Applelinks Tech Web Reader - Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Making AppleCare Worthwhile: MacBook Pro Battery Replacement [Or Not]
MacPhobia vs. PCPhobia
'Snow Leopard' and the Death of PowerPC Support
Confessions Of A Former E-mail Packrat
Turn Down The Volume On Your E-mail
How a Heavily Upgraded Power Mac G4 Pulled Me Back from the Dark Side
OS X Trojans In Wild: Beware Of Geeks Bearing Gifts
5 Obsolete Storage Formats
Optimized Firefox 3 builds available
Apple Seen As Already Greener
The Thin Laptop Wars
MacBook or MacBook Pro?
Serial Problem With 17" MacBook Pro Display Screens
Making AppleCare Worthwhile: MacBook Pro Battery Replacement [Or Not]
TidBits' Jeff Carlson says:
Every time I buy a new Mac laptop, I question whether I should purchase AppleCare to extend the warranty from one year to three years. My MacBook Pro cost $2,800 (with tax and shipping) in November 2006, so laying out another $300 for AppleCare - well, frankly, it hurt..... However, I've found that almost every laptop I've owned has needed some sort of after-warranty work done, so I've ordered AppleCare for every one.
[Editor's note: My experience has been the diametrical opposite. I've bought four new Mac laptops in the past 11 years (plus several used ones), AppleCare with none of them, and it's never been missed. My reasoning is that any catastrophic problem will likely either show up in the first year under the regular warranty, or be an affliction of old age after AppleCare coverage expires. I'm sure there are many examples of exceptions to that theory, but I'm pretty confident that it would apply in more cases than not. None of my Apple laptops has ever required warranty service of any sort except for the case plastics of my PowerBook 5300 being replaced under Apple's Extended Service Program for that model when the trackpad button broke at about the four year mark. I fugure I've saved more than the price of a new MacBook (counting interest and growth of money not spent) by not buying AppleCare. However, your mileage may vary, and if AppleCare helps you sleep better, go for it.]
For the full commentary visit here:
http://db.tidbits.com/article/9663?rss
MacPhobia vs. PCPhobia
ZNet blogger Tom Steinert-Threlkeld says:
Last week, I borrowed my wife's PC laptop while I was on the road (see "Alabama's Broadband Tide") and thought she would be quite happy using my 24" Macintosh iMac in the interim.
No way. She was ecstatic to see the laptop back on her desk Friday night. The Mac? "It is scary,'' she said. "The cursor rises up and jumps out at you. I hate that."
Don't fret, Mac fearers and Mac haters. There's a Web outlet for your primal screams about to launch. It's called, naturally, MacPhobia, and will be comparing the individual features of the Windows and Mac operating systems. It debuts in about three weeks. Not everyone finds Mac as cool as T-shirt clad symbolic spokesperson in all those PC vs. Mac ads on television.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9173
'Snow Leopard' and the Death of PowerPC Support
Low End Mac's Carl Nygren says:
It seems a new era of operating systems is on the way, focusing more on stability and performance rather than adding new features.
Microsoft's upcoming Windows 7 (previously Vienna) is said to include only a few new features, primarily focusing on improved stability and speed. Ubuntu 8.10 "Intrepid Ibex" is also said to focus on core stability and better performance.
At WWDC 2008, Apple announced and previewed Mac OS X v10.6 "Snow Leopard", which will, quite unsurprisingly, focus on higher stability and better performance. Apple has given the new feline its own section of Apple's website, which doesn't feature any screenshots, but does give us a sneak peek at the next version of OS X.
Judging from the CD given to developers, one of the requirements to install Snow Leopard is "an Intel processor". This is not good.
First off, this kills a huge number of Macs. Even the most powerful 2006 Power Mac G5 Quad will be unsupported, along with the iMac G5 and Power Mac G4 (Power Macs below 867 MHz have already been abandoned). Aluminum PowerBooks will also dead, as well as iBook G4s......
If Apple does decide to kill off PowerPC support, what will happen to PowerPC users? I'm sure almost all of you who are reading this article have at least one PowerPC Mac. Will we have to keep using outdated versions of Mac OS X? Or should we instead turn to Linux?
