PC/PPC Question

[robertdsc]

In talking with another user on a different forum about outdated Macs and their upgrading possibilities, I have a question.

Some of us have taken machines from 2001 onwards and made them into daily drivers. I think of Erik Youngren's monster QuickSilver Mac as the prime example.

My question is this: could someone do the same thing to a Dell or HP PC from the same time frame? I know very little about PCs of that era, so I was wondering if a dedicated operator could turn a PC from those times into a workhorse of a daily driver.

What do you think?

 

[orestes1984]

What do you think?

If anything it would be easier, being an intel CPU it would be less archaic, and plus you could just install Linux on it, that's not mentioning a fairly recent version of Windows either.

While you can install Linux on a PPC Mac such as the latest flavor of Ubuntu, and it will make it into a modern, compatible machine with the latest versions of the internet and word processing apps, etc it doesn't change the fact that it is PPC and there is a ridiculous lack of apps for the platform especially these days.

Don't even talk to me about running OS X on a PPC Mac on the modern web there is almost no support for it and the latest version of Office that you can run is 2008 which is buggy and slow on PPC.

The days of running PPC in a day to day environment are almost over. If I needed a PPC computer that was safe and secure for daily usage I'd honestly just install Linux on it now, everything in PPC Leopard is so outdated it's not funny.

 

[gavinstubbs09]

I have a Dimension 3000 with a Pentium 4HT that sits by my feet. Rarely do I use it, but since it's running XP I can still run modern software like Firefox, Skype, CS6, etc.

Granted I can do the same stuff with any of my PPC macs, yet the software (besides TFF) is old and not updated, and you would be stuck on outdated software like CS4.

It's possible. If I had a slightly newer machine from the same time frame as a late 05 G5 with a Dual Core and DDR2, I could easliy run Windows 10 and have a brand new graphics card off the shelf working with no issues. The G5, stuck at Leopard forever.

--------

I recently got my unibody MBP to fire up after being ruined by coffee a few weeks ago and I now use it with my Cinema Display like a Mac mini and within the first 10 minutes I could do so much more than what I could do with the G5 as my desktop. Sad to say it but my PowerPC days are dwindling.

 

[orestes1984]

I can do the same stuff with any of my PPC macs, yet the software (besides TFF) is old and not updated, and you would be stuck on outdated software like CS4.

If you want a modern web experience install Linux and the latest version of Firefox that runs natively. You wont get Flash, but you wont need it with HTML5.

By this stage your probably better off learning how to use the GIMP than continuing to use an old version of Photoshop.

 

[gavinstubbs09]

If you want a modern web experience install Linux and the latest version of Firefox that runs natively. You wont get Flash, but you wont need it with HTML5.

By this stage your probably better off learning how to use the GIMP than continuing to use an old version of Photoshop.

Please reteach me the ins and outs of Photoshop and how they work in GIMP. I know that program like the back of my hand.

I work with CS6 daily, and luckily CS4 and CS6 are still quite similar. Working with GIMP->PS->GIMP->PS would be a nightmare in my daily routine.

 

[orestes1984]

Please reteach me the ins and outs of Photoshop and how they work in GIMP. I know that program like the back of my hand.

I work with iMacs and CS6 daily, and luckily CS4 and CS6 are still quite similar. Working with GIMP->PS->GIMP->PS would be a nightmare in my daily routine.

The commands in the GIMP are almost directly interchangeable with Photoshop particularly if you know keyboard shortcuts. There are only some small nuances in differences in the way it operates.

You have the choice of a modern stable operating system and updated tools... OR nothing at all, I know what I'd take if I were persisting with PPC. The problem is, most PPC users are stubborn to a fault in supporting a dead operating system.

 

[HereBeMonsters]

Windows XP is still perfectly usable today. I've got it running (SP1 only, sadly) on a Pentium 266MMX Panasonic Toughbook.

 

[2984839]

Absolutely. It would be even easier. Though it isn't as old as my PowerBook, I use a 2007 Gateway MX8738 as an SSH server/desktop. It originally came with Vista, then had 7 on it, now runs OpenBSD and feels 10x faster. Anything Intel based will give you a lot more options than a PPC. There's a ton of support for i386 in Linux and BSD and it's not going away soon.

I'd love to get an old Alienware or maybe a ThinkPad to tinker with, but the prices seem a little high to me.

 

[weckart]

There are some limitations with some Intel combinations. I gave away a Dell laptop that stopped at XP with no Windows support for its Radeon graphics chip beyond that. Even Linux stopped a few years back with the most popular distros as the cpu lacked PAE.

Having said that, I have three Powerbooks from late 2005 plus a Powermac G5 from the same era. Scroll forward a few months and the Mac Pro 1,1 will run Yosemite comfortably with a bit of help. The cut off point is a bit starker with Apple.

 

[128keaton]

Absolutely, I have an older dell XPS (like circa 2004) with a Pentium that has 4G of RAM. For a while, that was my daily driver. It ran games fairly well.

 

[eyoungren]

In talking with another user on a different forum about outdated Macs and their upgrading possibilities, I have a question.

Some of us have taken machines from 2001 onwards and made them into daily drivers. I think of Erik Youngren's monster QuickSilver Mac as the prime example.

My question is this: could someone do the same thing to a Dell or HP PC from the same time frame? I know very little about PCs of that era, so I was wondering if a dedicated operator could turn a PC from those times into a workhorse of a daily driver.

What do you think?

I had a friend who I routinely have this argument with. He has several 2001 era PCs that he has routinely upgraded with quality parts over the years that still run a version of Windows NT. He understands NT, hates XP, Vista, Win7 and Win 8. So, he does the same things with his PCs that I do with my Macs (finances permitting). The result is that he has a few monster PCs that perform just as well as our Macs and are relatively on par with later PCs.

So, yes, it's possible. The key here, is quality parts.