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The end of PPC
- Thread starter Wildy
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As much as I love my G4 iMac... it's just too slow. Even opening Powerpoints or word docs to edit gets annoying sluggish compared to my speedy i7 Mac Mini.
It does, however, make a lovely digital picture frame. I have it wake up for a few hours a night to run the screensaver slideshow with a couple dozen GBs of photos. Snazzy.
It does, however, make a lovely digital picture frame. I have it wake up for a few hours a night to run the screensaver slideshow with a couple dozen GBs of photos. Snazzy.
Ok! Thanks for the heads up
Now I need to try to find someone with a PC...
wayyyyyyyyyy ahead of you tested and confirmed that you can no longer skype video call or conference with anyone on a pc or mac using version 6.2 or greater
try explaining this to your boss that everyone at work has to downgrade to your level just to have the virtual meeting
I use...
..Office 2004 with Microsoft's OpenXML converter, and word docs, Powerpoints, even .docx and .pptx files open fast and are easy to edit. If all it is a .doc or .ppt file, I'll use Office X, which is as one would expect, blazingly fast on an ibook G4 1.07 ghz. If you are using Office 2008 its known to be very slow on any mac that doesn't have multiple processors.
Obviously, no G4 will compare to a Core i7 mini. But, my ibook G4 cost me all of 80 George Washington Dollars two years ago. Your Core i7 mac mini cost a little more, I'd think.
..Office 2004 with Microsoft's OpenXML converter, and word docs, Powerpoints, even .docx and .pptx files open fast and are easy to edit. If all it is a .doc or .ppt file, I'll use Office X, which is as one would expect, blazingly fast on an ibook G4 1.07 ghz. If you are using Office 2008 its known to be very slow on any mac that doesn't have multiple processors.
Obviously, no G4 will compare to a Core i7 mini. But, my ibook G4 cost me all of 80 George Washington Dollars two years ago. Your Core i7 mac mini cost a little more, I'd think.
Surfing the web is the biggest issue I have with PowerPC Macs; web sites have become a lot more complex than they used to be when I got my Mac mini G4. Even with great browsers like Tenfourfox, and with Flash uninstalled, performance remains an issue.
However for Word and applications like Dictionary, PowerPC Macs equal other Macs. Dropbox is a nice tool, too. Those machines are still great for work, but not really for fun stuff.
However for Word and applications like Dictionary, PowerPC Macs equal other Macs. Dropbox is a nice tool, too. Those machines are still great for work, but not really for fun stuff.
This is probably the funniest meme I've seen all day.
To the OP: I know that the PPC is dead. Anyone still riding that dead horse is crippling their computing experience for no (logical) reason.
I also believe that the Mac is on it's way out of the spotlight. Too overpriced, too overrated, and not innovative. Apple will quietly slip away with Steve gone.
I can give you one logical reason. Price.
I can afford these Macs. Until the Intel Macs drop in to the $100 range they are out of my reach.
Yes, it is still doable, but one must have a version less than 6.3 on the PC and Mac end, otherwise the PowerPC end can't intitate video chat. I know, it sucks. right?
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Those with Windows 8 are forced into the current version which is 6.3 and beta 6.4, so chatting by video with Win 8 folks is out.. But Windows 7 is a possiblilty, so long as those users don't upgrade to 6.3
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Those with Windows 8 are forced into the current version which is 6.3 and beta 6.4, so chatting by video with Win 8 folks is out.. But Windows 7 is a possiblilty, so long as those users don't upgrade to 6.3
Ok! Thanks for the heads up
Now I need to try to find someone with a PC...
Why the hating on ppc man, what did it ever do to you. It saved your precious mac platform from crumbling and microsoft from licensing os x to pcs.
What does it really matter to me or you that their workstation is based on a powerpc chip and not an intel one
we all love macs, some of us a little more than others
But when you get right down to it were all just rebels to the pc platform. sure I went the hackintosh route but I am still a mac user at heart.
So at the end of the day all I can really say is...
heres to the crazy ones...
I use Google Earth for my job, and with my 1.33 Ghz iBook, and maxed out ram, it got to the point where it was too slow to use. With my i7 MBP, it opens and zooms in instantly.
I'm a fanboy of OSX, not Macs, but I did enjoy this PPC forum, and learning all the tricks to make my Power PCs work better.
Now if all of the Power PCs that I have given away, would just die, I would be happy. I'm tired of all of the "how do I do this or that" calls.
I'm a fanboy of OSX, not Macs, but I did enjoy this PPC forum, and learning all the tricks to make my Power PCs work better.
Now if all of the Power PCs that I have given away, would just die, I would be happy. I'm tired of all of the "how do I do this or that" calls.
Price. My ibook is not fast, but it is fast enough for my tasks, for now of course.
You know, there is something to be said for refinement being the death of 'character'. My 2004 17" iMac and my 2006 15" MacBook Pro (my oldest current Macs- and yes, I realize that only one is PPC!) are 'clunkers' relative to my Retina MacBook Pro: the screens look grainy in comparison, they run hotter and noisier, but for all its refinement the Retina seems like a very sterile machine.
You don't normally want a machine to be 'temperamental' but with the newer MacBooks it's almost like I'm not even using a computer anymore. If that's what Jobs meant about the post-PC era, then maybe I finally see his point (as someone who just recently and only very reluctantly hopped on board with iPads).
