I thought it was amazing how fast I thought my dual 800 MHz QuickSilver was to my burned Dell Dimension 4600! Then I bought the G5 and now I have tons of Macs...
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I thought it was amazing how fast I thought my dual 800 MHz QuickSilver was to my burned Dell Dimension 4600! Then I bought the G5 and now I have tons of Macs...
in my computer usage i am very lucky. half the time i use a computer i am on the internet which also means that the other half of the time i am not. youtube and flash videos i very rarely watch mostly because i either listen to music in the background or i want silence. i can see the day in the future where on my desk i will have an old g4 imac sitting next to a chromebook for browsing. by the way. i still use cd's and dvd's. 2009 or 2010 mac mini's or macbooks will someday become the new power pc's. older software is fine with me.
Agreed 100%, and the same mentality is spreading to web browsers themselves. Firefox 26 on my PowerBook is much slower than 3.5 was. The binary is twice the size too. Firefox is currently over 10 million lines of code. Chromium is around 7 million. They're essentially operating systems all by themselves and there's no way that is all necessary.
If it wasn't for Dillo, I probably wouldn't bother web browsing with this computer much, or I'd be using lynx. I currently only use Firefox when I absolutely need Javascript and use Dillo for everything else.
Flash will most likely be dead in maybe the next three years. ActionScript 2 officially went in the latest Flash Pro, and the big update for 2014 was a motion editor. This looks to me like they're about to bring their animation suite that is currently in preview to the main stage next year.
There is very little reason for it to exist when the world has gone mobile. I use it for animation myself, but then I convert it to either Quicktime or a series of frames depending on what I'm doing.
There are also lots and lots of security risks with it at this point, and I think when Adobe has had to deal with so many of them in the last few years, they are looking to push developers into new technology. It's a framework that needs a huge rewrite from scratch, but isn't worth investing into.
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I've stuck to just Safari on my iMac G4. It works fine for me. I can browse MacRumors, go on other forums, read my Gmail, and all the websites I go on my Intel machine work absolutely fine on it.
On the Intel side, Safari is hit and miss every few updates. I've had graphical glitches, I have things get stuck, etc. The internet is just bloated at this point, and Safari quickly eats up CPU resources. The fact that it doesn't do that on my PowerPCs makes me happy.
And my MacBook Pro decided to wake up from a weeklong coma yesterday. What a disaster this machine has been.
I'm actually just using Safari now and the machine is freaking out. I only have three tabs open!
As long as the iMac still works, I'm willing to deal with it as long as possible. I went to go look at Windows machines at Best Buy the day my MacBook Pro stopped working. It made me really sad looking at all those laptops. There was absolutely no thought put into them, just really crappy stuff. The Android tablets/ChromeOS laptops put them to shame.
That's why I opted to just using the iMac. It has a beautiful screen that none of those laptops even come close to having, it has upgradable RAM and storage, it is made to run things like Photoshop (unlike those Windows RT machines which even if regular 8.1, would still be too low end), and it didn't feel like I was going backwards even though I was.
And I was able to workaround the limits it did have, like loading PDFs through PhoneView, using my iPad as a keyboard to get the trackpad gestures, and using iTunes Match to manage my music on my iOS 7 devices.
And I really enjoyed seeing the old iTunes again. I like 11, but I appreciated not having the album art being front center. I mean after all, artists declared war on the album cover art in 2007, why make it a huge thing now?
But yeah, Intel machines are better, but only just. What hurts them the most is the fact that the machines are so much thinner now, yet the chips on them run so much hotter, and we're pushing them harder than ever. I'm opting for a Mac Pro this time around for that reason. At this point, I don't think the MacBook Pro line is for me anymore, and when the iMac and Mac Mini is designed with the same hardware in mind, there's no point in opting for them either.
There is very little reason for it to exist when the world has gone mobile. I use it for animation myself, but then I convert it to either Quicktime or a series of frames depending on what I'm doing.
There are also lots and lots of security risks with it at this point, and I think when Adobe has had to deal with so many of them in the last few years, they are looking to push developers into new technology. It's a framework that needs a huge rewrite from scratch, but isn't worth investing into.
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I've stuck to just Safari on my iMac G4. It works fine for me. I can browse MacRumors, go on other forums, read my Gmail, and all the websites I go on my Intel machine work absolutely fine on it.
On the Intel side, Safari is hit and miss every few updates. I've had graphical glitches, I have things get stuck, etc. The internet is just bloated at this point, and Safari quickly eats up CPU resources. The fact that it doesn't do that on my PowerPCs makes me happy.
And my MacBook Pro decided to wake up from a weeklong coma yesterday. What a disaster this machine has been.
I'm actually just using Safari now and the machine is freaking out. I only have three tabs open!
