Mac Life

is a journalist based in Ireland. He edits forth magazine, and his personal web site is jasonwalsh.ie. He has written for Low End Mac in the past, including Low End Mac Designer, the first incarnation of the Mac Life column, and PPC Linux.

Classic Cars and Classic Macs, 2010.09.28. In some ways, running an old car is like using an old Mac. In other ways, not so much - but it's still fun.
Macs in the UK: Apple Has Become Mainstream, 2010.08.26. For a long time, Macs were viewed as computers for 'creativies', but thanks to the iMac, iPod, and iPhone, Apple is now mainstream.
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Hate My Netbook, 2010.08.25. Jason Walsh bought a Dell Mini 10V because it was small, cheap, and capable of running Mac OS X - and now barely tolerates it.
Pagehand is a Nearly Perfect Mac Writing Tool, 2010.03.31. Jason Walsh has been looking for the ideal word processing program, and Pagehand "strikes an almost perfect balance between simplicity and features."
Why I Plan to Stop Using Google Docs, 2010.03.16. Jason Walsh continues his search for the perfect word processor and explains why he uses Google Docs - and why he will stop using it.
Going Back to the Classic Mac OS for Productivity, 2010.03.05. Jason Walsh is seriously considering getting an old PCI Power Mac with OS 8 as his next production machine.
A Writer Looks for the Right Word Processor (and Fails to Find It), 2010.03.03. Jason Walsh searches for the perfect writing tool for his Mac but fails to find one that's "just right".
The iPad Shows the Failure of Journalism, 2010.02.02. Tech pundits latch on to every perceived shortcoming of Apple's iPad while looking to it to save the publishing industry.
Why I Didn't Wait for the Apple Tablet, 2010.01.20. Jason Walsh explains why he bought Dell Mini and made a 'Hackintosh' of it rather than waiting for Apple's new mobile computer.
The Apple IIGS, Apple's Home Computer for 1986, 2009.01.14. Believing Apple II users demanded color and would avoid the Macintosh, Apple created a 16-bit version of the popular Apple II computer.
Jef Raskin, the Visionary Behind the Mac, 2009.01.12. "I avoided the supposed 'visionaries' in the company who could not understand my idea but presented a business case: People would buy a product that they could readily and happily use."
The Ill-Fated Apple III, 2009.01.07. "...not only was the Apple III mind crunchingly expensive, it was made with none of the passion of the Apple II or Macintosh."
Jef Raskin, creator of the Macintosh, 1943-2005, 2005.02.28. Obituary: Jef Raskin, the visionary behind the Macintosh and a leading authority on interface design.
Jef Raskin, the visionary behind the Mac, 2005.02.28. "I avoided the supposed 'visionaries' in the company who could not understand my idea but presented a business case: People would buy a product that they could readily and happily use."
Background to the Apple IIGS, Apple's home computer for 1986, 2005.02.16. Believing Apple II users demanded color and would avoid the Macintosh, Apple created a 16-bit version of the popular Apple II computer.
Jef Raskin, the Visionary Behind the Mac, 2005.01.19. "I avoided the supposed "visionaries" in the company who could not understand my idea but presented a business case: People would buy a product that they could readily and happily use."
The top Mac design applications of 2004, 2005.01.10. What are the best Mac design programs released or updated in 2004?
The ill-fated Apple III, 2005.01.05. "...not only was the Apple III mind crunchingly expensive, it was made with none of the passion of the Apple II or Macintosh."
Scribus: Free DTP on the Mac, 2004.12.21. "The question is, all other things being equal, is Scribus up to the job of professional DTP? The answer is yes, with a few caveats."
Preparing for Scribus: Working with X11 and FinkCommander, 2004.12.10. Two free tools that help get *nix software installed and running under OS X.
