Well, it would have been difficult to call a machine with an Intel CPU a PowerAnything, given that Power stood for PowerPC.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Does anyone ONLY use a PowerPC Mac?
- Thread starter iJasonTATE
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Well, it would have been difficult to call a machine with an Intel CPU a PowerAnything, given that Power stood for PowerPC.
No it didn't. Or at least, it didn't with the PowerBooks. The first several generations of PowerBooks were based around the 68K Microprocessor, and came out 3 years before Apple Switched to PowerPC at all. (The PowerBook 100 Series and PowerBook 500 Series were both based on the 68K). In fact it wasn't until the PowerBook 5300 that there was a PowerBook with a PowerPC CPU inside at all (excluding the PPC Upgrade kit for the PB500s, which I think came out later anyway).
Doing well with my $100 G4 Sawtooth. With Sonnet 1.6 Ghz CPU, three HDs and 2Gb of Ram. OS 10.5 I thought the end was coming when Firefox and, particularly, Flash, were proving incapable. Websites wouldn't load.
On a whim, I activated Safari, and everything is better than ever. Probably will inherit an iMac i5 from a friend later this year. Being retired, my computer needs are modest.
On a whim, I activated Safari, and everything is better than ever. Probably will inherit an iMac i5 from a friend later this year. Being retired, my computer needs are modest.
garycurtis...
you should try tenfourfox 7, it is blinding, hellaciously fast. Flash however is not supported by default, you can enable it easily following instructions on the tenfourfox site, but Flash is a security risk of the first order on PPC macs, best avoided if you can.
Omniweb is a far better webkit browser than Safari, less bloated, pages load quickly. You could install flash and use that for your flash fix, if you are willing to take the security risk.
Mactubes or Youview for youtube. Search forum for other methods to play HD video on your Sawtooth. PPC luddite has an even slower Sawtooth (500mhz) and he's got lots of ideas for keeping it mo-dern. Google for his blog.
and you can sell me your G4 Sawtooth when you get that iMac i5 (nice), I will put LinuxMintPPC 11 on it, and be set for like the next three years.
you should try tenfourfox 7, it is blinding, hellaciously fast. Flash however is not supported by default, you can enable it easily following instructions on the tenfourfox site, but Flash is a security risk of the first order on PPC macs, best avoided if you can.
Omniweb is a far better webkit browser than Safari, less bloated, pages load quickly. You could install flash and use that for your flash fix, if you are willing to take the security risk.
Mactubes or Youview for youtube. Search forum for other methods to play HD video on your Sawtooth. PPC luddite has an even slower Sawtooth (500mhz) and he's got lots of ideas for keeping it mo-dern. Google for his blog.
and you can sell me your G4 Sawtooth when you get that iMac i5 (nice), I will put LinuxMintPPC 11 on it, and be set for like the next three years.
I use only my G5 Power Mac, and it's getting pretty slow. Both Opera (my primary browser) and Firefox (my second choice) have stopped supporting PPC. I still use an old version of Opera, as well as "Stainless," a chrome port.
----------
24/7 since 2005 is VERY impressive!
----------
24/7 since 2005 is VERY impressive!
Yeah, it's never failed me. It kept producing even when I had an error in the B Tree directory of the hard disk that DiskWarrior couldn't fix.
I have shut it down once or twice over a three day holiday weekend, but the last time I did that I also shut off the monitors. I came back and now one of the monitors has a lighter background. So, I don't shut it off now at all (especially the monitors).
Pretty good I think. 6 years and counting running at full power with sleep turned off completely.
As of today I am 100% PowerPC hardware again!
My girlfriend was in very bad need of a new laptop so I gave her my C2D MacBook. I was given it by a client/friend about 5 months ago and never seemed to use it past 20-30% CPU use be honest. I guess after over a decade of using PowerPC I was cultured to have a low overhead on the system while computing. My girlfriend is a typical Mac user that just want's to get things done and needs more power for lack of computing finesse.
So now it's just me and my 1.8GHz G4 Sawtooth again. When I need to in the future I can start using one of my 2x spare Sawtooth's for extra computing power as one has a G4 1.0GHz 7455B upgrade.
Long live the G4!
My girlfriend was in very bad need of a new laptop so I gave her my C2D MacBook. I was given it by a client/friend about 5 months ago and never seemed to use it past 20-30% CPU use be honest. I guess after over a decade of using PowerPC I was cultured to have a low overhead on the system while computing. My girlfriend is a typical Mac user that just want's to get things done and needs more power for lack of computing finesse.
