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Apple made a bold move just over 1 year ago today. By releasing Mac OS X, they asked their users to completely change their digital lives and switch over to a brand new operating system. If it isn?t done correctly, they will have nothing but angry users split between 2 worlds, and if it does go correctly, they will have nothing but happy users. So what happened?

In my mind, there are three ways which most people reacted to the release of Mac OS X. The first group ran out and bought a copy of Mac OS X, installed it, and never again glanced at Mac OS 9. The second group, bought Mac OS X a few weeks or months later, installed it, and hopped back and fourth endlessly and still continue to do so. The last group, is running Mac OS 9.2.2 at the latest.

Personally I am in the second group, what I personally think is the largest group. I bought Mac OS X two weeks after it came out, and installed it quickly. I keep switching back and fourth, but never kept Mac OS X as my primary OS. I still use OS 9 more than 80% of the time. And I don?t think that will change very quickly. This is not a good thing for Apple.

As I write this article I am in (gasp) Mac OS X, but I am running Word 98 in classic to type it. Why? Because I don?t feel like spending hundreds of dollars for Office X, which I know I need. The only new feature that I need is for it to operate under Mac OS X. Apple Works looks pretty good, but it?s still second class, and I still have to pay $80 for it. In my mind it?s not worth the $80.

If I were Apple, I would give Apple Works for Mac OS X away like iTunes and iMovie, just to get people in Mac OS X. Apple already provides it with the purchase of an iMac. A large problem in Mac OS X is that people need new upgraded software. Lets face it classic is a pain in the butt. Nobody wants to deal with it on a daily basis. Once in a while is OK. By making Apple Works part of it?s iProgram suite, it would basically be able to say that once you buy a computer and Mac OS X, you have everything you need to get started. You can type up your papers, manage your finances, create presentations with Apple Works, create movies with iMovie, listen to music with iTunes, and manage your photos with iPhoto. Install Palm Desktop 4 and you can have a really good address book and calendar on your computer, that even prints out really well.

Lets see what that would be on the “dark side” shall we? Well you buy the computer, and you get Windows XP, just like with a Mac you get Mac OS X. Then you need to buy software for video editing, unless you buy a package deal. You need something else for photo?s. You can use media player for MP3?s, but it?s not easy to burn music. And then you can type up your papers with? notepad!

By including Apple Works as part of it?s iProgram suite of software, Apple would better be able to justify the cost of buying a Mac, which lets face it is a bit more than that of a PC. Buy the Mac, and you are ready to go. Nothing else needed. With Windows XP, you have to use? Notepad.

Now I think that would make a significant impact in Mac OS X usage. It would get me over, and I don?t think I am the only one. It would also show Microsoft a bit of a message. Mac users already have a free Office productivity tool. To get users to buy Microsoft Office X, they would need to lower the price a bit for home users. Maybe then we would get it within the $300 range, which I personally feel would be a bit better. I acknowledge that Office X is a bunch of good programs, but not worth what they are charging for. A home licensing plan, allowing home users to have Office X at a reduced fee would help that out a bit as well.

Only then will Mac OS X finally have what I need to live in it. It?s got the looks, it has the speed, it has the stability. But it?s lacking in the business software.

This is the first in a series of articles discussing your aging Mac, and how to cope with the effects of aging. Don’t worry, you don’t need to put your Mac in an expensive nursing home, or even get an aid to assist in daily tasks. These articles are designed to give some tips that will show how your Mac can continue to serve you faithfully for quite some time. I intend to focus on iMacs, G3′s, and G4′s, and problems and solutions specific to them.

The topic for today is processor upgrades. A processor upgrade is simply a user installable card (normally) that replaces your current processor giving you faster performance. In a sense it is like a brain transplant, except your computer will keep its personality, since it keeps its own hard drive.

In recent months processor upgrades seem to have halted in terms of speed enhancements. They have been frozen so that the 500 MHz G4 was the fastest upgrade available for quite some time. I decided to do some research to see if this will change, and if so by how much.

