MacUsers
 

Any interest in a seperate area for those diehard macusers out there? Questions, thoughts, rumors, etc. Our own area might keep mac related questions and thoughts from being lost in the clutter of the general group.

I'm interested. But at this point, my iMac is so old I'd have little to add on new stuff. Doesn't even have [gasp] FireWire.

Mac thread
 

I'm game, but we could just as easily take over the moribund computers thread, which hasn't seen a post in some time. That would also let us exert our subtle powers of persuasion to move people away from the dark side.

Old iMac
 

No firewire? Maybe time to upgrade and donate the old machine for a tax break (or convert it into a music server). With the constant upgrading of models and machines, you can get a relatively new iMac for cheap if you are willing to purchase used.

Without even looking at ebay, there are sites like Mac of all Trades and Low End Mac.

Old iMac
 

I just got a new iMac, and I'm really pleased. What to do with my old one? A music server sounds like a decent idea, or some other type of server. Are there any good sites for setting this up? Since it's a pretty slow, ol' beast, won't using it as a server slow me down? Especially since I'd have to get an external HD to have any storage capacity worth using.

(I'll hook it up to my home-network-in-progress . . .

wooo-hoooo! A Mac forum!

Not Exactly a Mac Story . . .
 

Apple may buy Universal Music.

Here's an excerpt from Motley Fool:

The answer to "why" may be, at its core, Apple's CEO and chairman, Steve Jobs, who has displayed strong personal interest in the entertainment industry for years. This is evidenced by his chairmanship of Pixar Animation Studios (Nasdaq: PIXR), his candid desire for Apple to better emulate Sony (NYSE: SNE) -- the music and entertainment giant -- the launch of Apple's iPod digital music player, and Mac's vigorous content applications. Word is that Vivendi approached Apple, but Jobs was probably all ears.

Since the late 1990s, the halls of Apple HQ have echoed with the notion that computer makers must become media owners if they're going to differentiate themselves. Plus, Apple is far more than a computer maker. Unlike Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), Gateway (NYSE: GTW), and others, it, of course, has the guts to write software. To compete with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), content and media applications are key.

Mac thread
 

Hadn't you already done that? I posted on that thread looking for advice about buying a PC, and got a bunch of people with monotonous tones and an odd look in their eyes telling me to get a Mac instead. Creepy.

Mac thread
 

Go ahead. Be a conformist. Tool for the Man.

:D

Mac thread
 

I would buy a PC if I could get on my employer's network from home. Unclear whether that's the case. If not, I'm open to getting a Mac instead, but y'all will have to talk me into it. My impression is that there is less software, and that you pay more for less, except that the user interface is far superior. And you get to stick it to the Man, which I'm sure he doesn't like.

Mac thread
 

I've been able to get access with my employers. Usually the Mac client is a hidden secret that no one knows about, except for one person. But once you get your hands on it, it sets up very easily. Maybe I've been lucky, but my employers have both had head IT guys who actually use Macs at home, so they were sympathetic.

As for software, the "less software" claim, while true, is generally irrelevant. You can get Office for Mac, which is entirely compatible, and it comes with an email program. Apple offers its own mail, web browser, music, photo, and movie apps, included in the price. Games are the biggest weakness, but my view is get a playstation if you want games.

Here's what you might do:

1) Talk to your IT folks to find out if they have a mac client for the external access. If they say no, don't believe them, and find out who makes the client software. THen go on the web to find the mac version, adn tell them to go get it from the producer.

2) Make a list of the things you want to be able to do with your home computer (and what software you would need). Then, post here, a mac group, or go to the Apple store, and ask the relevant questions.

In the end, it may be that a Mac's not right for you. Just don't dismiss it out of hand.

Mac thread
 

I couldn't agree more. Much of the software available only in PC format is simply not relevant for the home user. A Mac, out of the box, is fully set up for internet browsing, email, digital photos, multimedia, sound etc. (and it looks cool too). For other software, you add Microsoft Office and Quicken, and you pretty much have what 99% of the home users will need.

As for work access, one growing trend (at least at Biglaw) it to allow web access to almost everything -- at a bare minium, email and the document management system. If that is the case at your shop, then the home platform is irrelevant (as long as you have web access).

