Any institutions still using PPC machines?

[LOLZpersonok]

Take schools for example. The iMac G3's were quite common in elementary schools because they're fun looking computers and the G4 eMacs were also quite common as well.

My school does have a few Power Mac G4's laying around in a couple of classrooms, sitting unused as the school now uses cheap Chinese Windows machines (and by cheap I mean absolute garbage, these things are usually in pretty sad condition) for the most part. They don't have Apple monitors though.

Is your school/workplace or other place you know about still using any PowerPC machines? I asked about the Power Macs that are sitting at my school and they want to get rid of them and they're planning on selling them for about $35 each and if they don't sell them they'll recycle them. I might grab one, but they aren't the MDDs or Quicksilver Power Macs. Besides, I may run into trouble in grabbing another desktop machine.

 

[Astroboy907]

Our local tech center used PPC Mac Pros for photoshop for years. I think this year they might have updated, but I don't know. They still were going strong..
Might have to ask them about them, they had a stack of them somewhere..

 

[LOLZpersonok]

Our local tech center used PPC Mac Pros for photoshop for years. I think this year they might have updated, but I don't know. They still were going strong..
Might have to ask them about them, they had a stack of them somewhere..

You mean the the Power Mac G5s, right? The PowerPC Machines (as long as it's a dual processor 1.25GHz G4 or higher) are still quite functional. It's kind of sad that Apple dropped their support so fast when they moved to Intel processors.

If you're going to ask them, please post your answer here! I'd love to hear. I'm not too keen on the new Intel Macs but I love the PowerPC Macs.

 

[Astroboy907]

You mean the the Power Mac G5s, right? The PowerPC Machines (as long as it's a dual processor 1.25GHz G4 or higher) are still quite functional. It's kind of sad that Apple dropped their support so fast when they moved to Intel processors.

If you're going to ask them, please post your answer here! I'd love to hear. I'm not too keen on the new Intel Macs but I love the PowerPC Macs.

Lol I am pretty keen on intel macs but have never had a real use for PowerPC ones... Maybe a photo editing suite as my 15" isn't really cutting it some days.
They had a whole bunch of the G5s last year (like a stack of 30 in the teachers lounge ) but they might have put them in storage. But they might have kept some for photoshop, or upgraded. Maybe I'll sneak in to do a quick spec check.

 

[rjcalifornia]

The Senate of my country has a PowerMac G4 as a file server. Weird right?

 

[LOLZpersonok]

Lol I am pretty keen on intel macs but have never had a real use for PowerPC ones... Maybe a photo editing suite as my 15" isn't really cutting it some days.
They had a whole bunch of the G5s last year (like a stack of 30 in the teachers lounge ) but they might have put them in storage. But they might have kept some for photoshop, or upgraded. Maybe I'll sneak in to do a quick spec check.

Maybe if at all possible, try and take one home. That'd be cool. I'd love to have a G5 because my Power Mac G4 is not the fastest thing around on the Internet, for example, it has the same performance on the regular Gmail as my 500MHz Celeron Deskpro does. It's really odd, if you think of it.

I definitely do prefer having a Windows machine as a main system than having a Mac but I would love to have a new MacBook Pro for video stuff. Sony Vegas requires too many plugins to do motion tracking and CGI stuff (these plugins cost like $500, which is almost as much as the video editor itself, like wtf!) and Final Cut Pro X, as I'm sure of already has these features built-in, but I'm not entirely sure.

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The Senate of my country has a PowerMac G4 as a file server. Weird right?

Interesting. Well, if you have an old machine laying around that still works, why not put it to use? It'd be a shame to leave an old machine that still works to the recyclers, be it Windows or Mac.

 

[Astroboy907]

Maybe if at all possible, try and take one home. That'd be cool. I'd love to have a G5 because my Power Mac G4 is not the fastest thing around on the Internet, for example, it has the same performance on the regular Gmail as my 500MHz Celeron Deskpro does. It's really odd, if you think of it.

