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News & Opinion
Products & Services
News & Opinion
US Mac Sales Up 39% in April
Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt reports that, according to Piper
Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who has looked at the NPD Group's data
for the month of April, iPods, not Macs, are being cannibalized by
the iPad . The data shows domestic Mac
sales up 39% year-over-year and on track to beat the roughly 19% the
Street is expecting for the June quarter.
Link: US
Mac Sales Up 39% in April
3 Reasons Macs Beat Windows in the Enterprise
Tech Republic's Erik Eckel says any knowledgeable technician should
be willing to admit three advantages Macs enjoy over Windows when
deployed in enterprise environments.
#1 Lower Total Cost of Ownership
Eckel, an IT consultant who says he's assisted hundreds of
businesses and end users with hardware repairs, has come to believe
that "Apple hardware is simply better and longer lasting than most
other business-grade equipment", with Macs on average experiencing
fewer hardware repair incidents than Windows computers.
Also, Mac OS X Server doesn't require client access licenses with,
for example a single email server supporting 100 users, saving the user
organization some $7,000 in client access licenses alone. Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Server
sells for $499 with no additional email server software required, while
Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard full-license pricing is a whopping
$949, and adding full Microsoft Exchange 2010 Standard tacks on another
$1,300.
Then there's the savings in Macs not requiring antivirus software
for each workstation - approximately $3,000 annually per hundred
clients.
#2 Greater Security
Speaking of which, Eckel points out that Mac OS X so far is
massively less threatened by viruses, spyware infections, and the
general malware onslaught that assails users of the Windows platform,
contending that any arguments to the contrary are ill-informed,
inaccurate, and disingenuous. He points out that using Macs will save
enterprise operations a bundle in time not wasted reinstalling disk
images, troubleshooting corrupt installs, or otherwise repairing
virus-damaged Windows systems, citing a Yankee Group survey found 82%
of C-level business respondents who rated Mac OS X reliability to be
excellent or very good, with seven of 10 rating Mac OS X security
excellent.
#3 Better Performance
Not only security and lower TCO, but Mac OS X shines
performance-wise as well, says Eckel, with its integrated 64-bit
capabilities. Tests also showing Snow Leopard boots faster than Windows
7 and is generally faster opening programs, running searches and
performing other intensive tasks, better at graphics manipulation,
faster at video editing, with better memory management offering faster
multimedia multitasking, and better battery life on portables.
Link: Three Reasons Snow
Leopard Beats Windows in the Enterprise
Snow Leopard Supports New 3 TB Hard Drive
Electronista reports:
"A Seagate representative has provided Electronista with a few
additional details regarding Mac compatibility for the upcoming
3 TB Constellation hard drive. In-house testing reportedly showed
3 TB of usable space on Snow Leopard, indicating that Mac users
should be able to utilize the full capacity of the drive without any
special configurations or software updates."
Editor's note: Any hard drive over 2.1 TB
needs a 64-bit operating system that supports long logical block
addressing (long LBA) to access the entire contents. Mac OS X
10.6 Snow Leopard has built-in 64-bit support (assuming the hardware
supports 64-bit operation, which first generation Intel-base Macs do
not). Windows users must buy a separate 64-bit version of Windows 7 or
Vista. (Linux is also available in a 64-bit version.) Only Apple seems to have
figured out how to include both 32-bit and 64-bit support with a single
operating system install. dk
Link:
Seagate Confirms Mac Support for 3 TB Hard Drive
How and Why to Upgrade Your Mac's Hard Drive
AppStorm's Joshua Johnson says:
"As a follow up to our article on upgrading your Mac's RAM, this
article will outline how to go through the same process to upgrade your
hard drive.
"We'll begin with a brief discussion on why upgrading your hard
drive will improve your system then move on to the pros and cons of
mechanical vs. solid state drives. We'll conclude with a step by step
tutorial on finding and purchasing the right HD for your Mac and point
you to some instructional guides outlining the installation process for
your specific model."
Link:
How and Why to Upgrade Your Mac's Hard Drive
Perform Typing Magic on Your Mac
OWC blogger Glen says:
"From authoring emails to creating websites and posters, we use text
in just about everything. Here are a few easy short-cuts on your Mac so
you can spend more time creating and less on typing.
"Caught in a Spell
"Even if you don't have a clue on a word's spelling, your Mac can
give you a list of suggestions....
