You bring up a valid point Tom and I'm sure we'll see these limitation soon enough. I've spent just under $250 for the laptops, memory, and software. At the very worst, I've inherited some tinkering time on my part. But for the cost, I think it'll get us acclimated to MAC before I buy my son another laptop.
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First Mac Ever (iBook G4)
- Thread starter nineteen73
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You bring up a valid point Tom and I'm sure we'll see these limitation soon enough. I've spent just under $250 for the laptops, memory, and software. At the very worst, I've inherited some tinkering time on my part. But for the cost, I think it'll get us acclimated to MAC before I buy my son another laptop.
They are a good way to become acclimated to the Apple ecosystem, so you are thinking rightly.
You will also soon discover that these Macs have their own personality. There's just something about them that the Intel Macs do not have - a soul if you will. That more than anything else is the one thing that keeps me attached to these Macs.
If I lost the MacPro at work tomorrow I wouldn't be crying. But I'd hate to lose any of my other PowerPC Macs.
I have to agree with this. A lot of us hold onto these machines purely out of sentimental value, nostalgia, or whatever it may be. The truth remains however that these machines are just that - a remnant of the past, a mememto, and a very good one at that for many of us. But sinking money into these notebooks, especially as main computers wouldn't be advisable. Keep in mind that a high end iBook is slower than a low-end smartphone these days, in fact the current generation iPod touch will score higher than an iBook. These machines are great to tinker with, or just to hold onto for memories as many of us have, just keep that in mind. As for a laptop for your son OP, I agree that an old MacBook would better serve his needs. I remember when I got one in 2006 and realizing that apple's low-end laptop was now faster than the PowerMac G5 Dual processor I was working on at the time. Those little machines are powerful and they would likely be a better way to introduce yourself to the macintosh. Regardless, I hope you enjoy your new adventure with the PPC macs... welcome to the family!
So far my son has been able to do his homework online without a hitch. He has commented that it's slower than he'd like it to be, but he's also a fairly patient bloke. He's been using Safari 5, but I informed him about trying out TenFourFox and Webkit.
Currently, I'm still using my HP laptop, HP Pavillion G7, with Windows 8.1. It's because of Win 8.1 that I'm pretty much fed up with PCs.
Currently, I'm still using my HP laptop, HP Pavillion G7, with Windows 8.1. It's because of Win 8.1 that I'm pretty much fed up with PCs.
Windows 8/8.1 was designed by someone who must have been formerly working at Fisher Price. It is getting better but still half-baked in terms of UI.
Maybe those developers went back to Fisher Price.
Microsoft confirms it's dropping Windows 8.1 support
Microsoft confirms it's dropping Windows 8.1 support
Uhh. No. They went to Apple and came up with iOS 7.
iOS 7 and Yosemite are actually growing on me...
yes I know,but you can also pickup a nice macbook for a good price if you wait long enough....
-ibook 1.33,768 ram,30 g hd (all stock,mint cond,30 cyl batt) =$50 cdn
-macbook 2.26 unibody,4g ram,250 g hd (also pretty mint cond) =$150 cdn
both bought on craigs.....
use both on a daily basis...
You are right. To be brutally honest, the only future PPC has is with Linux. Using any OS X is not going to be any good. Try Debian Linux or MintPPC. I've put it on my eMac and now it is a very quick usable computer. On tiger is was useless, and on leopard it was half useless and slow. It is always a bad idea using unsupporting operating systems.
So, I'm not regretting my option to buy these older iBooks if Linux would breath new life into these machines. However, would that mean eventually I'd have to leave these forum? lol.
So, I'm not regretting my option to buy these older iBooks if Linux would breath new life into these machines. However, would that mean eventually I'd have to leave these forum? lol.
No. This forum is for PowerPC Macs. There is no specification on what operating system you must be running to participate. I recommend that you create a different thread in the PPC forum if you decide to go Linux. There are quite a few Linux PPC users here that can help you.