I definitely do prefer having a Windows machine as a main system than having a Mac but I would love to have a new MacBook Pro for video stuff. Sony Vegas requires too many plugins to do motion tracking and CGI stuff (these plugins cost like $500, which is almost as much as the video editor itself, like wtf!) and Final Cut Pro X, as I'm sure of already has these features built-in, but I'm not entirely sure.

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Interesting. Well, if you have an old machine laying around that still works, why not put it to use? It'd be a shame to leave an old machine that still works to the recyclers, be it Windows or Mac.

I don't really run windows ever (I don't know how to run anything on win vista or newer, XP is the only one I know how to do lots of stuff). Personal preference, I like macs better, but can fix basic windows issues. I'd like to try Sony Vegas but never really learned final cut so I figure one day I'll learn it. Those plugins are EXPENSIVE!! IDK about Final Cut X ad CGI, but then again I don't know about CGI at all.

I was digging at my dad's office and in their shed I found an old tower with a Pentium II!!! Talk about old-school, this thing is probably 250mHz and 128mb RAM or something. Trying to see if it still runs. It would probably have ME or Win 95 installed, right?

 

[Swampus]

Is space an institution?

e2v release space qualified GHz-Class microprocessor
July 23, 2013

e2v launches a space qualified version of the Power Architecture PC7448, the first GHz class microprocessors in the world which can be integrated onto space qualified equipment.

The PC7448 is the first product from e2v’s Power Architecture series to have a space variant produced. It is a RISC microprocessor that is already widely adopted in the computing platform of aircraft. It operates at speeds of up to 1267MHz and, when combined with an AltiVec engine, provides powerful floating-point computation capability for demanding signal processing applications. The device is built on 90nm CMOS SOI technology and features radiation tolerant performance (in terms of total ionising dose and heavy ion radiation).

The space grade version of the PC7448 will benefit from e2v’s unique high reliability flip chip assembly facility which has been supplying aircraft equipment manufacturers for over 15 years. The e2v facilities used to build these products are certified to MIL-PRF-38535 QML level Q and V, as well as AS/EN9100 aerospace standard.

e2v also offers space grade qualification of the PC7448 based on the upcoming QML class Y standard. This is a new space standard which is currently being finalised and is specifically intended for space grade non-hermetic flip-chip semiconductor technology. e2v has contributed proposals for the definition of the standard and has also extended the proprietary quality flow for its own microprocessor products.

The development of these space qualified products delivers significant benefits to the space community including single board computers for: optical Earth observation payloads, radar based Earth observation and remote sensing, weather satellites and telecommunication transceivers.

Or are we limiting this discussion to planet Earth? Emory University still has some PowerPC Macintosh computers running in several departments.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

I don't really run windows ever (I don't know how to run anything on win vista or newer, XP is the only one I know how to do lots of stuff). Personal preference, I like macs better, but can fix basic windows issues. I'd like to try Sony Vegas but never really learned final cut so I figure one day I'll learn it. Those plugins are EXPENSIVE!! IDK about Final Cut X ad CGI, but then again I don't know about CGI at all.

I was digging at my dad's office and in their shed I found an old tower with a Pentium II!!! Talk about old-school, this thing is probably 250mHz and 128mb RAM or something. Trying to see if it still runs. It would probably have ME or Win 95 installed, right?

Windows XP is one of the best versions of Windows out there. People are only griping about Windows 8 because it's "sooooo different!" but really I find nothing to be unhappy about. There's nothing wrong with Windows 8. Even my older copies of Need for Speed Underground 1 & 2 installed and ran without issue.

My expertise lies with Windows. There are a lot of aspects about the Mac that confuse me such as not having a two button mouse by default and the entire trackpad being a button, not to mention the green button that changes the window size, but I still like them. I also find it odd that there is no "tap to click" like there is on Windows laptops.