I contacted Robin Sharp-Howdershelt, the Marketing Director at PowerLogix, a processor upgrade manufacturer to see if she could provide some information on processor upgrades and where they will be going in the future. She was very helpful in providing some insight (without disclosing company secrets) as to what is coming.

First of all, there are multiple reasons why processor upgrades have been at a standstill for so long. Robin Sharp-Howdershelt provided this comment

The current limiting factors have been price and chip design. Until recently all G4 chips were capped at a 9x bus multiplier which meant that the fastest the older legacy Macs could run with their 50MHz bus
limitations was 450MHz. The later machines like the Beige and Blue & White G3 models were capable of faster speeds, but the chip costs were preventative for those markets.

OK, we now know why there has been so much silence in the upgrade industry, but is there an end in sight?

Samples of the 1GHz chips have only just been provided by the
manufacturers. We do not anticipate long lead times on engineering
new cards to run these faster chips, but we are too soon in the
process to guesstimate as to when we might release such products

Referring to the idea of a 1 GHz G4 upgrade

Yes, we expect to see them, but I cannot say how soon. The most likely candidates for these upgrades would be the machines with the faster motherboards (100MHz and better).

Spiffy! To say the least. Imagine being able to upgrade a Blue & White G3, to a 1GHz G4 processor. In my case, my B&W is in perfect condition otherwise. The Zip drive has been upgraded. I put an ATA/66 Hard Drive controller and a new larger faster drive in (to be discussed in the next article) so the only thing really holding me back is my processor. I have a DVD drive, and I could easily add an external CD-RW drive, but I don’t need one. I could also upgrade the video card (also another article) and I can have a pretty zippy computer.

Powerlogix just announced a 550 MHz G4 upgrade, featuring a “low-powered 7410 from Motorola” Low-power means less heat in most cases. Heat can be a serious issue for computers. If a computer gets too hot, damage can occur. The fact that low-powered chips are being used means that the computers will stay cool despite the massive increase in speed.

These cards operate at approximately the same speed as the stock Apple processor, 35-43C, depending on ambient temperature. We currently use these chips on the iForce and BlueChip upgrades as well, but the PowerForce daughtercards still utilize the 7400 chip. I do not, yet, know the specs on the 1GHz chips, but Motorola seems to be producing most of their newer chips to draw less power in order to support the faster speeds.

So it seems that Motorola is producing low power chips in most cases, which is a good thing.

Upon email discussions with a few other upgrade providers, most not as vocal as PowerLogix, they have all hinted that much faster upgrades are in the works at this time for release this summer and beyond. Nobody was willing to give specifics.

There has been no indication whether dual processor 1GHz upgrades will be made available for older computers such as the B&W G3, and PCI Graphics G4. It would take a bit of improvising to make use of the free space inside these computers, to fit 2 processors with heat sinks, as well as creative cooling to keep them from generating too much heat, but the idea that it could happen hasn’t been ruled out.

There are already several iMac upgrades, most of which will most likely be enhanced as upgrades are made faster for the B&W G3, and PCI G4. The possibility of a dual processor upgrade for the iMacs are not very likely since there is limited room, and heat is an issue. I have not been able to find any information on processor upgrades for the G4 Cube. Most likely upgrades will come around, but again, I would not expect dual processor ugprades.

My personal opinion is to wait until 1GHz G4 upgrades hit the market in a few months. My G3 400MHz computer is a bit slow, but not worth upgrading at the moment unless I can get a substantial increase in performance. In my mind a G4/500MHz would not provide too much performance increase since not to many programs I use everyday are G4 enhanced.

I personally believe that a Dual 1GHz G4 upgrade is the Holy Grail of upgrades at this time. The B&W G3, as well as early G4′s are still perfectly good computers for most users, with the exception of aging processors. Most of the other hardware is still good, or easily to upgrade. If the price on a Dual 1 GHz G4 could be kept reasonable, these computers can be in service for quite a bit longer. Yes I do like the new G4′s, but there is nothing wrong with my beloved G3. It’s in great condition, just a bit slow, and hopefully, it will be able to go under the knife (screwdriver) and receive an upgrade that will give it some new life.

