Mac Musings

Mac Musings 2007 Archive

• Think Secret: Struck down by Apple's Asteroid, 12.24. It took years and years, but Apple has finally managed to shut down one gadfly Mac rumor site.
• Many reasons for giving thanks this year, 11.21. It's been a great year for Low End Mac and its publisher, with many reasons for gratitude.
• Merely adequate: Why you want to avoid integrated graphics, 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.
• 10 years since the first G3 Macs, 11.10. The world's fastest notebook was soon joined by a 266 MHz Power Mac G3 that ran circles around 300 MHz Pentium II computers.
• The Santa Rosa MacBook value equation, 11.02. With nobody discounting the older MacBooks and an estimated 10-12% performance gain, the Santa Rosa MacBooks are hands down winners.
• Leopard faster than Tiger on Intel, slower on PowerPC, and possible below 867 MHz, 10.29. Early benchmarks indicate Mac OS X 10.5 is 10-15% slower than 10.4 on PowerPC, while 64-bit Leopard on Intel Core 2 hardware is over 5% faster. Also Sawtooth and Cube success stories.
• The future of eMacs in the Age of Leopard, 10.24. Early eMacs aren't officially supported under Mac OS X 10.5, but Leopard could run well with the right upgrades.
• The 10 worst Macs ever, 10.23. The ten worst Macs of all time - and one of them came out just last year.
• The future of G4 iBooks in the Age of Leopard, 10.22. Almost all of the G4 iBooks are supported by Mac OS X 10.5, but 4200 rpm drives could be a real bottleneck.
• 4 hits, 2 misses: 6 new Macs introduced 15 years ago, 10.19. The Macintosh IIvi and IIvx are better forgotten, but the first grayscale PowerBooks and the first PowerBook Duos moved Apple ahead.
• The future of G4 iMacs in the Age of Leopard, 10.18. Some G4 iMacs are officially supported under Mac OS X 10.5, but some aren't. Could Leopard run well on 700-800 MHz G4 iMacs?
• The future of titanium PowerBooks in the Age of Leopard, 10.17. Most of the 'titanium' PowerBooks aren't officially supported under Mac OS X 10.5, but with maximum RAM and a fast hard drive, they should be able to handle it.
• It's official: Leopard ships October 26, 10.09. Apple is now taking preorders for Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard' at the online Apple Store. These should reach customers on Oct. 26.
• The future of 'Mirrored Drive Doors' Power Macs in the Age of Leopard, 10.09. Every indication is that the MDD Power Macs will be full supported by Leopard. Here's what makes them a good bet for OS X 10.5.
• The future of 'Quicksilver' Power Macs in the Age of Leopard, 10.08. If the rumored cutoff at 800 MHz or 867 MHz for Leopard is correct, these should be among the oldest Macs supported by Mac OS X 10.5.
• The future of 'Digital Audio' Power Macs in the Age of Leopard, 10.05. With a faster system bus and AGP 4x graphics, these just might be the best of the older Power Macs for running Leopard - if Apple will let you.
• The future of early G4 Power Macs in the Age of Leopard, 10.04. Mac OS X 10.5 ships this month. Even if it can run on Yikes, Sawtooth, and Mystic Power Mac G4 models, can you expect it to run well?
• Disadvantage Macintosh, 10.03. Most of the time it's wonderful being a Mac user, but something as simple as exporting iPhoto images to a CD others can use isn't one of them.
• Typography problem makes Pages unsuitable for serious printing, 10.01. Apple's Pages word processor is user friendly and powerful, but one annoying glitch drove this user to Microsoft Word so the project would print correctly.
• Mac OS X 10.1: The first mature version, 09.25. After several Developer Previews, a Public Beta, and five versions of OS X 10.0, Mac OS X was finally ready for prime time with the release of version 10.1.
• Macintosh IIx: Apple's flagship gains a better CPU, FPU, and floppy drive, 09.19. 20 years ago Apple improved the Mac II by using a Motorola 68030 CPU with the new 68882 FPU. And to top it off, the IIx was the first Mac that could read DOS disks with its internal drive.
• How does the MacBook compare to Sony, HP, Toshiba, and Lenovo offerings?, 09.18. Ars Technica compares four Windows notebooks in the same price range as Apple's MacBook. How does the $1,299 MacBook hold up against them?
• Apple's consumer Performa line, 1992 to 1997, 09.14. Apple decided to pursue the average consumer by renaming existing Macs, bundling them with software, and putting their colorful boxes in regular retail outlets.
• The future of G3 iBooks in the Age of Leopard, 09.14. All of the G3 iBooks can run Mac OS X, but which ones run it well? And which version should you use?