As long as the iMac still works, I'm willing to deal with it as long as possible. I went to go look at Windows machines at Best Buy the day my MacBook Pro stopped working. It made me really sad looking at all those laptops. There was absolutely no thought put into them, just really crappy stuff. The Android tablets/ChromeOS laptops put them to shame.
That's why I opted to just using the iMac. It has a beautiful screen that none of those laptops even come close to having, it has upgradable RAM and storage, it is made to run things like Photoshop (unlike those Windows RT machines which even if regular 8.1, would still be too low end), and it didn't feel like I was going backwards even though I was.
And I was able to workaround the limits it did have, like loading PDFs through PhoneView, using my iPad as a keyboard to get the trackpad gestures, and using iTunes Match to manage my music on my iOS 7 devices.
And I really enjoyed seeing the old iTunes again. I like 11, but I appreciated not having the album art being front center. I mean after all, artists declared war on the album cover art in 2007, why make it a huge thing now?
But yeah, Intel machines are better, but only just. What hurts them the most is the fact that the machines are so much thinner now, yet the chips on them run so much hotter, and we're pushing them harder than ever. I'm opting for a Mac Pro this time around for that reason. At this point, I don't think the MacBook Pro line is for me anymore, and when the iMac and Mac Mini is designed with the same hardware in mind, there's no point in opting for them either.
Windows machines have me concerned with these new designs like flippable screens, removable "2 in 1", etc. Over the long term I find it hard to believe that thin plastic will hold up like that.
I put Windows 8.1 on my MacBook Pro last night using Boot Camp. They fixed what they messed up in Windows 8 and I think they are going in the right direction. When Windows 8 came I despised it, but if people are in the PC market only I will recommend 8.1 over 7. Props to Microsoft for taking a bold new initiative.
If you really just want a basic computer to supplement your iMac then get a Chromebook. The world is headed to new web standards which is punishing our PPCs. The Chrome OS system of updates is brilliant and I do see them as taking over the dorky Android Tablets and clunky designs of PCs. Granted the PC laptop isn't going to die soon as some need software off the web, but even I gave it a good hard look. When my PowerMac G5 dies I am probably going to get a Chromebase or a ASUS Chromebox and put all my work on my MacBook Pro. However, my G5 is a work horse so that won't happen any time soon.
I have a good friend who is a programmer for his "day job." He uses Linux primarily(and just recently jumped on the Mac bandwagon) but is also a gamer(I'm not) and has maintained a Windows system for years also.
He's been running Windows 8 almost since the day it came out, and tells me that it actually has some real improvements over Windows 7 in terms of stability, as well as battery life and management for laptops. Unfortunately, the interface killed me on it, as did almost everyone else who tried to use it. My friend found some software that made the Windows 8 desktop look and function like Windows 7, and has been using it that way since then.
My dad just bought a new all-in-one desktop with 8.1, and I find it to be a significant improvement over my previous experience with Windows 8. I agree that they seem to at least be listening to complaints and moving in the right direction.
I recommend Classic Shell if you do not like the new interface in Windows 8.x.
The thing that got me is why I need to have two places for running apps in Windows 8. Plus the hover over the corner for the Start button thing was definitely the work of an idiot. Now that they readded the Start button and made "Modern" apps show in the regular taskbar I am content. It is stable, fast, and reliable! I'm sold!
I think with the new changes that is less of a necessity. I do like 8.1 now.
Can you elaborate on this? The Start Screen is where one goes to run both legacy ("Desktop") and Metro programs. There are other ways to start programs but Microsoft is steering people towards the Start Screen.
When you are on the classic desktop, applications that are "Metro" also show up there now. The Start button is also back to take you to the Start Screen. Just Google Windows 8.1 screenshot and you will see what I mean.
We are getting off track. This a PowerPC thread...
3 years? What!? isn't The only reason people use PowerPC macs is because they have there old ones left? Why would you buy a PowerPC as your first mac in 2011?!?!? Sure i would have understand if you had bought one in 1994-2006.
Seriously? What? Why did you not get a intel? PowerPC is outdated!!!
Hey! I am still here. I may not be actively participating but I never miss a day without reading the threads here.
All of my powerpc's are still running as they were supposed to, except the quad. It is currently on its original box and with the 23" ACD. I am preparing for it to be shipped to my new work location.
I am actually contemplating on buying a newer mac, but then I am person that buys things mostly on a per need basis. My Powerpc macs are still doing and very capable of productive work, why bother replacing 'em. I will drive them hard until they will not be able to boot....
My question is: Why the reluctance to move away from PPC? While I can understanding continuing to use what you already have while it does what you want I get the impression there are those here who use PPC just for the sake of using PPC. I own several PPC systems but they're play systems. My daily drivers are much more modern systems.
Hey! I am still here. I may not be actively participating but I never miss a day without reading the threads here.
