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new iBOOK G4 which Tiger or Leopard?

xtempo

xtempo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 2, 2014
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So I need to install something since the HD was wiped. I've got Tiger and Leopard is in the mail so I should have it next week. I don't think I've used Leopard. I am not particular on which to install.

1.0Ghz not sure of the RAM

is there one that would work better than the other like in speed or functionality or they both pretty similar on an iBook?
 
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xtempo said:
So I need to install something since the HD was wiped. I've got Tiger and Leopard is in the mail so I should have it next week. I don't think I've used Leopard. I am not particular on which to install.

1.0Ghz not sure of the RAM

is there one that would work better than the other like in speed or functionality or they both pretty similar on an iBook?
Click to expand...

Leopard
 
xtempo said:
So I need to install something since the HD was wiped. I've got Tiger and Leopard is in the mail so I should have it next week. I don't think I've used Leopard. I am not particular on which to install.

1.0Ghz not sure of the RAM

is there one that would work better than the other like in speed or functionality or they both pretty similar on an iBook?
Click to expand...

My PowerBook G4 with a 1GHz G4 (with 1MB of L3 cache) and 1.5GB RAM handles Leopard quite well. I suggest disabling BeamSync for better performance tho. Leopard feels much more modern than Tiger so it's the way to go unless you really need to run OS 9 apps.
 
Depends on the RAM. If it has under 1GB, I'd go with Tiger. It's still pretty modern, it runs TFF and many other apps. And the best part is the speed. Especially on a 1GHz Mac, you'll notice the speed difference. Tiger is a lot faster.

If you have 1.5GB of RAM, I suppose you could go with Leopard. It runs a lot more apps, including Leopard-WebKit, which is the main reason I use Leopard (I pair it with Roccat, but it's still WebKit). You also have themes like the black theme and LeoRebirth. But note that Leopard will be noticeably slower than Tiger on this hardware.

Honestly, I'd install Tiger on one partition and Leopard on another. Try them both. See which one you prefer. And, if you choose Leopard, try out Leopard-WebKit. It's an extremely fast browser, faster than TFF (sorry @eyoungren ;)).

Lastly, this is a post I wrote in a different thread recently that covers some Leopard speed optimizations that are totally necessary on a 1GHz Mac.
HFTaylor12 said:
Here is a collection of AppleScripts I made a while ago. Turn on the 2D dock, turn off Spotlight and Dashboard (all included as separate AppleScripts), and turn off the transparent menu bar as well (in Sys. Prefs. or Secrets Pref Pane). Also, here is a post I wrote awhile ago with some Terminal commands that speed up Leopard (and especially the graphics) alot. Take a look at both of these links and let me know what the results are in terms of speed.
Click to expand...
 
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Having the Mobility Radeon 9200 graphics chip, your iBook isn't Core Image compatible, so bear in mind using Leopard, work normally done by the GPU will be passed to the CPU - a performance hit. Also Leopard does better with plenty of RAM - ideally 1Gb plus.
 
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Dronecatcher said:
Having the Mobility Radeon 9200 graphics chip, your iBook isn't Core Image compatible, so bear in mind using Leopard, work normally done by the GPU will be passed to the CPU - a performance hit. Also Leopard does better with plenty of RAM - ideally 1Gb plus.
Click to expand...
Very good point, I wasn't thinking about graphics. Tiger does much better on low-end graphics cards than Leopard, Leopard has a ton of eye candy (but you can make it better with the post I quoted in my previous post).
 
HFTaylor12 said:
It's an extremely fast browser, faster than TFF (sorry @eyoungren ;)).
Click to expand...
No need to be sorry.

I am the first to admit, and many here can vouch for that, that Webkit in most forms is faster than T4Fx. But while speed IS important to me it is not the metric I judge my browser by. The metric I use is customization.

So tell me Webkit is faster all you wish. I won't deny it. But it's not relevant to me. I can't customize Roccat, or Safari or LWK or whatever the way I can T4Fx. And THAT is WHY I use T4Fx.

