Why I Live Microsoft Free Article
From Chris Gardner:
I was recently introduced to your "Why
I Live Microsoft Free" article by www.wired.com.
I was immediately struck by a "can't see the forest from the trees"
metaphor.
"Why give aid and comfort to a company that wants to control your
interaction with your own computer and with the Internet, obliging
you to pay handsomely for both".
Apple has always been about controlling users interaction.
The Mac interface has always been a stolid example of this. Apple has
consistently turned down any kind of customization (themes support
is, and continues to be, lacking). They offer a single text editor
out of the box, a single picture viewer. They moved to the brushed
metal interface even after users cried foul. I'm no Microsoft
apologist, but Mac is less about "using your computer your own way"
than Apple's "use your computer the way we've set up our
standards".
As for paying handsomely, I don't think I need to retread that
argument. I've paid $100 a pop for OS X upgrades since it's
inception. I paid $20 for a small point update (which, for all
intents and purposes, should have been free).
I have many different systems at home: Linux with KDE, Windows XP,
OS X, and even some rogue ones like Plan 9. The most
customizable, affordable interface comes with Linux. Microsoft offers
enough ability to customize, although I don't appreciate its price.
Every time I turn on the OS X machine, while I like the colors
of the GUI, I'm immediately turned off by the total lack of
customization.
Chris
- Hi Chris,
Different strokes I guess. I prefer not to tinker and maintain any
more than absolutely necessary once I get things set up the way I
like them. The Mac interface suits me fine (X or Classic).
But "single text editor"? Heck, there must be two dozen text
editors available for the Mac platform, many of then freeware. My
fave is Tex Edit Plus.
Charles
Re: Why I Live Microsoft Free Article
From Chris Gardner
In terms of text editors, I mean what comes with the platform.
There's probably thousands if you count the same on Linux and
Windows.
Chris
- Hi Chris,
Yeah, granted, and it's great to have choice, but Text Edit is a
pretty decent one, and AppleWorks ships with consumer Macs. If
they don't suit, there's little hardship finding one that does -
any platform.
Charles
iBook in Need of a Doctor
From Daniel Paxton
Hi
I need a diagnosis. Is it possible for a faulty keyboard to fry
the logic board on a clamshell iBook? I have one where I took the
keyboard off to clean it, and after I put it back on and started the
iBook all I got was a blank (but lit) screen. I can hear the hard
drive spinning, and on the keyboard the caps lock key is lit along
with the light between F4 and F5 keys. What do you think? Did I blow
the logic board? Is there a way to test the keyboard? Or will I need
to replace both the keyboard and the logic board?
Thanks,
Daniel Paxton
- Hi Daniel,
Anything's possible, but I'm doubtful that it is the logic board
if the computer was working fine before you removed the keyboard.
I think it more likely that you might have loosened the video
cable or some such.
What method did you use for cleaning? Vacuum cleaners are a very
bad idea around computers because of the potential for static
discharge. You might also have dislodged the keyboard cable, but
that wouldn't explain the video loss.
Charles
OS 9 on G3
From Dave Nicholas
Charles:
Great article on using OS 9 on G3s. I have a G3 operating on OS
8.6. The machine is rock-steady, but I need to update my scanner, and
anything I'd like needs OS 9.1 or above.
One of our graphic houses has the CD for OS 9 (maybe 9.1) that
came with one of their G4s a few years ago. My question is, will it
be okay for me to install that OS on my G3? Or am I far better off
looking around to buy an OS 9 CD and installing that.
Any other tech ideas you have are very, very welcomed. I can pay
you off in very nice Xterra USA Series T-shirts (Xterra is an
off-road triathlon that we produce).
Dave Nicholas
- Hi Dave,
OS 9.1 or 9.2 should work great on your beige G3. The OS 9 disk
that came with the G4 may or may not work Some restore disks that
ship with new computers will only work with that model. Worth a
try.
Other World Computing has OS
9.1 disks for $39.99. Wegener Media has some OS
9.2.1 disks for $59.99. Both can be upgraded to OS 9.2.2
for free.
No gratuities necessary. ;-)
Charles
Daystar's Pismo Upgrade
From James Brock
"The user then plugs in the new XLR8 Point&Scroll Mouse and
starts working at G4 speeds."
The above does not mean that the track pad on the
Pismo will no longer work, does it? I am considering this CPU
upgrade on my beloved Pismo....
Thanks,
James
- Hi James,
Horrors! I hope not! I'm also considering a DayStar upgrade for my
beloved Pismo.
The P&S Mouse is just part of the upgrade package.
Charles
Small Question to Charles Moore
From Ian Robert Douglas
Hi,
I see that you have written quite a lot about FireWire drives. I
check through some of the links to your writings, but I didn't find
anything that addressed a particular issue I have: How to safely shut
down when a FireWire drive is your boot volume?
