1999: This has been a very interesting month for this Mac user, and it has left me a bit culture shocked. This war between Apple and Microsoft/Intel is getting very ugly, and I don’t think it’s going away anytime soon. Both sides are insisting they have the better platform – and will do so until […]
This was probably Rodney O Lain’s best know column and certainly his most controversial. It got him booted from one of the many websites he wrote for.
1999: Please note that Freewwweb has not only gone out of business, but their domain has been purchased by a porn site. We are retaining this article written by Rob Myers for historical interest but have removed all links to the domain. Dan Knight, publisher.
1999 – I just purchased a PowerBook Duo 270c from a friend of mine for $100. I am able to network it with my newer computer, but I would like to get this PowerBook online on its own. What kind of modem should I purchase? I also need an external floppy drive.
Quality is job one. – Ford Auto Company’s motto Innovation comes from people who take joy in their work. – W. Edwards Deming (1900-1993)
1999: Many people buy the iMac as a family computer, which means that many different people share it. Sometimes you’ll want to keep the people sharing your computer off certain areas of it, so that’s why people have developed security programs for the Mac. Today I’ll teach you some of the ways to keep your […]
1999 – I don’t back up my files nearly often enough. Theoretically, one should do it at least once a week. I do well to get to it once a month. It’s just a matter of the squeaky wheel getting the grease, and there always seems to be something more urgent to do than hooking […]
1999 – Two of the most opinionated and product loyal groups of folks I know are teachers and Macintosh users. The old adage of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” is often their battle cry. I’ve watched fellow educators fight tooth and nail to continue using older educational materials (often with very good reason) […]
1999 – I just read your advice about upgrading or replacing an older Mac, and my Performa 636CD works pretty well for my purposes (except no RealAudio). I had a logic board swap done about 1-1/2 years ago so I could add a 486 card for Windows 95 (it’s easier for me to adapt to […]
1999: Some people fish, others play golf, and I play computer games. Being that I am single, live alone, and have an anti-responsibility rule in my lease, I spend a lot of my free time playing games. I am not just any gamer – I am a “die-hard” gamer.
I’m the news director of a small TV station in upstate New York, and a few weeks back we decided to put more effort into our station’s web site. “More effort,” in this case, meant two or three updates during the working week, and still pictures to go with the stories.
1999.11: One of the new iMac’s best improvements is the new Harman/Kardon Odyssey sound system, which was three years in the making. It’s this easily overlooked feature that makes the new iMac really stand out from its hushed relatives, not to mention it’s PC competitors.
1999 – My old Mac has the maximum RAM in it (or the maximum that I will install). I have 4-14 MB. What options do I have for Internet access?
1999 – I’ve never been able to do a prerelease column about a Mac OS update or upgrade, as either I’ve not had access to them before release or have been gagged by an Apple NDA. After reading that Tom McKenna of the G3 All-in-one Stop Shop had received his copy of Mac OS 9 […]
1999 – Should I wait for the Voodoo3 retail Mac specific version, or should I buy the PC version of the card and use the firmware flasher to convert it over to Mac?
The Power Mac 6100s these days are getting cheaper and cheaper. What are some good uses for them as a secondary computer?
1999: So how’s the Mac user for a month doing? Well, not good. My Power Mac 7200/120 never showed up due to a snafu courtesy of Ubid.
1999: The “I” in iMac must stand for inferior. Because after installing Mac OS 9 on your iMac, you’ll feel inferior to your little computer. OS 9, Apple’s latest operating system for the Mac, is sure to make your iMac work for you.
1999 – I’m writing this column under duress. I’m writing while conducting a conflict test. I’m also kicking myself for not doing this test before I dropped my excellent editor and publisher, Dan Knight, a note this week saying that Claris Home Page appears to break with Mac OS 9. Both Dan and I are […]
1999: Transistor density has been doubling roughly every eighteen months like clockwork for 40 years now. That’s Moore’s Law in a nutshell.
1999: This week Apple released the final version of its Mac OS 9 compatible version of MacsBug app, version 6.6. MacsBug also finally has its own, dedicated web page on the Apple Website, where you can go to get information on or download the latest MacsBug version.
1999 – Last week’s news that Dell Computer had displaced Apple, taking the lead in educational unit sales for two straight quarters should have shaken the Macintosh world to its knees. Instead, the Dataquest report went essentially unnoticed at first by the various Mac news and rumor sites.
1999: Adobe Type Reunion and Apple’s Font Manager turn out to be the culprits.
1999 – I’ve found/been given/bought on the cheap a 68030/68040 Macintosh. I’m a broke college student, and I need to set this machine up to do word processing and surf the Internet as cheaply as possible. What should I do? (A common question around here.)
The Mac II uses a 16 MHz 68020 CPU. The hard drive is an ancient 5.25″ 80 MB Apple-branded Quantum drive – the one that originally shipped with this machine in 1987 – formatted with Apple HD SC Setup 7.3.5.
Supporting a over 80 Macs in three locations, consistency is very important. Most of the Macs at work are still running System 7.5.5. Newer ones are generally on Mac OS 8.1 or 8.6. We use the Apple ADB Mouse (in its various incarnations) almost exclusively, along with the Contour UniMouse on Macs without ADB ports.
1999 – Occasionally you just stumble into a job that gets bigger and bigger the more you look at it. I’d airily made a promise early last summer to help our school’s technology coordinator clean up the machines in our two elementary computer labs. “It shouldn’t be too difficult,” I thought, “just wipe the drives, […]
1999: One of the more interesting stories of the past week was the decision of MacTimes to close its doors and try to auction off its domain name on eBay for a cool $100,000. As I write this, there are 12 hours to go – and no bidders.
1999: Basic training is over, and it’s time to put my newly acquired skills to the test. As the title suggests, I am going to be a 100% Mac user for one month. I am unsure of what the results are going to be, but I am really looking forward to this. An old colleague […]
I just got a Mac Plus, Mac SE, or Classic. What can one do with this ancient Mac today? (This is a typical Mac Daniel question.)
1999: This week, Britannica.com Inc. announced that the entire 32-volume Encyclopedia Britannica, which sells for $1,250 in its traditional book form, will now be available on the Internet free of charge.
In this business you either sink or swim or you don’t. – David Smith The gambling known as business looks with austere disfavor upon the business known as gambling. – Ambrose Bierce When Apple introduced the Power Mac G4 (technically, it was when Apple introduced the G4 commercials) you could almost see final nails being […]
1999 – Should I leave my computer on all of the time? Some people say keeping it off is better for the computer, and others say keeping it on is better. Can you please clarify this issue for me?
1999: Free internet access is a big thing in the Windows world. Many people are currently using free ad-based internet services instead of pricier ones, such AOL and Erols. Free internet services was a relatively unfilled niche in the Mac computing world, except for a few companies that offered Mac versions of their software. However, […]
Intel recently christened “the chip formerly known as Merced” with the newly coined name ITANIUM. (Yes, they really do want it in all caps. Tough.)