As for Sony Vegas, it's nothing special. In my opinion, it's very overpriced as I paid about $620 for my copy, which is almost as much as my HP Envy cost when it was on sale. It takes a long time to render and makes absolutely massive video files (that are of extremely high quality, however) and I don't think it's capable of applying the CGI that I believe Final Cut Pro X is capable of without plugins. The video effects are far from few but they're 'primitive', and by that I mean they aren't advanced for the most part. I made a pretty good video with Sony Vegas on my YouTube Channel in pure 1080p HD (interestingly enough it is a buying tips video for if you buy a Mac or a PC) but that's about it.

It's always awesome to find something like what you found lying around. A Pentium II machine would have to be an early Pentium II (Pre-1998) in order to be labelled "Designed for Windows 95". I would assume a machine of that era would have around 64-256MB of RAM and would probably run Windows 98 or 98 SE but it could also be running Windows 2000 or Me or even Windows XP if it was upgraded previously.

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Is space an institution?



Or are we limiting this discussion to planet Earth? Emory University still has some PowerPC Macintosh computers running in several departments.

I was actually thinking about PowerPC Macintosh computers when I titled it but that's an interesting quote that you found.

And by 'Institutions' I mean anything, that could be from space as you mentioned to hospitals to libraries to schools. Anything.

 

[DJLC]

I also find it odd that there is no "tap to click" like there is on Windows laptops.

There is if you enable it in System Preferences.

The school I work for had scads of PPC Macs, but unfortunately they all disappeared before I arrived. We're now mostly Intel Macs with some Dells thrown in for laughs.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

There is if you enable it in System Preferences.

The school I work for had scads of PPC Macs, but unfortunately they all disappeared before I arrived. We're now mostly Intel Macs with some Dells thrown in for laughs.

I had no idea that existed. Thanks, I'll probably use that for future reference. Do you know if the PowerPC Apple Laptops (iBook G4, PowerBook G4, for example) can do this? My oldest laptop (that has a touchpad, my all-time oldest laptop doesn't have a touchpad) which is a 2004 Dell Latitude can do this by default. I wonder why it's an optional option on Macs where as it's default on Windows...

I know one school here in my city actually supplies students with district-owned iBook G4s for school work. I didn't think of that until now. They can't keep the laptop, they're technically borrowing it for a small fee.

 

[eyoungren]

There is if you enable it in System Preferences.

Or, on the older PowerPC G4s you could install iScroll2 or Sidetrack to enable the option.

OP, I have a Dual USB iBook G3 that at one time belonged to the Beaumont Unified School District (Beaumont, CA). My mom was the Yearbook and Electives (computer classes) teacher at Mt. View Junior High and Beaumont High School from 1990 until she retired last year (she's been teaching since the early 60s). Those schools had PowerPC Macs up until about two or three years ago when they finally started getting rid of them, which is how I ended up with this iBook G3. That was mainly due to my mother's influence on the principal as she's always been an Apple user, all the way back to the Apple II days.

 

[DZ/015]

The semiconductor manufacturing industry still uses a mountain of old equipment. There are still G3 and G4s in use running metrology equipment.

Everything from MS-DOS to Win XP is used. As well as QNX, OS/2, and OpenStep are still in use. Once a process and piece of equipment are dialed in and working, you don't change it.

 

[Astroboy907]

I also find it odd that there is no "tap to click" like there is on Windows laptops.

Here you go (or this)

It's always awesome to find something like what you found lying around. A Pentium II machine would have to be an early Pentium II (Pre-1998) in order to be labelled "Designed for Windows 95". I would assume a machine of that era would have around 64-256MB of RAM and would probably run Windows 98 or 98 SE but it could also be running Windows 2000 or Me or even Windows XP if it was upgraded previously.

It isn't labeled "Designed for Windows 95" on it but has the little Pentium II insignia. I took it apart and it's pretty crazy, it has 2 fans (one for the CPU, one for the whole rest of the case, not counting PSU), I think 256mb RAM or so, and a 20gb Seagate HDD. Now to find some PS2 connectors and a VGA monitor (I havn't had a VGA monitor for years with the iMac and such).

