In the endless rush to get the latest Mac that has come off the assembly line, Mac users leave behind a wondrous treasure trove of applications and documents that are of little or no use on the new Mac. The reason for this is simple - the application or document will not run using a device such as an eMac or a G5 Power Mac.

The only way to appreciate this Triassic treasure trove of software is to use a Triassic Mac. These machines can vary from a 1987 vintage Mac Plus to a 1993 vintage Quadra 700 running System 6, 7, or 8.

The most fascinating of the Triassic software are applications known as HyperCard stacks. HyperCard was the killer Mac application of the late 1980s and early 1990s. HyperCard allowed one to take text, graphics, and sound and set them up in tutorial-like arrangements with scroll bars and icons that took you to the "next page" when you were done reading and interacting with the current page. It worked much like the modern Web. Indeed, the HyperCard format most likely influenced the software engineers who were creating the first Web browsers back in the early days of the 1990s.....

"Getting a stock x86 machine to be recognized as running EFI is the Holy Grail of running OS X on a standard PC. If this could be accomplished, then a purchased authentic copy of OS X can be installed on a PC without any need for hacks or patches. Until recently, the only way to get the Mac experience on a standard PC was to hunt down patches to use with a purchased OS X install disc or a patched OS X version. Finding these usually meant going to torrent sites or other less savory parts of the net.

That is until now; a company called Art Studios Entertainment has created a Boot Processing Unit (BPU) called the EFi-X USB V1. This device attaches onto an internal USB header on the PC's motherboard.

It works by running a version of EFI that lets OS X function on the PC architecture. The EFi- X is composed of an embedded CPU with several gigs of onboard memory, and a USB connector. It features its own firmware, which is constantly being upgraded by the creators to improve features and address any discovered hardware issues. "

I've spent a week or so playing around with the beta release of Picasa for Mac, and here are some thoughts.

- It's FAST. ...

- It's considerate....

- It finds your photos without fuss....

- It does things my mum will love....

- I like the the color searches....

When I pulled my MacBook Pro out for its first field run at CES, one limitation I hadn't previously anticipated arose. It's something you should consider if you're using anything larger than standard USB plugs.

When I went to plug in my Verizon EV-DO card, all was well. But when I moved to hook up my digital camera's USB cable in the other port, my smile turned upside down - just like the old plastic MacBooks, there is almost zero clearance in between the two USB ports, meaning anything that's slightly above the normal plug size will block the other opening. Guhhhh.,,,,,

To preface this article, yes it has been several months since Apple gave us the thumbs-down on FireWire by axing it from the latest round of MacBook updates (it survives on the MacBook Pro, but only in the less popular Firewire 800 form). Much has been said, though little has been done - although there is an online petition to bring FireWire back to the MacBook. But a conversation with a client and an Apple Genius at my local Apple store recently brought the issue back for a while, and it is worth sharing.....

Two recent reports indicate developments in Apple's efforts to transform itself from a second-tier computer company into a top-level consumer-electronics powerhouse.

First, a story published today by AppleInsider reports that Apple "has filed for a trademark for its OS X operating system but without the 'Mac' prefix that has accompanied the name since its inception."

Second, multiple postings on MacNN, MacRumors, The Graphic Mac, and others discuss the rumored overhaul of Mac OS X's Aqua user interface (UI), code-named "Marble," when version 10.6, Snow Leopard, is released this year.

Click . . . clock . . . click . . . clock . . . click-clock, click-clock, click-clock

Oh, you're probably wondering about that sound? If you listen closer, you may find it familiar. Just listen:

Click . . . clock . . . click . . . clock

The memory of that sound should be coming back to you by now, especially if you were ever privileged enough to use the device the sound in question came from, whether it was new or used. It's the sound of a keyboard . . . but wait, listen closer:

Click-clock, click-clock, click-clock

You'll especially take notice that it's not just your average, run-of-the-mill, grab it off the shelf at Walmart for $5 keyboard. No sir, this is a keyboard that will always have it's place in Mac history.

The keyboard in question is none other than the Apple Extended Keyboard. With it's big, full-size layout, tactile feel, and clickity-clockity sound, it's a keyboard that has been near and dear to the hearts of many of the Mac faithful for years. For some, it still remains their keyboard of choice.....

Apple's share of the US computer market dropped nearly 16% in the fourth quarter of 2008 as the economy continued its freefall, a research analyst said Thursday.

According to Gartner's preliminary estimates, Apple sold 1.25 million machines in the U.S. during the last three months of 2008, an 8% increase year-to-year over the same period in 2007, but down 23% from the quarter before . Apple's performance dumped it into fourth place, a fall of one spot, behind Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Acer.

According to a preliminary report released by Gartner Apple ranked fourth in U.S market share in Q4 2008 at 8.0% - up from 6.7% in the fourth quarter of 2007, but down from 9.5% in the third quarter of 2008.....

After several years of seemingly tireless 15 percent quarterly growth, the PC industry hit a wall at the end of 2008.

