Care for a Mac Plus

Of all of the Triassic Macs, the Mac Plus has the most sentimental value among the Low End Mac community. For many 1980s computer users, it was the first Mac they ever owned. For others, it was the first device they used as a replacement for the venerable typewriter.

PowerBook 1400 G3 Upgrade Deal, Full Size PDA Alternative, Wireless Router Deal, High Capacity Batteries, and More

Except as noted, prices are in US dollars. PowerBook 1400 G3 Upgrade Deal RadTech: New Online Supplier of ‘Book Accessories Dana PDA-based Alternative to a Laptop Computer Netgear MR314 Wireless Cable/DSL Router with 4-Port Switch for $79.88 PowerPad High Capacity Laptop Accessory Batteries PC Card Modem/Ethernet Cards Bargain ‘Books PowerBook 1400 G3 Upgrade Deal Megamacs […]

The Dying Art of Plain Text Email

What is happening to email? Once upon a time, email was nothing more than plain text that came to you on a blank screen in a font that could be read by just about anyone. Now two new forms of email have appeared. The first is mildly annoying; the second is wildly impractical for Macs […]

Triassic Mac

Triassic Macs? Since the creation of the Abandonware Petition in the late 1990s, the use of epoch terms for the evolution of life started to be applied to low-end Macs. The battle cry Allow Jurassic software to roam free became a common phrase among vintage computer users.

The Mac and Windows Compatibility

2002 – One thing that has really been overlooked about the Mac is its excellent compatibility with Windows. While compatibility has long been a part of the Mac OS (including PC Exchange and DOS cards for Quadras and early Power Macs), in the past couple years it really has been ignored as a feature.

I Want to Switch But…

2002 – For years the Mac faithful heard promises about Apple’s next generation operating system. Copland or Rhapsody (or whatever it was being called at the time) would be fully buzzword compliant, would run on any Power Mac ever made, and have us chomping at the bit to upgrade.

Building Up Buttercup: Building a Not-So-Bitty Box

While researching this series of articles on small form-factor PCs, I was not entirely altruistic in my motives. I was also looking at a way of putting together a small form-factor computer of my own. My goal was a computer that I could take places without breaking my back or my wallet.

United We Stand

As commentator Paul Harvey is fond of saying, “It’s not one world.” The events of September 11, 2001 brought that home to Americans, who usually felt safe and secure at home. And now we worry about terrorism.

Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar

Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar was released on 2002.08.24 and was last updated on 2003.10.03, when the 10.2.8 update was released. There were rumors that 10.2.9 would be released in mid-2009 to address several bugs and vulnerabilities that remained in version 10.2.8, but that never happened.   Jaguar was the first version of OS X […]

Power Mac G4 Mirrored Drive Doors (Mid-2002)

Apple hit the 1 GHz mark with the Quicksilver 2002 in January 2002 and 1.25 GHz with the Mirrored Drive Door (MDD) in August 2002. Even the entry level 867 MHz Power Mac G4 now has dual processors. This was the last Power Mac to natively boot Mac OS 9. Beware Apple’s claim of “four […]

Power Mac G4 Mirrored Drive Doors (Mid-2002)

Apple hit the 1 GHz mark with the Quicksilver 2002 in January 2002 and 1.25 GHz with the Mirrored Drive Door (MDD) in August 2002. Even the entry level 867 MHz Power Mac G4 now has dual processors. This was the last Power Mac to natively boot Mac OS 9. Beware Apple’s claim of “four […]

Linux and BSD Unix for Older Macs

Not long ago, I threatened you all with the end of the PPC Linux column. In response, many of you wrote in to ask for it to stay. (One person suggested that I let it die a graceful death for reasons which I happen to agree with, but he was outvoted.)