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I just was given an iMac G3 Bondi Blue edition. Should I buy OS X Tiger or download Linux
- Thread starter colin348
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Tiger runs great on any G3/G4 Mac. It is lightweight and performs well on as little as 512mb RAM.
However there is one significant drawback and that is web browsing which is as slow as molasses. I use the TenFourFox web browser a fork of Firefox specifically developed for PowerPC architecture on two of my G4 Macs but web pages are slow to load
https://www.floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox/
There is also the Camino Browser which is no longer supported but is marginally quicker however does not render all web pages correctly
http://caminobrowser.org/download/
If you were to go with the Linux option take a look at Lubuntu which has the lightweight LXDE desktop interface. I recommend the older 14.04 LTS release as the are known graphics issues with 16.04 LTS (An 18.04 LTS PowerPC image was not released)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/14.04/release/
I have found Lubuntu 14.04 LTS to run well on my G4 Macs so it would indicate G3 performance would be acceptable. The default web browser is Firefox. Firefox performance on Lubuntu is better than TenFourFox on Tiger but still nothing to write home about.
Just get OS X Tiger.
I doubt that many distros even have drivers for the iMac G3's hardware or if they even exist in linux. Also consider that you won't gain much performance over Tiger. Besides, how are you even going to boot into linux when the iMac G3 only has USB 1.1.
I doubt that many distros even have drivers for the iMac G3's hardware or if they even exist in linux. Also consider that you won't gain much performance over Tiger. Besides, how are you even going to boot into linux when the iMac G3 only has USB 1.1.
Tiger is good, but be sure you max the RAM and also be aware of the fact that you will need Xpostfacto to install it. I forget what the upgrade procedure is(it's been a while since I've done one) but you will want either OS 9 or 10.3 to get Tiger installed.
Personally, I run all my iMac G3s pretty much exclusively on OS 9. This is especially true of the tray loaders. You can get on the internet with Classilla, and OS 9 works great for the kind of games that run great on these computers.
Personally, I run all my iMac G3s pretty much exclusively on OS 9. This is especially true of the tray loaders. You can get on the internet with Classilla, and OS 9 works great for the kind of games that run great on these computers.
Another vote for OS9 and retro games. A gym I went to back in the day had a row of these for free websurfing in the coffee shop. They were always kept on OS9.
Fastest: OS9
Most Practical: Tiger
Don't even think about Linux on a G3 iMac unless you enjoy tinkering and getting the OS to work 100%...and even then have a really slow system.
If you intend to go on the web, your best option, regardless of browser, is run a mobile device user agent to restrict page content and increase speed.
Most Practical: Tiger
Don't even think about Linux on a G3 iMac unless you enjoy tinkering and getting the OS to work 100%...and even then have a really slow system.
If you intend to go on the web, your best option, regardless of browser, is run a mobile device user agent to restrict page content and increase speed.
Yep, for best performance/fastest system/smallest footprint go for os9.
Tiger will be slow - web will be no no no fun with both Tiger and Linux.
Forget about Linux. I've got a 400MHz iMac with maxed-out RAM and Ubuntu 10.4. Booting took ages. Better save your coronaries!
Info about my basic os9 installation (which makes the G3 a nice member of our home-network) you may find here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/the-g3-workstation-wiki.2125444/#post-26200641
(With many thanks to macintoshgarden and all advice I've got from this forum!)
Tiger will be slow - web will be no no no fun with both Tiger and Linux.
Forget about Linux. I've got a 400MHz iMac with maxed-out RAM and Ubuntu 10.4. Booting took ages. Better save your coronaries!
Info about my basic os9 installation (which makes the G3 a nice member of our home-network) you may find here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/the-g3-workstation-wiki.2125444/#post-26200641
(With many thanks to macintoshgarden and all advice I've got from this forum!)
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I had not thought of OS 9 which would be an ideal option for a G3. OS 9 can be downloaded from OS 9 Lives
http://macos9lives.com
Classilla can be downloaded from
https://www.floodgap.com/software/classilla/
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In my experience albeit on G4's I have had Lubuntu 14.04 LTS running well and on par with Tiger performance wise but OS 9 would appear to be the best option for a G3.
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My Bondi iMac has a 400mhz G4 processor upgrade, and Tiger even crawls with that due to the 66mhz FSB (although it runs better under 16-bit color and some graphics driver hacks via @AphoticD). It makes a great OS 9 machine, though, for gaming and mild internet surfing with Classilla. I haven't tried linux on it since I got the upgrade, but my past attempts to put together a minimal Openbox GUI with nothing on the screen (and everything done within obmenu) were still painful. Consequently, I ran it without a GUI for a while. Fun but less useful for me (although I may do it again for nostalgic reasons).