I'm using an external drive via a FireWire crib to boot from. The
booting is fine. I make sure the drive is running as I start my
system (OS X 10.2.8) and choose my drive having kept the option
key down. I know that if I were just using the drives for storage I'd
be able to drag them to the Trash to put them away. But if I'm
booting from them, what do I do?
When I try to shut down something happens, but then nothing
happens. Under OS X the computer doesn't seem to shut down, so I
have to force quit it, and then simply pull the power on the FireWire
drive.
I think this is probably very bad practice, but I don't know
another way....
Is there another way? If you could help me with this I'd much,
much appreciate it.
I have a TiBook DVI.
all best wishes,
Ian
- Hi Ian,
Never thought of this issue before. One workaround would be to
select the system on your internal hard drive and restart in it -
then drag the FireWire drive to the Trash. Then shut down.
Cumbersome, but it's better than force-quitting. There may be a
more graceful way. Perhaps our readers can help.
Charles
Editor's note: I've run both a 400
MHz TiBook and a 700 MHz eMac
with external FireWire drives. As long as the computer shuts down
properly, there's nothing else you need to do. If the external drive
is bus powered, you're done. If it has its own power supply, wait
until the computer is fully shut down before turning off the
power.
If your Mac isn't shutting down properly, it's definitely time to
run some diagnostics, repair what you can (especially be sure to
repair disk permissions using Disk Utility), and see if that solves
the problem. If it doesn't you may need to consider reinstalling the
OS. dk
Current Bible Software Available?
From William Boyer
Dear Mr. Moore,
I checked out your Mac Bible software
[article] and noticed the following: Accordance Library 5
sells for $59, but is on sale until December 31, 2001 for $49.
This product sounds interesting but I need a newer version than
2001, if you have one available. I have just switched over to Macs,
so am still a novice and don't have time for a big learning exercise
just to get the program to even work. What do you recommend? Your
help is appreciated, sir.
Sincerely,
William Boyer
- Hi Mr. Boyer,
For a more recent roundup of Bible software for the Mac, see
this article.
Charles
Warranties after AppleCare?
From Brett Campbell
Hi Charles:
A friend just wrote me with a question:
Wondering if you know a any third-party companies that offer
warranties on Macs. My AppleCare is about to expire, and Apple
doesn't extend their warranties anymore.
Makes me nervous.
Any ideas?
I didn't realize you couldn't extend AppleCare anymore. When did
this happen? And do you know of other companies that offer
warranties? I seem to remember you mentioning one in your column, but
I couldn't track it down.
thanks,
Brett
- Hi Brett,
Personally, I've never thought AppleCare was a very good deal (at
least at Canadian prices), so I've not paid a lot of attention to
it until recently with the iBook logic board debacle. I wasn't
aware that it was ever available beyond three years.
Thing is, by the time a computer is three years old, it's
substantially depreciated and out of date performance-wise, so
paying several hundred dollars to extend the warranty does not
represent good value. Better to take your chances, and if worse
comes to worse, either upgrade to a new machine or pick up a used
one of similar vintage for probably not much more than AppleCare
would have cost.
IMHO
I don't know of any third-party warranties, but it's possible that
some exist.
Charles
Editor's note: AppleCare used to be renewable on a year-to-year
basis until Apple discontinued parts support for those models. When
Apple switched to the current AppleCare system that adds two years to
Apple's one-year warranty, the old renewable AppleCare was
discontinued. dk
Re: Warranties after AppleCare?
From Brett Campbell
Thanks, Charles.
Since I think my friend has one of the first
generation TiBooks, I'm advising him to look into Apple's $700
trade in deal. Hope he doesn't get any white spots.
Me, I'm happily plugging away on a 600
iBook (the old silver and ice kind), which except for a hard
drive failure (repaired free under AppleCare in two days, and with
enough warning that I had time to back up everything that wasn't
already), has been trouble free. with 640 megs of RAM, it runs
Panther fine. I thought I might regret selling my Pismo
400 to a friend (who needed its video out capabilities more than
I did) and its 14" screen, but I actually like this one better; just
feels friendlier and easier to tote.
Meanwhile, my wife's last generation 1
GHz TiBook is still going strong - no peeling paint or anything
as yet, knock wood. And at under $2K (plus $200 off an iPod) brand
new with SuperDrive (educational special), it was a great deal,
especially for a photographer like her. As with the Pismo, it was the
very last run of that model, and I now advise all my friends to avoid
Rev. A of anything, and get the last version. It's not going to be as
sexy or new, but it'll likely be a lot more reliable, with all the
bugs worked out.
Anyway, thanks as always for your advice - I depend on it!
Brett
- Hi Brett,
I agree about late production models. My Pismo and my son's
Lombard were both among the last built, and both have been
trouble-free.
I also agree that the 12" display on the iBook is no hardship.
I've never been able to decide which I like better. Like 'em both.
:-)
I think the white spots issue has been resolved in current
MiddleAl models.
Charles
PowerBook G3 266 MHz and XPostFacto
From: Adrian Carter
Just to add my two pennies with regards to XPostFacto
and WallStreet models.
