Mac

If you're buying a computer to get onto the Internet, don't you think you'd be interested in a service that makes that computer much easier to use with the Internet?

Over the last five years, people have grown more accustomed to storing personal photos, documents, and files in the "cloud," rather than on a hard drive in their home. At the same time, they are buying Apple's Macs in larger numbers than ever. The company's answer to this trend has been its .Mac service, a $99-a-year collection of online tools released in 2002 … Read more

If you bought a replacement power adapter for one of Apple's PowerBook and iBook notebooks--and you managed to hang onto the receipt for all these years--you'll soon be eligible for a refund.

Bloomberg notes that Apple has settled a lawsuit filed in 2001 over the tendency of power adapters sold with PowerBooks and iBooks to spark or overheat. Apple recalled some power adapters in 2001, but some customers felt the company didn't come clean about the full extent of the problems.

Cash refunds of between $25 and $79 will be issued by Apple to owners who bought … Read more

I'm writing this post on Psystar's Open Computer running Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.2.

The Open Computer arrived Wednesday, and I spent some time this morning setting it up. The plan for now is to use it as my main work system (at least while I'm in the office) for about a week and see how it goes. For a full review, check out what my CNET Reviews colleague Rich Brown had to say, but I've noticed a few tidbits in the early going.

For one, the fan is much, much quieter than I … Read more

Apple has the best technical support in the PC industry, according to the most recent issue of Consumer Reports.

The venerable magazine surveyed its readers to gather their experiences with technical support for personal computing, and Apple's organization far outpaced its rivals in the PC industry. Readers assigned the company a score of 83 for its notebook technical support, which translates to "very satisfied" on Consumer Reports' rating scale. You have to be a Consumer Reports subscriber if you want to access the articles and graphs on its Web site.

Lenovo and Dell ranked second and third, … Read more

Another entrepreneur is trying their hand at selling unsanctioned Mac OS X desktops.

AppleInsider spotted an eBay listing on Tuesday for a generic desktop tower running Mac OS X Leopard, weeks after Psystar made a very public show of defying Apple's licensing agreement for Leopard with its Open Computer. "Chris555" is selling the unbranded desktop for a fixed price of $549.99, plus $50 shipping and handling.

Is this the latest in a wave of Mac clone makers emboldened by Psystar? Apple has remained silent on the issue to this point, but lawyers think the company would have a good chance … Read more

How much longer can Psystar get away with selling Open Computers?

Now that Psystar has satisfied any doubts that it's a real company making real products, the propriety of those products seems bound to be tested. In case you missed it, Psystar is currently selling Open Computers with Apple's Mac OS X Leopard preinstalled, in what appears to be a clear violation of Apple's software license agreement for that product.

There's a running joke about the number of consumers that actually read the licensing agreements that come along with new software. But these types of agreements … Read more

The Open Computer has landed at CNET Networks.

My colleagues over at CNET Reviews in New York have managed to get their hands on a review unit of Psystar's Open Computer, and they've got all sorts of pictures to share. For those of you who just woke up, Psystar is selling computers with Mac OS X Leopard as a preinstallation option, which is not part of an official program run by Apple and involves the use of some trickeration in order to get things up and running.

Click here for an unboxing video, or here for a slideshow. … Read more

Mac clones large and small are popping up all over the place these days.

Psystar has managed to get past a tumultuous week earlier this month to get Open Computers into the hands of its customers. The Open Computer is being sold with Mac OS X Leopard as a preinstalled option for Psystar's customers, in what is expected to at some point draw some legal attention from Apple.

Check out this video on Gizmodo of the Open Computer, which sounds like an airplane taking off, in all its glory. I ordered a unit two weeks ago that was supposed … Read more

Apple could be getting ready for the advent of the educational buying season with new iMacs.

So says GeekSugar, which has a post up Thursday claiming Apple's about to tweak the all-in-one iMac desktop. It doesn't sound like much of an overhaul, just a speed bump to Intel's latest Penryn processors used by the MacBook and MacBook Pro and a larger hard drive, with no major design changes expected. Apple hasn't updated the iMac since introducing a new design for the lineup last August.

The current quarter is a prime buying period for K-12 school systems, … Read more