• The future of G3 iMacs in the Age of Leopard, 09.13. From August 1998 through December 2001, G3 iMacs were Apple's hot consumer computers. Which ones are best for OS X, and which should be avoided?
• The future of G3 Power Macs in the Age of Leopard, 09.12. There's no G3 support in Leopard. What does that mean for those with a Beige G3 or a Blue and White G3?
• The future of G3 PowerBooks in the Age of Leopard, 09.11. There's no G3 support in Leopard. What does that mean for Kanga, WallStreet, Lombard, and Pismo PowerBooks?
• Apple seduction: The iPhone and iPod touch, 09.06. They're not the kind of thing a lot of people need, but they are the kind of thing a lot of people want. Including me. This may be Apple's most seductive product ever.
• Apple squeezes Mac clones out of the market, 08.30. Apple started to license the Mac in 1994, the first clones arrived in 1995, and they quickly into Apple's profitable high-end market.
• KompoZer 0.7.7: Getting Closer to a Replacement for Claris Home Page, 08.22. KompoZer is a free, open source WYSIWYG webpage editor that has some rough edges but works well enough for full-time use.
• Project Macard: Compact Flash, USB, and WiFi for pre-PCI Macs, 08.15. BlueFlash gives Apple II computers USB, Compact Flash, and Bluetooth support. How a similar device for older Macs could be created.
• Apple kills another great app, 08.14. Since it was released as ClarisWorks in 1991, AppleWorks has epitomized simple elegance and provided enough power for millions of Mac users. No longer.
• Truth in terabytes: Why your computer says a 1TB drive is missing 90 GB, 08.10. As drives become bigger, advertised capacity increasingly diverges from reported capacity.
• The iMac value equation, 08.09. A faster bus, faster CPU speeds, and a new look. Are close-out 2006 iMacs good values?
• The Mac mini value equation, 08.08. Faster, more efficient CPUs, more RAM, and bigger hard drives, but how do blow out prices on 2006 minis compare?
• What's at stake in the iPhone keyboard lawsuit?, 08.07. A look at prior art, US Patent 6784873, and whether it might apply to the iPhone keyboard.
• The Mac mini is dead: Why it missed the target, 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.
• The iPhone: Apple's $3 billion cash cow, 07.25. If cost estimates and kickbacks from AT&T are in the ballpark, Apple makes over 2.5 times the cost of the iPhone for each unit sold and activated with an AT&T contract.
• Why Apple is limiting the iPhone market, 07.20. By keeping the price high and limiting the iPhone to a single carrier, Apple makes sure it maximizes profits and is able to provide the support a first-generation product needs.
• 24 years ago: Apple's first phone never made it to market, 07.19. Before the iPhone, iPod, Newton, and Macintosh, Apple dummied up a phone of the future that never saw the light of day.
• First impressions of a MacBook Pro, 06.21. Six years after moving to a titanium PowerBook G4, spending time with a Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro is a real treat. There's only one drawback.
• No iPhones going to Cingular stores or independent AT&T wireless dealers, 06.20. In a move certain to confuse, disappoint, and frustrate tens of thousands of people who want to buy the iPhone, AT&T isn't allowing Cingular franchisees or multiline mobile phone retailers to carry Apple's iPhone.
• Even if Leopard leaves G3 behind, Tiger users will still be able to run up-to-date apps, 06.18. While Apple may drop G3 support in OS X 10.5, there will continue to be plenty of options for 10.4 users who want to run up-to-date browsers, email clients, and instant messaging programs.
• eBay feedback: Proceed with caution, Don't rush to post negative feedback to eBay - you may never be able to remove it.
• The June MacBook Pro value equation: Some surprises, 06.06. Apple's newest MacBook Pro models generally offer modest improvements. Which are the better buys, the new ones or the discontinued models?
• What does Palm's subnotebook Foleo mean for Mac users?, 05.31. Palm's compact Foleo has a full-size keyboard, a widescreen display, and weighs under 2.5 lb. Could it be a good Mac companion? Could Apple go the subnotebook route?
• The summer of Macs: Mac mini, MacBook Pro, and iMac overdue for an upgrade, 05.30. Eight to nine months since their last revision, these models are past due for an update. What can we expect at WWDC?
• If the Mac mini is dead, what will replace it?, 05.29. Has 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?
• Is more RAM more important than matched RAM in the MacBook?, 05.25. Other World Computing has benchmarked 15 configurations with six programs and concluded that more memory is better than matched modules. Are they right?
• 3 CPU upgrades for Mirror Drive Door G4 Power Macs, 05.22. If your Mirrored Drive Doors Power Mac isn't fast enough, here are three CPU upgrade option to get you to 1.33, 1.6, and 1.8 GHz.
