'Argh' Moments Switching to OS X, Mac OS 9 'Amazingly Fast', Make Your Own Anti-spam Machine, and More

Compiled by Charles Moore and edited by Dan Knight - 2006.07.14

This Week's Apple and Desktop Mac News

PowerBook, iBook, MacBook, and other portable computing is covered in The 'Book Review.

All prices are in US dollars unless otherwise noted.

News & Opinion

• Some 'Argh' Moments while Switching from Windows to Mac
• Going Back to a G3 iMac: OS 9 'Amazingly Fast'
• Turn a Mac with OS X 10.2 or Later into an Anti-spam Machine
• Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance Page Updated

Tips

• 17" iMac for Education Developer Note Posted

Products

• StorCase SATA Enclosure for Mac

Desktop Mac Deals

News & Opinion

Some 'Argh' Moments while Switching from Windows to Mac

PC Magazine says:

"During the initial start-up sequence, OS X asked me if I wanted to log into my home Wi-Fi network, which it had already found. That impressed me. After clicking "Yes," I entered my WEP password and clicked to proceed. No go: Authentication error. So I entered the password again, and again, and again. I even used a Windows machine to log into my router to verify that I had the correct information. I did. Argh. There went an hour of my life that I'll never get back....

"Confession: It's important to note that I never read instruction manuals unless I'm totally clueless. As of today, I still haven't read an OS X manual (Apple's 'Argh' back at me?). But hey, should I need to read a manual? Isn't the point of OS X and all Apple products, in general, that they're dead easy to use? I thought so."

Link: Switching from Windows to Mac - Some Argh Moments

Going Back to a G3 iMac: OS 9 'Amazingly Fast'

OS News' Eugenia Loli-Queru reports:

"A few months ago Thom bought and reviewed an iMac G3 333 MHz while it was running Mac OS 9. I was always fond of the looks of the classic iMacs. They were just too cute to not want one. Recently Geeks.com restocked their Mac line with refurbished iMac G3s. They sent us one in, a 400 MHz DV model (first released in October 1999) and we tried out not only Mac OS 9.2.2 but also the latest Mac OS X, v10.4.7....

"Once again (since I used to use a G4 Cube) I was amazed at how fast Mac OS 9.2 boots and operates. OS 9 reminded me of another era, a more innocent era in operating systems. Today users require so much from their desktop software that developing and delivering an OS has lost lots of its joy. But even today OS 9 could serve a less-needy user. It comes with IE, Netscape, Outlook Express and there are still thousands of applications to freely download or purchase. OS 9 might not be supported anymore by Apple, but it can be used to fill up most modern needs....

"I was impressed by the speed of Tiger on this 400 MHz G3. I remember a time in 2001 when our ex-housemate bought a 500 MHz iMac with Mac OS X 10.1.5. It crawled! But Apple has made an exceptional job optimizing Mac OS X since then. Especially with Panther and now with Tiger, a supported 400 MHz G3 is more than enough for some basic Internet usage (browsing, email, IM etc.)...."

Link: Review: Going Back to a G3 iMac

Turn a Mac with OS X 10.2 or Later into an Anti-spam Machine

MacUser's Dan Moren says:

"Do you hate spam? I mean, hate it. With the passion of a thousand fiery suns. Would you, given the chance, obliterate it from the face of the earth? How about for a Klondike bar? Excellent.

"Your mail program's spam filter is probably pretty good, but if you really do detest spam, it's not nearly good enough. Adding an extra layer (or two) to junk mail filtering may just help kill those sneaky fellows dead....

"Many of us probably have an old Mac lying around that could be sacrificed for this sort of duty, and it may very well be a meaningful sacrifice to stop the evil that is spam."

Link: Turn That Old Mac into an Anti-spam Machine

Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance Page Updated

MacAttorney's Randy B. Singer has updated his excellent Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance page:

"I've created this site because so many of the Macintosh users that I have encountered have expressed frustration that they don't know what to do, or what to use, for performing routine maintenance on their Macintosh running OS X. There is also a huge amount of misinformation going around on the subject. Even Apple has contributed to the confusion with conflicting tech notes on their Web site. With the assistance of a few free utility programs, routine maintenance under OS X is very easy. The problem for most users is figuring out which utility to use, and for what. This site will tell you that.

"Just a little routine maintenance can be as effective as buying an expensive accelerator for some Macintoshes! It can also banish vexing spinning beachballs, rid you of 'out of memory' error messages, make an old Mac perform like a newer one, and keep your valuable data from being lost."

Link: Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance Site Updated

Tips

17" iMac for Education Developer Note Posted

Apple has posted a developer note for the new education-only iMac.

"This developer note gives a technical description of the 17-inch iMac for education computer, based on the Intel Core Duo microprocessor and introduced in July 2006, to help developers design products compatible with these computers. The note provides information about the computer's internal design, input-output features, and expansion capabilities."

Link: 17-inch iMac for Education Developer Note Posted

Products

StorCase SATA Enclosure for Mac

PR: StorCase Technology, a world leader in data protective storage enclosures, today announced the release of a new InfoStation 5-Bay SATA desktop model with support for both PC and Macintosh systems. The latest version of this high-density RAID enclosure allows increased configuration flexibility for up to five removable SATA 3 Gbps drives, providing the performance, data protection and adaptability required for today's demanding and dynamic storage applications.

The 5-Bay InfoStation integrates a SATA port multiplier that greatly simplifies cable management by allowing a single cable connection for up to five SATA devices. The versatile enclosure is capable of using all five bays for RAID levels 0, 1, 10 and JBOD, and uniquely supports twice the SATA-specified external cable length. This complete, turnkey solution incorporates a 64-Bit PCI-X 133 MHz HBA and includes a shielded 2-meter cable with standard eSATA external connectors. The new enclosure is PC and Mac OS- compatible; support for Linux is anticipated in the near future.

"The 5-bay InfoStation now with Mac support is one of the first external SATA enclosures on the market that doesn't require bridging to a SCSI, Fibre or Ethernet host interface," stated Joel Tang, StorCase Director of Engineering. "StorCase is providing an efficient, reliable and platform- adaptable solution that supports up to 3.75 TB of storage within a single, cost-effective and compact enclosure," added Tang.

For added application flexibility, two desktop InfoStation units can be mounted horizontally in a standard rack cabinet with the use of an available 3U rack mount kit.

Exceeding hard drive and controller manufacturers' requirements for operation of high performance, high capacity devices, all StorCase enclosures are supported by industry-leading warranties and 24/7 technical phone support.

Link: StorCase

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