ThinkFree Office: Slow, unpolished, yet useful, 2004.12.01. Despite the name, this isn't free software, and it really calls for a higher end Mac, but it does the job.
Scribus: Another alternative to Quark, InDesign, 2004.11.17. This open-source design program is lacking some niceties, but it has the tools to get the job done.
Richard Hunt, low end designer and Mac lover, 2004.11.03. Second-hand Macs and older versions of software are the tools of the trade for this London-based graphic designer.
Low End Designer survey results and feedback, 2004.10.29. Results of the Low End Designer Survey and feedback from our readers.
Text and Typography: Leading, kerning, tracking, and justification, 2004.10.20. How line spacing, kerning, tracking, and justification impact the appearance and fit of text on the page.
Text and typography: Serifs and dashes, 2004.10.08. For designers, typography is the crucial art of choosing and arranging text on the page to create a readable, attractive display.
Kill Bill: Twelve alternatives to Microsoft Word, 2004.10.01. A dozen low-cost, no-cost, and specialized alternatives to Microsoft Word for Mac users.
Low End Designer reader survey, 2004.09.29. "What is needed from you, the readers, is an indication of where you would like the series to go."
Killing Quark: Three layout alternatives, 2004.09.24. Quark Xpress may be the long-term standard, but InDesign, MLayout, and Ragtime give Mac users some good alternatives.
Four shareware programs every Mac designer should try, 2004.09.15. GraphicConverter, PDFCompress, Art Directors Toolkit, and TypeStyler: What they do and why they are so useful.
Peering through Windows: Why the Mac OS alone isn't enough, 2004.09.01. For production, using a Mac is fine, but you also need to know how your Windows-using client is going to view things.
Finishing (in) the Studio: Printers, backup, and graphics tablets, 2004.08.25. Why you may not need a high-end printer, better have a CD burner, and might want a graphics tablet in your design studio.
Scanning the scene with a flatbed scanner, 2004.08.18. Tips on choosing the right flatbed scanner for design work, including looks at OS 9 vs. OS X support, VueScan, TWAIN, and SANE.
Quark Xpress, InDesign, Photoshop, warez, and the value of software suites, 2004.08.04. A look at some of the essential tools of today's graphic designer - and why you want to avoid pirated software.
Which older Macs make the most sense? And why you want an OS 9 machine, 2004.07.28. Which older desktop models and 'Books make sense in a design shop - and why you may want to have both OS 9 and OS X up and running.
Why design using low-end Macs?, 2004.07.21. How to run a design studio on low-end Macs. Whether you want to get off the upgrade treadmill or want to set up shop on a budget, this series will help you out.
Linux and BSD Unix for older Macs, 2002.08.13. Linux and BSD Unix distributions for 68k Macs and pre-PCI Power Macs.
Macs in the workplace, part 2, 2002.08.08. "Macs are more common in offices than many people in the media realise."
Another look at Yellow Dog Linux, 2002.08.06. "Almost any PCI machine from an ancient Power Mac 7200 to the latest iMac will run YDL 2.3 well."
iApps? My Eye!, 2002.08.01. I don't want to be forced to sit through the dross that "ordinary users" create with Apple's freeware.
A Runtime Revolution for Linux and the Mac OS, 2002.07.31. Runtime Revolution brings the promise of write once multimedia to Linux, Windows, OS X, and the classic Mac OS.
PPC Linux: The end?, 2002.07.29. PPC Linux resources -- and the possible end of the road for the PPC Linux column.
Macs at work: Not just for designers, 2002.07.25. Why Macs are found in the workplace -- and not just for graphics design work.
Macintosh community or cult?, 2002.07.18. Is there really a Mac community, or are we more cult-like?
Our passion for the Mac, 2002.07.11. Why in the world are we so passionate about our Macs?

