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

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.

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.

My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your submission to Dan Knight .

Make Mine OS Nine

John C. Foster
2001.04.13

Call me a sentimentalist. Call me loyal. Heck, even call me a traditionalist, but I am not switching to OS X any time soon.

I must admit that I thought about purchasing the beta version. I even felt myself getting excited about the March 24th release. I read the rants, raves, and reviews about OS X. I stopped by the local Mac vendors and played with the iMacs running OS X. I docked with the Mother Ship (hit the Apple website) and searched for the available applications to get an idea of what I could look forward to. I even went so far as to repartition my hard drive with a section for OS X. Yet I can't take the final step of coughing up $129 for OS X knowing that I will have to continue spending more money.

Spending $129 for OS X is just the start of the continuous parade of expenditures. I don't want to run my substantial library of software in emulation ("Classic") mode. I went through all of that when I ran the first PPC applications on a PPC-upgraded 68k Mac years ago. Any of you long term Mac users know what I am talking about. Constant upgrades that never stop: CPU upgrade, more RAM, larger hard drive, new software that is native for the new OS, new interface cards, "patch" type drivers, and video upgrades, all running through a system bus that is quickly becoming outdated. Looking back, I should have saved my money while waiting another six months for a new computer that included all of the upgrades and operated on a system that had the bugs resolved.

The old Mac OS was a milestone in history. It was one of the most significant impacts on modern mankind. It revolutionized computing and introduced millions to desktop publishing, the Internet, video editing, networking, Web publishing, graphics, and sound editing.

All of this was done in a "Think Different" type mode, almost an attitude, that developed a loyal customer base that is the envy of many a business, even after all of these years. The Mac OS was always years ahead of the Wintel world and has been paid the highest form of flattery known to man - imitation. They copied the Mac goodies to make their generic boxes more personable and more fun. They know it, and we know it, but they don't like to talk about it.

Many of us identify with our Macs. In a strange way they give us a sense of self worth and confidence. Maybe it is a "man" thing, like cars. A bigger engine, louder exhaust, wider tires, and fancy paint job make you feel better about yourself in a certain way. Certainly there is pride felt in owning the latest and greatest Mac that is maxed out on RAM and CPU speed, but what about all of these other Macs that I have?

Should I abandon my bevy of SE/30s, Quadras, PowerBooks, and my beige G3? My family uses them constantly with much satisfaction. I have the configurations worked out so that they are all operating well, performing all of the tasks that we require.

I truly enjoy using older Macs to do many things that people think require a G3 or G4. Truth be known, email, web surfing, word processing, faxing, spreadsheets, and general computing can be done with machines that cost much less than a new $3000 G4.

We all must deal with change in our daily lives. The Mac computer is changing, and it is in a big way.

When I am at work, being forced to use a Windows NT box, I often scream out loud "I want my Mac!" because I am so spoiled by the Mac OS. Now I see myself screaming "I want my Mac" when I use OS X.

I don't care if the Unix geeks will become Mac users or not. I grew up, so to speak, using the Classic Mac operating system, and I am resisting the culture switch to OS X.

Maybe I am just a Mac dinosaur in the making. Loyal to the 68k machines, loyal to the PPC machines and the Classic Mac OS, resistant to the new regime. I know in time I will be bypassed by OS X in all of its glory.

In time, plenty of applications will be available, or maybe even some upgrades to the applications that I currently have. But for now, when I discuss the operating system for my Macs, I have to say: Make Mine OS Nine.

Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.

Recent My Turn articles

Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 08.18. When the local public radio station moved classical music to HD radio, it was time to find another way to listen. An old iMac with iTunes solved the problem.
'That's Not a Computer', 07.30. Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
Upgrading a Digital Audio G4 to work better in Leopard, 06.02. In its original configuration, the dual 533 MHz Power Mac G4 was slow with Mac OS X 10.5, but add the right upgrades, and it runs Leopard quite nicely.
My 4 favorite PowerBooks, 05.28. The PowerBook 150 has a big screen for a vintage PowerBook, the 165c has color, the 100 is diminutive, and Lombard has USB and a great keyboard.
More in the My Turn index.

Links for the Day

Mac of the Day: MacBook Core Duo, May 2006. The iBook's replacement has a 13" widescreen display and a 1.83-2.0 GHz Intel Core Duo CPU.
Group of the Day: StarMax List is for anyone using Motorola StarMax Mac clones.
March 18 in LEM history: 02: The case for a 'Book - More on living Microsoft free - Prep your low-end Mac for Linux - 03: How good a value is a WallStreet? - 05: How the iPod trounced the Walkman - 08: 13 port USB 2.0 hub
Support Low End Mac

Recent Deals

Best Intel iMac Deals, 03.17. Used 17" from $600; 20" from $750; 24" from $825; refurb 21.5" nVidia, $999; new, $1,099; refurb Radeon, $1,299; new, $1,399; refurb 27" 3.06, $1,499; more.
Best G5 iMac Deals, 03.17. 17" 2.0 GHz, $380; 1.9 GHz iSight, $479 shipped; 20" 1.8 GHz, $509 shipped; 2.1 GHz iSight, $549 shipped.
Best Time Capsule Deals, 03.17. Close-out 500 GB, $140; new 1 TB, $279; used 2 TB simultaneous dual-band, $400; new, $455. Shipping included.
Best iPad Deals, 03.16. 16 GB iPad, $499; 32 GB, $599; 64 GB, $699; 16 GB with 3G, $629; 32 GB 3G, $729; 64 GB 3G, $829. Free ground shipping.
Best iPod classic Deals, 03.12. Used 20 GB, $119; 40 GB, $139; 60 GB, $159; 30 GB video, $129; 60 GB, $159; 80 GB, $169; refurb 120 GB, $189; new, $214; 160 GB, $228 shipped.
Best G3 iBook and AirPort Card Deals, 03.12. 366 MHz 12" clamshell, $89; 466, $125; 500 white CD, $100; 600, $199; 800 Combo, $239; 14" 900, $225.
Best Xserve Deals, 03.12. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $499; 2.0 dual G5, $599; 2.3, $749; refurb 2.26 4-core Nehalem, $2,499; new, $2,699; 8-core, $3,449; refurb 2.66, $4,299; new, $4,799; more.
More deals in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2010 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.