Low End Mac Archive for December 16

December 16 in Low End Mac History

Sales tax on the Web, Dan Knight, Mac Musings. "...the idea of a tax-free Internet is holding its own, but I don't believe it will last."

The LC 520: Still useful after 9 years, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings. Although it shows its age in some ways, it's still a wonderful word processing and email computer.
The future of the low cost Mac, Chris Lozaga, My Turn. Why a low-cost Mac would be a risky proposition for Apple.
Hello again, MacZone, Dan Knight, Mac Musings. Kudos to MacZone for their responsiveness - and more on our problems with MacMall.

Snail Mail prints envelopes from your Address Book, Dan Knight, X-Wares. This simple freeware application does one thing and does it well - print envelopes using information on the Address Book.
Analogies to help pundits comprehend the difference between Macs and Windows, Jeff Adkins, The Lite Side. "...we're about to do our civic duty in providing analogies to help you understand the difference between the Mac OS and Windows."

The best browsers for PowerPC Macs and the classic Mac OS, Nathan Thompson, Embracing Obsolescence. Two browsers stand out from the pack: iCab 3 is modern and remains under development, and WaMCom brings Mozilla to older Macs.
The Facebook: A great way for students to connect, Adam Robert Guha, Apple Archive. The Facebook makes it easier to get in touch with other students, find those with shared interests, and form study groups.
Woz slams Apple for 'worst software', FireWire not dead but on life support, 'I Love My Mac' song, and more, Mac News Review. Also the iMac G5 as a business computer, Samsung's fast graphics memory, using restore discs, Mac mini mounts, and more.
Intel down on AMD-powered $100 laptop, iBook keyboard devolution, widescreen iBook coming?, and more, The 'Book Review. Also Quanta to build $100 laptop, PowerBook speed comparison, small EX-Reach keyboard, bargain 'Books from $419 to $1,799, and more.

50 million OS X users and counting, Tim Nash, Taking Back the Market. When you add up all the Mac users, the iPhone users, and the iPod touch users, there could easily be 50 million OS X users by year-end.
The 'better safe than sorry' guide to installing Mac OS X updates, Charles W Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings. Most users encounter no problems using Software Update, but some preflight work and using the Combo updater means far less chance of trouble.
Leopard on an 867 MHz G4 trounces Vista on a 2 GHz Core Duo notebook, Simon Royal, Tech Spectrum. Apple makes sure that each version of OS X runs well on the minimum supported hardware, while PCs well above minimum spec struggle under Microsoft's latest version of Windows.
MacBook, MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air teething problems and firmware updates, The 'Book Review. Also Apple notebooks strong in weak market, CoolBook controls CPU frequency and voltage for cooler running, Logitech's new Comfort lapdesk, bargain 'Books from $500 to $2,299, and more.

Belkin router reputation, ATA notebook drives, YouTube on G4 PowerBooks, and more, Charles W Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings. Also Pismo problems, using Spaces to enhance productivity, extensive OS X browser list, ImageWriters on ethernet, and more.

iPhone vs. Android: A game of chess or reversi?, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz. Google's strategy is to flip smartphone users to Android while Apple focuses on the iPhone.

Expect Siri on Macs, Steve Jobs the Hippy Billionaire, Hitachi Ships 4 TB Drives, and More, Mac News Review. Also Woz on Apple's countercultural roots, Steve Jobs loses out as Time's person of the year, Bluetooth calculator keypad, and more.
MacBook Air to Dominate Ultrabooks, MacBook Pro with Retina Display Rumored, 1 TB SSDs, and More, The 'Book Review. Also second generation Seagate Momentus XT hybrid drive benchmarked, Jettison automatically unmounts USB and network drives when MacBook sleeps, and more.