Introduction to Unix: The Buzz Words

2001: I am sure that people are getting tired of hearing about multithreading, symmetrical multiprocessing, memory management, and preemptive multitasking. How is it really going to affect you, the Macintosh user, under Mac OS X, when you just want to read Low End Mac, check your email, and write a document.

Blame It on Mac OS

2001: A friend and I were having a “Mac OS stinks” discussion one day when, for once, he brought up a valid point on why the Mac OS does, in fact, stink: When you hold down the mouse button, the whole operating system comes to halt. Should anything interactive be running when you do that, […]

Using ProTools Free 3.4 with Older Macs

ProTools v3.4 Digital Audio Workstation software was released on CD-ROM free of charge by Digidesign as a promotional effort in 1997. It is an older but fully-functional 16-track version of the program. Pro Tools v3.4 was only approved for use with some PCI-based Power Macs, but it is possible to run the program on many […]

AAPL: Back in the Toilet

2000: Way back when, Apple stock was in the toilet, trading at $11 a share. Don’t look now, but the earnings forecast that came out on Tuesday brought investors close to that same spot. On Wednesday, AAPL closed at 14-5/16. Not a pretty sight.

OS X Dooms Apple

I think we have enough time now with Mac OS X Public Beta to reach a painful conclusion: The transition will not work, at least not well enough to sustain the Apple we know.

Trade-offs for Mac OS X Beta

2000: I seem to be experiencing a bit of déjà vu lately in regards to Mac OS X Beta and everything that surrounds it. It reminds me of when Windows NT came out – everyone was trying to figure out what to make of it. While technically superior to Windows 95, there were many trade-offs […]

I Love My iBook, but I Miss My Mac SE

Ten years ago this month I started graduate school, and I was determined not to wait in line at the computer center or rely on the kindness of friends who had their own computers. I needed my own machine. I had used PCs at work, but a friend let me use his Mac Plus to […]

Macintosh vs. Windows 95

I ran across this memo on my hard drive at work. It was written in late 1996, when Windows 95 was making serious inroads by claiming to be “almost as good as the Mac.” This was not a good time for Apple: Between authorized Mac clones dividing the Mac OS market and Win 95 siphoning […]

Processor Upgrade Market Never Better

On June 7, 2000, online Mac upgrade reseller MacCPU voluntarily closed its cyber-doors and shut down permanently. MacCPU principal Bob Moriarty explained dyspeptically in a column on MacNN that while, in his opinion, “CPU upgrades remain the single best idea we have ever seen in computing after the Macintosh Operating System . . . Apple […]

Quest for a Silent Computer

2000: One of the things I used to love about my Mac Plus back in the old days is that I could put a stripped-down version of System 6 and a text editor on a floppy disk, boot the machine from that, and work in blessed silence with the (external) hard drive shut down, disturbed […]

Back & Forth

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.

Slash-Not

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.

Supporting the Cause or Arrogance?

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 […]

Some Thoughts on Going PC

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.

The iPaq: What Is Compaq Thinking?

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…

Mac Shopping at CompUSA

2000: My week started out with me deciding to upgrade to Mac OS 8.5. I hadn’t heard of too many problems with 8.5 running on a SuperMac S900. The only question that remained was where to find it because it is out of print.

The Main Difference between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates

Certainly Bill Gates doesn’t like to be characterized as a megalomaniac, and Steve Jobs doesn’t like to be described as a sociopath, but that’s what they are. Trust me.  – Robert X. Cringely, Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can’t Get a Date I am young […]

The S900 Chronicles

2000: This has turned into something of an interactive article. Everything in black was written by Eric. The blue text contains my comments as an S900 owner. Dan Knight, publisher Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither was my SuperMac S900.

Macs and Y2K

1999: The latest news from Microsoft headquarters is that they will be delaying the final release of Windows 2000 (Win2K) until the later half of 1900. Nope, this isn’t true; it’s just a joke (in fact, I didn’t even make it up). But, this joke does have some truth.* Many Windows users will be hit […]

Megahertz Really Does Matter (Outside the Mac Community)

Michael Faraday, a pioneer in the field of electricity, was demonstrating the tremendous potential of his new invention, the dynamo, to the British Royal Scientific Society. A young politician in the audience, William Gladstone, grew bored, finally saying, “I’m sure this is all very interesting, Mr. Faraday, but what in God’s earth good is it?” […]