Overall PC shipments worldwide dropped 0.4 percent to 77.3 million units during the fourth quarter, according to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker study released Wednesday. The results are more alarming for the embattled industry considering that the quarter--the worst in several years--wasn't helped out more by the holiday shopping season. There hasn't been an overall drop in shipments since the second quarter of 2001, after the last recession....

There were a few bright spots in the midst of the economic gloom. Acer, Apple, and Toshiba, all heavily invested in notebooks and therefore more insulated from the long-declining desktop market, saw high rates of growth....

Specifically the PC maker has found success with its Acer One Netbook, where it's been incredibly aggressive on price compared to market leader HP.

Apple's done well for opposite reasons, growing 7.5 percent despite refusing to offer a computer for less than $999. The Mac maker's market share expanded again in the U.S., reaching 7.2 percent, the highest in at least a decade.

Fresh reports of Microsoft's first-ever job cuts are again circulating, with the Wall St Journal writing that the company is reviewing its options.

The Journal has reported that the cuts could come next week but that Microsoft is considering cutting fewer than the 15,000 staff rumored in recent weeks - a figure that would total 16 per cent of its workforce. It also said Microsoft could end up finding alternative positions for staff, avoiding the need to make layoffs.

Investors had time to brace themselves for Intel's atrocious fourth quarter earnings, since the chip maker warned of revenue drops twice in the past three months.

That's why Chipzilla's profits plummeting 90 per cent in the quarter was actually in line with Wall Street's dismal estimates. The company reported net income of $234m for the thee months ending December 27. That's down from $2.27bn in the same period last year.

I recently left the G3 market and stepped up to having only G4s. I recently wrote about whether G3s are viable in the workplace (see Getting the Most from Your G3 Mac), but what about the G4?

High-end G3s still pack a fair amount of power. If all you do is surf the Net, check your email, and write letters, a midlevel iBook G3 or a RAM packed B&W G3 tower will suit your needs for now. Both will run Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" like a dream, but with OS X 10.5 "Leopard" cutting out the G3 entirely and 10.6 just around the corner, the gap is widening.

I have already started seeing software developers requiring 10.5 for some of their products, however some also require an Intel processor running 10.5, meaning that even if you have a G4 or G5 running Leopard you may find yourself missing out.

How viable are G4s in the Intel Age?...

In this age of dual- and quad-core Intel machines and new low-end Windows machines at around the 2 GHz mark, it does make even the highest G4 - 1.67 MHz in the PowerBook or 1.42 GHz in the eMac or Power Mac G4 - seem a little under par.

But how much power does the average user need?...

A large portion of the Apple Mac community is waiting for Apple to refresh the Mac Mini line. We learned today that the next generation of Mac Mini computers will be based on Nvidia's Ion platform.

An Nvidia partner confirmed to us that Apple was the first to receive samples of Nvidia's Ion platform, which we covered extensively during CES. In fact, Apple received prototype units long before Nvidia partners who opted to work on Ion. We're told that some partners still only have blue prints of Ion.

Apple's MacBook and MacBook Pro unibody notebooks already use Nvidia's 9400M GPU for graphics duties, and this GPU is precisely what Ion uses.....

Based on reports from an unnamed NVIDIA partner, a PC Enthusiast website has controversially concluded that Apple's next Mac mini will be use NVIDIA's Ion platform, which pairs NVIDIA's 9400M system controller and integrated GPU with Intel's low power Atom processor.

Writing for Tom's Hardware, Tuan Nguyen said that Apple was among the earliest recipients of NVIDIA's Ion samples, reporting that the company "received prototype units long before Nvidia partners who opted to work on Ion." The article's headline calls the move to Ion in the Mac mini "confirmed," but earlier reports from trusted sources seem to conflict with this notion.....

Seemingly cementing a move first hinted at during the World Wide Developers Conference, Apple has filed for a trademark for its OS X operating system but without the "Mac" prefix that has accompanied the name since its inception.

The Cupertino-based company initially filed for its trademark in Trinidad and Tobago less than a week after the June 2008 conference, where lobby banners first indicated a split where Apple would distinguish between OS X Leopard, the version of its operating system for traditional computers, and OS X iPhone, the modified platform that supports both its namesake cellphone and the iPod touch....

Earlier this week, I sat down with Gmail Product Manager Todd Jackson to talk about the future of the service and to find out what's been keeping the team busy behind the scenes. Here are five tidbits from our meeting you might find interesting.....

Just as the posted letter once replaced the smoke signal as a primary means of long-distance communication, e-mail is now displacing the letter. As it does so, many of us are moving into uncharted behavioral territory. But fear not - our resident etiquette expert, Mac Manners, is on the case. So sit up straight, silence your cell phones, and follow along as we politely yet firmly offer advice on how to conduct yourself in e-mail.

According to reports in the Financial Times and elsewhere, Toshiba has made an offer of around $340 million to $450 million to acquire Fujitsu's hard-drive manufacturing division. Competitor Western Digital was previously said to be interested in acquiring the business.

Normally I wouldn't bore you with little stories about mergers and acqusitions, but this one actually bears a little relevance for us Mac users.....

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