Next issue will discuss hard drive upgrades.

Back in December, Palm released a beta of its Palm Desktop 4 software. [Link] Since then there has been one other beta. Today, Palm released the long anticipated Palm Desktop 4 update. It’s no longer beta, but the real thing.

I downloaded the installer, followed directions, and ran the installer without much trouble. Upon completion, it prompted me to restart. That was the easy part.

The first time I tried to sync, it seemed to go well until I received the dreaded “Hot Sync was interrupted” error. I tried it 2 more times, then decided that I would delete my profile on my computer so that it would be as if I was installing for the first time. This time it prompted me for my password, and synced, again producing an error at the end. Looking in the log I always found the same

HotSync 3.0.0 started 3/25/02 8:43:42 PM
Local Synchronization
OK Install
1852402768 synchronization failed
“To Do List” failed (error = #1852402768)
1852402768 synchronization failed
“Memo Pad” failed (error = #1852402768)
1852402768 synchronization failed
“Date Book” failed (error = #1852402768)
1852402768 synchronization failed
“Address Book” failed (error = #1852402768)

In Mac OS X I received 1 good hot sync, and then similar errors.

Now after about 15 tries, I am unable to get a good sync in either operating system. I have spent a considerable part of the evening working on this with no success. One should note that I have a similar problem with both beta’s.

I know of at least 1 other person with the same error number, and expect that there are more. I was unable to get a reply from Palm about this error. If anyone has any information that would lead to a fix, please let me know.

One other gripe I have about the new version is that it doesn’t support most older Conduits. My personal favorite Avantgo [Link] doesn’t have an update yet. Now Up-to-Date, Power On Software’s calendaring and contact management system has released a beta of its conduit, though I have not been able to try it since I don’t currently use Now Up-toDate [Link]

I have decided not to give it a rating, since I don?t know if it is a widespread problem, or an isolated incident. As a result of this problem, I have had very limited usage of the program, not nearly enough so that I could rate it fairly.

“Apple established USB as the standard peripheral interface with the launch of the first iMac in 1998. Then Apple established the 802.11 wireless networking standard with the launch of the iBook and AirPort in 1999. Now Bluetooth further strengthens the Mac?s already dominant position in the wireless space.” reads the Apple web site.

Apple did set standards with USB and 802.11b (Airport), but will it happen again with Bluetooth?

Bluetooth has in my and many other’s opinion been vaporware for the longest time. Considered to be one of the most promising technologies for quite some time, it seemed like it would never materialize. Nothing but delays and more delays. Everyone loved the idea of cheap wireless peripherals, but Bluetooth remained just a name for quite some time, until now.

Bluetooth is to peripherals such as keyboards, printers, camera’s, media readers, handheld devices, cell phones etc. as Airport is to networking. It allows you to connect devices without physical connections. It is a high speed, cross platform protocol that will work with many devices within a 30 FT area.

Apple has announced that in April it will release a public beta of BlueTooth support for Mac OS X, and no indication of support for Mac OS 9. While it doesn’t appear that Apple is selling any of it’s own Bluetooth hardware, it is promoting the D-Link Bluetooth USB Adapter for use with the software. I would guess that any new Mac introduced at MacWorld NY in August will feature built in Bluetooth support. I would also go as far as to guess that Apple will introduce a new keyboard and mouse that take advantage of Bluetooth.

The question is will it take off? Bluetooth has been in question since the beginning, and there has even been the idea that it would never actually manifest into any devices. Now that it has, it may have a good shot. Apple will most likely take advantage, and be the first to sell a computer that only needs to be plugged into an outlet and the phone jack. Just like a cordless phone. If you can hookup a phone, you can get online! There are a few products that support Bluetooth right now like several cell phones, and printers, and adapters exist for many other devices. I think it will take until the end of the year before an accurate assessment can be made, but I do feel that Bluetooth will take off in the long run.