 

[Swampus]

It isn't labeled "Designed for Windows 95" on it but has the little Pentium II insignia. I took it apart and it's pretty crazy, it has 2 fans (one for the CPU, one for the whole rest of the case, not counting PSU), I think 256mb RAM or so, and a 20gb Seagate HDD. Now to find some PS2 connectors and a VGA monitor (I havn't had a VGA monitor for years with the iMac and such).

Funny, but you just reminded me that I still have a Pentium II stuck in my PM 9600 (via an OrangePC card). I haven't used it in years. On the rare occasion that I need an older copy of Windows, it runs faster under Virtual PC on my G4 or G5. Still, I might need to fire it up just for fun.

I did have a Dell with a 400 MHz Pentium II running Linux in a useful capacity up until a few years ago. The Pentium was such an awful chip, though. I'm so glad that Intel finally pulled its head out of its ass. They're making some nice chips today.

 

[mizaco]

Just upgrade already...

 

[Swampus]

What? Do you think I should upgrade to a Pentium III?

 

[Frost7]

Don't know if it qualifies, but the Quad G5 in my signature is still the hub of my small business. Haven't had any reason to upgrade as the only thing it can't do speedily is play newer video games... which aren't even made for PowerPC anymore, so not like that's an issue anyway.

All the iWork programs are still current, just no iCloud support, Leopard Server is still useful as ever, RapidWeaver still supports PowerPC, Dropbox supports PowerPC, most of the utilities I need to use either still support PowerPC or their last Universal Binary version still does the job just as well, Apple Remote Desktop 3.4 is still close enough to current that there are no issues managing Intel machines from it, and so on and so forth.

If I had some super CPU-intensive tasks to do, or if I had a Dual/Single G5, I'd probably be looking at upgrading. But the Quad had so much horsepower that it still busts my Early 2008 MBP's chops at a lot of tasks, especially floating point heavy operations. Video/audio conversions and such get sent to my G5 since it finishes them faster and doesn't feel like it's about to melt my desk afterwards either.

Not that I haven't thought about upgrading; in fact I've got about $5K set aside for it. Just it hasn't become nearly enough of an issue yet to justify spending that fund. I probably won't be upgrading until an iteration of the new Mac Pro ships with nVidia GPUs, or something arises that needs a lot of horsepower, is Intel-only, and can't be farmed out to my MacBook Pro.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Is your school/workplace or other place you know about still using any PowerPC machines?

My daughter's elementary school still has mostly late eMacs as classroom PCs. A few iMac G5s. (2-3 computers per classroom.) The full-on computer lab is reasonably current, as are the teacher computers.

 

[CapnCrunch53]

The Pentium was such an awful chip, though. I'm so glad that Intel finally pulled its head out of its ass. They're making some nice chips today.

Kinda curious what makes you say that? The Pentium II/III architecture was and is pretty great. The P4 architecture (Netburst) was a departure and was really pretty horrible; wasn't until the Northwoods that it came into its own and by then was being destroyed by Athlon 64s (before that the Athlon XPs ate it up).

When Intel finally released the Core series, it returned to the PIII architecture (with a lot of improvements of course). This is what put them back in the lead over AMD, and ultimately what led to Apple's big switch to Intel. The "Core i" series combined the benefits of both Netburst and the Core 2 architectures (efficiency of the Core2 and the hyperthreading ability of Netburst), but Intel wouldn't be where it is without the Pentium series.

 

[Anonymous Freak]

Kinda curious what makes you say that? The Pentium II/III architecture was and is pretty great. The P4 architecture (Netburst) was a departure and was really pretty horrible; wasn't until the Northwoods that it came into its own and by then was being destroyed by Athlon 64s (before that the Athlon XPs ate it up).

