Except Classic gets even weirder than a VM cuz it's not quite a VM and not quite allowing the applications to run natively.
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Interested in getting a PowerPC Mac
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I had good experiences with Classic, and had many games work fine with it.
Sometimes there would be weird glitches in the games though, not as good as running natively.
I switched from Classic to OSX when I moved from a 6100 (with a G4 upgrade card) to an actual G4.
My experience with Classic was that it was OK up to a point, but crashed a lot. Using Ram Doubler made it worse, and there was a font management app that caused a lot of instability too (but I don't remember what it was called).
I've been told many times that classic crashes way more than OSX because classic isn't Unix based.
My experience with Classic was that it was OK up to a point, but crashed a lot. Using Ram Doubler made it worse, and there was a font management app that caused a lot of instability too (but I don't remember what it was called).
I've been told many times that classic crashes way more than OSX because classic isn't Unix based.
I just wanted one PPC Mac also.
I'm moving right now...and this is a start(with a lot more added since and more still to go) 7 years later...
As you can see, I'm partial to G4 towers. I have owned an example of every "G" series Mac save for the iMac G5, and they all have their good points save for the Mini
.
The DA/Quicksilver(which are more alike internally than different, despite having very different case designs) are my favorites for building projects. I've also held back(read not put into storage) a dual 1ghz Quicksilver, which is one my my favorite OS 9 computers. The platform offers a lot of potential both for OS 9 use and OS X use, plus has one more PCI slot than earlier models so you can cram an extra expansion card in. That's not a HUGE deal on these towers-the beige towers often had 3 slots and there are often 4 cards I want to install-GPU, ATA or SATA card, USB/FW card, and 10/100 ethernet. The later towers give you a dedicated AGP slot for graphics and also have at least 10/100 if not 10/100/1000 on board, so that's not an issue. My usual builds have a GPU, USB 2.0 card, sometimes a modern "G" Wifi Card(which doesn't work in OS 9, but is great for OS X), and sometimes an ATA or SATA card(this gets over some limitations inherent in the HDD controller on the graphite towers and earlier Quicksilvers) .
The earlier "Sawtooth" towers have their pluses and minuses, but would also be a good choice. The AGP slot is 2x, which limits your GPU options for OS X, but all OS 9 compatible cards will work and not be bottlenecked. One of the big Sawtooth advantages in my book is that PSUs in all of these are aging, and they can be a perpetual achilles heal. An ATX PSU requires only minimal modification to work in a Sawtooth(IIRC, it's swapping two wires), while the later ones need more extensive modifications/jumpers and also lose ADC power if you use that(I do).
If you don't mind the price or the limited upgradeability, the Cube is a fun option and is classic Apple design. Throw a better GPU in it, perhaps a mild CPU upgrade if you care to, pair it with an ADC monitor, and you have a perfect early 2000s Apple set-up that not only looks the part but also works great in OS 9. In fact, I have one here that I use as a gaming machine-it has an 800mhz upgrade, a Geforce 3 GPU(rare and pricey-a Radeon 7000 or Geforce 2MX will get you a lot of the performance for a whole lot less money) and is connected to an ADC CRT.
That's just my thought. iMac G3s are fun and quirky, and are the computer that put Apple back in the right direction. The later slot load models are better all around as users than the earlier tray load ones. They are right at home in OS 9, and can play a lot of games decently, although the GPUs leave something to be desired for some heavier more 3D-intensive games.
[automerge]1590849729[/automerge]
A few other thoughts...
I'm in the "just say no" to classic camp. I've used it some without trouble, but a lot of games seem much happier running natively in OS 9(or earlier).
Also, I'm a BIT hesitant to recommend a portable for OS 9 use these days. The snow/white iBooks are a great value, but will limit you somewhat in terms of GPU. The Pismo is good, but in a bit of the same boat. I love TiBooks and they would be perfect aside from the fact that many are falling apart. The first gen 17" AlBook has emerged as a hackable OS 9 computer, but has a nasty tendency to eat its L3.
I'm moving right now...and this is a start(with a lot more added since and more still to go) 7 years later...