All of my powerpc's are still running as they were supposed to, except the quad. It is currently on its original box and with the 23" ACD. I am preparing for it to be shipped to my new work location.
I am actually contemplating on buying a newer mac, but then I am person that buys things mostly on a per need basis. My Powerpc macs are still doing and very capable of productive work, why bother replacing 'em. I will drive them hard until they will not be able to boot....
Same motto of run it till it dies. By the way, I edited the post before.
I was late to the computer game, my first mac was a B&W I bought for $20... in 2011. And my parents NEVER bought me anything that related to computers back then. Shoot, my main desktop was a Dimension 4550 so S TFU.
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I just acquired a 12" PowerBook G4 a couple weeks ago; it's actually replacing a C2D MacBook as my portable machine. At the moment, it does struggle a bit being that it only has 512 MB of RAM, but even still I'm comfortably typing this post from it in TenFourFox with two other tabs open and iTunes playing in the background, no issues.
Call me crazy for replacing a seven year old laptop with an even older and slower one if you wish, but to me it made all the sense in the world. My computing needs are usually very small and light tasks; basically just browsing a couple forums, news sites and emailing, plus playing music in iTunes and maybe an instant messaging app or two. I'll break out Audacity or Handbrake every so often, but even then I'm not messing with anything too complex or large and my PowerPC's handle them pretty well.
Can Intel machines do these tasks faster and handle larger ones better? Of course. But at least for me, those tradeoffs are worth it for being able to use a computer that I actually like. PowerPC machines feel as if they were built more solidly, the designs were much more eye-catching and appealing, and best of all, they aren't just a PC in a pretty casing.
All that said, however, I do recognize the point eyoungren is trying to make with this thread. Intensive, and even daily tasks only get harder for these wonderful machines as time goes on. Judging by a lot of threads and discussions in this forum, many seem to agree that 2012 was just about the last "golden year" for PowerPC, the last time they were still truly useful as both workhorses and daily machines for your average person. Since then, they have moved into a "life support" era in my opinion; still not useless junk by any means, but really only fit now for those whom are willing to deal with and work around their limitations in this weird, changing era of computing that is slowly leaving them behind. Hence, you have all of us that frequent this area of MacRumors. We love our "classic" Macs, even if they aren't getting any younger or easier to work with. The writing is indeed, sadly on the wall for all of us whom use them as our daily drivers, but barring some widespread nail in the coffin of some sort, that date will be different for all of us.
Personally, I see at least another year, maybe two before PowerPC machines just become too cumbersome and/or slow to use for the majority of my daily tasks. Even when that time does come, my eMac will still be a great little jukebox/movie watching machine, and my PowerBook a perfectly sized portable writing machine.
PowerPC will never truly die, just as 68k Macs never did; there's still a small but dedicated community for them, as there will always be for us.
Yes, that's pretty much what I was trying to say. Admittedly, the amount of work I have to do to get my QS back up colored my original post with some frustration and hearing the same tone of frustration from Cameron Kaiser about getting T4Fx 31 to work right added to it as well, but I think the point is still valid - for me anyway. While getting the Quicksilver back running is not a monumental task for any of us here, or even a difficult task I am getting tired of always having to work around or do X to make Y work.
As you said, the date will be different for all of us. My date has been tied to the browser since that's my main purpose for all of my machines. I've had a long history of abandoning browser after browser as PowerPC slowly dies. Netscape, Sea Monkey, Opera, Flock, Firefox, Aurorafox and now penultimately TenFourFox. I won't even get into the fact that I totally missed out on the slice of time (because I didn't have an Intel Mac) where Rockmelt was hot! Not today, but I don't see being able to browse reliably in it say two years from now. Maybe even one. When my kids can no longer use Nick Jr or small flash based game sites without something being broken or spiking the CPU to 100% then that's the final nail for us.
So, again, for me everything PowerPC shifts to all the other uses I have for these Macs while my main use of browsing will soon require an Intel Mac out of me.
Just last night the family in Georgia decided they wanted to Skype in for my daughter's sixth birthday. Had my QS been working, I still couldn't have used it, even though it has an iSight. Why, because it was a video call. I have seven Macs in the house that see regular use, one of them a screaming 20" iMac G5. Not ONE of those Macs could have done Skype video calling! Yes, that's Microsoft's fault, not my Macs. But it amounts to the same thing no matter whose doing it - Apple or anyone else. So, I handled the call with the one device in my house that could do it. My iPhone 5. A device that none of my Macs can sync with!
I'm not done with PowerPC, my Macs all still have other purposes. But more and more now the things I need a Mac for aren't the things these Macs can do or at least do as well or as fast as I need.
If I don't face this reality for myself, sooner or later my wife is going to make me face it and trust me, it'll be less well for me if that's the case!
