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What uses would a PPC Mac have?

Volkstaia

Volkstaia

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 5, 2012
133
2
East Coast of the US
I kinda want one to screw around will older versions of OS. I don't really care about OS 9, as any apps that it has I can just run in Classic. But here's the thing: I'm pretty young, so I can't afford a PPC mac just to mess with. It probably wouldn't work as a media box because it can't do flash, is there a way I could wirelessly backup files from my Mac mini to it? I had an iMac G4 in mind.
 
Depending on what you want to do with it. PPC macs are a lot cheaper, but lack a lot in terms of Software and even hardware. Flash will work up to CS4 on G5's and I think G4's as well.

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Setup File Sharing on your Mac Mini and the PPC Mac to transfer files.
 
I was using an iBook G3 700mhz as a Time Machine backup server up until recently. Two USB drives connected to the iBook and it was plugged in to my network via Ethernet. It also has an Airport card, so it worked that way too. But Ethernet was faster. Both my Leopard PowerBooks backed up wirelessly to the drives connected to the iBook.

I use a PowerMac G4/350 PCI as an Applescript server here at work. Moves files around and processes photos.
 
ConfusedBatman said:
I can't afford a PPC mac just to mess with. I had an iMac G4 in mind.
Click to expand...

They are actually cheaper than most people realize.

If you use Ebay and are vigilant you can get an ibook G3 for just a couple bucks plus $10-$15 shipping. You can get a working iBook G4 for around $60 plus shipping. You can also get Powermac G4 systems for around $18 plus shipping (around $25).

Craigslist can be OK, but people expect way to much for their iBooks and G4 Powermacs (at least around here). It is best for G3 iMacs.
 
I use my G5 to heat my workshop (seriously). It's also my main workstation in there as well.
 
What They Can Really Do

My G5 is my work horse. The apps I use on my computer are listed below as well as version numbers. I recommend that you download and save all disk images for applications simply due to scarcity.

Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8
Microsoft Office 2008
iWork 09
iLife 09 (Slower Macs May Have Limited Features)
Adobe CS4 Suite
Xcode 3.1.4
Spotify
Skype 2.8
Audacity
GIMP
Google Earth
Open Office
Dropbox
Mactracker
AppleWorks
Final Cut Pro 6

Now my G5 isn't exactly top of the line, yet it handles what I throw at it and my MacBook Pro is used mainly on the go and for school.

Specs:

PowerMac G5 Dual 1.8 GHz, 2*1TB Western Digital Caviar Blue, 4 GB DDR RAM, ATI Radeon 9600, Apple Studio Display 17", HP S2031 20".

I do recommend iMovie 09 as it seems to perform okay, while offering a modern appeal. Good luck with your PowerPC Macs!

:apple: Altemose :apple:
 
Some work stuff ( MS Office 2008)
Chats (Skype/Yahoo Messenger/Google Talk through TenFourBird)
Email (TenFourBird - also for Calendar and contact sync using Fruux and the Lightening and SoGo Thunderbird extensions)
Web (TenFourFox with loads of extensions - yes I'm back to using that..)
iPhoto 09 - main photo catalog / storage is on this machine. Upload to Flickr via iPhoto Flickr export.
Games occasionally (Doom3, Halo, Amnesia, CoD 1&2, Medal of Honor, UT etc)
Movie encodes to .264 using Elgato Turbo.264 dongle (encodes at a little above movie play speed)
Music (iTunes/Spotify and some nice speakers)
Really all that a home machine needs to do, I have a decent MBP but tend to only use that when travelling.
 
I have a very tiny convenience store in my part of the world, currently unemployed. Since I am manning the counter, I have moved my G5 quad over to the counter. Created my own personal POS s/w, have Adobe PS, AI, and a bunch of other productivity stuff on it.

Right now it is streaming music thru iTunes to my airplay/airport express enabled M-Audio AV40's.

Plenty of use I think for an "ancient" computer architecture.
 
Quads G5s, the internet, web server, web dev, minecraft 1.7.2 (use Debian). Slower PowerPCs, printer servers, playing around with.
 
Swampus said:
That's funny, but also quite practical. You're using considerably less power than you would with an actual portable electric space heater.
Click to expand...

I don't pay for the electricity in that part of my place. So the G5 is always on near full load.
 
PPCs are economical not just because they are cheap but because the pro software is also cheap compared to newer intel versions. Great to learn the ropes on or even make some money on if your needs aren't to great.

On my G5 I have adobe creative suite 2 which is fine as I only need it for content creation. So far I haven't had to worry about others giving me files that would require me to upgrade, mainly just making up new artwork which CS2 is great for. I also am learning video editing with Final Cut Studio 1 and is fine for up to 720x480 res as my machine maxes at 4gb ram.

I have had to recently buy an intel iMac for surfing and other tasks but still use my G5 for software I can actually afford :)
 
PowerPC Macs are nice for decoration (if they are in a good condition). :)

For basic tasks you can actually use them if you are not in a hurry, some things simply won't work. I have my PowerBook simply because I got it very cheap and it is a nice machine. Actual usability value for me is low on that laptop. I can browse the web (slow at times) and it seems that Nestopia runs NES games fine too. Keyboard, touchpad and the overall design is pretty damn nice. If only you could swap in an Intel CPU :)
 
ConfusedBatman said:
I kinda want one to screw around will older versions of OS. I don't really care about OS 9, as any apps that it has I can just run in Classic. But here's the thing: I'm pretty young, so I can't afford a PPC mac just to mess with. It probably wouldn't work as a media box because it can't do flash, is there a way I could wirelessly backup files from my Mac mini to it? I had an iMac G4 in mind.
Click to expand...

Actually flash 11 was ported over to the ppc. Adobe won't tell you that. I have it and i works AWESOME. Oh? You don't believe me? Ok. Here is a link: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4781929 Now what are ya'll saying now!
 
Last edited:
Namija said:
Actually flash 11 was ported over to the ppc. Adobe won't tell you that. I have it and i works AWESOME. Oh? You don't believe me? Ok. Here is a link: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4781929 Now what are ya'll saying now!
Click to expand...

That's still Flash 10.2 with the version number changed to be 11.5. Nothing new there. Flash 11 will never be on PowerPC Macs without Adobe releasing its highly guarded Flash Player source code.
 
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