Low End Mac Archive for July 1

July 1 in Apple and Low End Mac History

1994: Performa 630 introduced. First desktop Mac with IDE hard drives also had slots for video input and a TV tuner.

Performa 630 series introduced. First desktop Macs with IDE hard drives also had slots for video input and a TV tuner.

The underrated PowerBook 190, Heather Anne Hurd, My Turn. How a seven-year-old PowerBook became a personal favorite.
XPress strikes back, Alan Zisman. Quark XPress 5.0 - heir apparent or too little, too late in comparison to InDesign 2.0?
Macs, politics, religion, and rights, Dan Knight, Mac Musings. Why we will continue to share our opinions on issues that are important to us, Mac-related and otherwise.

Secrets of the PowerPC 970: Why the G5 runs so fast, Chris Lozaga, My Turn. With two floating point units and more efficient instructions, the PowerPC 970 is designed to be faster than any Pentium.
Switcher's guide to OS X, troubleshooting an upgrade nightmare, iChat AV, and more, Dan Knight, Low End Mac Mailbag. Thoughts on slow OS X adoption, Claris Home Page, and upgrading a Power Mac G4 to accept two optical drives.
Benchmarks to convince pundits that Macs are faster, Jeff Adkins, The Lite Side. If they don't want to believe Apple's demonstrations or the independent lab reports, here are some tests that just might convince the PC experts how fast the G5 really is.

Kiss your data good-bye if your drive fails without a backup, Adam Robert Guha, Apple Archive. Lesson learned the hard way - if you want to keep your digital photos, address book, and other data, you'd better have a backup plan.
Flash RAM to replace hard drives?, reducing fan noise in 'Books, a fuel cell future, and more, The 'Book Review. Free 6MP digicam with PowerBook purchase, truth about laptop case protection, mobile backup solutions, bargain 'Books from $399 to $2,299, and more.
Fujitsu pushes drive capacity, Keyspan's networked USB print server, monster 37" LCD monitor, and more, Mac News Review. Also new compact external drives, front-mounted ports for older Power Macs, Stealth Serial Port for G5, iControl for GarageBand, and more.

Low End Mac's Compleat Guide to the Dual USB iBook G3, Charles W Moore, 'Book Value. From a 500 MHz model introduced in May 2001 through 12" and 14" 900 MHz G3 iBooks rolled out in April 2003, these iBooks offered unprecedented value.
The Mac Future: Snow Leopard, MobileMe, and the iPhone/iPod touch, John Hatchett, Recycled Computing. Apple will leave the PowerPC behind with OS X 10.6 while expanding the Mac's presence on the Internet and in your hand.
Master of Orion on the Mac, Tamara Keel, Digital Fossils. The DOS version of this vintage game broke with Pentium or Windows 95, but the Mac version still runs very nicely in the Classic Mac OS.
SanDisk Sansa Clip a low cost alternative to iPods for Mac users, Alan Zisman, Zis Mac. There's no video or photo support, but the Sansa Clip works with MP3 files and includes an FM radio and a microphone.

Amazon.com v. interstate sales tax: Everyone loses, Dan Knight, Mac Musings. Amazon.com is standing up to states that are trying to have it collect sales tax on interstate commerce, which most see as a violation of federal law.
Introduction to autofs in Mac OS X, Keith Winston, Linux to Mac. "Autofs is often used in enterprise environments to set up network-based home directories and other network mounts for users at login."
Refurb MacBook Pro deal, fastest Mac browser, 256 MB modules for WallStreet, and more, Charles Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings. Also more Safari 4 feedback, praise for Camino, MacBook cracks, looking for Craigslist software for Macs, and more.

OS X 10.6.8 adds TRIM, benchmarks faster; $600 Hackintosh Mini; security update for Leopard; and more, Mac News Review. Also workaround for 10.6.8 audio problem, Java updates for OS X 10.5 and 10.6, Roccat fast browser, and more.
New MacBook Air this month?, White MacBook going away?, some SSDs can hose your data, and more, The 'Book Review. Also inside Apple's Thunderbolt cable, Sony Vaio Z targets MacBook Air and botches Thunderbolt, new Porsche designed LaCie mobile drive, and more.