As you can see, I'm partial to G4 towers. I have owned an example of every "G" series Mac save for the iMac G5, and they all have their good points save for the Mini
. The DA/Quicksilver(which are more alike internally than different, despite having very different case designs) are my favorites for building projects. I've also held back(read not put into storage) a dual 1ghz Quicksilver, which is one my my favorite OS 9 computers. The platform offers a lot of potential both for OS 9 use and OS X use, plus has one more PCI slot than earlier models so you can cram an extra expansion card in. That's not a HUGE deal on these towers-the beige towers often had 3 slots and there are often 4 cards I want to install-GPU, ATA or SATA card, USB/FW card, and 10/100 ethernet. The later towers give you a dedicated AGP slot for graphics and also have at least 10/100 if not 10/100/1000 on board, so that's not an issue. My usual builds have a GPU, USB 2.0 card, sometimes a modern "G" Wifi Card(which doesn't work in OS 9, but is great for OS X), and sometimes an ATA or SATA card(this gets over some limitations inherent in the HDD controller on the graphite towers and earlier Quicksilvers) .
The earlier "Sawtooth" towers have their pluses and minuses, but would also be a good choice. The AGP slot is 2x, which limits your GPU options for OS X, but all OS 9 compatible cards will work and not be bottlenecked. One of the big Sawtooth advantages in my book is that PSUs in all of these are aging, and they can be a perpetual achilles heal. An ATX PSU requires only minimal modification to work in a Sawtooth(IIRC, it's swapping two wires), while the later ones need more extensive modifications/jumpers and also lose ADC power if you use that(I do).
If you don't mind the price or the limited upgradeability, the Cube is a fun option and is classic Apple design. Throw a better GPU in it, perhaps a mild CPU upgrade if you care to, pair it with an ADC monitor, and you have a perfect early 2000s Apple set-up that not only looks the part but also works great in OS 9. In fact, I have one here that I use as a gaming machine-it has an 800mhz upgrade, a Geforce 3 GPU(rare and pricey-a Radeon 7000 or Geforce 2MX will get you a lot of the performance for a whole lot less money) and is connected to an ADC CRT.
That's just my thought. iMac G3s are fun and quirky, and are the computer that put Apple back in the right direction. The later slot load models are better all around as users than the earlier tray load ones. They are right at home in OS 9, and can play a lot of games decently, although the GPUs leave something to be desired for some heavier more 3D-intensive games.
[automerge]1590849729[/automerge]
A few other thoughts...
I'm in the "just say no" to classic camp. I've used it some without trouble, but a lot of games seem much happier running natively in OS 9(or earlier).
Also, I'm a BIT hesitant to recommend a portable for OS 9 use these days. The snow/white iBooks are a great value, but will limit you somewhat in terms of GPU. The Pismo is good, but in a bit of the same boat. I love TiBooks and they would be perfect aside from the fact that many are falling apart. The first gen 17" AlBook has emerged as a hackable OS 9 computer, but has a nasty tendency to eat its L3.
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I would say we've reached a point where an AIO PowerPC system is at a much bigger risk of failing. But the Power Mac G4's with those incredible Delta PSU's are a lot harder to kill. But if you prefer the AIO aesthetic then I guess the functionality of it is secondary anyway.
My guess is that in 10-20 years the PM G3 and G4 will be the majority of the systems that still function.
My guess is that in 10-20 years the PM G3 and G4 will be the majority of the systems that still function.
Blue Box (MacOS.app) in Rhapsody is cool. 8.6 booting up in full-screen with Finder and everything. Why can't Classic be like that?
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It can be...sort of:
"Full screen" Classic on Tiger
After spending a little time poking around inside the "Classic Startup.app" bundle, the TruBlueEnvironment and ClassicStartup binaries, I was becoming hopeful that I might find a secret "full screen" trigger, which could bring a virtual OS9 desktop to Tiger in the same way that Classic works on...
forums.macrumors.com
That would be epic. The other thing that bothers me about Classic is that it isn't booting using everything in the System Folder like prefs and such. For someone who like me who likes to have stuff like that just so, it can get irritating at times.
My advice - DONT - you will be disappointed and in shock to see you need to use many apps to get it what you want to do.
Please detail what "many" apps would be needed to support the OP's desire to run "older"(presumably period) software on a PPC Mac.
Assuming full internet browsing - basically to use it as an everyday machine like it was before the intel days. That’s what I meant. The real future for PPC at this moment is when Snow Leopard becomes an option which is currently being worked on by many in a different forum.
Where did the OP say that? They said period games, not internet browsing.
Also, why the heck is everyone on here obsessed with stupid crap like internet browsing, Youtube, etc on PPC and even more idiotic-chest beating over getting a beta version of an OS working that's even less useful than 10.5.8? Some days I'm sorry I even logged on here.
This is ridiculous. The real future for PPC, including web browsing (using current software - that's the magic word) is on Linux, and it's available right now.
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With all due respect... you're completely misinformed and wrong. Snow leopard only has the ability to emulate PowerPC via Rosetta. It can't, and never will be able to be run on a PowerPC system.
Your "advice" is not only not helping anyone, but it's actually taking other misinformed people down a path paved with misinfiormation. Seriously... what is your motive here?
You do know that early SL betas run on ppc, right? They're basically useless atm tho, so I'll give you that.
Yes, I understand that perfectly. But this came out in 2009 - 11 years ago. If it was possible it would have happened long ago. People who say that's coming are giving false hope.
I fully agree. And even if it were to work as well as Leo at some point, it'd still be an 11-year-old OS.
So...presumably PPC machines are only good for hoarding until they can be resold at a profit, pimping out at ridiculous cost or booting an OS they can't reasonably run..unless of course it's 10.6?
There's plenty of other things to be done besides browsing, YT etc. Things that ppc machines actually do well.
Yes, I know - which is what I have used mine for - was simply addressing the unecessary swipe at a fair number of forum users.
I can appreciate the excitement about getting SL to work, and once time permits I fully intend to install it. It's a fun project and I love seeing and supporting stuff like that. I don't have the know-how to contribute development work, but in the past have helped these sort of projects by offering access to hardware I had or even giving hardware to people who were working it.
With that said given that only Betas are currently working, and I have serious doubts about anything beyond that ever working, I see SL on PPC as a curious side note much like ~5 years ago when I was playing around with Leopard on G3s.
10.5.8 is a much more advanced, better supported, and more developed OS than any beta version of 10.6. There again, this is the same thing I have with my iBook G3 that's running 10.5 WWDC DP. It's fun to power it up and say "Look-here's a G3 running 10.5" but when it comes down to it 10.4.11 is a significantly more advanced and capable OS than 10.5 Beta.
And, again, the OP in this thread never said "I want to buy a PPC Mac so that I can browse the internet." The OP said, quoting the opening post. Most of my newer(G4 and G5) Macs connect to the internet, but it's primarily so that I can do things like get on Macintosh Garden and download software, or share files generated on them. 5 years ago, I could comfortably browse the internet, if a bit slowly. In 2020, the internet is so massively bloated that I've given up and use newer stuff with better security.
Note the phrase "Older Software." CS2 runs just as well on a G4 as it did in 2006, which is pretty darn good unless you're handling huge files. Games that were current in the early 2000s run just as well today on a G4 as they did in the early 2000s. Anything else that was out in the early to mid-2000s that ran on these systems when they were.
To put this in broader terms, why are people anwering a question the OP didn't ask?
I think the bottom line is that you can still get a vast amount of use and fun out of PowerPC hardware. You just need realistic expectations of how it will be. There will be some things that are still screaming fast. Some things that are brutally slow, and a lot of things in between.
If your expectations are based on reality, then you'll likely be quite happy with it. Especially if it's more of a hobby system.
If your expectations are based on reality, then you'll likely be quite happy with it. Especially if it's more of a hobby system.
I don't know what the hell you're getting at, or frankly what you're going on about most of the time.
First of all, if your "good for hoarding until they can be resold at a profit, pimping out at ridiculous cost " was directed at my recent thread about moving my collection into storage...first of all you're extrapolating a whole lot and continuing to show your ignorance. Yes, I have been collecting PPC Macs for years. I have no intention of selling anything whether at a profit or not. Sorry if my COLLECTION bothers you-if it does get over it, but it's really none of your business. It's also insulting if you are suggesting that I'm only planning on profiting at a later date.
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I agree with this. I do enjoy web browsing and YouTube on PPC machines and even have worked on beta testing and demoing PPCMC. But I do it because it's fun, not because I expect my PPC machine to do everything that my MacBook can do. I value my PPC machines for their unique capabilities and honestly, using them is more fun than using my MacBook most of the time.
But anyway, I agree. The OP said games and other applications of the time period, no web browsing required. Any website like the Macintosh Garden can be used with relative ease on these systems anyway