"A Topper's Leporidae Extrication
"You don't need to leave your current application to find the right
word....
"Fly from Santa Fe to Monaco in 5 Seconds
"Now that you have the correct words, you can try different font
styles quick and easy....
"Finding That Mysterious Character
"To find that special symbol, you don't need to trudge through every
font's ALT and ALT+SHIFT characters, nor do you have to bang out every
key in Webdings, Wingdings or Dingbats. Your Mac already has them
nicely sorted for you...."
Link: Perform Typing
Magic on Your Mac
Run Mac OS 9 on Ubuntu Using SheepShaver
OS News' Thom Holwerda says:
"Remember Mac OS 9, or Classic as Apple named it once Mac OS X was
released? On PowerPC Macintosh machines, you can install a Classic
environment which launches a virtualised instance of Mac OS 9 whenever
you launch a Classic application. This environment has been dropped
from Intel releases of Mac OS X, but thanks to SheepShaver, you can still set it
up yourself on Mac OS X, Linux, Windows, and even BeOS if you want to.
I decided to try SheepShaver on my Ubuntu machine, and discovered just
how easy it really is...."
Editor's note: See SheepShaver Brings
Classic Mac OS to Intel Macs and Leopard by Alan Zisman for one
user's experience. It should be possible to compile and run a version
of SheepShaver for PowerPC Ubuntu.
dk
Link: How to Run Mac OS
9 on Ubuntu Using SheepShaver
Products & Services
Brando 2 GB USB Flash Drive with Voice
Recording
PR: This USB flash drive is not only data
storage, but also a voice recorder. You can records any sound into the
memory with WAV format. A rechargeable built-in battery lets you have 5
hours of continuous recording. Now you can bring it wherever you go
with your data and information - and records any sound whenever you
need.
Features:
- Built-in voice recording
- On/Off switch
- File Format: WAV - 1 GB ~ 70 hours recording
- Built-in rechargeable battery
- Battery powered (around 5 hours per full charge)
- LED indicator
- USB 2.0
- Portable and easy operation
- Plug and Play
- Supports Mac OS X or latest version, and Windows 7/Vista/XP, Linux
2.4,
- Dimensions: 64 x 21 x 9mm (approx.)
- Weight: 13g
Price: $23
Link:
Brando USB Flash Drive with Voice Recording
Apricorn DriveWire Universal Hard Drive Adapter:
PATA or SATA to USB 2.0
PR: Apricorn Announces DriveWire Adapter for the Upgrade
Suite. Universal Hard Drive Adapter provides USB interface to any
desktop or notebook hard drive.
Apricorn, offers the DriveWire Universal Hard Drive
Adapter, providing a USB connection to any 2.5" or 3.5" IDE/PATA or
SATA hard drive. The DriveWire comes bundled with Apricorn's Upgrade
Suite, which features Apricorn's EZ Gig II cloning and imaging software
for Windows and Shirt Pocket's SuperDuper! for Mac. When used together,
DriveWire and EZ Gig II make it easy to transfer OS, data,
applications, documents, address books, email, settings and preferences
- from an old drive to a new drive, in a few easy steps.
In addition to the Upgrade Suite, each DriveWire Universal Hard
Drive Adapter comes with a USB 2.0 cable (USB 1.1 compatible) and high
quality UL Listed power adapter. The compact DriveWire incorporates
three hard drive connections into its design, a SATA connector for new
style hard drives, a 44 pin connector for 2.5" notebook IDE/PATA hard
drives and a 40 pin connector for standard 3.5" desktop IDE/PATA hard
drives, allowing you to connect a hard drive to any desktop or notebook
computer with a USB 2.0 port.
In three simple steps, users can quickly and simply transfer data
from an old drive to a new drive. It's as easy as connecting the
hardware, and booting up the computer using the "Upgrade Suite"
bootable CD to make an exact clone of the old drive onto the new drive.
Once the data transfer is complete, simply install the new drive into
the notebook or desktop and the computer will boot up as usual.
There is no need to buy a different enclosure for every hard drive
or worry about whether or not there will be enough power through the
USB port to run the device. DriveWire is guaranteed to safely provide
all the power you need. It's also compatible with all of today's 2.5",
3.5" IDE/PATA or SATA hard drives.
