My first computer was a 386 PC loaded with an elegant, almost forgotten program called GeoWorks. It was an impulse purchase in the fall of ’92, during a personal crisis. I badly wanted a distraction, something I could throw myself into. I dropped $1,300 on a credit card, carted home three boxes in my Honda, and […]
Fonts have been central to the Macintosh experience since the very first Mac. By looking at the history of font technologies on the Mac, I’m hoping to derive some suggestions about how you can get your fonts to work best for you. This is the first article in a short series.
2000: Is a Mac better than a PC? I’ve been asking myself that question for several weeks, and I have written many drafts while attempting to figure out which is better.
2000: You’ve probably seen the online ads from CoolVCD.com and read the press releases: Video Compact Disc (VCD) lets you watch movies on Macs or PCs that don’t have DVD drives.
Jonathan Ploudre first started using Macs in 1991 with a Mac IIsi. He’s a technophile who especially enjoys making things usable. He’s a Family Doctor in Mount Vernon, WA, where he lives with his wife and three girls. He wrote for Low End Mac from May 2000 through Sept. 2002.
2000: Many people can go through their computer-using career and never download a program to make their life easier. Why? Because they don’t know which programs to download. You don’t have to be one of those people because today I’ll review some helpful programs you never knew you needed until now.
2000: How would you like a Power Mac G3 for less than $500? Or perhaps a G4 Power Mac for less than $750? Both deals are currently available from Web sources with a little mixing and matching.
2000 – You’ve got your site up and running. You know people are visiting it, because they send you email (you do have a contact link on every page, don’t you). You’ve even registered with some search engines, joined a banner exchange or Web ring, and received a few links from other sites. But how […]
The SuperMac C500 and C600 are unique among Macintosh clones. They were the first clones to use a ZIF socket for easy processor replacement. Umax made processors in speeds from 140 to 280 MHz, as well as the CacheDoubler, which provides a double-speed (80 MHz) level 2 cache four times as large as the 256 […]
2000: Slashdot is a fantastic source for Linux news and a variety of other user-posted topics. One of the biggest independent computer news sites on the Internet, it has among the best implementation of technology, while keeping a very simple and quick-loading layout. However, it has one largely unnoticed weakness: Its Apple news.
2000: I received a ton of mail in response to the tragic Power Mac 9500 saga posted last week. The letters were so good that Dan Knight suggested we publish them, so here they are with some replies from me where appropriate.
Apple’s slot-loading iMac has arguably the best audio system available since the 20th Anniversary Macintosh. Engineered for three years by Harman/Kardon and utilizing rare-earth magnets, the Odyssey speakers provide unparalleled clarity and frequency response.
2000 – I received an interesting request from a regular site visitor last week: Jonathan Ploudre wrote me on May 3, wondered if I could adapt the new content on Low End Mac for AvantGo. For those, like me, who don’t own a Palm or Windows CE device, the first question is: What’s AvantGo?
2000: In my previous article I discussed why I think Microsoft products for the Macintosh should be viewed and reviewed in an unbiased manner. Since that article, Mr. Bob Allis has commented (The Mac-Files: On Boycotts) about my article and offered his opinion regarding why a Microsoft boycott would be sanctioned and supported.
2000: This is a story with a sad ending, and I’m not sure that it has any moral, but you may find it interesting. Our tale begins when my son was given the carcass of a Power Mac 9500 – the six-slot minitower that was Apple’s flagship desktop model back in 1996.
2000: I have been reading on many of the Macintosh-oriented websites and magazines how people are removing all Microsoft software on their Macs. Some columnists boast about how they are very proud not to be running the “Evil Empire’s” software. The writers say that their Microsoft software crashes very often, and others say that they […]
2000: It’s always good to have the latest released version of programs. What’s even better is getting the latest pre-release version of programs. Pre-released versions of programs are called beta or alpha software. I am testing out three pre-release programs at present.
2000: Project AppleSeed is one website you really must check out. A team at the UCLA Department of Physics and Astronomy has established that a cluster of four Blue & White Power Mac G3s now has the same computational power (and twice the memory) as one of the best supercomputers of eight years ago, a […]
2000: One of my other duties at Low End Mac, besides writing the articles you love to read every week, is helping out at the LEM Help Desk. Here, people email me (and a few others) with Mac questions. Most of the time, these questions are simple “how do I . . .” questions. Whenever […]
I was just starting out as a reporter back in 1976 and had to have a 35mm camera. The problem was, the Nikons at the little camera store in my town were way too much money – so I bought a clone.
2000: There is only one internet consumer that AOL doesn’t have a monopoly on – America’s schools. Well, not anymore. AOL will be soon releasing a new version of their software specifically for schools called AOL@school. As one of AOL’s “valued” beta testers, I was able to get ahold of a pre-release version of this […]
2000: You want to know how to make your old computer faster than it was when you bought it? Just erase everything on your hard disk!
2000 – Unless you know your visitors have browsers that support Flash, PNG, QuickTime, and other recent innovations, stick to JPEG and GIF images on your website. Knowing the audience of Low End Mac includes a lot of people surfing on version 3.0 and earlier browsers, you won’t find any other graphic formats here.*
2000: The name of this article was supposed to be “AppleShare IP vs. Windows NT”. However, in the last few weeks, I have had many problems with just getting AppleShare IP (ASIP) running.
2000: My faith in Microsoft has been restored. Why? Because this past week they unveiled Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0. And, I have to say, this program is amazing!
When I’m buying a computer, I look for the most options at the best price. In this article I will examine Apple’s Power Macintosh G4 and Dell’s Dimension desktops.
PCs need a lot more support than Macs, so the switch to Low End Win made our advice column crucial.
So you’ve got an old 286 sitting around, and you want to have some fun with it. Most people believe that computers from this era are entirely obsolete. Not true!
It is with mixed emotions that I join Low End Mac’s transition to Low End Win. After all, I’ve spent so much time and effort over the past eight years evangelizing the Mac and doing my best to convince anyone who would listen that Windows is an inferior alternative to the Mac experience.
Eric DeStefano made the transition back from Macs to Windows in Windows Metamorphosis.
What is Compaq thinking these days? The world’s biggest computer company, world renowned for its cheaply built computers sometimes lacking a plastic case, which we all know is the best way to make them, has suddenly turned to a bizarre concept…
Things Windows was our parody of Rodnay O. Lain’s Things Macintosh column.
2000 – Based on some recent email that I have gotten, there seems to be a number of PowerBook 100 owners trying to find a way to make them portable again. The PowerBook (PB) 100 was one of Apple’s first successful notebook computers, along with the 140 and 170. In 1991, it took the computer […]
2000: In Bryan Chaffin’s latest The Back Page column on The Mac Observer, he argues that Apple was brilliant for showing Mac OS X’s new “lickable” Aqua user interface now, and he sharply chides the foot-draggers (your humble servant included) who have expressed misgivings about the GUI course that Apple has chosen to follow in […]
2000 – SETI@home is a scientific experiment that harnesses the power of hundreds of thousands of Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI).