iBook G4 and Leopard

[skateny]

Sorry if this has been asked here before but I was wondering if upgrading to Leopard on a used iBook G4 mid 2005 really worth it? All I purchased this Mac for was to slowly get the feel of Macs so i can switch after 30 years of PCs. If this was posted before forgive me since I am new here.

Leopard always ran just fine on G4 iBook. I recently installed and ran XSlimmer, a program that gets rid of the junk in the OS and most other applications. I noticed an immediate difference in speed afterward. It's a great program. . .fast and easy to use. After it's done, it shows how much disk space was cleared. Also does this as application-by-application.

 

[CreationArt]

Isn't XSlimmer paid? Did you buy it?

Leopard always ran just fine on G4 iBook. I recently installed and ran XSlimmer, a program that gets rid of the junk in the OS and most other applications. I noticed an immediate difference in speed afterward. It's a great program. . .fast and easy to use. After it's done, it shows how much disk space was cleared. Also does this as application-by-application.

 

[justperry]

Thank you all for your input. I ended up keeping Tiger on my iBook and put in the 1gb stick to boost it to 1.5gb...it runs nice and speedy! Next will be to add a bigger Hard drive with better speeds. That will come when I get the nerve to do that daunting task of installing said drive. Thinking that I also should pick up a Super Drive as well since I will have this iBook in pieces might as well upgrade the disc drive.

It is not that hard, iFixit has nice howto's and just keep your head cool, take your time.
What I always do is to to it on a big table so have lots of place to put all the parts onto.
(Note, be aware of static electricity, I think iFixit has guides for that as well.)
Have paper and pen ready, just get paper, make drawings of all sides of the machine and when you get a screw out place it on the paper with tape.
Also, Super drives are cheap from Asia, I think I bought one on Ebay for about $20 instead of buying from US online stores, they are the same, you just need to find out the one which will fit your iBook.

If you'd like a larger drive this is available from OWC, good people to do business with.

Wow, that's expensive, I know I know, it's older tech which means it is more expensive.
I only have a 80 GB internal and a 640 external, cheaper and works well.

 

[justperry]

Leopard always ran just fine on G4 iBook. I recently installed and ran XSlimmer, a program that gets rid of the junk in the OS and most other applications. I noticed an immediate difference in speed afterward. It's a great program. . .fast and easy to use. After it's done, it shows how much disk space was cleared. Also does this as application-by-application.

Isn't XSlimmer paid? Did you buy it?

You DO NOT need XSlimmer, it can be done for free with just one terminal command, ditto is the command.

Example:

sudo ditto --rsrc --arch ppc /Applications/System/Preferences.app /Applications/System/Preferences.app222

This will make a copy of your System Preferences with extension App222 with only PPC code in it, you can try if this works and if it does delete the original and rename Preferences.app222 to Preferences.app

This is just an example but I did it much easier and faster.
If you do the whole Application folder it will do it all at once.
Example:

sudo ditto --rsrc --arch ppc /Applications /Applications222
If all works well then delete the original Application folder, before you do though I recommend to get info on both folders, you can see how much space is saved.

It will take a bit of time depending on how many Applications you have in this folder, terminal won't give any output until it is finished.
Be aware that you may need your password with the sudo option.
Be also aware that NOT all Apps will work when slimmed down, Apple's Apps seem to be save from slimming down but some non Apple will not.
I wrote more on this in the sticky thread in PowerPC Macs, there is a lot more you can do to clean up your Mac, please read it.(For instance, my disc is completely PPC only, even System folder and kernel is PPC only.
If you do this on your whole system you can free many GB's on your disc.
Post 94

 

[RedCroissant]

If you'd like a larger drive this is available from OWC, good people to do business with.

That drive looks good, but the transfer rate is pretty low. Is that going to be the case regardless of the HDD chosen due to the iBook hardware? Would a SSD be faster in that regard or not? And how important is a larger cache?

 

[justperry]

That drive looks good, but the transfer rate is pretty low. Is that going to be the case regardless of the HDD chosen due to the iBook hardware? Would a SSD be faster in that regard or not? And how important is a larger cache?

The ibook has an ATA 100 interface, you could put a fast SSD inside but it will never be fast because of the hardware.
A SSD probably will be a bit faster but is it worth the money???
I myself think it's just waste of money, more RAM on an older machine speeds up the machine more than a slightly faster disc.

 

[RedCroissant]

The ibook has an ATA 100 interface, you could put a fast SSD inside but it will never be fast because of the hardware.
A SSD probably will be a bit faster but is it worth the money???
I myself think it's just waste of money, more RAM on an older machine speeds up the machine more than a slightly faster disc.

I know that it will never be super fast, but in comparison to the WD drive that reads/writes at 100Mb/s, the OWC SSD reads/writes at over 200 Mb/s. I know that's not much, but the energy usage is considerably lower(which should increase the amount of time you can use the computer) and the operating temperatures are also lower(which should prevent the fans from turning on as often that should also increase battery life).