how do i.... (keep my powerbook running like new)?

Look on Versiontracker for an application called Cocktail. It's great. Use the "Pilot" function to do routine maintenance tasks.

That said, Mac OS X needs considerably less maintenance than any version of Windows.

 

-Wano

There are some things you could do in OS X for "System Maintenance". However, in OS X it's probably more accurate to call it "Preventative Maintenance"

One thing about OS X is that it won't suffer from clog-down - that pesky habit of Windows getting slower, and slower, and slower as the registry fragments, and .tmp files build up (theres more to this, but I don't wish to digress further).

So, you really shouldn't see much performance degradation in OS X even without "System Maintenance", but it's still a good idea to do once and a while.

One good package: DiskWarrior 3. Coming soon.

 

If you leave your computer awake (not just on, but awake) at night, it performs automated maintenance. A daily, weekly and monthly set. You can then take advantage of all that unused processor time by running Folding all night

pnw