CherryMUG

So, Apple’s latest version of Mac OS X, Snow Leopard, is out today. You going to run to your closest Apple store and buy it? Not so fast, Sparky. Have you done your homework?

Snow Leopard is loaded with nice improvements, mostly speed improvements. The price is great $29 for the upgrade from Leopard. If you don’t have an Intel based Macintosh, then you are out of luck. Snow Leopard only runs on Intel based Macs. First, have you checked to make certain that the applications that are important to you will run after you upgrade? I found a site with a pretty good list of applications and their compatibility status: http://snowleopard.wikidot.com/. If your application isn’t on that list, then try contacting the developer of that software. How about hardware? It would also be a good idea to make certain that anything that you have attached to your computer also works. Once, again go to the manufacturer’s web site and check it out. You also may want to take a look at MacFixIt to see what people are reporting there.

BACKUP YOUR COMPUTER! Sorry about the shouting. I can’t stress this one enough. Backups are critical. I don’t care how expensive your hard drive is, or what operating system you are running, hard drives can fail. If you have never had a hard drive fail on you, then you have been extremely lucky. It isn’t a question of if hard drives will fail, but when. The longer you work with computers, the more you will come to realize that it can happen. Hard drives have gotten so inexpensive today, there really is no excuse.

Once you have checked to make certain the applications that you need will work, and you have done a backup of your computer, you can upgrade. I plan to upgrade, but not the first weekend.

Oh, and did I say backup your computer?

Apple® reported their best non-holiday quarter revenue and earnings in Apple history. Apple’s 2009 third quarter ended June 27, 2009. They posted revenue of $8.34 billion and a net quarterly profit of $1.23 billion, or $1.35 per diluted share. That was a nice jump from a year ago.

My how things have changed for Apple since we started CherryMUG in 1995. Back then there was always talk about Apple surviving. Now, even in the very difficult economy of 2009, Apple is thriving, not just surviving.

You can see the entire press release from Apple here: Apple Reports Third Quarter Results.

So CherryMUG has been around since 1995. There is a really great site known as Internet Archive: Wayback Machine, (old people, like me, may remember Mr. Peabody and his Wayback Machine). The Internet Archive: Wayback Machine is this huge archive of web sites. It can be a lot of fun to search through some of your favorite sites.

I wanted to show you what the Apple Computer web site looked like back when CherryMUG started, but not all of the archives are complete. The farthest back I was able to get a complete Apple web page was April, 1997.

Apple Computer in 1997

Check out the “Emate 300.” Those things were ahead of their time.

Apple was very different in 1997. They were going through some very hard times. There was a lot of speculation that they wouldn’t survive. You don’t hear that kind of talk today.

CherryMUG was very different then too. We were going pretty strong at that time. Mac users needed something to rally around. They wanted to know that they weren’t alone in there love of these crazy machines. Now, CherryMUG is struggling. Enthusiasm for the user group certainly isn’t what it used to be. That is why I changed the web site. I’m trying to spark some interest again in the group.

At the moment, membership is free. Maybe, that will change in the future, that all depends on what the group ends up needing. Right now, there is plenty of cash in the CMUG reserves to support this web site and the occasional meeting at the library.

Now we have this great CherryMUG Forum for you to share. Come join the forum. Let’s see what we can do to take CherryMUG into the future.