When Intel finally released the Core series, it returned to the PIII architecture (with a lot of improvements of course). This is what put them back in the lead over AMD, and ultimately what led to Apple's big switch to Intel. The "Core i" series combined the benefits of both Netburst and the Core 2 architectures (efficiency of the Core2 and the hyperthreading ability of Netburst), but Intel wouldn't be where it is without the Pentium series.

Ack! Sorry, this just hurts my brain.

The original Pentium (P5 architecture) was leaps-and-bounds ahead of the 486 it replaced. The later versions were quite good, and as was usual for Intel for a while, the mobile version lived on past the desktop version's obsolescence, getting better than any desktop version had been. Among other things, the original Pentium architecture lives on today, heavily modified, in the form of the "Atom" core, as well as the "Xeon Phi" massively-multi-core add-in card.

The follow-on P6 architecture, while VERY successful, did have its own growing pains. This architecture started out life as the Pentium Pro - a quite powerful 32-bit chip, but it was slower than a same-MHz original Pentium when executing 16-bit code, which there was still plenty of at its launch. It later morphed into the Pentium II and Pentium III, when it really hit its stride. Again, like the original Pentium it lived on longer in the mobile space, to the point that only Intel's insistence that Pentium 4 replace it in mobile, battery-life-be-damned, finally killed it.

But not for good! When Intel finally was willing to admit that Netburst/Pentium 4 was horrible for power consumption, they started a crash program that led to the Pentium-M processor, which was derived from the P6/Pentium III architecture, only using the Netburst front side bus and with the latest Pentium 4 additional instructions. It was this CPU (not the Pentium III directly,) that the Core Solo/Duo, then Core 2, was developed.

NetBurst was the dead end. Originated as Pentium 4, later Pentium D when they added a second core, this was the power hog. Within the NetBurst line, there were better and worse series of chips (Northwood being the first "really usable" core,) but yes, this line generally sucked. Its only major selling point is that it kept Intel innovating in extensions to it to improve many other aspects (more media extensions, adopting AMD's 64-bit extensions, virtualization extensions, etc,) and finally moving to dual-core when they saw the writing on the wall of the MHz race. (Note: Intel still hasn't released a chip whose "base clock" is faster than the fastest Pentium 4 - 3.8 GHz - although the Ivy Bridge and Haswell processors do have some models that turbo up to as high as 4.0 GHz when only one core is active.)

Note that the Nehalem and later (Core i-series,) cores drifted further from NetBurst, not closer.

 

[Swampus]

Kinda curious what makes you say that? The Pentium II/III architecture was and is pretty great. The P4 architecture (Netburst) was a departure and was really pretty horrible...

Late night typo. Meant to say Pentium 4 was an awful chip. I had originally used Roman numeral nomenclature and then remembered that they stopped doing that after III. I went back to change it to an actual 4 and appear to have been unsuccessful. I blame beer (and possibly cannabis) for this misunderstanding. As stated, I had a PII that was useful until a couple of years ago (It stopped being useful because it died). Not to say that the P4 couldn't be useful. It was just, as you say, bad design. And it appeared at the time that this philosophy would dominate Intel's thinking for much longer than it actually did, which was too long anyway.

The OrangePC card, of course, is very slow for other reasons. That was more of a hobby thing.

 

[tampasteve]

One of the School districts here uses Apple for all their computers, etc. A few G4 iMacs are still around in classrooms. There may be others, but I have not been in the back offices to see. Probably 95% of the classroom computers are Macbook Pro's from 2010/11, Macbook from 2006, and a bunch of iPads.

 

[rabidz7]

Our local tech center used PPC Mac Pros for photoshop for years. I think this year they might have updated, but I don't know. They still were going strong..
Might have to ask them about them, they had a stack of them somewhere..

A lot of universities have Power Architecture super computers.

 

[eyoungren]

Mac Pros?
Like with Power6/7/8?
Or Do you mean PowerMacs?

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A lot of universities have Power Architecture super computers.

He meant PowerMac G5s and corrected himself on it a couple of posts down. Did you miss that Don Quixote?