My Experience with the Local Apple Store

Being a low-end Mac user gives you little experience of the shiny new world of Macs and essentially the Apple Store. I have peered through the window of the recently opened local store, drooling over all the latest Apple gear inside. If you use an older Mac, chances are you are more than used to […]

Snow Leopard Macs: The New Low End

I spent all day arguing with my fellow local Mac group members about Apple’s decision to release another version of OS X less than twelve months after Lion – and the rapid pace at which Apple is making Macs outdated. Then it suddenly struck me: Why am I bothered? I’m not going to be in the […]

Where Is Apple Going in 2012?

Prediction and rumours have been a part of the Mac world for as long as I have: If it’s not about hardware revisions, then it’s about new devices or what the next version of the Mac operating system will bring. 2012 will be one of the most interesting years in the Mac world for a […]

Is Tiger or Leopard Better for Sub-867 MHz G4 Macs?

I’ve been using Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard on an unsupported Mac for a few months now. It is a 500 MHz Titanium PowerBook G4 with 1 GB of RAM. It runs a lot better than you might think, and I am happy using it for my daily machine. But how does Leopard compare to […]

Adding USB 2.0 to a Titanium PowerBook G4

2009 – Despite my 867 MHz Titanium PowerBook G4 (TiBook) being introduced in November 2002, making it nearly seven years old, it is still an excellent machine. Being an 867 MHz model, it is the earliest Titanium model to officially support Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, and it copes with it very well.

Is Leopard Slower than Tiger on G4 Macs?

2009 – I have had so many arguments with people stating that Apple deliberately geared Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard to perform much better on Intel machines so as to pull people away from the PowerPC platform. I thought it was about time this myth was laid to rest.

Safari 4 Beta Is Lightning Fast

I’m a keen follower of Mac web browsers, so when Apple released a new version of Safari – even a beta – I had to try it. Most owners of low-end Macs know they are for basic uses and browsing the Web, so finding a good browser that performs at a reasonable speed is vital […]

How to Clone Mac OS X to a New Hard Drive

A mate of mine who has only been using Macs for a few weeks has been using a PowerBook G3. We installed Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger on it, and then he got a larger hard drive. He was about to reinstall OS X when I suggested cloning.

Are G3 Macs Still Viable Work Machines?

I am a firm believer in getting the very most out of older hardware – part of the reason I like and write for Low End Mac. With the move to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, Apple cut out a lot of older computer users and began a slow death for the G3.

Gil Amelio: Facts & Speculation

1997: There’s been a whole lot written in the past week about Gil Amelio’s resignation. Most of it is a mixture of a few facts and a lot of speculation. From my perspective, these are the facts: