If you’re really interested in learning more about your Mac, Apple, and their place in the current computing world, you should develop a list of favourite websites, besides those provided by Apple, to help you keep up to date.

To access the expanded list provided by MacWest.org on the right, just click on image and you’ll be taken to MacLinks and more.

Here are MacSeniors’ top 5!
Click a logo to visit the site.

A digest of Mac and Apple related information. It will lead you (eventually) to most of the other sites in our list.

A sprawling website that covers everything (obviously) Mac. A cousin of PCWorld for Windows users, it is the Internet reflection of the best Mac magazine available over the past 15 years. The magazine is worth buying, not only for its articles—most of which you get online, too—but for the info reflected through its advertisers! We especially like the Tips, Tricks, and How-To’s page as well as the monthly and annual collection of ‘Mac Gems.’

Home of the formerly titled MacAddict magazine
out of the UK also available on newstands or by subscription.
Some will like it as well as MacWorld
which it resembles in many ways.

Originally developed by a couple of female ‘Mac evangelists,’
Mac360 now has a diversified staff of writers and
offers many articles useful for the average
as well as the advanced Mac user.

The place to look for
shareware, freeware,
and upgrades for your Mac.

David Pogue is a prolific writer about Macs

There are many other sites as well that we draw upon regularly. Some like MacFixit and MacInTouch can be very scary for potentially paranoid users used to expecting the worst from their machines. Both sites are devoted to examining the problems Mac users are encountering with new machines and software. If you’re the type who flips into a panic as soon as someone sneezes near you, best keep away from these sites. When looking at reports of trouble, always keep in mind that the number of people in difficulty is usually a tiny fraction of the total Mac neighborhood, and that most people with problems do get them resolved. Also note, that many times the problems have stemmed from the user’s own penchant for living dangerously. That said, if you want to avoid the perils of a software update that isn’t quite ready, wait until you see what others are experiencing by checking these sites out first.

A nice antidote to the previous two is a site called Joy of Tech which is usually good for a chuckle or two.

Click the image at left to go to the Joy Of Tech site.
Right Click and choose appropriately to see this cartoon enlarged.

Finally, don’t overlook your local Macintosh Users’ Groups (MUGs) that serve the Greater Vancouver region. They’re made up of Mac users just like you (especially if you’re a little long in the tooth) and comprise the gamut of experience from advanced to beginners. Most members are somewhere in the middle or in a muddle. Those east of Burnaby might check out the MacWest Computer Society.

For those in Vancouver, the nearest MUG is ApplesBC; Click on the logos to see their respective websites where you can read about activities and learn how to get to their meetings, membership dues, etc. Each is well worth a visit. MacSeniors attends meetings of both clubs.