You guys sound a bit like the band on the Titanic
The last PPC Mac I used was in 2008 when I got my MBP for college and left behind the Dual 1.8 I'd used for the past four years.
It is a shame that there was a large class of Apple computers that got a really short shelf life due to the switch to Intel, but such is the pace of technology. No sense trying to avoid it, although I admire the dedication I've seen in this forum and in other places with how to prolong their life and give them second uses.
To me, I'm keeping the Apple hardware I've got now, because I want my children to have the option to play the games I did as a child in MacOSright now Sheepsaver works well emulating OS 9 but it might not one day, so that basically requires me to keep my aging Mac Pro when I get a new one. Nostalgia will make you jump through a lot of hoops, won't it?
The last PPC Mac I used was in 2008 when I got my MBP for college and left behind the Dual 1.8 I'd used for the past four years.
It is a shame that there was a large class of Apple computers that got a really short shelf life due to the switch to Intel, but such is the pace of technology. No sense trying to avoid it, although I admire the dedication I've seen in this forum and in other places with how to prolong their life and give them second uses.
To me, I'm keeping the Apple hardware I've got now, because I want my children to have the option to play the games I did as a child in MacOSright now Sheepsaver works well emulating OS 9 but it might not one day, so that basically requires me to keep my aging Mac Pro when I get a new one. Nostalgia will make you jump through a lot of hoops, won't it?
Well, I'd argue it's more like a band on the Queen Mary!You guys sound a bit like the band on the Titanic
The last PPC Mac I used was in 2008 when I got my MBP for college and left behind the Dual 1.8 I'd used for the past four years.
It is a shame that there was a large class of Apple computers that got a really short shelf life due to the switch to Intel, but such is the pace of technology. No sense trying to avoid it, although I admire the dedication I've seen in this forum and in other places with how to prolong their life and give them second uses.
To me, I'm keeping the Apple hardware I've got now, because I want my children to have the option to play the games I did as a child in MacOS—right now Sheepsaver works well emulating OS 9 but it might not one day, so that basically requires me to keep my aging Mac Pro when I get a new one. Nostalgia will make you jump through a lot of hoops, won't it?
The Queen Mary is still around. Does she still do what she was built to do? No, her plying the waters of the North Atlantic are long over. But she still has a purpose. She's a hotel in a protected harbor. Her cabins still see use, she still generates revenue for her owners. Both the Queen Mary 2 and the Queen Elizabeth 2 have paid their respects by calling on her in Long Beach harbor. The Queen Mary 2 even saluting her with her own whistle because it was loaned to the QM2 from the Queen Mary!
My point in this thread was that the time for my main use of PowerPC seems to be coming to a close. That doesn't mean that the OTHER reasons or purposes I have for these Macs that they can still do well stop just because of that.
Have you tried OmniWeb browser?
http://www.omnigroup.com/more
Also if that day ever comes when our web browser issues make using osx mute,ill just go full time to using Lubuntu Linux for ppc
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Alternate_ISO
http://www.omnigroup.com/more
Also if that day ever comes when our web browser issues make using osx mute,ill just go full time to using Lubuntu Linux for ppc
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Alternate_ISO
Yes, I have off and on tried OmniWeb over the years.
My first issue with OmniWeb has always been that it's Webkit based. But, I wouldn't have so much of a problem with that if it was customizable.
I use Mozilla based browsers mainly for that reason. With OmniWeb, just like with Safari I have a very limited ability to do any of the things I have right now in TenFourFox.
With Opera I do have Speed Dial, built in. I can use userstyles as a substitute for the Stylish Plugin and the browser has a black theme I really like. But unfortunately, the user agent is so out of date that it won't function with Facebook. And the last versions of Opera that have a high enough user agent are very unstable on PowerPC. If it weren't for all that, I'd have stayed on Opera. I actually prefer it over TenFourFox, but the sites I'd use it on just won't work in it.
I do hear you on Linux though. Something I might consider.
There seems to be something of a division in the community over whether to move to Linux or stay with Mac OS X on PPC. Lots of flames back and forth.
All I know is that I can't seem to get the latest Lubuntu to boot on my 15" AlBook (1.33).
I am beginning the process of getting rid of my old PPC equipment. Anything under a G4 is being given to this budding computer geek I know. He could take a rock and run Windows 8.1 on it...
Linux on PPC is always going to be a workaround scheme like we have in OS X since the kernals were ported by the community. Heck, Ubuntu hasn't had a Canonical release of PPC Ubuntu in years. It has always been community support, and that is pretty much what we are working with on MacRumors.
If you think that computer is good, you would be extremely amazed by intel computers, not because they use intel but because they are newer. Why does it matter if you were "late" to the computer game? So if someone starts skateboarding in 2012 why would they buy an old board from 1999? Or if someone gets their first phone, why would they buy an old nokia or sony instead of a iPhone or any other smart phones?
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