What OS for iBook G4?

[G4TheWin]

I'm a new user, and just got an iBook G4. I know this is probably a newbie question, and that it may have been asked before, but I'd like to know what OS I should put on my new laptop. It has a 1.2 Ghz processor, and 768 MB of RAM. Would the benefit of speed outweigh the fact that Tiger's been deemed unsupported by Apple, or should I just stick to Leopard? All my apps work on Tiger, and the only problem for me is running a potentially dangerous operating system.

[eyoungren]

There are a lot of Tiger fans here, but I'm not one of them. Leopard to me is just better, but that's a personal opinion. Leopard however will run anything Tiger can run. But there are apps that require Leopard and if you have Tiger you of course will not be able to run them.

Max the RAM. A lot of the "slowness" of Leopard can be attributed to not having enough RAM.

[skateny]

Originally Posted by G4TheWin

I'm a new user, and just got an iBook G4. I know this is probably a newbie question, and that it may have been asked before, but I'd like to know what OS I should put on my new laptop. It has a 1.2 Ghz processor, and 768 MB of RAM. Would the benefit of speed outweigh the fact that Tiger's been deemed unsupported by Apple, or should I just stick to Leopard? All my apps work on Tiger, and the only problem for me is running a potentially dangerous operating system.

As has already been suggested, Leopard is the way to go. And max out the RAM. I got my iBook with 768MB, and the difference in 1.5GB is not only noticeable, it makes life much easier.

[blesscheese]

Originally Posted by skateny

As has already been suggested, Leopard is the way to go. And max out the RAM. I got my iBook with 768MB, and the difference in 1.5GB is not only noticeable, it makes life much easier.

The only reason to run 10.4.11 is if you need to run any Classic Apps. Other than that, Leopard would likely be best.

Maxing out the RAM is the thing to do, with either system.

[MisterKeeks]

Originally Posted by G4TheWin

I'm a new user, and just got an iBook G4. I know this is probably a newbie question, and that it may have been asked before, but I'd like to know what OS I should put on my new laptop. It has a 1.2 Ghz processor, and 768 MB of RAM. Would the benefit of speed outweigh the fact that Tiger's been deemed unsupported by Apple, or should I just stick to Leopard? All my apps work on Tiger, and the only problem for me is running a potentially dangerous operating system.

Since you are a new user, you probably don't want to deal with all the compatibility issues that come with running an older OS. Leopard, get more RAM, and use Applications optimized for the computer. I always suggest Leopard Webkit for web browsing. Its user interface is identical to that of Safari's, but the code is optimized and it runs about 20% faster.

[G4TheWin]

Originally Posted by MisterKeeks

Since you are a new user, you probably don't want to deal with all the compatibility issues that come with running an older OS. Leopard, get more RAM, and use Applications optimized for the computer. I always suggest Leopard Webkit for web browsing. Its user interface is identical to that of Safari's, but the code is optimized and it runs about 20% faster.

I've already tried Leopard Webkit, but it made Software Update and Mactubes crash, so no thank you!

[MisterKeeks]

Originally Posted by G4TheWin

I've already tried Leopard Webkit, but it made Software Update and Mactubes crash, so no thank you!

I do not think that it was Webkit that made it crash. I successfully run Webkit on a daily basis on two PowerPC macs without no problems whatsoever. Definitely try again- It was something else.

[ChrisMan287]

If you've got Leopard already on there, keep it. Your iBook can definitely handle it but grab a 1GB stick and throw it in there for some extra speed.

[G4TheWin]

Originally Posted by MisterKeeks

I do not think that it was Webkit that made it crash. I successfully run Webkit on a daily basis on two PowerPC macs without no problems whatsoever. Definitely try again- It was something else.

Nope. I uninstalled it (and nothing else) and both Software Update and MacTubes worked again.

[Zotaccian]

Leopard webkit also broke Youview which is why stopped using it.

[B-G]

Do not install Leopard Webkit as system default. From Leopard Webkit feedback page:

Comment by project member Tobias.N...@gmail.com, Sep 24, 2012

Installing is an experimental option that is broken since 537.8 . Just use the supplied WebKit executable to have Safari use Leopard WebKit instead of the system installed version.

[PowerPCMacMan]

So, what version of Leopard Webkit for PPC is stable? I think I have 537.10 installed.

Originally Posted by B-G

Do not install Leopard Webkit as system default. From Leopard Webkit feedback page:

Comment by project member Tobias.N...@gmail.com, Sep 24, 2012

Installing is an experimental option that is broken since 537.8 . Just use the supplied WebKit executable to have Safari use Leopard WebKit instead of the system installed version.

[B-G]

I'm using 537.10, and it seems pretty stable to me. 536.26.14 should be even more stable. The point is you should not install L-W as system default (at least not with 537.10).
In the .dmg file you download from L-W site you will find 6 files. The one marked as "install" is a shell script that replaces the Apple provided version of webkit with the one you just downloaded. This is a system wide replacement (it affects all the applications using webkit, such as Mail) and it's currently broken.
If you just use the provided L-W executable, you should not see the problems some of the users here are having. It just launches Safari 5 using the updated webkit frameworks from L-W, without altering your system. If even that causes stability problems, you should inform the developers, using the feedback page on their site.