2006 – There is one laptop upgrade that gives no performance benefit, but it adds a long-desired feature of frequent travelers, which is a swap of the built-in Combo or SuperDrive for a different model, because Apple’s PowerBooks and MacBooks use Matsushita (Panasonic) optical drives, and it’s, impossible to flash firmware on these drives.
Category Archives: Low End Mac
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2006 – Over the past few years, I’ve been cutting back on some of the old Macs lying around the house. At one point I had an example of just about every Mac made until the late 1990s. As software is updated and time goes on, most of these computers become less and less useful […]
If you’ve been following the legal ruckus surrounding Apple’s “Asteroid leak” case, you know what happened: Someone leaked details of Asteroid, a breakout box for use with GarageBand, and some websites published the info. Apple then subpoenaed their email records to discover the identity of the leaker, and the websites went to court to protect […]
2006: Classic Mac audio software: Free and low-cost ways for vintage and classic Macs to perform in the studio.
Ted Hodges’ recent article, The Sun Has Set on the G4, brought to light one mostly overlooked facts about the MacBook’s introduction: The G4 is now out of Apple’s lineup.
2006 – “The clueless shall inherit the earth, because there are so many of them.” The latest example of that truism comes from Mike Langberg in his Monday column in the Mercury News. In Apple’s iTunes Solo Act Is Getting Competition (free subscription required), he explains both the Windows monopoly monoculture and the closed iPod/iTMS system.
Everyone already knows that Mac OS X is a Unix variant and that it can run Unix software. Many just leave it at that, assuming that Unix software means things that run in the Terminal – but there’s also a whole wide world of graphical apps in the Unix world that run in what’s known […]
We’ve been waiting quite a while to see what Apple would replace the iBook with, and the rumored 13.3″ widescreen MacBook is now a reality. The biggest surprise is that Apple is replacing both the iBook line and the 12″ PowerBook with the 13″ MacBook, greatly simplifying their line of notebook computers. Built around Intel’s Core Duo […]
May 2006: Back when I was 13 years old, I wrote an article for Low End Mac called Guide to P1 Features (1999.02.24). The article was just me being excited about the rumored Apple iBook (codenamed P1), and I talked about what I thought Apple might release.
2006 – This installment of our ongoing digital audio jukebox series will take a moment to deal with errata from past installments (things I mistakenly omitted or just flat out got wrong) and also follow a detour into my distaste for DRM-laden media.
In an unusual Monday product announcement (Apple usually reveals new products on Tuesday), Apple introduced the 17″ MacBook Pro (MBP) with a 2.16 GHz Intel Core Duo CPU. It’s the first MacBook to support FireWire 800, and it also has a dual-layer SuperDrive (vs. single-layer in the 15″ MacBook Pro).
Apple’s Boot Camp got the most attention recently as a way to run Windows on the new Intel-powered Macs. But at almost the same time, little-known Virginia-based Parallels, Inc. announced a version of its virtualization software, Parallels Workstation for Intel Macs . This software solution for running other PC operating systems is more flexible than […]
As a long time Apple news junkie, I keep up with the trends. Over time, I began to notice a disturbing, often repeated, pattern in the development of new products at Apple. That’s when I sat down and created this easy to follow flowchart explaining Apple’s product development and sales cycle, that I like to call the […]
Low End Mac’s Panther group is for those using Mac OS X 10.3. Panther Group was begun on 2006.04.08.
2006 – A few days ago I had an opportunity to get some WallStreet PowerBooks. They were from one of my local suppliers, and he was offering me a whole box of them and a bunch of parts for one price.
Low End Mac’s Jaguar Group is for those using Mac OS X 10.2. The group was begun 2006.03.29.
A while back, I wrote about Camino, a Mozilla project that brings Gecko rendering goodness to a truly native Mac OS X interface. Since then, Camino has been my primary browser, and I know I’m not alone. I started reading a lot of articles around the Mac web singing Camino’s praises shortly after my piece ran.
I’m a big fan of the optical mouse known simply as The Mouse. It was originally sold by MacMice and is now being marketed directly by its maker, the Chwang Yi Company.* By whatever name, it’s one of the the smoothest, slickest, most comfortable conventional computer mice I’ve ever used.
One of the most frustrating things for Mac fans in the Intel transition is that Apple’s been confounding their expectations all the way.
2006 – It seems that you can’t win for trying. Apple and Microsoft have each developed DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) technology that provides enough security for the recording industry to allow online music sales.
My seven-year-old son enjoys taking screen shots of scenes in movie previews so he can print them out and hang them on the wall of his room. He recently decided he wanted a screen grab from a DVD he was watching, but – as many of you know – that function isn’t available when using Apple’s […]
Most of us remember the days when Mac databases pretty much meant one thing: FileMaker Pro. Based on technology that Apple acquired from Nashoba Systems in the late 1980s when they purchased FileMaker, Apple’s Claris software division released FileMaker Pro 1.0 in 1990.
2006 – What’s the better value, a 2.7 GHz dual processor Power Mac G5 or a 2.3 GHz Power Mac G5 with dual cores? With both currently available refurbished for the same US$2,149 price from the Apple Store, that’s a good question.
Charles W. Moore’s essay on copyright law (see Copyright Bullies May Win Some Battles but Must Lose Their War) raised a lot of good points about the way vested interests (such as the RIAA and MPAA) have changed the nature of copyright from something that serves the public interest into something that only serves publishers.
March 2006 – “We know first hand what living with a disability is like. Like a crutch, a walker, a wheelchair, our computer is another tool, albeit an extremely powerful one.”
The Mac mini was the third Mac to make the switch to Intel CPUs. Both Early 2006 versions of the Intel-based Mini include AirPort Extreme, Bluetooth 2.0, Apple’s remote control, gigabit ethernet, and Front Row with Bonjour. In addition to this 1.66 GHz Core Duo model, Apple also sold an entry-level Mac mini with a […]
When this was new, we called the Core Solo Mac mini a Compromised Mac. Performance of the Core Solo model was so sluggish that most buyers who have written us express regret at their purchase. Fortunately these are relatively inexpensive to purchase anymore, are relatively easy to pry open and upgrade – making it an […]
John Sculley’s childhood was the antithesis of Steve Jobs’. His father was strict and had impossibly high standards for his son.
2006 – A few weeks ago I received an email from a young family member. It said, “Thomas, do you know of any place where I could get an older laptop computer? Nothing too expensive, just something to play games on and use some old programs.”
There are pros and cons to working with an external hard drive. On the plus side, you can easily move your operating system, applications, and work files from one computer to another. And you can pick as big and fast a drive as fits your budget. And you can avoid having to open up a […]