As for other apps, many firms are encouraging that those apps stay on firm owed and maintained laptops (which can then be taken home or on the road and access the firm network via a VPN configuration) -- and many firms are not installing firm-specific software on folks home computers anymore (too hard to maintain). The short answer is, talk to your IT folks, but don't be so sure that a PC at home will give you any greater access to your office.

For all interested, this is a great review of the new 17 inch PowerBook. It's a bit large for my tastes, but it looks terrific.

Mac thread
 

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my iMac came with Quicken 2003.

Funny you say that. I was complaining just last week about having to use outlook by web, rather than through entourage or outlook for mac. They told me that it created too many problems to allow software on home machines (even if purchased by the employee) because people expected support.

Mac Software
 

Using only my Mac, I edited hours of film into a feature last year and dumped in music tracks, titles, and special effects. One of my assistants attempted to do a three minute test piece on the PCs using similar programs and had none of the functionality that came automatically with my Mac.

Still, I am jealous I did not get quicken 2003 loaded.

Anon for obvious reasons.

New iPod and music service
 

from Apple arrived today.

New iPod and music service
 

And it looks pretty cool, too. It will be interesting to see how this music venture plays out. Will folks pay $1 a song, and for how long. Assuming the answer is yes, how long before a competitor hits the market and tries to take Apple's new market space?

I might pay a buck if the site was user friendly and fast -- while limewire works, it is slow at times and kludgy to use (not that I know from personal experience).

New iPod and music service
 

I played with it very briefly last night. It strikes me as incredibly easy to use within iTunes. All you do is choose "music store", and it takes you to the front page. It has some featured selections, but you can search. Search for say, U2, and most of their recent albums come up at the top of the screen, and all of the songs on those albums, plus several EPs come up at the bottom. Click on a song. It plays for 30 seconds or so. Then there's another button to click to purchase (I didn't do that). Amazing.

I think $1 is a great for buying a la carte songs. 20 years ago when I started buying 45s, the price was $1.50 or something (and that's pre-inflation). Here, the selection is anything you want (that's in the catalog) and far cheaper. There are plenty of CDs I bought for 1 or 2 songs. Going forward, such CDs are entirely irrelevant.

I think the success depends on a couple of things. 1) Will people decide to be honest, and pay a buck for a high-quality version of a song rather than stealing through Kazaa or whatever. 2) Will Apple eventually roll out a windows version of iTunes or a comparable interface so others can use it. As to 2, there will be plenty of debate whether windows users should be give access, but if they're not, someone else will get a similar deal with the music cos. (barring an exclusivity deal, which Apple may actually have gotten for a couple of years), and push apple's service to the margins.

My cynical view would be to make a windows version of iTunes, but make the hardware requirements for effective use pretty high (let it run on slower machines, but really slowly). That way, people who already have a $2000 machine can get it's full benefit, but are already in the apple computer price range, so are viable switchers.

New iPod and music service
 

And I have now received my new iPod. Quite sweet for those unfamiliar. No bigger than a cassette tape (albeit heavier), yet it holds all the CDs I want it to in digital format. I now can drown out the sounds of the unwashed masses on Metro.:D

If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up. They are so choice.

New iPod and music service
 

Did you go with the 10, 15 or 30? 10 sounds like plenty of room for my needs, and I am trying to figure out if I really care about a base and remote. Any thoughts?

New iPod and music service
 

I went for the 15. It still doesn't hold all my music (honestly procured), although I ripped at 192mbps. The pricing made the choice difficult, since the 10 is a great value, and the step up from the 15 to the 30 is only $100.

That said, the remote is a plus and a minus. The plus is you can leave your 'Pod in a bag/pocket, etc.. The minuses are 1) it adds a lot of cord, which seems permanently tangled with the headphones and 2) operating using solely the remote is impractical, unless you set up playlists that you're entirely happy with, which I haven't done yet (so I choose an album, and then need to choose another using the controls on the ipod). You can always buy the remote later for $40 or so.

