iBook G3 500mhz and Panther OS???

[bgotori]

Hey All

I'm Newbie to this forum. The last Apple I had was Lisa and Mac SE...hehehe Just wanted to try out the New Panther OS, so I thought I'd get a used iBook G3(500mhz) to try. I'm thinking about going back to Apple because of its Linux backround, and I can use all my X11 stuff on it. I've been running Linux for 3 years now, and really like it. But since Apple Newer OS is Linux, I'm thinking of converting...hahaha

Question???

Will Panther run on this Old LapTop??? Anybody having any problems??? Does the Panther software let you compile to update or change your base system???


Thanks!!!

Brad Gotori
bgotori@netscape.net

[strider42]

it'll run, though you'll want to have as much ram as possible. OS X will run better on G4 based systems though.

FYI OS X is NOT based on linux in any way shape or form. it is based on BSD, whcih traces its lineage back to the original AT&T unix. While linux shares similarlities (linux is a unix like OS), they are totally different code bases.

Your last question is a bit beyond me, I don't actually understand what it means exactly, but basically with OS X, you get what apple gives you. It is not an open source OS that allows you to change things as easily as linux or unix. its base (darwin) is open source, but a lot of it is proprietary and you can't just go about changing underlying software.

[floatingspirit]

It's been running like a charm for me for about a month. No problems at all, I love it!

I don't know anything about tinkering with the base system though...I just use the Terminal (top) to monitor my Ram usage which averages around 550MB.

Go for it man! No regrets.:)

[Naimfan]

Brad--

I'm running Panther on a G3/400 Pismo with no problems. I did have to do a clean install after backing up to an external HD.

I would second the "Max the RAM" suggestion--I have one Gb of RAM installed.

Best,

Bob

[wordmunger]

I'm running Panther on an iBook 300 with only 160 Megs of RAM. I did upgrade the hard drive (actually I installed my old TiBook HD when I upgraded that one)--I think much less than a 10-Gig hard drive won't leave you much room to do anything else, but my system works just fine for Web surfing, eMail, MS Office, and iPhoto.

Regarding your second question, the core Unix OS of Macs is Darwin. Darwin is open source, so you can obviously work on the source and recompile as much as you'd like--there's just no guarantee that the proprietary GUI will work after you've hacked away at Darwin. Visit Apple's Darwin page (http://developer.apple.com/darwin/) for all you need to know about Darwin.

[macrumors12345]

It will run on an iBook 500, but not very fast. If you can afford it, I would strongly recommend the iBook 600 over the iBook 500 - the memory bus on the 600 is 50% faster than the 500 (100 Mhz vs. 66 Mhz), and it makes a big difference. Even better is the iBook 700, because that has double the L2 cache and a Radeon Mobility chip (so you can actually use Quartz Extreme), but that is probably out of your price range.

[bgotori]

Hey strider42

Thanks for the reply!!!

I was thinking it seemed kind of odd that it would be based on Linux, but this is what I was told. BSD seem more like the way for them to go.

So Apple doesn't give you anyway to re-compile there source... I guess this kid I've been talking to is kind of out there...

Well I've got a deal on a G4 iBook, but it only has a 20g drive and 256mb ram, but its in my price range, and its a step-up.


Thanks!!!

Brad Gotori
bgotori@netscape.net

[bgotori]

Hey All


Thanks for all the Replies!!!

This REALLY HELPS ME OUT!!!


Thanks Again!!!

Brad Gotori
bgotori@netscape.net

[bgotori]

Hey All

Since I think I'm go with the G4 iBook, but it only has 256mb's of ram, can't I set-up a Ram-Drive on the hard disk to help with the lesser ram??? If I remember BSD had that option, and I've found out that Darwin does...Soooooo....hehehe


Thanks Again!!!

Brad Gotori
bgotori@netscape.net

[windowsblowsass]

just turn on vitual memory it ues your hd as ram

[strider42]

Originally posted by windowsblowsass
just turn on vitual memory it ues your hd as ram

I'm pretty sure in OS X you have no choice but to use virtual memory. its a bit different than the old OS 9 style virtual memory you coudl turn on and off, but its there and on by default.

Note, virtual memory is a great feature, but your hard drive is much, much slower than ram, so its not really a replacement for not having a lot of ram. the more ram you have, the better it will run.

[spaceballl]

the g4 iBook will be nice and zippy as long as you upgrade the RAM. I'd max it out.

-Kevin

[Toppa G's]

I'm using a G3 500 mHz iBook as my primary computer, and it runs Panther just fine. A bit sluggish loading things like iMovie, but not too bad. I've got the RAM maxed at 640 MB...my only gripe is that I can't use the free iSight I got without paying for the 3rd party haxie...which is becoming a moot point as I'm looking to get a G5 in the (hopefully near) future.