What I really do hope for is Mac OS 9 support. I think there are many who are still in Mac OS 9 for one reason or another, and still want Bluetooth support. If Apple doesn’t do so, then new computers with Bluetooth built in will most likely boot only in Mac OS X, and use Mac OS 9 only for classic. The key to Bluetooth success is to keep it like Airport, simple and with No Boundries, including platform and OS version.

Apple this week announced that it is now shipping “5,000 new iMacs per day, and hope[s] to catch up with demand soon,” [Link] but will this be enough to stop the criticism that has plagued the company since the introduction of the next generation iMac?

Well the answer is no. In response to “significant increases in component costs for memory and LCD flat-panel displays” Apple will also increase the cost of all iMacs by $100. This only effects the iMac line, and does not effect any other pricing. The new pricing is effective immediately on all orders, so if you ordered before March 20th, you don’t have the increase, but if you ordered on the 21st, the new iMac will cost you another $100 dollars.

While nobody likes a price increase, I really don’t think it is such a big increase. There aren’t to many computers shipping with a 15 inch LCD display and the ability to write DVD’s for under $2,000. The increase is most likely not enough to scare away potential sales in most cases, though it will make analysts think twice about Apple’s stock price.

According to Philip Schiller, Apple?s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing “Since the new iMac?s launch in January, memory costs have tripled and flat-panel costs have increased twenty-five percent, with little relief in sight.”

While Apple has increased its production of iMacs, I think it will take quite some time to catch up with demand. There are many stores right now weeks behind in orders. There is also a bit of controversy over the idea that Apple may be stocking its own shelves before selling to distributors, something it said that it would not do.

Shortly after going to press with the review of PC PhoneHome [Link], that security utility that claims it can not be erased with a format of a hard drive. I was contacted by Brigadoon Software with criticism that I did not review their product fairly, I always take the time to review every email I receive, and went to follow up with them and review their evidence. Here is the rundown of what I learned:

I was partially incorrect about the IP address not being recorded correctly by PC PhoneHome. While the program doesn’t output the IP address correctly in the email itself, the email header (part of any email) does contain the proper IP address, so in theory, it should be able to track down your computer.

They did however share some concerning information. PC PhoneHome appears to act as spyware on a computer. Each time you startup, you receive an email, Brigadoon Software also receives a copy of this email. This serves an effective purpose, so that when a computer is stolen, they can help track it, but this can also be perceived as a security issue by many.

Brigadoon Software provided this comment to me:

Information received is archived unless and until a computer is reported stolen. At that point, if the end-user seeks the technical support of Brigadoon Software or its licensees, they will be asked to provid the following:

1. a copy of the Police Report;

2. permission from the end-user to search and retrieve data pertaining to that computer from the archives.

We can then assist the end-user in the recovery of the lost or stolen computer by offering technical expertise (such as was provided to you when you erroneously determined that the software did not detect the computer’s location).
..
However, it is the policy of Brigadoon Software that if an end-user installs a copy of our software for evaluation in order to publish a story, review or to make public statements, they implicitly agree to company review of the archived material in order to verify that the author’s comments are based, in fact, on an actual evaluation of the software.

What I found quite odd, is that they did not say anywhere I visited on the site that they do this, and they mention nothing about “they implicitly agree” to be stalked online. There was never any notice that they may use your contact information. They claim that the privacy policy on the website covers only the website, which makes sense, but when looking at the License for PC PhoneHome, I see the following:

You further agree as a license condition to accept periodic update information and product advertising from Brigadoon Software, Inc. via email.

This is a bit disturbing to see that only after the download does it say that you agree to be spammed. As far as registration info goes

You must complete the product registration form accurately and truthfully during software installation to be notified of software updates. This accurate and truthful registration also insures maximum protection for you in the event your computer is lost or stolen. If you fill in less than accurate or untruthful information, law enforcement agencies WILL NOT be able to help you in the event of loss.

