I have been a writer for over ten years. Before writing for Low End Mac, I was a professional business journalist writing for both UK and international magazines. There is nothing more annoying than putting together an article, writing it up, correcting it until you are blue in the face, dropping it into an amazing […]
Author Archives: Simon Royal
I saw an advertisement on television a few days ago for the new Google ChromeBook. Originally launched in 2010, I had shown a small amount of interest in them, but the new price was the clincher that made me sit up and pay attention.
In the last few days, I have become the proud owner of a 12″ PowerBook G4, a replacement for my 12″ iBook G4 that died a few weeks ago. Looking at the two machines, they are virtually identical specification-wise.
2012 – Apple is churning out new Macs and new versions of Mac OS X at an alarming rate – and with that comes the fallout, Macs that are still amazingly fast but won’t run the latest offering from Apple.
Following up on from some articles I wrote about TenFourFox, a port of Firefox 10 for PowerPC Macs, it would appear that Cameron Kaiser and his team are not the only ones still developing browsers for PowerPC (PPC) Macs. A reader pointed out another: SeaMonkey.
In the wake of iOS 6, it is easy to forget those older devices running older version of iOS (or iPhone OS, as it was previously named). Apple certainly likes to forget them quickly and move on with its shiny new beast. A big gripe of mine is the fact that the App Store is […]
After the somewhat shocking announcement that the iPhone 3GS, introduced in 2009, would be getting the latest iOS offering from Apple – that is iOS 6 in 2012 – I have been eagerly awaiting that day.
I haven’t always been a Mac user. I started my computing days out on a Commodore 64 and an Acorn 3010. I bought my first PC from my employer in 1997 – a massive, heavy beige tower containing a 486DX2-66 processor, 64 MB RAM, 500 MB hard drive, a CD-ROM drive, and a 15″ SVGA […]
The Apple world rarely rests, and talks are already beginning about the next release of Mac OS X. I am typing this on my 2009 MacBook with OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion installed (see last week’s First Impressions of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion). It has only been a few days. The initial dust has […]
Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion was released yesterday, and within a few hours of its release I had purchased it, downloaded it, and installed it. This is the first time I have ever bought a copy of Mac OS on launch day.
I love the Classic Mac OS, the Mac operating system prior to Mac OS X. Mac OS 8 has to be one of favourite classic OSes.
The Clamshell iBook has to be one of Apple’s most debated products. Some say it’s gorgeous, some say it’s hideous, and it’s described in some of the most bizarre ways – Barbie’s handbag and the toilet seat to name a few.
I had some video files I needed burning to a DVD-video yesterday, so started looking around for something free, and I stumbled across a superb little application called Burn.
Since the dawn of Mac OS X, there have been major and minor versions. That is, versions that introduced major features and those that focus mainly on speed improvements and streamlining, bringing only small new features or additions.
Here at Low End Mac, we not only use older Macs, but also older iDevices. Released in 2009, the iPhone 3GS is now Apple’s low-end phone.
Steve Jobs unveils the iMac on May 6, 1998. There is so much to say about the original iMac: Not only is it iconic in the Apple world, but in the whole computing world. Apple was really struggling prior to the launch of the iMac, on the brink of going under.
For low-end Mac users, you can pick up older Macs for a lot less than a new one, and if you are looking for something very old, you might even be lucky enough to snag a free Mac.
I am a low-end user mainly due to financial constraints, and therefore I am always on the look out for inexpensive accessories and cables. One of my favourite haunts is my local Poundland. People in the UK know what this is, a chain of stores where every item is £1. I am sure folks in […]
On May 1, 2001, Apple toned down its consumer portable range from the marvelous colourful and oversized Clamshell iBook to the sleek white “IceBook” (more officially called the “Dual USB iBook”). In 2009, I took a break from the Mac world, sold my Titanium PowerBook G4, and moved to Linux. Shortly after coming to my […]
Apple laptops have always run on the hot side, especially compared to Windows machines. but does adding more RAM add to the problem?
Prior to OS X, Apple had a rock solid operating system that was fast and stable, but by the time Mac OS 9 was released in 1999, it was looking very dull and dated, especially compared to what Microsoft was offering in the shape of Windows NT 4 (released July 1996), Windows 98 (released June 1998), and […]
As much as I love getting the most out of older Apple machines and devices and being a low-end user, sometimes I just want to be up there running the latest software and operating systems.
The next piece of Apple equipment to upgrade is my phone, but will that be an iPhone 3GS?
Ask what is the first thing in a computer to fail – especially in Macs – and the most likely answer you will hear is the optical drive. I have had countless internal optical drives fail or become so unreliable that they are practically useless, and this seems even more common in laptops (or machines […]
In early 2004, I bought an eMac G4. It was a 1 GHz model and my first brand new Mac. It wasn’t until 2008 that I picked up a 1.25 GHz model, and I also bought two 800 MHz models (ATI ones).
I have been writing for Low End Mac for just under four years and have written over 70 articles on various topics in that time, but why do I do it?
I recently wrote about some Core 2 Duo Macs not being able to boot to a 64-bit kernel (see More Macs Left Behind by Developer Preview 2 of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion), and since then I have done some further research. After my article was published, I was contacted by a fellow reader who […]
Being a low-end Mac user gives you little experience of the shiny new world of Macs and essentially the Apple Store. I have peered through the window of the recently opened local store, drooling over all the latest Apple gear inside. If you use an older Mac, chances are you are more than used to […]
I recently purchased a MacBook – an Early 2009 model – on the premise that (based on the Developer Preview at the time) it met the requirements for the forth coming Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, which is due out this summer.
If anyone has an original iPhone and doesn’t do much surfing, I would urge you to install whited00r on it, breathe new life into your aging (but still very capable phone), and marvel at the speed of it.
Six years after Apple switched to Intel, I am finally back owning one, but sadly leaving the PowerPC Mac world behind. In 2006, I became one the first to jump to Intel with a 1.83 GHz iMac. It replaced my 1 GHz G4 eMac, and the difference was amazing. The sheer processing speed of the new […]
If you are using an unofficial carrier, you might find yourself running into problems when trying to set up mobile internet settings of MMS settings.
I spent all day arguing with my fellow local Mac group members about Apple’s decision to release another version of OS X less than twelve months after Lion – and the rapid pace at which Apple is making Macs outdated. Then it suddenly struck me: Why am I bothered? I’m not going to be in the […]
The last PowerBook G3 model, referred to as the Pismo, is fondly regarded as the ultimate PowerBook by many, and I tend to agree.
Whenever a new version of Mac OS X is released, it is always debated whether it is an improvement over the previous version and whether it could slow down your machine, particularly if you are not running the latest hardware.
