Low End Mac Archive for May 14

Low End Mac Archive

Beige G3 or 9600?, Dan Knight, Mac Daniel. Which is the better choice, a beige G3/233 or a 9600/200?
The under-rated Power Mac 5400, Jonathan Ploudre, Back & Forth. "Probably the biggest attraction of a 5400/120 is the price. They regularly go for under $100 on eBay."
So long, Douglas Adams, Dan Knight, Mac Musings. "Science fiction humorist and Mac advocate Douglas Adams passed away last Friday. So long, and thanks for all the laughs."

MP3 and the Mac, part 1, Korin Hasegawa-John, Mac Daniel. An introduction to MP3s, Mac clients, and burning your own CD with iTunes.
Apple back on the radar screen, Steve Watkins, The Practical Mac. CIO Magazine, eWeek, ZDNet, and others are taking notice of a resurgent Apple.
This Old Mac, Jeff Adkins, The Lite Side. The crew of This Old Mac is filming John's renovation of his old computer into a new machine.
Website automation with PHP and MySQL, part 8, Dan Knight, Online Tech Journal. Adding data to your MySQL database with your browser.

Where are the doomsayers?, Stephen Van Esch, Mac Scope. If Apple is destined to fail, as so many "experts" have predicted, why do they all love the iTunes Music Store?
Does building your own CoreCrib G4 make economic sense?, Dan Knight, Mac Musings. The CoreCrib starts with a Power Mac G4 motherboard, power supply, and case for US$379. But is it a bargain once you build it into a full system?
Beige Power Mac G3, Best Mac Buys. Although a great machine for the classic Mac OS, the beige G3 has some drawbacks when used with OS X.
Site subscriptions, low cost Home Page, Dash 30fx clone, Voodoo vs. ATI, and more, Dan Knight, Low End Mac Mailbag. Also positive feedback on Apple service, HyperCard and OS X, and a letter from a future Mac owner.

Another year, another OS X update: How about a price break?, Adam Robert Guha, Apple Archive. Apple should reward loyalty and give discounts based on how many times we've paid to upgrade OS X in the past.
A wrinkle in life: Difference and divorce, Dan Knight, Mac Musings. Thinking different sounds fine, but being different can lead to a lot of disappointments in life.
iBook G4 graphics update, new 'Books in June?, sulphur batteries, Apple tech support beats Dell, and more, The 'Book Review. Online PowerBook FixIt guides, ThermographX, tiny USB flash drives, new Sony portables, and bargain 'Books from $150 to $2,599.

Ready to give the MacBook a second chance?, Andrew J Fishkin, Best Tools for the Job. After three bad experiences with the original MacBook and a subsequent switch back to Windows, this lawyer is considering the Core 2 Duo MacBook as his next computer.
Apple on mini CDs, 74 minute CD-Rs more compatible, iBook G4 reliability, and more, Charles W Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings. Also installing OS X using Target Disk Mode, partitioning your hard drive, Google's tool to simplify web pages, Canada and copyright law, and more.

Leopard is the way to go, even on most old G4 Macs, Carl Nygren, My Turn. The useful and just cool features in Mac OS X 10.5 make this the biggest step forward in the history of the Mac OS.
Windows on Macs: Three paths for integration, Jason Packer, Macs in the Enterprise. Mac users have three routes for running Windows apps: Run Windows using Boot Camp or virtualization, or use a compatibility layer such as WINE.
Up-to-date or low-end, we need technology in our schools, John Hatchett, Recycled Computing. Modern computers are great educational tools, but sometimes less distracting options (like no Internet) make more sense.
Mac OS 9 still nice, anticipating Odysseus, PowerBook 1400 upgrades, and more, Charles W Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings. Also rebuilding PowerBook batteries, FastMac vs. NuPower replacement batteries, and only one G4 upgrade left for WallStreet PowerBooks.

iPad's impact on netbook market, future of the MacBook Air, $15 USB 2.0 CardBus adapter, and more, iNews Review. Also using a cloud drive with your Mac, OWC Mercury SSD reaches 480 GB, control GPU in i5 and i7 MacBook Pros, and more.
One user quits Mac while another embraces it, is Apple losing its cool?, 100 free Mac apps, and more, Mac News Review. Also Kent State J-school recommends Macs, run Windows and Linux without Boot Camp, iPad replacing desktops for some users, and more.

3 Ways to Use Microsoft Office on Your iPad, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac. You can't run Microsoft Office natively on the iPad, but one of these workarounds may do the job for you.
Swapless: Disabling Virtual Memory in Ubuntu, Austin Leeds, Low End PC. A slow hard drive slows virtual memory, and virtual memory can reduce the life of flash memory, so you may want to turn it off.