Nothing mentions privacy of the user and how information captured will be used. The license covers their rights, and assumes you already agreed to the terms, since you already gave your registration information when you signed up to download it.

When I received this info from Brigadoon, I decided based on new evidence that I should download it again, and look really closely at what it says about security. Only a few minutes after download, my phone rang. Martin Moran of Brigadoon software wanted to know if I wanted to demo the Mac OS X version. That’s right, I am being cyber stalked. Obviously I am no longer interested in the effectiveness of the software, but the ethics behind the company.

When asked what the consequences of an employee browsing through this database are, I was told

Anyone who violates company privacy policy is dealt with according to our company employee guidelines.

There is no indication of what company policy dictates.


Now as far as removing the software goes, since that is how you can void the agreement, I need to give them permission to access their records on me, to:

Upon formal request (that would include authorization to view the archived data in order to verify the authenticity of the request), we then send an uninstall program to the End-user that is usable for that unique installation only. Therefore, if hackers put the uninstall up on a bulletin board or warz site, it would be ineffective on all other installations of PC PhoneHome.

The reasons for doing this are obvious. Let’s say you are a hacker and you are requesting all this information in order perform economic or technical espionage on the PCPH processes. You now request an uninstall to take the copy you put on your computer for evaluation off you computer, with the intent on posting for hacker consumption. How do we protect all the other users of PC PhoneHome? That is the justification for this process.

After considering everything at hand, I believe we have opened a can of worms. I will admit I was wrong about the IP address not always being captured correctly, but I still believe something is very wrong with this company. While employees seem helpful and quick to respond, they have no sense of business ethics in this digital world. They are more reason why privacy laws for the Internet need to be enacted quickly.

Editors Note: This article has been updated with the article PC PhoneHome Follow Up - Spyware and Privacy

This week Brigadoon Software [Web Site] released PC PhoneHome for Mac, bringing it’s popular security solution to the Mac.

The way the product works is it will email information regarding the computer to the person who installs the software (you) every time the computer starts up using an Internet connection. Even if the hard drive is formatted, the product is said to still remain. The product works in a “Stealth” manner to avoid detection.

The information includes vitals on the computer, as well as the IP address it is using, so that you can in theory give the information to the police to help retrieve your laptop.

Here is an example email:

PC PhoneHome for Mac

Date: 03-16-2002
Time: 23:11:15
Computer Name: Yosemite
Owner Name: Accettura

Fixed Disks:
Device 256 (.iomegaDriverATA_0.S v6.0.9)
Configuration: (ATAPI, Internal)
Serial Number: 80DB4463D
Device 1 (.ATADisk)
Configuration: (ATA, Internal)
Serial Number:

IP Address: 192.168.1.2
MAC Address: 00:00:00:00:00:00

Name: Robert Accettura
Organization: Robert Accettura
Address: My Street Address
City: Where I live
State: My State
Zip: 00000
Country: USA
Home Phone: 555 555 5555
Office Phone: 555 555 5555
Email: raccettura@macvillage.net
Unique ID: robertaccetturaXA9042H5EWD
Computer Manufacturer: Apple Computer Inc.
Computer Model No.: B&W G3, 400 MHz, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB HD, 12 GB HD, Zip 250, DVD-ROM, USB 2.0
Computer Serial No.: XA9042H5EWD
Inventory No.: 1

It would be effective, but unfortunately it fails to address a simple yet serious issue. If you look at my IP address it is “192.168.1.2″ that is an internal IP address, the result of being on a network, or behind a router. That would make it impossible to track. The software needs to be able to work behind NAT routers, and should connect to a server run by PC PhoneHome so that it can be traced back, defeating the protection that a cheap router can give.

Overall, I don’t think this product is very effective, I would go so far as to say it seems more of a scam than a true security solution. It can be easily defeated if a router is used between the computer and the Internet connection. Lastly, if the hard drive is replaced, or the computer is used for parts, nothing stops the thief. The product fails to address many easy solutions. If it could detect an IP address behind a NAT router, that would possibly make it somewhat effective.