As for the base, it's pretty unnecessary. As someone put it, it's basically an L shaped connector for the power/firewire cord. The cord to the computer plugs in either to the base of the ipod or the dock, into which the ipod goes. It does have a line out jack, which might be helpful for connecting to a stereo. But if you need that, it probably means you need two docks -- one for your computer, and another one for the stereo in the other room.

iTunes can be hacked to permit file sharing
 

Is Apple stupid or courageous? {Spree: a blogger muses about whether the iTunes 4 hack that turns it into a (legal?) Napster-like peer-to-peer way to share music files was actually intentional on Apple's part because iTunes is likely to survive the industry's inevitable challenge}.

iTunes can be hacked to permit file sharing
 

You don't even need a hack for streaming the music. Where apple was stupid (or not) was making it easy (apparently) to hack iTunes so one can actually download that music. It seems like an obvious problem, but maybe the engineers thought they had it blocked and just weren't trying too hard.

Edited to note that Apple has released iTunes 4.0.1, which eliminates the internet-streaming capabilities.

Airport Card
 

There are two versions of airport cards, regular and extreme. Now, of course, I want extreme, because, well, why wouldn't you?

Does anyone have experience with the extreme card? Will it fit in my 14" iBook? (It seems that the answer is a big fat no.)

Even(getting my wireless network this weekend)Odds

Airport Card
 

Check apple's website, but I believe the answer is that unless the computer was built with the extreme card size in mind, you can't use it. But it will still work with the extreme base station and a regular card, just at teh slower speeds.

Mac OS and IE
 

After vociferously claiming for years that its control over Windows did not unfairly advantage it against Netscape in the battle for browser supremacy, Microsoft has announced it will discontinue IE for the Mac, because Apple's control of the Mac OS gives it an advantage with regard to Safari versus IE.

Too funny!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...explorerformac

Oops
 

Apple posted specs for its new desktop computers on its site momentarily last night. Release expected Monday.

Oops
 

Interesting that the leaked stats were right on...

AdL

Oops
 

Well, I'd hope Apple would get it right. I think it was a screwup, not a "ploy."

Oops
 

If that is the case, someone has already been fired. I saw a link to the apple jobs datase somewhere, and there was a recently posted position seeking applicants for the aple store. I wonder if this posting is related to the screw up?

iPod
 

On another subject, I finally picked up a new iPod -- got me a 15gb model, and set it up in my office with some jbl creature speakers. Pretty nifty. At this point I have about 500 songs on it, and tons of room left. Just trying to load on a bunch of my old CDs that I never listen to (because they are all so scattered). I wish I had made the plunge earlier.

Safari Problems
 

Over the past week, my safari has died. Completely. I had to use an ftp to download netscape because safari refused to load anything other than apple.com.

I had the OM work on the problem. We reset, reinstalled, ran norton, followed the apple.com instructions, etc. to no avail. Everyone else the in the Odds family has experienced the same problem within the past two weeks.

Anyone else suffering? Was there an errant patch we installed? I have reported it to apple twice to no avail.

Safari Problems
 

Wow. I haven't seen anything on the mac boards, and neither I nor 2 of my family who run safari have experienced this. Weird.

Safari Problems
 

I thought my brother was crazy when he said his went down. Then mine went down a few days later. Mom's collapsed last night.

I'd keep a backup browser around just in case.

Safari Problems
 

Funny - like AdL, I've had no problems with mine yet (had it for nearly 2 years now, too). I think there was a software update to it that I just hadn't installed yet. Did you look to see when the last patch you installed was, and what the patch was for? Did you brother and mom install that upgrade too?

Safari Problems
 

Did you upgrade to teh most recent version 1.0.1? If you were running one of the betas, they had expiry dates. It's possible you forgot to upgrade, although I doubt it with you.

If it wasn't safari, you might also check on iChat AV. The beta of that expired last week (I think). That could have caused some problems.

Are you running panther or jaguar (10.2)?

Also, try the forums at macrumors.com. THey might have some insight.

Safari Problems
 

I upgraded before the errors rendered it unusable and then again after. We had all installed the new security patch in mid-December. I use the newest jaguar 10.2.8, and I have never used ichat.

It's strange that it just stopped working. There's no virus or tree error or anything.

Fortunately, netscape is working beautifully.

Thanks for the information everyone.

MacWorld Keynote
 

BTW, for anyone interested, tomorrow's MacWorld keynote will be available here.

spree: link to Quicktime stream of keynote

Panther
 

Anyone upgraded? Tales of woe or excitement?

Panther
 

I love Panther, especially the iChat. Everything seems to work more quickly (probably like the placebo effect, though), and for me the best thing is that it's much easier to find and organize files.