Articles related to Macworld. Typically links to articles I’ve written for macworld.com.
When I decided to purchase a new MacBook, I knew I'd struggle with one decision: black or white? One was $200 cheaper; one was much cooler looking. So which way did my wallet vote? Here's how things went a couple of days ago at the local Apple store.
Having succesfully navigated the Windows on Mac world via both the unofficial hack as well as Apple's Boot Camp, I once again put on the Windows hat for a first look at Parallels Workstation. Parallels lets you run Windows (nearly any variant), as well as various versions of Linux and Unix, and I tested multiple OSes on the Core Duo mini.
Shortly after the unofficial method of running Windows XP on Intel-powered Macs was released, Apple released a public beta of Boot Camp, their own solution to the problem. Given that I'd just used the unofficial solution on the Core Duo mini, I was the logical candidate to do the same via Boot Camp. So I did, and wrote about the steps involved.
Before the days of Boot Camp, some very bright folks figured out how to get Windows XP running on Intel-powered Macs. I volunteered to give the process a test run on the Core Duo mini, and wrote about my experiences.
After receiving my first-ever Intel-powered Mac, a new Core Duo mini, I spent the better part of a week testing out the machine in nearly every aspect of performance I could think up. This started as a three-part series, but based on feedback from the first three parts, we added two additional sections. Here's how the entire series came out:
While not at the technical level of an Ars Technica report (I won't even pretend to have the skills to go there), this is a very detailed look at the machine from a somewhat typical user's perspective.
Ever wondered how to tell if you've bought the wrong brand of RAM for your mini Mac? Thanks to a recent misadventure, I can now tell you exactly how you'll know. Ugh.
Yes, I really did purchase standard-size RAM for the mini, and (even worse than buying it) not even notice that it was way to large to fit inside that small case until I got it home.
Ever wondered about the various settings in the Font smoothing style pop-up of the Appearance System Preferences panel? Thanks to a recent crash, I was forced to revisit the font smoothing settings, which I literally hadn't looked at in years.
I found the results of my tests somehwat interesting, so I wrote them up for macworld.com.
As noted on numerous sites yesterday, the Camino browser has officially reached version 1.0. This is great news, as Camino has long been one of the fastest, best looking browsers available for OS X. I've used it off and on over the years, but now, with 1.0 out, I'm giving it a test run as my main browser for a week. Why? I'm a bit tired of Firefox's non-Mac-like interface, and Safari seems to get slower each day I use it. Plus I like some of the features it offers.
Over on macworld.com, you can read my Editor's Notes entry to learn why I'm giving Camino a test run. While it's not a full review (or even a preview), it does cover some of the features you'll find in Camino, as well as a couple of essential plug-ins.
If you're presently not entirely satisfied with your browser of choice, give Camino a shot. It's lacking in a few areas, but overall, it's a very capable browser with a very standard OS X interface and a great feature set. I must admit, I love the 'browser wars'--they're clearly giving us not only more choices, but more better choices than we've ever had before...
This blog entry covers my first-ever full week at a Macworld Expo (I usually just go down for a day or two).
I know that not everyone that visits here reads my stuff over on Macworld's site, so I thought I'd put a quick note here, too. Over on Macworld today, you can read my latest opinion piece, A Dim View of Spotlight.
This piece is a follow-up to my original Shining the spotlight on Spotlight article, which (confusingly enough) appeared here on robservatory in May (I wrote it prior to the Macworld changeover). If you read the original, you can skip the whole "what I said back then" section in the new article, and just read through my latest thoughts on why Spotlight still isn't quite everything it could be.
Executive Summary: I don't like the way Spotlight works at all, but I still think it has great potential. Read the story for the specifics on why I feel that way!