9 Top Mac Design Applications of 2004

It’s that time of year again when lazy journalists trundle out lists instead of sitting down and writing articles. Never one to break an honorable tradition, Jason Walsh adds Low End Mac to the list of publications that includes just about every magazine, website, and newspaper in the world.

G3 Daughter Cards for PCI Power Macs and Clones

One of the best things Apple ever did for Power Mac users was design the CPU daughter card introduced with the Power Mac 9500. Apple, Power Computing, and SuperMac all used it in their PCI models running PowerPC 601 and 604 CPUs.

Xserve G5 (Early 2005)

A year after introducing the Xserve G5, Apple boosted its top speed from 2.0 to 2.3 GHz while making dual processors standard. That’s a bit slower than the fastest Power Mac G5, which runs at 2.5 GHz, but there’s much less room for a cooling system in the compact Xserve.

iPod Sport, the SUV of Digital Music Players

2004 – In the old days of MacWeek, Apple used to send up “trial balloons” to see how the market might respond to a new product. Today we have websites that exist only because of Mac rumors, and they’ve been at the forefront of the “flash iPod” craze.

eMac a Worst Buy? I Don’t Think So

PC Magazine’s Jim Louderback calls the eMac one of the ten worst products of the year. You know, the computer Mac site after site calls Apple’s best computing value ever. The machine we use at Low End Mac.

Text and Typography: Serifs and Dashes

Last week’s Low End Designer article was the most popular piece in the series so far. Clearly word processing is something that Low End Mac readers are interested in, but what about what happens with the text afterwards? This week, The Low End Designer looks a basic typography.

Kill Bill: 12 Alternatives to Microsoft Word

Text processing is the least glamorous aspect of design work – and probably the most important. This week, The Low End Designer looks at some alternatives  to Microsoft Word, the 800-pound gorilla of the document processing market – and perhaps deservedly so.

Killing Quark: Three Layout Alternatives

Last week, the Low End Designer took a look at a few supplemental applications that can be used in conjunction with the major design and layout programs. This week we’re looking at drop-in replacements, and it’s Quark XPress that’s getting the chop.

Apple’s New Click Wheel Mouse

2004 – If our usually reliable sources are to be believed, Steve Jobs has finally relented. After the stunning success of the iPod, Jobs now agrees that users may be able to handle more than a single button on a mouse.

4 Shareware Programs Every Mac Designer Should Try

2004 – One of the advantages of using a Mac is the wealth of software available for the platform. Of course, this runs contrary to common wisdom – the Mac is thought to be a poor cousin to Windows in terms of the number of applications available. This is literally true – there are many […]

20″ iMac G5 (2004)

Where did the computer go? It’s behind the flat panel display in the iMac G5! And the mouse and keyboard are available as wireless models with Bluetooth (which remains optional and can only be installed at the factory) – that means less cable clutter than most users are used to. Not just smaller and lighter, […]

17″ iMac G5 (2004)

Where did the computer go? It’s behind the flat panel display in the iMac G5! And the mouse and keyboard are available as wireless models with Bluetooth (which remains optional and can only be installed at the factory) – that means less cable clutter than most users are used to.

iMac G5 (2004)

Where did the computer go? It’s behind the flat panel display in the iMac G5! And the mouse and keyboard are available as wireless models with Bluetooth (which remains optional and can only be installed at the factory) – that means less cable clutter than most users are used to. Not just smaller and lighter, […]

Scanning the Scene with a Flatbed Scanner

By this stage, anyone following this column should have collected a Mac or two and some software. This week we’re looking at obtaining a flatbed scanner. All of the information here intended as nothing more than examples – and hopefully an aid to understanding scanners, rather than an inducement to purchase a machine from a […]

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, […]