We believe in the long term value of Apple hardware. You should be able to use your Apple gear as long as it helps you remain productive and meets your needs, upgrading only as necessary. We want to help maximize the life of your Apple gear.
Know Your Mac’s Upgrade Options, Phil Herlihy, The Usefulness Equation, 2008.08.26. Any Mac can be upgraded, but it’s a question of what can be upgraded – RAM, hard drive, video, CPU – and how far it can be upgraded.
The 64-bitness of Mac OS X 10.6 ‘Snow Leopard’, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2009.08.19. Although Apple is promoting ‘Snow Leopard’ as a fully 64-bit operating system, it defaults to running in 32-bit mode.
The Road Ahead: 64-bit Computing, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2009.08.19. Personal computers started with 8-bit CPUs, Macs started out with a 24-bit operating system, and 32-bit computing is starting to give way to 64 bits.
Optimized Software Builds Bring Out the Best in Your Mac, Dan Knight, Low End Mac’s Online Tech Journal, 2009.06.30. Applications compiled for your Mac’s CPU can load more quickly and run faster than ones compiled for universal use.
The ‘Better Safe Than Sorry’ Guide to Installing Mac OS X Updates, Charles W Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2008.12.16. Most users encounter no problems using Software Update, but some preflight work and using the Combo updater means far less chance of trouble.
Why You Should Partition Your Mac’s Hard Drive, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2008.12.11. “At the very least, it makes sense to have a second partition with a bootable version of the Mac OS, so if you have problems with your work partition, you can boot from the ’emergency’ partition to run Disk Utility and other diagnostics.”
How to clone Mac OS X to a new hard drive, Simon Royal, Tech Spectrum, 2008.10.07. Whether you want to put a bigger, faster drive in your Mac or clone OS X for use in another Mac, here’s the simple process.
CodeWeavers brings Google’s Chrome browser to Intel Macs, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac, 2008.10.02. Google’s new Chrome browser uses separate processes for each tab and brings other changes to Windows users. Now Mac fans can try it as well.
Tiger vs. Leopard: Which is best for you?, Simon Royal, Tech Spectrum, 2008.09.22. Two great versions of Mac OS X, but unless your Mac is well above the minimum spec for Leopard and has lots of RAM, stick with Tiger.
SATA, SATA II, SATA 600, and Product Confusion Fatigue, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 2008.09.08. In addition to the original SATA specification and the current 3 Gb/s specification, SATA revision 3.0 is just around the corner.
Free VirtualBox for Mac now a virtual contender, Alan Zisman, Mac2Windows, 2008.07.21. A year ago, the Mac version of VirtualBox lacked some essential features. Over the past year, it’s grown into a very useful tool.
SheepShaver brings Classic Mac OS to Intel Macs and Leopard, Alan Zisman, Mac2Windows, 2008.05.20. Mac OS X 10.5 doesn’t support Classic Mode. Neither does Leopard. But SheepShaver lets you emulate a PowerPC Mac and run the Classic Mac OS.
Windows on Macs: Three paths for integration, Jason Packer, Macs in the Enterprise, 2008.05.14. Mac users have three routes for running Windows apps: Run Windows using Boot Camp or virtualization, or use a compatibility layer such as WINE.
Merely adequate: Why you want to avoid integrated graphics, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2007.11.10. A couple years ago, Apple laughingly pointed at Windows PCs with ‘integrated Intel graphics’ as substandard. Today low-end Macs all suffer from those barely adequate graphics processors.
Core Solo Mac mini, a Compromised Mac, Dan Knight, 2007.11.16. Take the already compromise Core Duo Mac mini, remove the second core, and watch performance plummet.
The 10 worst Macs ever, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2007.10.23. The ten worst Macs of all time – and one of them came out just last year.
External $100 Sony DVD burner likes Macs, Brian Gray, Fruitful Editing, 2007.10.10. The box and manual say nothing about Mac compatibility, but this 18x USB 2.0 DVD burner is plug-and-play (at least with Tiger).
The Mac mini is dead: Why it missed the target, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2007.07.26. The Mac mini is compact, elegant, and affordable (for a Mac). What the market wanted was expandable and affordable compared with a Windows PC.
Levelling Up a Mac mini, Chris Adamson, MacDevCenter, O’Reilly Network, 07.24. “I spent a few hours this weekend upgrading a Core Solo Mac Mini to a Core 2 Duo. Here are a few thoughts on the experiences and lessons learned.”
If the Mac mini is dead, what will replace it?, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2007.05.29. Was Apple discovered that selling a low-end computer for $599 doesn’t work when the market has a $299 mindset? If so, how can they reach the low-end market?
CrossOver: Run Windows Apps on Intel Macs Without Windows, Alan Zisman, Mac2Windows, 2007.02.28. If you need to run Windows apps on your Intel Mac once in a while, CrossOver may be the least expensive way to do so since it eliminates the need to buy a copy of Windows.
Upgrade Your Power Mac or Buy an Intel Mac mini?, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2006.11.30. With 1.8 GHz dual G4 upgrades selling for US$600, it might make more sense to add a Core Duo Mac mini than upgrade the processor.
Intel Inside Macs Paves the Way for Affordable CPU Upgrades, Adam Robert Guha, Apple Archive, 2006.11.10. By adopting industry standards, Apple has made it much easier for Mac owners to add memory, expansion cards, and faster CPUs to their computers.
Switching the small office from Windows to Macs, Ed Eubanks Jr, The Efficient Mac User, 2006.06.28. With Intel-based Macs, the time may be right to adopt OS X as your standard platform while providing Windows as an option when necessary.
Drive matters, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2006.06.14. There’s more to picking the right hard drive than size, spindle speed, buffer size, and price. But how can a 5400 rpm drive ever outperform a 7200 rpm drive?
Apple’s original Boot Camp installation instructions, Jeff Adkins, The Lite Side, 2006.04.11. “Was it just me, or did anyone else catch those little jabs at Windows on the Boot Camp installation page? ‘If your computer becomes infected, well, what did you expect?’ and so on.”
Apple joins ‘Win on Mac’ army with Boot Camp, Alan Zisman, Mac2Windows, 2006.04.07. The hackers did it first, but Apple’s Boot Camp is a much more elegant solution to putting Windows XP on Macintel hardware.
Mac mini fails Final Cut Studio, Mac News Review, 04.07. Also TVMini HD now available from Apple Store, Keyspan RF remote for Front Row has 60′ reach, next gen Deskstar hard drives announced, PC-Mac-Net FileShare reaches version 6, and more.
Intel Mac mini confounds market with higher price, Leaman Crews, Plays Well with Others, 2006.03.23. After the raging success of the $499 Mac mini, why did Apple feel a need to move away from the entry-level market by making the Intel Mac mini more expensive?
Windows XP on Macintel a reality, Alan Zisman, Mac2Windows, 2006.03.23. It took a while, but it’s now possible to boot Windows XP on the new Intel-based Macs.
The Intel Mac mini value equation, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2006.03.01. For the difference in price, the Mac mini Core Duo has it all over the Core Solo model for anyone who uses their Mac heavily.
NewerTech miniStack: A great drive even if you don’t own a Mac mini, Dan Knight, Low End Mac Reviews, 2006.02.08. Although it’s designed to match the Mac mini, the miniStack hard drive can add USB 2.0 and FireWire ports to any Mac while keeping your fast external hard drive cool.
Matias OS X and USB 2.0 Keyboards reviewed, Charles W Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2006.01.03. Two very good, nicely priced keyboards for the Mac – one even has a USB 2.0 port for the iPod shuffle and other devices.