Low End Mac Designer articles

Why design using low-end Macs?, 07.21.2004. How to run a design studio on low-end Macs. Whether you want to get off the upgrade treadmill or want to set up shop on a budget, this series will help you out.
Which older Macs make the most sense? And why you want an OS 9 machine, 2004.07.28. Which older desktop models and 'Books make sense in a design shop - and why you may want to have both OS 9 and OS X up and running.
Quark Xpress, InDesign, Photoshop, warez, and the value of software suites, 2004.08.04. A look at some of the essential tools of today's graphic designer - and why you want to avoid pirated software.
Scanning the scene with a flatbed scanner, 2004.08.18. Tips on choosing the right flatbed scanner for design work, including looks at OS 9 vs. OS X support, VueScan, TWAIN, and SANE.
Finishing (in) the Studio: Printers, backup, and graphics tablets, 2004.08.25. Why you may not need a high-end printer, better have a CD burner, and might want a graphics tablet in your design studio.
Peering through Windows: Why the Mac OS alone isn't enough, 2004.09.01. For production, using a Mac is fine, but you also need to know how your Windows-using client is going to view things.
Four shareware programs every Mac designer should try, 2004.09.15. GraphicConverter, PDFCompress, Art Directors Toolkit, and TypeStyler: What they do and why they are so useful.
Killing Quark: Three layout alternatives, 2004.09.24. Quark Xpress may be the long-term standard, but InDesign, MLayout, and Ragtime give Mac users some good alternatives.
Kill Bill: Twelve alternatives to Microsoft Word, 2004.10.01. A dozen low-cost, no-cost, and specialized alternatives to Microsoft Word for Mac users.
Text and typography: Serifs and dashes, 2004.10.08. For designers, typography is the crucial art of choosing and arranging text on the page to create a readable, attractive display.
Text and Typography: Leading, kerning, tracking, and justification, 2004.10.20. How line spacing, kerning, tracking, and justification impact the appearance and fit of text on the page.
Low End Designer survey results and feedback, 2004.10.29. Results of the Low End Designer Survey and feedback from our readers.
Richard Hunt, low end designer and Mac lover, 2004.11.03. Second-hand Macs and older versions of software are the tools of the trade for this London-based graphic designer.
Scribus: Another alternative to Quark, InDesign, 2004.11.17. This open-source design program is lacking some niceties, but it has the tools to get the job done.
ThinkFree Office: Slow, unpolished, yet useful, 2004.12.01. Despite the name, this isn't free software, and it really calls for a higher end Mac, but it does the job.
Preparing for Scribus: Working with X11 and FinkCommander, 2004.12.10. Two free tools that help get *nix software installed and running under OS X.
Scribus: Free DTP on the Mac, 2004.12.21. "The question is, all other things being equal, is Scribus up to the job of professional DTP? The answer is yes, with a few caveats."
The top Mac design applications of 2004, 2005.01.10. What are the best new Mac design programs released or updated in 2004?

Previous Mac Life articles

Macs in the workplace, part 2, 2002.08.08. "Macs are more common in offices than many people in the media realise."
iApps? My Eye!, 2002.08.01. I don't want to be forced to sit through the dross that "ordinary users" create with Apple's freeware.
Macs at work: Not just for designers, 2002.07.25. Why Macs are found in the workplace -- and not just for graphics design work.
Macintosh community or cult?, 2002.07.18. Is there really a Mac community, or are we more cult-like?
Our passion for the Mac, 2002.07.11. Why in the world are we so passionate about our Macs?

PPC Linux articles

Another look at Yellow Dog Linux, 2002.08.06. "Almost any PCI machine from an ancient Power Mac 7200 to the latest iMac will run YDL 2.3 well."
A Runtime Revolution for Linux and the Mac OS, 2002.07.31. Runtime Revolution brings the promise of write once multimedia to Linux, Windows, OS X, and the classic Mac OS.
PPC Linux: The end?, 2002.07.29. PPC Linux resources - and the possible end of the road for the PPC Linux column.
Yellow Dog Linux on a Power Mac, 2002.06.20. Why Yellow Dog Linux is a great starting point for Power Mac users who want to learn Linux.
OS X from a Linux perspective, 2002.06.13. "OS X is great. OS X is beautiful. In fact, sad to say it, but OS X knocks Linux into a cocked hat."
Open source reality check, 2002.06.06. Open source idealism, business pragmatism, and the real reason programers write software.
Beyond Linux apps: Mac on Linux, 2002.05.30. Running Linux but need a Mac app? Mac on Linux lets you run classic Mac software on your PPC Linux machine.
A sampling of Linux software, 2002.05.23. A quick taste of browsing, productivity, graphical, media, gaming, and other software for PPC Linux.
Bring out the GIMP, 2002.05.16. No, Linux doesn't have Photoshop, but it does have GIMP.
Why Linux instead of OS X?, 2002.05.09. Too many Power Macs can't run OS X - or can't run it well.

Also by Jason Walsh

Classics, Performas, iMacs, and G4s, My First Mac, 2002.06.10. From Classics in school to a Performa at home to editing video on a G4 to writing on an iMac, the Mac is a great production tool.

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