Today's casual photos, again taken with the Panasonic digital camera, are Kriya Systems, Inc.'s Typing Tutor III (1984) from Simon & Schuster for the Apple Macintosh, and three cartridges for the first ever programmable videogame system (i.e., utilizing interchangeable cartridges), the 1976 Fairchild Video Entertainment System (VES), later known as the Fairchild Channel F after the release of the Atari Video Computer System (VCS) in 1977. In fact, after the name change, Fairchild would come to pull out of the market entirely and Zircon would assume rights to the platform, which limped its way into the bargain bins of the early 1980s.

Today's casual photos (bit higher quality than usual, with my Panasonic digital camera), shown below, are two rare Apple Macintosh RPG's from 1989, Xor's TaskMaker (original version) and Postcraft's Citadel: Adventure of the CRYSTAL KEEP. The classic Macintosh platform is not known for its RPGs, and stand outs on the platform have been few and far between. Some of the others I own are rare and generally highly sought after, including Legends of the Lost Realm, a multi-character role playing game from Avalon Hill (1988; I don't have the sequel, which uses the same box, just with a small sticker on it to distinguish it), and the classic, Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth (1988, Infocom), which was originally released by Simulated Environment Systems in 1987 as simply Quarterstaff before Infocom's acquisition, and is considered one of the few authentic pen and paper-style RPGs in videogame form. Photos below:

Today's casual iPhone photos, which are a real mixed bag (shown below): Konami's Nightmare Creatures II (2000) for the Sega Dreamcast, id's The Ultimate Doom (1995) with Episode IV: Thy Flesh Consumed for the Apple Macintosh, and Tandy's Monster Maze (1983) for the Radio Shack Color Computer.

On the MacWorld Expo Apple revealed a new Mac Pro laptop with a stunning battery life.

Tech News World is running the 2nd in a 2-part series on the Mac Gaming Renaissance, which explores some exciting new developments for those with Macs.

Mac-users, especially of the older power PC systems (G3, G4 and G5), who need to use Windows or DOS-based applications need to use Virtualization software. On Power PC Virtual PC seems to be the best choice in my own experience, although Qemu and Virtual Box are also quite usable.

I've revisited quite a few of the emulators I discussed earlier in my Retrogaming and Beyond on Mac OS X - article on various intel macintoshes ranging from a +- 1.4Ghz Intel machine with Ati 3D accelerated graphics to a +- 2.8Ghz Intel machine with Ati 3D accelerated graphics. Just to see if those new Mac's are up to the challenge (two Powerbooks, a macmini core solo and mini core duo, an acertosh and asustosh)

Well, I finally got my new iMac up and running, and I must admit I'm impressed with what I've seen so far. But, you'll have to excuse me if I don't put those Apple decals on my car just yet.

AppleI've been having some problems making the transition (I'm a Windows "power user" in many ways, and it's tough starting over from scratch with a new OS), but I think I'm starting to get the hang of things. Sure, it's a bit disturbing when even the input devices (the keyboard and the mouse) feel strange and unresponsive, but I'm sure I'll adapt as time wears on. The subtle differences are odd and sometimes frustrating. For instance, I use the "home" and "end" keys a lot on my PC to skip to the end of a line when I type. I have these keys on the Mac keyboard, but they don't seem to do anything. I also have a large widescreen monitor built-in, but the text has a habit of being so small I can't read it. Furthermore, the window re-sizing controls are different...In short, it's like speaking Spanish all your life and suddenly finding yourself surrounded by Portuguese. Yes, the basics are the same, and you can understand and be understood on most things, but all those subtle nuances get mangled in translation. I have the distinct impression that I'm "talking louder" at the Mac rather than correctly, and I need to learn its language.

Apple LogoNatalia Portillo (wow a female programmer!) has compiled a 64bit version of Mini vMac for Microsoft Windows XP x64. I wonder if this emulator will actually run even faster in 64bit incarnation.
The regular 32bit version is incredibly fast when you turn of the speed limiter. There are versions of the emulator out there that allow you to run at resolutions that were never possible on the old MacPlus. A great little emulator for all those B&W mac games.