Yesterday I decided to have a look at what Linux offers PowerPC users, should Snow Leopard be Intel only. I decided to give it a shot on my Dual 533 Digital Audio.....
[Editor's note; The thing is, most of the marquee new features in OS 10.5 are integrated with Intel chip technologies, so a Snow Leopard that supported Power PC would really just be a cleaned-up OS 10.5, and hopefully that will be accomplished with fractional Leopard updates between now and next year anyway]
For the full commentary visit here:
http://lowendmac.com/ed/nygren/08ny/snow-leopard-powerpc.html
Confessions Of A Former E-mail Packrat
Macworld's Kelly Turner says:
Despite the chaotic state of my desk, I generally consider myself to be an organized person. Keeping up with multiple deadlines, writers, product releases, and general life stuff requires a certain amount of mental tidiness. Then one day, while discussing a story about organization with the esteemed Joe Kissell, I happened to mention that my e-mail inbox contained more than 35,0000 messages. And I'm pretty sure I said this with a certain amount of pride in my voice.
Joe's inbox count at that moment? Zero......
While my system generally worked for me, it had its shortcomings. For example, I often lost track of messages that still needed to be dealt with. As new messages arrived and older ones disappeared from my screen, I seldom thought to scroll down to see what was still unread. And although I'd developed elaborate coping mechanisms (using colors and flags and searches to identify messages) simply having an ocean of e-mail in front of me made the process of answering and checking e-mail seem like a Herculean task. Although I'd never have admitted it, opening my inbox stressed me out.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.macworld.com/article/133701/2008/06/packrat.html
Turn Down The Volume On Your E-mail
Macworld's Joe Kissell says:
As I write this sentence, my e-mail application's inbox is empty. In fact, it's almost always empty at the end of the day. This seemingly amazing feat didn't require a great deal of technological sophistication, organizational wizardry, or monklike discipline. I simply decided an empty inbox was necessary to preserve my sanity, and through trial and error - along with some helpful hints from productivity experts like Merlin Mann and David Allen - I eventually settled on a simple system that makes it possible.
Maintaining an empty (or nearly empty) inbox can make you more productive, result in fewer lost messages, and reduce stress by letting you focus on your most important e-mail. While it may take some initial effort to get there, changing the way you deal with e-mail doesn't have to be difficult.
Over the next three days, I'll show you how to clear out your overflowing inbox and help you rethink the way you deal with e-mail.....
For the full commentary visit here:
http://www.macworld.com/article/133950/2008/06/emptyinbox1.html
How a Heavily Upgraded Power Mac G4 Pulled Me Back from the Dark Side
Low End Mac's Ben Zalutsky says:
It's been three months since I've written for Low End Mac, and the MacBook I reviewed in my last column is long gone, regretfully. Since then I've gone through four computers to get where I am today - three of them running Windows.
At times, I became indifferent to the Mac. I still posted on Mac forums like I didn't have a life, but I was happy with my ThinkPads and even built a quad-core Q6600 gaming rig - until I decided I needed a file server.
Like any self-respecting Windows geek would, I went over to NewEgg to configure my system. It was late at night, and I was pretty tired. Out of sheer sugar-crash-fueled inattentiveness, I flicked over to a different tab in my browser. Lo and behold, what should appear but the main page of a Mac forum I had open? A thread caught the corner of my eye. It advertised a "heavily upgraded Power Mac G4 with RAID".
"Hmm," I thought. "This might make an okay file server, but shipping would be preposterous!"
It turned out that the guy who was selling it lived 10 miles away from me!
For the full commentary visit here:
http://lowendmac.com/ed/zalutsky/08bz/back-to-low-end-mac.html
OS X Trojans In Wild: Beware Of Geeks Bearing Gifts
MacUser's Dan Moren reports:
You know, it's kind of a shame that those poor guys from Troy have only ended up being remembered as the people the Greeks beat the tar out of. I mean, I'm sure they accomplished plenty in their lengthy history that would have have been worthy of notice and study, but you fall for one giant wooden horse and whoosh—that's anything anybody ever remembers.