• Apple sued: Can 262,144 colors be considered 'millions'?, 05.16. A new class action lawsuit claims Apple is deceiving buyers when it claims to display "millions of colors" on its notebook computers. What's really going on here?
• The May MacBook value equation, 05.16. Bigger hard drives, 8% more processing power, 802.11n WiFi, and a faster SuperDrive make the updated MacBook better than its predecessor, but is it a better buy than the close-out model?
• Why Apple must continue G3 support in Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard', 05.08. "We're worried about what happens if Apple unchecks that box in Xcode to include the instructions necessary to run OS X on G3 processors at all."
• Less than intelligent design in electronics and computing, 05.03. Stupid design includes VCRs that have to be shut off to record, boom boxes that can't remember a radio station, mice with hidden buttons, and iPods with no obvious way to replace the battery.
• 'Only' 6% to buy iPhone? That's a lot of iPhones!, 05.02. Markitecture has determined that "only" 6% of cell phone owners will buy Apple's iPhone in its first year. That's about 12 million phones!
• 30 top Mac user mistakes: How many are Apple's fault?, 04.26. The biggest mistake new Mac users make is assuming that the Mac will work just like Windows. It won't.
• Apple's digital hub report card: Current grade, B+, 04.26. Apple promised to make the Mac the hub of the digital lifestyle in 2001. It has excelled in most areas but barely passes when it comes to mobile phone support.
• Rebranding: They're all Macs now, 04.25. Since Steve Jobs' return to Apple in 1997, Apple has phased out the Performa, PowerBook, and Power Mac brands. Today, every Mac includes "Mac" in its name.
• Does the iPhone plus Apple TV point to the future of personal computing?, 04.18. Looking at the capabilities of Apple TV and the iPhone, it seems there could be a lot of synergy between the two devices, revolutionizing personal computing.
• Leopard delayed to October. And the bad thing is?, 04.13. Leopard (Mac OS X 10.5) won't ship until October, 30 months after Tiger, and our Macs will be as happy as clams until then.
• Satisfaction the answer to wasteful consumerism, 04.11. You probably don't need the newest, fastest computer. Thoughts on upgrading what you have, moving to a newer Mac, and finding a new use for your old one.
• 1 core, 2 cores, 4 cores, 8: How Much Difference Does It Make?, 04.10. Geekbench scores make it possible to compare the newest 3 GHz 8-core Mac Pro with the 1.5 GHz Core Solo Mac mini - and all the models in between.
• 10 years of Low End Mac: Looking back and looking forward, 04.06. As Low End Mac celebrates 10 years on the Web, we look back at some milestones.
• The 8-core Mac Pro value equation, 04.04. At US$4,000, is the 8-core 3.0 GHz Mac Pro an overpriced sports car or a well-priced big rig?
• The iPhone: Is it a Macintosh?, 03.20. Is the iPhone nothing more than the union of iPod and cell phone technology, or does OS X make it a real Macintosh?
• The First Expandable Macs: Mac II and SE, 03.02. Until March 2, 1987, Macs were closed boxes with no internal expansion slots, no support for color, and no internal hard drives. The Mac II and SE changed all that.
• Growing the Mac market by reaching the computer hobbyist, 02.08. If Apple truly wants to grow, it needs to target the people computer users go to when seeking advice about their next computer purchase.
• Dreaming up a Mac more expandable than the Mac mini, more affordable than the Mac Pro, 01.31. Apple has a gaping hole in its product line between unexpandable entry-level models and the expensive Mac Pro that offers far more expansion than most will ever need.
• Why is Low End Mac advocating cheap Windows PCs?, 01.30. We're not Windows fans, but we have to admit that cheap Windows PCs fill a niche Apple refuses to address.
• Cingular and the iPhone: Apple's 30% solution, 01.16. As nice as the iPhone is, Apple is telling 70% of wireless users that they can't have one unless they switch to AT&T as their carrier.
• Apple TV aimed at the high end, not the mass market, 01.12. For most TV watchers, TiVo or a DVD recorder makes a lot more sense than Apple TV.
• Why the iPhone will succeed despite the pundits, 01.11. Tech columnists have already labelled the iPhone as overpriced, but it's going to succeed despite them.
• Apple Inc. intros iPhone and Apple TV, 01.10. No new Macs at the Expo, but Steve Jobs has demonstrated Apple TV and the much anticipated iPhone.
• Backup to the rescue: Recovering from Address Book data loss and a failing hard drive, 01.09. If there are any important or irreplaceable files on your hard drive, you need a backup strategy because accidents happen and hard drives fail.

More Mac Musings in the archive: 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010