So now it's just me and my 1.8GHz G4 Sawtooth again. When I need to in the future I can start using one of my 2x spare Sawtooth's for extra computing power as one has a G4 1.0GHz 7455B upgrade.
Long live the G4!
The thing I detest about Firefox, or rather Firefox under a new name, TenFourFox, no HTML5 player like ClickToFlash extension in Safari. If it had that I'd switch. Maybe... I just prefer Safari so much on Mac I've been using it since 2005. Going to anything else feels dirty.
I suppose Safari 5.0.6 is the last ever version for PPC?
I have been a safari fan, but when I have tried Camino I never went back to Safari. TenFourFox is a good alternative. If I am on Tiger I would definitely use TFF. TFF and Tiger is a good match.
----------
Good to hear Zen.
I went to an Apple Store down when I was in Dallas last week, and thought about purchasing on the latest MBA 13" offering. But last minute I held off. The MBA is nice, but it doesn't feel like it is an apple machine. It is like a windows machine on an apple clothing.
My powerbook G4 feels more an authentic apple machine to me, it is way different.
----------
Good to hear Zen.
I went to an Apple Store down when I was in Dallas last week, and thought about purchasing on the latest MBA 13" offering. But last minute I held off. The MBA is nice, but it doesn't feel like it is an apple machine. It is like a windows machine on an apple clothing.
My powerbook G4 feels more an authentic apple machine to me, it is way different.
Not so long ago my Macs were all PPC's (A PM G5, 2.3DP and a 1,5 Ghz 12" PB)
Simultaneously I had (for the obligatory Windows work) a Thinkpad T60p and a no-name workstation (A quad xeon box).
After a lot of wrangling, I decided four machines were a few too many, so first I tried emulation (Windows on PPC / MacOS on Intel hardware), to very little avail - the result was always either buggy, unstable or too slow.
In the end I had to bite the bullet - now I only have two machines, a MacBookAlu and a first gen 27" iMac (i7). Both running multiple windows's on Parallels. Although I'm pretty happy (at least there is space for my papers on my desk nowadays), I miss my G5 and the 12" PB was just sweet...
Honestly I'm considering to take the next step, a powerful 13" MBP/MBA and a 27" display. (Back when I did the transition 13" and power were not a possible combination). Just waiting for the necessary means.
Alas, I'm not entirely PPC-less; In my CPU collection (together with the various 40286's and 68K's) is an original IBM PowerPC 66 Mhz. Prob'ly never seen a Mac though, that poor sod.
Simultaneously I had (for the obligatory Windows work) a Thinkpad T60p and a no-name workstation (A quad xeon box).
After a lot of wrangling, I decided four machines were a few too many, so first I tried emulation (Windows on PPC / MacOS on Intel hardware), to very little avail - the result was always either buggy, unstable or too slow.
In the end I had to bite the bullet - now I only have two machines, a MacBookAlu and a first gen 27" iMac (i7). Both running multiple windows's on Parallels. Although I'm pretty happy (at least there is space for my papers on my desk nowadays), I miss my G5 and the 12" PB was just sweet...
Honestly I'm considering to take the next step, a powerful 13" MBP/MBA and a 27" display. (Back when I did the transition 13" and power were not a possible combination). Just waiting for the necessary means.
Alas, I'm not entirely PPC-less; In my CPU collection (together with the various 40286's and 68K's) is an original IBM PowerPC 66 Mhz. Prob'ly never seen a Mac though, that poor sod.
Last edited:
Im still using the iMac in my sig as my main computer. Its still a decent computer even today although watching flash videos can be a pain sometimes. I still use it because I like the design. If there was a way to somehow incorporate an Intel processor, I'd (insert method of praise here).
Why does resetting the PMU more or less killing the PRAM battery? causing the power light to stay fully lit and unable to power up. I had to put in the original old battery for it to work and order a new one.
This battery is about 1.5 years old. It was fine until I reset the PMU, as it's the first it's been reset in over 5 years. Due to higher fan noise.
In future is it safe to reset the PMU after taking the battery out? as I can see this killing the battery everytime.
This battery is about 1.5 years old. It was fine until I reset the PMU, as it's the first it's been reset in over 5 years. Due to higher fan noise.