Two entirely different arguments. ;)
 
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thanks I might do a partition and see what each is like. I'll try the customizations in leopard when I get it.
 
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eyoungren said:
No need to be sorry.

I am the first to admit, and many here can vouch for that, that Webkit in most forms is faster than T4Fx. But while speed IS important to me it is not the metric I judge my browser by. The metric I use is customization.

So tell me Webkit is faster all you wish. I won't deny it. But it's not relevant to me. I can't customize Roccat, or Safari or LWK or whatever the way I can T4Fx. And THAT is WHY I use T4Fx.

Two entirely different arguments. ;)
Click to expand...
Since we can relink any WebKit-based browser against LWK, there ought to be some customizable WebKit browser that's useable, right?
 
HFTaylor12 said:
Since we can relink any WebKit-based browser against LWK, there ought to be some customizable WebKit browser that's useable, right?
Click to expand...
None that I am aware of…

You just can't do with WK what you can do with Mozilla based browsers.

TenFourFox.png
 
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I have 256MB of RAM so I'll have to order a stick of RAM.
 
xtempo said:
I have 256MB of RAM so I'll have to order a stick of RAM.
Click to expand...
Agreed: You need to upgrade that. The official Leopard minimum is 512Mb but realistically you need at least 1GB. But, please, max out the RAM if you're going to go with Leo.

KawaiiAurora said:
You must have at least 640MB of RAM for Tiger and 1GB is a must for Leopard (1.25GB is a more realistic minimum).

With 256MB, you'd be better off messing around with Jaguar/Panther till it arrives
Click to expand...
I think you could get by with Tiger. Don't forget, this is a 1GHz Mac. Use Camino or Tiger-WebKit (TenFourKit) and you should be fine.
 
HFTaylor12 said:
Agreed: You need to upgrade that. The official Leopard minimum is 512Mb but realistically you need at least 1GB. But, please, max out the RAM if you're going to go with Leo.


I think you could get by with Tiger. Don't forget, this is a 1GHz Mac. Use Camino or Tiger-WebKit (TenFourKit) and you should be fine.
Click to expand...


Leopard works like a champ on my 1GHz PowerBook tbh. After disabling BeamSync, peformance improved but you shouldn't expect outstanding peformance either from such an old machine. Biggest advantage with Leopard is newer software and Leopard WebKit without a doubt. A very good browser, in my opinion, is OmniWeb for Tiger; it works real well even on my 400MHz Sawtooth.
 
was this a good purchase or I go with something else? hopefully I would get it next week
 
I got the other one since it was closer and I should have it sooner though it is pretty fast from Hong Kong. oh well.
 
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Hopefully I get the RAM tomorrow and then I can install Leopard and have some fun between the two. I hate how the memory is not on the bottom like my PowerBook. Who would design a laptop that you have to remove the keyboard to upgrade the memory.
 
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xtempo said:
Hopefully I get the RAM tomorrow and then I can install Leopard and have some fun between the two. I hate how the memory is not on the bottom like my PowerBook. Who would design a laptop that you have to remove the keyboard to upgrade the memory.
Click to expand...

It's a little extra work but it's straight forward and quick.
I once had an Acer netbook that had to be completely disassembled before you could get to the RAM!
 
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xtempo said:
Hopefully I get the RAM tomorrow and then I can install Leopard and have some fun between the two. I hate how the memory is not on the bottom like my PowerBook. Who would design a laptop that you have to remove the keyboard to upgrade the memory.
Click to expand...

Leopard works real well on my 1GHz 17" PowerBook G4 but Tiger is lightning fast but a tad too old for my taste. Web browsing and gaming is essentially the same on Leopard and on Tiger tbh, probably browsing is faster Leopard due to LWK.
 
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I didn't realize Leopard was huge. I'll see which I like better.The RAM came and made it a lot faster:) I lost 2 screws for the plate but their so tiny it was bound to happen.
 
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no I was installing it off a DVD onto a partition and it took up almost all the space. I might have to delete both Tiger and Leopard and install Leopard normally on 30gb drive instead of partition.
 
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