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An old Mac in an iWorld
By David Norton
In this day and age, companies seem to think that all Mac users have the latest version of the operating system, and at least one of their computers has a G3 or G4 processor in it. Well, it's not so -- I'm chugging along right now with an "ancient" Performa 6400/200 from the dark ages of 1996. That's right, me, the guy that spends several hours a day on the computer, with 8 applications open at a time, often surfing and instant messaging and writing and reading all at once.
How do I survive? How does my Mac survive? It's simple -- I've just got to acknowledge that I can't do everything that other people can. I can play hardly any of the new games coming out, and I can't use a lot of the software that's being made. For a lot of software (such as Photoshop), it's the only thing I'm able to have open, because it uses so much RAM.
The rule of thumb when using an older Mac is to accept that you can't do everything. But that doesn't mean there isn't a lot of stuff you can do. With my computer, I can surf the net, watch QuickTime movies and play MP3s, play older games, do email, chat with my friends with AOL Instant Messenger, use AppleWorks, and a lot more.
What can you do to get your old Mac to do more stuff? Well, there's always the expensive route -- upgrading your Mac's processor. But there's also a not-so-expensive way -- adding more RAM. With more memory, you can do a lot more stuff. Even with 88MB of RAM (56MB more than what my computer came with), I can't have as many applications open at once as I'd like to. But I can have a lot more open than when I had a measly 32MB. Right now I have iCab, Outlook Express 5, AIM, and BBEdit (my text program) open at once, and I still have 22MB available!
But anyway, the point of this column is that if you want to be able to run the newest programs and do everything quickly, you are eventually going to need to get a new computer. As soon as Steve Jobs announces new versions of the iMacs, I'm going to order an iMac DV Special Edition. Finally I'll be able to play Star Wars Racer! Finally I'll be able to listen to MP3s while I'm on the Internet chatting with my friends! Finally I'll be able to watch DVD movies!
David Norton is Senior Editor at MacMilitia.com.
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