So, it seems a pair of Trojan Horses (technically, shouldn't they be Greek horses, anyway?) targeting OS X have been identified and worse, have actually been found in the wild.....
....And before we get to the freakout stage, let's just quickly revisit the malware scoreboard: that's OS X: 2, Windows: eleventy bajillion. Feel better?
For the full report visit here:
http://www.macuser.com/security/os_x_trojans_in_wild_beware_of.php?lsrc=murss
5 Obsolete Storage Formats
Wired's Charlie Sorrel says:
With Toshiba's announcement of an actual shipping laptop with a 128-GB solid-state drive inside, it seems that the hard drive, in portable computers at least, might be in the twilight of its life. In the tech game, everything dies eventually, but some things are more fondly remembered than others.
8-Track
Punched Tape
Zip Disks
Cassette Tape
MiniDisc
That's five already? Writing this list made me realize just how many formats have been killed by newer generations, left gathering dust as their data slowly spills into the gutters of Disk* Row.
(*)anagram
For the full commentary visit here:
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/06/five-obsolete-s.html
Optimized Firefox 3 builds available
TUAW's Brett Terpstra reports:
Neil Lee has updated his optimized Firefox builds for Firefox 3. The architecture-specific versions of Firefox 2 had been dubbed BonEcho, but Firefox 3 brings a new moniker: Minefield. I'm unsure as to the intended implications of the name (it sounds like the perfect way to refer to an alpha release), but I've been running the Intel version with great results.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.tuaw.com/2008/06/22/optimized-firefox-3-builds-available/
Apple Seen As Already Greener
9To5Mac's Andy Space says:
Apple is seen as the greenest IT brand, sharing the lead with HP, Microsoft, IBM, Intel and Sony, reveals an environmentally-focused research study among enterprise technology users.
The survey - conducted by GreenFactor - revealed that 70 per cent of those surveyed said they would be prepared to purchase green products, but only if they were convinced of the positive impact of the decision.
For the full report visit here:
http://www.9to5mac.com/greening_apple
The Thin Laptop Wars
Forbes' Brian Caulfield reports:
The paperback edition of War & Peace, a bottle of wine, the world's smallest cat--all of these things weigh a good deal more than the Portégé R500-S5007V introduced by Toshiba last week.
The neatest trick: Unlike Apple's 3-pound MacBook Air, the 2.4-pound Toshiba includes the optical drive that the MacBook Air lacks while cramming in 128 gigabytes worth of storage, thanks to the world's largest capacity flash memory-based hard drive. All this, and it's just one hundredth of an inch thicker than the Apple.
The catch: Toshiba's new machine won't be available until the third quarter of this year, and even then it will carry a price tag that makes Apple customers look downright thrifty: $2,999.
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/4sbvhh
MacBook or MacBook Pro?
Schwartztech's Eric Schwarz says:
With many people going back to school in a couple of months, Apple has numerous promotions for those who buy a new computer. Even those of us who have aged machines are finding it time to check out something new. However, I've had a few people (myself included) wonder if a loaded MacBook is a better value than a MacBook Pro.
For the full commentary visit here:
http://schwarztech.us/articles/macbookorpro
Serial Problem With 17" MacBook Pro Display Screens
smh.com.au Nick Galvin reports:
Apple... has been on our minds at Troubleshooter this week.... In fact, we've been concerning ourselves with an Apple product from a couple of years ago and a problem being experienced by one reader.
The product in question is the G4 17-inch PowerBook - in our opinion, a fine machine.
Jon Biddell's major gripe:
"After around 2 1/2 years - and yes, out of warranty - my PowerBook started developing vertical coloured lines on the screen," he says. "This had happened during the warranty period and that was when the LCD was replaced. I figured that it was out of warranty so I was out of luck - until I discovered that the problem was a well-known one."
And indeed a little digging around online unearths a few hundred PowerBook owners claiming to have the same problem. Take a look at powerbook17lines.blogspot.com and http://www.appledefects.com/wiki/index.php?title=Powerbook-17 for examples.
For the full report visit here:
http://tinyurl.com/5zcxaf
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