In future is it safe to reset the PMU after taking the battery out? as I can see this killing the battery everytime.
You must have pressed the reset button more than once which will not only crash the PMU but also drain the battery. For the MDD I recommend removing the battery for 5-10 min then put it back in and press the PMU ONCE. For all other G4 towers just press the button and leave the battery in.
Aww come on now. I'm not a klutz. I read it all several times before even first doing this. I only pushed it once. I've built enough computers in my time to know what and what not do do when pushing a button, clearing CMOS, BIOS etc
Disconnected everything, cleaned the Mac out. Pushed the button once! Not a half push then push again. One firm push! You can feel it press/click. Put the fan assembly back in. This was more than 10 seconds later before putting the power cable back in and DVI cable. Hear the power supply click as usual when it gets power or click when unplugged. Solid white light above the power button after it.
I suppose the next hot sunny day I'll leave the battery in the sunlight for it to get some power...
My parents recently had a need for a beefier computer for more intensive email/document processing/browsing tasks. They had been using a 400MHz TiBook I had given them (which, incidentally is now with me), but I decided to give them my C2D MacBook Pro until a more permanent solution could be found.
This leaves me at Engineering school using an iMac G4 as my main machine. So far, I'm actually tickled by how responsive this thing is! Initially I brought it to school for a nice backup to have stationary in case my MBP happened to be in a case or bag, but now I'm actually using it productively for everything I was using my MBP for!
Sadly, the TiBook has proven a bit dated for what I'd like to use it for (I gave it a good try in the campus library, but the single-click ability really hinders productivity when using a remote server for MATLAB or the like), so I've resorted to my EEE Pad Transformer for portable use for now. I'm actually a huge fan of the EEE Pad so far, so it'll be interesting to see if my MBP ever actually ventures back to me.
But, I digress. My 1.25GHz iMac G4 is working splendidly for me, and if I can get around to repairing it, I may bring a 1.5GHz PowerBook back to life (flickering display issue) which is currently serving my living room as a media center through DVI. Thus, I am completely PPC right now.
This leaves me at Engineering school using an iMac G4 as my main machine. So far, I'm actually tickled by how responsive this thing is! Initially I brought it to school for a nice backup to have stationary in case my MBP happened to be in a case or bag, but now I'm actually using it productively for everything I was using my MBP for!
Sadly, the TiBook has proven a bit dated for what I'd like to use it for (I gave it a good try in the campus library, but the single-click ability really hinders productivity when using a remote server for MATLAB or the like), so I've resorted to my EEE Pad Transformer for portable use for now. I'm actually a huge fan of the EEE Pad so far, so it'll be interesting to see if my MBP ever actually ventures back to me.
But, I digress. My 1.25GHz iMac G4 is working splendidly for me, and if I can get around to repairing it, I may bring a 1.5GHz PowerBook back to life (flickering display issue) which is currently serving my living room as a media center through DVI. Thus, I am completely PPC right now.
I was never completely PPC (I have a Linux-powered netbook and my Core 2 Duo Windows desktop), but most of my Macs are PPC.
Hell, the only reason I bought a new MacBook Pro is because I'm in need of a machine that can run Snow Leopard for college. (Got Lion, but that's fine) Not that I don't love the machine (because I do), but for most of my own needs my iBook gets me through everything well. My primary desktop was actually a MDD G4, too, for a while... switched back to my Windows desktop though recently due to power concerns and the fact that I'm able to dual-monitor with it.
No way I'm ditching any of my PPC machines - they're just too good machines with plenty of life left in them. I actually kind of want a G4 Mini to replace my P4 server, too... considering what I actually use the server for (ssh almost exclusively) I get the feeling it'd be more power-friendly.
I do some weird things with computer setups, sometimes.
Hell, the only reason I bought a new MacBook Pro is because I'm in need of a machine that can run Snow Leopard for college. (Got Lion, but that's fine) Not that I don't love the machine (because I do), but for most of my own needs my iBook gets me through everything well. My primary desktop was actually a MDD G4, too, for a while... switched back to my Windows desktop though recently due to power concerns and the fact that I'm able to dual-monitor with it.
No way I'm ditching any of my PPC machines - they're just too good machines with plenty of life left in them. I actually kind of want a G4 Mini to replace my P4 server, too... considering what I actually use the server for (ssh almost exclusively) I get the feeling it'd be more power-friendly.
I do some weird things with computer setups, sometimes.