Why Design Using Low-End Macs?

In this series of articles, Jason Walsh takes a look at how to run a design studio on low-end Macs. Whether you want to get off the upgrade treadmill, are just out of art school and want to set up shop on a budget, or just want to pick up a few tips and tricks, […]

Linux and BSD Unix for Older Macs

Not long ago, I threatened you all with the end of the PPC Linux column. In response, many of you wrote in to ask for it to stay. (One person suggested that I let it die a graceful death for reasons which I happen to agree with, but he was outvoted.)

More on Macs in the Workplace

The late Douglas Adams once said, “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly past.” It is in this spirit that I present the latest Mac Life.

iApps? My Eye!

As the dust settles on Apple’s decision to charge us for the intangible iTools services (see Kiss iTools Good-Bye, Free mac.com Email Becomes Fee Mail, and The iTools Bait and Switch), people begin to ask how this will affect Job’s plans for the digital hub.

A Runtime Revolution for Linux and the Mac OS

The votes are in. PPC Linux is here to stay, but please don’t expect a weekly column (unless you all want to micropay me individually). Today I want to look at a specific application program named Runtime Revolution – it runs not only on Linux, but also in Mac OS, Mac OS X, Windows, IRIX, Solaris, […]

PPC Linux: The End?

Okay folks, it’s time for some democracy in action. As you probably know by now, I’m writing a new column on Low End Mac (LEM) called Mac Life. Now, between this and everything else I write, as well as the odd bit of graphic design, my fine art practice and my academic research, time is becoming […]

Our Passion for the Mac

Computers are just tools. Like hammers are tools. Like washing machines are tools. You know it, and I’ve publicly argued it. So, there we go. That’s the end of that.

Yellow Dog Linux on a Power Mac

Despite the use of the PowerPC in other computers, such as the IBM RS/6000 and even TiVo digital video recorders, the Apple Macintosh dominates the world of PowerPC computing, and as such, it’s Macs that Yellow Dog Linux (YDL) 7.2 is squarely aimed at.

OS X from a Linux Perspective

Apple’s Mac OS X has been gaining a lot of column inches in the computer press, and for good reason. As you are no doubt sick of hearing, the new Mac operating system is not just another revision of a bloated and moribund, though elegant, desktop OS. It is Unix – BSD Unix to be […]

Open Source Reality Check

You would be forgiven for thinking that the open source in business debate had been finally put to bed with the likes of IBM backing Linux and even the notoriously secretive Apple opening parts of Mac OS X to the public. However, you’d be wrong.

Beyond Linux Apps: Mac on Linux

We’ve all heard it: Linux has no applications. Despite the availability of many professional desktop applications for Linux, such as Star Office and Corel WordPerfect Office, the rumour of the dearth of applications for Linux persists. In fact, it does have some truth in it, at least for users of nonstandard versions of Linux such […]

Bring Out the GIMP

The Mac. Graphic Design. These phrases are practically inseparable. Before 1984 there was an entire career option missing, that of “Mac operator.” The next generation Unix OS, Mac OS X will no doubt cement Apple’s domination of the creative industries further with its improvements to the system such as the Acrobat-based Quartz display layer, preemptive multitasking, […]

Why Linux Instead of OS X?

Anyone with an interest in computing – especially in Unix-based OSes – cannot have failed to notice the hype surrounding the release of Mac OS X. OS X is a whole new ball game in Macintosh computing. For many years Apple have been trying to find a suitable replacement for their sophisticated (but rapidly dated) Mac OS.