Some Good Spots for Surfing

After years of observing the attire at Macworld Expo, I concluded that what Mac users lacked in market share they made up for in goofy T-shirt share. While researching this column, I realized that they actually make it up in Web-surf share.

The Mac has historically been the superior machine for connecting to other computers. So it shouldn’t be surprising that in a recent survey conducted by the Georgia Institute of Technology, Mac users constituted about 26% of all Web users. I find that figure astounding, given that the Mac’s market share has shrunk to close to 5%.

Surf yes, but in what waters? I’ve culled scores of Mac-oriented sites and selected some of the most useful and well-designed.

Like most big computer companies, Apple maintains dozens of Web sites. And they do it well: https://www.apple.com has recently been the top-rated site on the Web 100 listing (https://www.web100.com); by comparison, the Microsoft Network ranks 100th.

But how to find what you want on all those thousands of Apple pages? Happily, three links will accommodate most of your needs:

Start with Find It, the Apple site search engine (https://www.apple.com/main/find.html), which includes a handy map of Apple’s overall offerings. If you find yourself pondering the question of where to get the latest system software, the newest printer driver or other Apple software, try https://www.info.apple.com/swupdates. For detailed product information, check https://www.product.info.apple.com/productinfo/datasheets

Everybody’s got an opinion about what Apple should do to save itself, but if you want informed and timely reviews of Mac products, check Macworld magazine (my former employer), at https://www.macworld.com, and MacWeek (a Macworld competitor), at https://www.macweek.com

Paradoxically, an expert looking for obscure answers and a novice who doesn’t even know the right question may both find the online route most useful when looking for tech support. Apple’s support site (https://support.info.apple.com/tso/tso-home.html) is fairly comprehensive and easy to navigate.

For the latest and most detailed help, plus plenty of geek talk and links to other resources, try the Mac Managers site, https://www.mrmac.com/mac-mgrs.html. For a more approachable and amusing ride, try Mac Tip of the Week (https://www.nwpower.net/macguy/tip/), which features useful archives that address basic Mac technologies clearly and succinctly.

As members of a minority group subject to relentless discrimination, Mac users have always been well organized. The Web is loaded with MUGs (Macintosh User Groups) that exist to help you solve exasperating system conflicts before you throw that $2,000 investment out the window.

The User Group Connection (https://www.ugconnection.org) is a clearinghouse for MUGs all over the country. The L.A. Macintosh Groups site (https://www.lamg.org) is just getting off the ground, but try the Berkeley Macintosh User Group site (https://www.bmug.org) for a model of community-spirited helpfulness.

Having trouble with one of Apple’s ill-fated Performa models suffering from bugs--causing frequent freezes or poor serial-port performance, among other problems--that Apple doesn’t quite acknowledge? Check out https://www.yetanother.com/performa/

If you’re trying to get your employer to invest in a few new Macs, you might need some ammunition for your arguments. Cheerleading is an apt description of many Mac sites, but if you want to cheer, learn from the primary inventor of the Macintosh religion, Apple Fellow Guy Kawasaki. If you’ve ever had any doubts about the Mac being the greatest technology since the wheel, a few minutes on his Mac EvangeList site (https://www.evangelist.macaddict.com) should dispel them.

The magic of the Web experience involves moving from link to link. So, not surprisingly, Web sites that offer little or no original content--providing organized lists of links to other sites--have proliferated. For things Macintosh, the best such compendiums I’ve tried are Macintosh Links (https://maclinks.spots.ab.ca/), Macintosh World Wide Web Pointers (https://www.nmia.com/~jjm/), the Well Connected Mac (https://www.macfaq.com) and the Ultimate Mac (https://www.freepress.com/myee/ultimate_mac.html).

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Charles Piller can be reached via e-mail at [email protected]