I would rather take that money and invest it on a good lock.

Apple yesterday announced its new product Apple Remote Desktop. [Press Release]

According to Apple:

Apple Remote Desktop with real-time screen sharing is the ideal desktop management solution for education, businesses, and professionals on the go. It gives you the power to manage Mac systems from anywhere on your network or remotely across the Internet. It can reduce administrative costs and enhance productivity in any environment.

Apple seems to be targeting it’s new product mostly at educational institutions and businesses, two markets who would be able to take advantage of this software.

Why will schools want this?
Schools, in my opinion will jump on this new product, and it may even encourage some new schools to keep with the Mac OS, and possibly switch over to the Mac OS.

The ability to monitor students has always been an issue in schools, where a lab may have 20 or more students to a teacher. Not so much in a college, but High Schools and Elementary Schools have been fighting an uphill battle with students looking up inappropriate material, or playing online games rather than doing school related work on computers. With Remote Desktop, the teacher doesn’t have to do laps around the lab to help control this problem, they can easily monitor the screens of the entire classroom with their own computer.

Another advantage is the ability to “lock screen” when a computer is not in use so that students are not distracted when a teacher is trying to teach the class. Only the teacher can unlock the computer.

A favorite is the ability to take control of a computer desktop for use in aiding a student, or for discipline reasons. It can also be done to demonstrate how to do something.

Another useful feature, most likely to be one of the most popular is an IM like product to allow students to ask questions without disturbing the class. I would guess that this is pretty basic right now, but my theory is that it will advance and mature into a more scalable product, possibly becoming more like a private IM network.

Adminstrators can also perform functions like sleep, wake, restart, shutdown, and generate reports, among other functions with Remote Desktop.


Will businesses want it?
I do think some businesses may consider Remote Desktop, though I don’t think it will be very successful in this industry for a few reasons. First, there is a privacy issue, in which employers may be a bit afraid of upsetting employees and possibly pushing some who feel violated to leave. While that may not be an issue for some companies, others may run into that issue.

Another problem that I see is that many Macs in business are used for creative applications such as print work, graphic arts, and video editing. These are mostly intensive programs which use lots of memory and work the processor(s) to their full potential. Any program such as Remote Desktop, no matter how efficient it is, will take away some resources from the user, thus removing productivity. While this may not be an issue for someone working in Excel all day, this slowdown may effect someone who spends their time with advanced PhotoShop files. This will simply make a computer feel older before its time. Maybe not by much, but it will impact performance to an extent, especially when sharing a screen, or being observed by an admin.


An issue that all network administrators will have to deal with is how their network will perform with Remote Desktop being used. In order for it to function data must travel through the school or corporate network. All that data from possibly a few hundred computers, will take a toll on networks.

The last issue to be addressed is security. Apple in the past has been known for having secure software, but there is obviously reason to wonder how secure Remote Desktop will prove to be, and if it will be subject to hackers.


For Home
My largest criticism of the new Remote Desktop is that they left out home users. There are many families with more than one computer. Remote Desktop would be to the benefit of a parent who wants to restrict computer usage, or monitor what little Billy is doing online. Apple priced Remote Desktop well out of the range of a typical home application.

A lite edition of Remote Desktop would serve this purpose well. For now a copy of VNC, a freely available program would serve as a good substitute, but it is not as robust as Remote Desktop and only provides monitoring or shared desktop.



Another issue I hope Apple fixes in the future is cross platform compatibility. It is time to face the fact that Apple will share businesses and some educational institutions with Windows computers. It would be to Apple’s benefit to create a Windows client which would allow Windows computers to be viewed and managed using Remote Desktop.


Overall I think Remote Desktop has serious potential, and will sell, but pricing may hinder it from reaching it’s full sales potential.

More Information
Remote Desktop (Apple.com)