Rodent Regatta

Sean Bonner was kind enough to answer several of my Macintosh questions. He’s also the brains behind a nice Apple weblog. If you’re thinking about making the switch, this one needs to be in your regular reading list.

• When is the next generation of PowerBooks expected?
• Is it anticipated that the next PowerBooks will be G5-based?
• What are the advantages/disadvantages to 15” vs. 17” PowerBooks?
• Is there a favorite carrying case in the Mac PowerBook world?
• Can a Macintosh join a Windows Server domain?
• Can a Macintosh comunicate with a Windows Terminal Services server?
• Is a Windows-emulator required to make these things happen?
• Is a CD or DVD the only or best way to move data from a PC to a Mac?
• Will a new PowerBook connect easily to an existing Linksys WAP?
• Memphis will charge almost ten percent for sales tax. That $300 or so will buy lots of software. Is there a way to buy a Macintosh that would dramatically lower my sales tax?

There’s a risk in using IE6. If you use Windows and IE6 there’s a lot to do to keep your PC safe from intrusion and running well.

You can switch to Firefox. I’m running version 0.9.2 with only two or three extensions. There are problems. Open a pdf file in the browser and Firefox will ultimately lock up. Cancel it from the task manager and Firefox quits. Relaunch Firefox and you will face a long startup time, all favicons will be lost until the sites are revisited, and the pdf problem will return the next time you open a pdf file.

What to do? Well, I like Firefox as an alternative to IE6. It takes some downloading of extensions, but it works – sort of. My problem is the fact that I need a system that is more dependable. I can’t deal with my browser locking up and needing to be restarted just because I viewed a pdf file.

Solution: I’m going to buy a Macintosh with all the trimmings.

Well…there just isn’t much to do. The Macintosh running OS X, which is a Unix/Linux variant, is apparently either untargeted or impervious to all the junk we often have to do to keep Windows machines running well (or at all).

These notions were confirmed at the Apple Store and by browsing the web. Here’s a set of entries at the TextDrive support forum that supports the idea that Mac’s are rock solid. Take a look at the comments posted with this entry, too.

Forever Geek provides great advice. Today, they offer 7 Tips To Keep Your PC Running At Peak Performance. Sometimes I think that do-it-yourself I.T. management is one of the worst drains on productivity to ever come down the line.

The failure to do some periodic upkeep on a computer is the very reason many people suffer with five or ten minute startup times, annoying pop-ups and rather bizarre system performance. Consequently, they suffer at every computing session when fifteen to thirty minutes a week could save them twenty minutes every time they sit down at the computer.