"As the leader in hard drive upgrade kits, our goal was to provide
our customers with a truly universal upgrade kit that was both cost
effective and easy-to-use," said Mike McCandless, Apricorn's Vice
President of Sales and Marketing. "When you combine the flexibility of
DriveWire with the capabilities of Apricorn's Upgrade Suite you have
the perfect data transfer solution for all of today's desktop and
notebook computers, eliminating the need to purchase unique enclosures
for every hard drive."
System Requirements:
- Mac system requirements:
- CD-ROM Drive,
- Apple G3 or later
- 64 MB RAM
- available USB port
- Supported Operating Systems: Mac OS 9.2 or later & Mac OS X
10.2 or later
- PC system requirements:
- CD-ROM Drive, 128 MB RAM, Pentium CPU II, available USB port
- Supported Operating Systems: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows
2000 Professional
- Pricing: $39
- Warranty: 1 Year Limited
Link: DriveWire
Universal Hard Drive Adapter
Purchase Link: Currently selling for $33.82 from
Amazon.com with free ground shipping.
ViewGuard Antiglare Screen Protectors for 20",
21.5", and 24" iMacs
PR: Intelligen LLC announced the availability of its expanded
line of ViewGuard Antiglare Matte Screen Protectors, providing a
selection of more than one hundred standard and custom sizes. Created
for use in locations where sunlight and fluorescent lighting may cause
potential glare, the expanded line of ViewGuard Antiglare Matte Screen
Protectors are now available at BuyViewGuard.com with a MSRP starting
at $24.99.
The ViewGuard Antiglare Matte Screen Protectors for notebooks,
laptops and flat-screen monitors are designed with an antiglare matte
coating, reducing glare and reflections caused by natural and
artificial lighting. Users can comfortably use their computer in bright
settings, including office buildings, cafes and parks, as well as near
windows. Attaching directly to the surface of LCD screens, the matte
screen protectors feature glare reduction and reduce potential
eyestrain.
ViewGuard Antiglare Matte Screen Protectors for notebooks, laptops
and flat-screen monitors reduce glare and harmful ultraviolet rays
while protecting your LCD display from scratches. ViewGuard Antiglare
Matte Screen Protectors easily attach directly to the surface of your
LCD screen and the antiglare matte finish reduces glare and reflections
caused by natural and artificial lighting.
ViewGuard Antiglare Matte Screen Protectors feature the
following:
- Antiglare Technology - Reduces glare and reflections caused
by natural sunlight and artificial lighting
- Screen Protection - Protects screens from fingerprints,
smudges and scratches
- Touchscreen Compatible - Compatible with touchscreens
including Ultra-Mobile PCs and Tablet PCs
- Anti-Ultraviolet - Reduces harmful ultraviolet exposure
- Low-Profile Frameless Design - Seamlessly fits onto a
display and stays attached even when the notebook is closed
ViewGuard Antiglare Matte Screen Protectors are now available in the
HDTV 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio format for the following display
sizes - 10.1", 11.1", 11.6", 13.1", 13.3", 14.0", 15.6", 16.0", 16.4",
18.4", 20.0", 21.5", 23.0", and 24.0" - as well as other aspect
ratios.
iMac Models
- 20" iMac (White) ViewGuard Antiglare Frameless Privacy Filter
(17.09" x 10.69") - $119.99
- 20" iMac (Aluminum) ViewGuard Antiglare Matte Screen Protector -
$26.99
- 20" iMac (White) ViewGuard Antiglare Matte Screen Protector (17.09"
x 10.69") - $24.99
- 21.5" iMac (Aluminum) ViewGuard Antiglare Matte Screen Protector -
$30.99
- 24" iMac (White) ViewGuard Antiglare Frameless Privacy Filter
(20.37" x 12.74") - $163.99
- 24" iMac (Aluminum) ViewGuard Antiglare Matte Screen Protector
- 24" iMac (White) ViewGuard Antiglare Matte Screen Protector (20.37"
x 12.74") - $34.99
ViewGuard products can be ordered online from BuyViewGuard.com.
Link: ViewGuard Made for
Apple
Desktop Mac Deals
For deals on current and discontinued 'Books, see our 13" MacBook and MacBook Pro,
MacBook Air, 13" MacBook Pro, 15" MacBook Pro, 17" MacBook Pro, 12" PowerBook G4, 15" PowerBook G4, 17" PowerBook G4, titanium PowerBook G4,
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