Welllll…all I can say is that the Pontiac Aztec has a following of people too. Pontiac actually managed to sell that SUV.
;-)
Debian and Mint run much better on Intel. I have plenty of those to throw Linux on. I have lots of old games I am rediscovering on MacOS 9. You need a PPC computer for that.
I have too many computers.
I know it's easier to install linux on intel, but it is still better than os x on ppc. End of. OS X on PPC is dead, yes, DEAD. Forget OS X.
Now the real question is "which linux is best for ppc?"
I'm going to try mint today or tomorrow.
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So, I'm not regretting my option to buy these older iBooks if Linux would breath new life into these machines. However, would that mean eventually I'd have to leave these forum? lol.
PPC is great as long as you stay away from OS X.
This might help:
http://ppcluddite.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/installing-debian-linux-on-ppc-part-i.html
I'm all for keeping the platform relevant and I think it's great that there are Linux projects for our old Macs.
But, I have to disagree with this statement. Sure, Leopard, the youngest OS that can be run (if the PowerPC Mac can run it), is outdated and very few people are making apps for it anymore and security can be a risk.
But, while security is a concern for me, it's not the be all end all. And as I have mentioned many times in the past here, I have worked with these Macs in my job on a daily basis.
For six years my coworker did her job every day on a G4/450 on Leopard with 1.75GB ram running Adobe CS4 (InDesign/Illustrator/Photoshop), Acrobat 6 Pro and 9 Pro, Suitcase Fusion 2 and QuarkXPress 8.
I did the same on a G5 with 4GB ram on Leopard. We met our deadlines all the time. Ad design, newspaper layout, pagination, composition. Legals, classifieds and anything else the editor and publisher threw at us. My coworker is using the G5 with that same load right now and has been for the past six months.
Your needs/wants are going to be different from mine or my company's. But it does not automatically follow that OS X is bad on PowerPC.
So, I'm not regretting my option to buy these older iBooks if Linux would breath new life into these machines. However, would that mean eventually I'd have to leave these forum? lol.
Actually, you'll probably find better PPC Linux advice here than in Linux forums. Most Linux forum users probably aren't running it on a PPC.
That was not an SUV. That was a crossover type of thing that was based off the Rendezvous if I recall correctly.
If you run Linux on a PPC, would you be limited on a particular era of software, or could you use the most current software library?
Some distributions are no longer supported while others are. For example, Fedora hasn't supported 32 bit PPC for several releases now, but the 64 bit PPC version works on G5s according to the Fedora website. It's a little hit or miss with Linux.
You can use the current version of Debian as far as I know. I'm not quite sure about Arch, but I think the same is true there.
It's going to take me some time to get acclimated to Mac's OS, software, and terminology. How much different is Linux from Windows and OS X?
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Arch dropped PPC support, I believe Gentoo still supports it. Fedora has an unofficial PPC release. Same as Ubunutu/lubuntu/xubuntu - All unofficial PPC releases.
Debian will probably support PPC until they can't find one alive to test their system on - in other words likely indefinitely. Keep in mind that Debian still officially supports amd64 armel armhf i386 ia64 kfreebsd-i386 kfreebsd-amd64 mips mipsel powerpc s390 s390x and sparc. And that's just official releases. Up until several years back Debian still supported 68ks.
nineteen:
if your going to try linux on your ppc ibooks give Lubuntu a try...it's a nice lite weight distro that also has easy to understand interface.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Alternate_ISO
scroll down for ppc iso file...
now this being said,I have found that no matter the linux distro these older ibooks run much hotter with linux and why I would personally stick with using tiger or leopard.
if your going to try linux on your ppc ibooks give Lubuntu a try...it's a nice lite weight distro that also has easy to understand interface.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Lubuntu/Alternate_ISO
scroll down for ppc iso file...
now this being said,I have found that no matter the linux distro these older ibooks run much hotter with linux and why I would personally stick with using tiger or leopard.