I'm another successful installer of the application, and I've
taken my 266 MHz Wallstreet (1998) from OS X 10.2.8 to OS X
Panther 10.3.2 without any problems. The machine is running with 320
MB [of RAM] and I've swapped out the original drive to an IBM
TravelStar 20 GB drive.
Performance is pretty sprightly on the graphics front; the screen
redraw is quick but seems slightly less smooth than it was before,
but it's a barely noticeable issue. The only issue I've had with
Panther has been slight problems with networking (dropping the
connection and locking up the finder but I'm convinced this is a
configuration issue in relation to AirPort and not in any way
related to XPostFacto).
All the apps are working, and the most dramatic improvement I
noticed is Mail, over a 56k connection under Jaguar I always thought
this application was really slow but this time round Panther has
really made a difference and mail collection and filtering is a lot
faster.
In short I'm loving the upgrade, I didn't think Panther would run
this healthy on such an old laptop but it's proved there is life in
the old dogs on WallStreet yet :)
Cheers & Enjoy the holidays.
Adrian Carter
- Thanks for the report Adrian.
Charles
PB 5300 Question
From Joe Smith
Charles, I always enjoy your columns. I know from your archived
material that your family had much experience with PB
5300s. One of mine just developed a screen flaw - vertical lines
running down the lower half of the screen. PowerBook Guy said that
was definitely a failing LCD when I emailed him. Do you concur? I
sense from reading around that the cable is also a possible cause. I
have a screen located on eBay
from MacResQ
for low bucks. Appreciate any advice/comments. I'd like to keep the
old girl running if I can. It's been lovely to have a "beater" that I
can carry in wintertime and not worry too much about...
- Hi Joe,
Could be either the cable or the LCD itself. Whatever, it's hard
to justify spending serious money repairing a 5300.
Alternative solution: Pick up one of the $50 5300s that Wegener
Media has for sale and use yours as a parts mule.
Charles
7x00 + Upgrade Card versus Beige G3
From Peter da Silva
Six months ago the 7300/7500/7600
with a G3 upgrade card was the best Mac deal ever, especially with
barebones 7500s going for under $20 and the Sonnet Crescendo going
for $100 at OWC. Now I wouldn't touch it unless I already had a well
equipped 7x00 at hand.
Why?
You can get a Beige G3 for less
than just the G3 upgrade card for your 7x00, and you'll end up with
an overall faster computer. Thanks, Apple, for making Panther not run
on the Beige G3 so people are dumping them left and right rather than
trust XPostFacto.
How about surpling the Blue and
White next?
Only half kidding, but I'm dead serious about the cost
effectiveness of the 7x00s.
- Hi Peter,
I agree on the economics. Don't forget the Umax
S900. Basically a Power Mac
9500/9600 motherboard
(Tsunami) with tons of slots and bays. My son and I both have
them. His has a Sonnet 500 MHz G3 upgrade card.
Charles
Editor's note: I still have one as well, which my 16-year old son
uses. Those old SuperMac S900s can often be had for a song.
dk
Jeff T. Matsuda's Freezing Mouse
From Kyle Griffin
Just an FYI which might help with this
person's problem.
The strain relief on the cable coming out of the Apple Pro Mouse
was very poorly designed and is prone to failure, causing the wires
in the cable at that point to fray and eventually break. This leads
to either erratic mouse movement or complete loss of the mouse.
Turning the mouse over and wiggling the cable illustrates the problem
well - the red LED on the bottom of the mouse will flicker off and
on as you wiggle the cable. We've probably thrown away a dozen of
these mice because of this and, as a result, don't buy them
anymore.
Kyle Griffin
QuickerTek again?
From Robert Friede
Interestingly, the base station antenna shown at TechnoWarehouse
is entirely different than the one shown at Small Dog. Buyer
beware.
Bob Friede
6320 Upgrade
From Brian
Hi Charles...
I have long wanted to replace my 6320
with a 6360 and believe that using
the motherboard from a 6400 would
do the trick. However, I have heard that there are power supply
issues with this solution.
Do you have any info on this type of upgrade?
Many thanks
Brian
- Hi Brian,
I have no knowledge on this issue, but perhaps some of our readers
will.
Charles
iMac G3 Drives
From: Ed Hurtley
In your column on 12/15 you link
to Wegener Media for replacement drives. The drives on the page you
link to will not work. They are desktop-style CD-ROM drives
that are way too large, draw too much power, and use different ATA
and power connectors. The G3 iMacs used laptop-style optical drives.
The drives in the page linked to in the "Editor's note" are
correct.
Ed Hurtley
- Hi Ed,
I expect you're right. See below.
Charles
iMac G3 CD-ROM Drives
From Lotas Smartman
Yeah, I actually found them shortly after I sent the email. I
ordered one of
these and delivery should be soon.
I just got a standard CD-ROM drive out of the normal iMac.
Thanks for the link!
Lotas Smartman, MCP
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