Stick with OS 9.
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For the most practical option, use Tiger.
Linux works, and has reasonable speed(well,as reasonable as you can expect from a modern OS on a G3), but it has some severe compatibility issues with G3 Macs.
I installed Linux on an iBook G3, and once you max-out the RAM to 640MB, with the 900MHz CPU, browsing speed is okay(in my opinion), about on par with an early Pentium 4(this has no benchmark to back it up, just my experience), basic web browsing works, but YouTube is a no-go.
Linux works, and has reasonable speed(well,as reasonable as you can expect from a modern OS on a G3), but it has some severe compatibility issues with G3 Macs.
I installed Linux on an iBook G3, and once you max-out the RAM to 640MB, with the 900MHz CPU, browsing speed is okay(in my opinion), about on par with an early Pentium 4(this has no benchmark to back it up, just my experience), basic web browsing works, but YouTube is a no-go.
Sorry I have an update on the computer. It actually isn’t the original g3, it’s the snow edition model with 600 MegaHertz processer, 1GB of ram, 40 GB HD, and OS X 10.4 Tiger. He for some reason told me it was the Bondi blue edition but he gave it to me today and it’s the snow edition
He has both OS 9 and and OS X Tiger on the HD. Should I download Macbuntu on the HD too?
Considering that I'm anti-Linux my answer is no
That is certainly your call, though.
Why are you anti-Linux? IMO both Linux and OS X have their own merits. Both of course, are on equal footing when you consider that in any case, whether you use Linux or OS X, at least you don't use Window$
On PPC Macs, Linux is difficult to install, slow when it is installed, and has virtually no application support beyond web browsers and imitations of MS office. I see it as an exercise in futility when we have perfectly viable, well supported OSs in the form of OS X and OS 9.
I see your point here.. I thought you were just talking about Linux in general...
I do see how on PowerPC Macs, Linux tends to be an un-optimized mess, largely because functional graphics drivers for are non-existent(or if they do exist, they are old and do not handle the various quirks of some of the GPU's for PowerPC Macs), and of course, most programs are not built with AltiVec support, most of the inline assembly in Linux program's PowerPC ports is hand-ported and not optimized at all.
P.S. Do you know how I can charge an iBook G3 without a charger? Any way to just apply power directly to the motherboard? I suspect the battery won't take a charge either, so it must have some way to hook up power...
This is one of the snow ones, with 900MHz CPU.. *not* a Clamshell.
What a nice machine
Rather than pondering which OS - what do you intend to use it for, that will determine the best OS?
I have a 500Mhz iMac with a 7200PRM drive - Tiger runs fine on it.
EDIT: And I will add, I once installed Mint PowerPC Linux on it - far too slow and limited.
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As Dronecatcher said, a hard drive upgrade can help a lot, especially to improve the longevity of the Mac, since old hard drives aren't known for reliability. IDE hard drives are pretty cheap now, or if you want a little more speed, you could spend a little more and get an mSATA SSD and adapter.
What a nice machine
Rather than pondering which OS - what do you intend to use it for, that will determine the best OS?
I have a 500Mhz iMac with a 7200PRM drive - Tiger runs fine on it.
EDIT: And I will add, I once installed Mint PowerPC Linux on it - far too slow and limited.
I’m going to use it mostly just for internet browsing (with tenfourfox) and word processing.
Word processing you could probably get by with, but I wouldn't browse on a G3. It will be painful, even with tweaks.
You will need tweaks on your side with TFF. Control javascript and run a mobile user agent (the Classilla one is available in TFF prefs). A lighter browser (though not up to date) is Omniweb 5 - that allows you to set preferences per individual web pages.
Bizarrely, you can even do Youtube on your iMac but not through TFF.
EDIT: Correction - You can watch Youtube in TFF using the Classilla setting which forces the video to open in Quicktime or Realplayer if you have it, however, if you are in the UK this depends on your ISP.
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What browser allows you to watch YouTube without quicktime player or realplayer?
Omniweb and TenFourKit with a mobile device user agent going to https://m.youtube.com will give you instant playblack with maybe some dropped frames.
This method offers streaming but on a G3 the initial connection takes a while - downloading, then playing back is better:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/new-youtube-player-downloader-even-for-g3.2031523/
And this one is download then playback only:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/youtube-on-a-g3.2022464/
Streaming on my G3 today - note low CPU use top right: