used 17" 1.6 GHz Combo, $400; 1.8 SuperDrive, $450; 1.9 iSight, $575; 20" 1.8 GHz, $500; 2.0, $625; 2.1 iSight, $699.
- Best iPod nano deals, 01.09. New 3G/8 GB, $125 shipped; 4G/8 GB, $134 shipped; 16 GB, $175 shipped (most colors).
- Best Apple TV Deals, 01.08. Refurb 40 GB Apple TV, $199; new, $220; refurb 160 GB, $279; new, $320. Prices include ground shipping.
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 01.08. New 2.8 GHz 4-core, $2,099 after rebate; refurb 8-core, $2,399; new, $2,589 a/r; 3.0 $3,398 a/r; refurb 3.2, $4,099; new, $4,099 a/r.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 01.08. Used 867 MHz Combo, $490; 1.33 GHz, $548; 1.5 GHz SuperDrive, $595.
- Best 17" MacBook Pro Deals, 01.07. Used 2.16 GHz Core Duo, $1,190; 2.33 Core 2, $1,400; 2.4, $1,799; refurb 2.33, $1,799; 2.5, $1,899; new, $1,900; refurb 2.6, $2,299.
- Best Power Mac G5 Deals, 01.07. Used 1.8 GHz single, $500; dual, $629, 2.0, $700; dual-core, $929; 2.3, $999; 2.5 dual, $900; 2.7, $1,089; 2.5 Quad, $1,399.
- Best iPod shuffle Deals, 01.07. Refurb 1 GB '07, $39 shipped; new, $43; '08, $45; refurb 2 GB '07, $59 shipped; new, $58; '08, $63.
- More deals in our archive.
About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts
Have a question?
Ask an expert!
Navigation
Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum
Favorite Sites
MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System
6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
Mac FAQ
Abandonware
Petition
Mac vs. PC Info
Affiliates
The Apple
Store
Mac
Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial
Memory
batteries.com
Advertise