That said, regardless of version OS X has always been full of the little touches that make me grow attached to the computer more than just as a piece of hardware. Mountain Lion is no exception. As much as I appreciate Jony Ive's influence, I feel that the skeuomorphism (who would have predicted that becoming such a buzzword in the tech world?) was one of those touches. How many other computer systems can you boot up and just marvel at the detail that goes into the user interface art?
I love this Retina MacBook as much as anything I've ever owned. The Apple ability to inspire loyalty in its products' owners is in no way diminished. But it's not a true replacement for my G5 iMac or my 12" PowerBook G4 (RIP DC jack! ...gonna have to fix that sucker someday soon...), or even my 2006 MBP, which I use quite frequently for Snow Leopard.
As long as they don't change the boot sound, I'm happy.
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Nope, it's not. It's tinny sounding.
And it happens one or two seconds after you hit the power button. Like, as if the Intel Mac was having to boot something similar to BIOS on a PC.
Nope, it's not. It's tinny sounding.
And it happens one or two seconds after you hit the power button. Like, as if the Intel Mac was having to boot something similar to BIOS on a PC.
I still think nothing beats the speakers in the white polycarbonate iMacs- G5 or Intel. They nailed it with that downward-firing design. Tiny though they are, the startup chime hits the resonant frequency of my table.
I still find Google Earth to be plenty usable on a PowerPC mac, but then again I don't use it professionally. eMaps (version 2.5) is a very speedy rendition of Google maps for an old ibook G4.
My solution to things that require some semblance of speed is Linux Mint, on a Dell Laptop. 120 bucks off ebay and it gives me a CoreDuo processor, 4 GB of RAM. I can still do anything I need to with it, three years on. No hardware issues in that time, has cost a dime a day, hoping to get that down to a nickel a day. The day is coming, soon, when I will be all Linux, all the time. I just can't ever see shelling out more than 100 bucks or so for any computing device.
It all boils down to this: Not how much, but how little computer do you really need. If you need a Retina Macbook or Mac Pro, for work or for fun, get one. If you don't, don't. It's a free country, for the most part.
My solution to things that require some semblance of speed is Linux Mint, on a Dell Laptop. 120 bucks off ebay and it gives me a CoreDuo processor, 4 GB of RAM. I can still do anything I need to with it, three years on. No hardware issues in that time, has cost a dime a day, hoping to get that down to a nickel a day. The day is coming, soon, when I will be all Linux, all the time. I just can't ever see shelling out more than 100 bucks or so for any computing device.
It all boils down to this: Not how much, but how little computer do you really need. If you need a Retina Macbook or Mac Pro, for work or for fun, get one. If you don't, don't. It's a free country, for the most part.
More and more, this is what's happening to our PowerPc's:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/19-LBS-Appl...ERY-/121121700150?pt=CPUs&hash=item1c336a7936
http://www.ebay.com/itm/19-LBS-Appl...ERY-/121121700150?pt=CPUs&hash=item1c336a7936
Oh, no way in hell my G5 Quad is going to end up in the scrap heap. That person on ebay has absolutely no idea the power still within those old PowerPC chips. A Quad G5 is no slouch and neither is a G4 Dual 1.42 MDD.
I am sorry, but I don't agree what that seller is doing.
I am sorry, but I don't agree what that seller is doing.
I agree. Never going to part with my iBook. And I didn't like seeing that PowerPC graveyard on eBay.
Neither did I. I only posted the url to make a point; these machines are being scrapped, or sent to China to be scrapped, by the thousands. Most of the G4's are no longer worth more than the cost of shipping them. Many of the low-end G5's are at, or near that level too.
I've seen this happen before with earlier Mac models--beige G3's, the beige Power Macintosh PPC models, Quadra's, etc. You get the point. They disappear quicker than one might think.
First, full machines start to get scarce. Then mostly only parts are available. Then parts begin to get scarce. Eventually, parts become expensive because very few are available.
It's a familiar cycle that happens with most things. Muscle cars come to mind.
In high school, I had a friend who bought a brand new '71 Cuda, 383 c.u. SlapStick shifter, and loaded for about $3500, if I recall correctly. Five years later, he could get less than $1000 for it. Five years after that, it was probably only worth a few hundred dollars because junk yards were full of them.
Yea, I know, fast forward 40 years and a '71 Cuda is now worth a small fortune. But I wouldn't count on the same thing happening to our G4 or G5's.
My point is, if we plan on using our PPC's very far into the future, we need to get some spare parts while we still can.
It's days are numbered.
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I still have a PowerMac G4 (500 MHz) that I refuse to let go. Ive had the machine probably almost 15 years now with no problems. For the past few years, I've had the machine set up with a hardware RAID 0 and I use it as an FTP server. No matter how old the Mac, there is always still a use for it.
Ahh ok, thanks. So maybe with a little bit of luck I'll be able to convince my parents, family and friends to stick to mac skype >6.3. Actually, I might use the iPhone for skype or my MBP if all else fails
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I was thinking about getting a mini g4 but, if performance is such an issue then I suppose I'll stick to this powerbook DLHR.
Thanks for the update
Your only chance is to convince those u chat with everyday to downgrade from 6.2 to anything lower than that.. otherwise, you will never be able to video chat.