New iMacs Announced

1999.10: I hope you enjoyed yesterday’s article on the topless iMac. After all the stress with Apple legal, it was fun doing a parody piece. But now Apple has officially unveiled its new iMacs, which are apparently immediately available for purchase.

Adesso Nu-Form USB Keyboard

First, thank you to Adesso for supplying a keyboard for this review. Since the advent of the Power Mac G4, we have to find a new keyboard we can use at work – the G4 has no ADB port for our old Apple Extended, Apple Adjustable, MicroSpeed KB-105M, or Adesso Nu-Form ADB keyboards.

No FileMaker 5 Here

1999: After looking over the requirements for deploying FileMaker 5, my employer has decided to cancel the upgrade order. We have a network of about 80 Macs, most running System 7.5.5 and many running 68040 processors (including IIcis with Sonnet upgrades), and everyone uses FileMaker with shared databases on our file server. The cost of […]

My Three iMacs

1999: Three iMacs? Well, Apple’s done it before. Despite the amazing success of the iMac, there always seem to be two previous versions available on the close-out and refurbished market. But three different iMac models in production at the same time? What is Apple thinking?

Automatic Frustration Machines, Part 2

1998: Last week, I wrote about ATMs from a human interface perspective. I suggested graphics and color and a modicum of intelligent programming could go a long way in making ATMs more friendly and less frustrating.

PowerBook 150, a Compromised Mac

For the most part, the PowerBook 150 was a very nice computer. It was the fourth and final model in Apple’s economy series that started with the PowerBook 140 in October 1991. The 140 ran a then-decent 16 MHz 68030, shipped with 2 MB of memory (expandable to 8), and had a 20 or 40 MB […]

My Almost iMac

1999: I’ve been running The iMac Channel since May 1998. I still don’t own an iMac, but my home computer is getting closer to the iMac’s specs all the time. (For the record, we now have two iMacs at work. Our web server is a Rev. B iMac; the other is a 333 MHz iMac […]

Blocked G4 Upgrade Uproar Continues

1999: Apple has responded to the uproar over the inability of Blue & White Power Mac G3s with certain ROM upgrades to accept G4 processors. The following is from Apple’s Tech Exchange. (Because Apple considers this an off-topic discussion, this page was removed from their site.)

A Subscriber’s Guide to Macjordomo

I maintained several email lists using Macjordomo, a freeware email list server from Leuca Software. The purpose of this page is to explain how Macjordomo works and how you can add, delete, or change your subscription – although the examples provided in this article are no longer in use. (Take that, spammers!)

Gilding the iMac Lily

1999: I’ll admit it: I read PC Magazine. No, I’m not planning on selling out to the dark side. I have DOS roots, but I don’t even want to know how to use Windows. I read PC Magazine to learn about the hot new technologies and get the perspective from the other side of the […]

G4 vs. Pentium III

1999 – One little chip sure can set off a world of controversy. It started when Apple introduced the Power Mac G3 in November 1997.

AppleShare 3

1999 – There’s been a fair bit of interest in AppleShare 3 thanks to some articles on this site. Although long discontinued, it is possible to find copies of AppleShare 3 (be sure to get the 3.03 updater from Apple). And for the small network, it may be an ideal solution.

Why the Blocked G4 Upgrade Uproar?

The 400 MHz Power Mac G4 is built on a modified Yosemite (Blue & White G3) motherboard. Yet owners of Blue & White G3 systems with mid-May ROM version 1.1 or later cannot replace their old G3 processors with G4s. Apple deliberately disabled this option by having the system check which CPU is installed at […]

Real World Mac Serial Throughput

Your results may vary, but this should provide a good starting point for tweaking serial throughput on your classic Mac setup. Note that FreePPP allows serial port settings of 115.2kbps and 230.4kbps, settings not possible with Apple’s serial toolbox routines.

Micron Xceed for Mac SE/30

Here is the quick scoop on the wonderful internal grayscale video setup from Micron or Xceed. The video card identifies itself as a “Micron Xceed 3MT” in the Monitors control panel (with an external monitor attached so the Monitors control panel sees the card).

Seybold 1999: More Than Just the G4

Power Macintosh G4: As far as many are concerned, that sums up Steve Jobs’ big Seybold announcement today. It was certainly an impressive introduction. Depending on what software you’re currently running, the 500 MHz Power Mac G4 can be two-to-three times faster than the fastest G3 or Pentium III available today.

The eMachines eOne

1999 – It doesn’t just look like an iMac from the front, although the blue-and-white coloring is certainly reminiscent of the iMac. So is the compact keyboard. At least the mouse has the more traditional hand-fitting shape.

Niches and Mac Cloning

1999: Last week, Evan Kleiman suggested that Apple produce a wider variety of models to meet the needs of more buyers (see More Macs). He even suggested that Apple open the door and allow cloning again. In Pseudo Clones on osOpinion, Jonathan Gelling made a similar suggestion.

Why Gaming Matters

1999: You won’t find a lot of game news on Low End Mac or the iMac channel. It’s not that I don’t enjoy games, although I don’t have a lot of time to play computer games. The simple fact is, enough people are doing a great job of following Mac gaming that I don’t see […]

AirPort

1999: According to a recent Low End Mac poll, over half those surveyed believe wireless networking is the iBook’s best feature. Other Mac webmasters seem to agree – AirPort is the most important ingredient in the iBook mix, even if it is an optional accessory.

G.Lite: Mass Market ADSL

1999: Once upon a time, 1200 bps was a fast modem and 230 kbps LocalTalk was a decent network speed. That was a long time ago. Today, most modems are of the 56k variety – although the name is something of a misnomer. These 56k (a.k.a. v.90) modems can download files at up to 53 […]

Cable or DSL?

1999: Analog modems have just about outlived their usefulness. They have definitely hit a speed roadblock. Their great advantage is universality – you can find a telephone jack just about anywhere.