Being new to Macs and all i was wondering how backwards compatible they stay? With a PC if you are running one that came with Windows 2000 you probably arent going to be happy running Vista. Does that mindset generally apply to Mac OS's? I do see a lot of people on here running older Macs....
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Backwards Compatibility?
- Thread starter marine610610
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You mean using an old Mac to run the most recent version of OS X? Yeah you can get away with that just fine unless you step into the realm of the late G3's and early G4's. At that generation of Mac you'll start having to deal with slowdowns due to slower processors.
But if you're new to Mac then you probably don't have those worries.
But if you're new to Mac then you probably don't have those worries.
I know that nobody here can possibly know all the features leopard will hold, but i was just wondering if i could anticipate a slowdown like that with a new MBP.
From 10.0 -> 10.1 -> 10.2 -> 10.3 -> 10.4, each version has become faster on the same hardware, as long as you have enough RAM.
yes
i have a 1ghz G4 EMac with 512ram and it still going well with tiger( and it came with jaguar) now my moms mac pro 8 core 3ghz is on the way with 4gigs of ram!
i have a 1ghz G4 EMac with 512ram and it still going well with tiger( and it came with jaguar) now my moms mac pro 8 core 3ghz is on the way with 4gigs of ram!
You probably will not have any problems with using new(er) software on older hardware. I run Tiger on a G3 iBook. The ram is maxed out at 640mb, and while fairly slow, the machine is still very usable. If only the hard drive was larger...
On the other hand, older software may not run on newer hardware. Unlike Microsoft, who seems to support old APIs forever, an Intel Mac will not run ancient (Classic) software (even in Rosetta). I assume that is one of the reasons Windows has so many problems. Having to support software that is over 20 years old doesn't seem like something that would make an OS very efficient. (I still play games 10+ years old on Windows XP).
-Sam
On the other hand, older software may not run on newer hardware. Unlike Microsoft, who seems to support old APIs forever, an Intel Mac will not run ancient (Classic) software (even in Rosetta). I assume that is one of the reasons Windows has so many problems. Having to support software that is over 20 years old doesn't seem like something that would make an OS very efficient. (I still play games 10+ years old on Windows XP).
-Sam
This has been the case for me and I have a 1.25Ghz PowerBook. Personally, I can't wait to put Leopard on my machine and I expect the same level of performance (if not slightly better).
Thanks for the responses. I can only assume Apple works to make their software more efficent each time, which is why older Macs still run new software like a champ.