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Why do people still use PowerPC Macs?

Intelligent

Intelligent

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 7, 2013
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Why do people still use PowerPC macs? I'm just wondering, not saying its bad or anything. I see a lot of threads where people buy them for web browsing and stuff, why would you want different computers, why not just buy one newer and use it for everything.

Thanks.
 
For me... Mostly nostalgia, and the fact that PPC was so much more powerful than intel at the time. They are unique and were a sort of statement/status (well, Mac's still are a bit of a statement/status... :p).

You can still do a lot of things on PPC Mac's. Cheap file servers, workstations, etc.
 
I've recently gotten into them and yes nostalgia plays a big part but also I like the design of my ppcs. They just look great and are fun to use and collect.
 
They look better, cost less, and are holding up pretty well to the test of time in terms of both build quality and usability, to name a few reasons.

Personally, I like the older versions of OS X they run, I like the community built around them, I like using older/outdated things and finding new uses for them, and/or taking on a challenge to help them retain their old uses.

PowerPC Macs are unique and full of character. :)

As far as the "once device" solution; perhaps it's just me, but when it comes to electronics, I don't like "do everything" devices. For one, you usually end up compromising on at least one if not more of the multiple functions to achieve having them all. Most people seem to use a smartphone for their music device, alarm clock, and game player. Personally, I'd rather have a phone, an iPod, and a dedicated handheld games device instead; they each perform their respective tasks better than the smartphone ever could, and don't interfere with each other's operation whatsoever.
 
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They cost less, they still work for most things and it's fun to try and exact the most you possibly can from them :apple:

We have one Intel MacBook with Mavericks installed but I still prefer using my PowerBooks with Leopard.

Cheers :)

Hugh
 
Some use them for nostalgia, some for work (a machine they once bought still works or they need to run old work related PPC apps or it was more cost effective way to get Mac) and some just because they want to try something new/different than PC. Some people claim that no matter how modern PC is a Mac is stil more effective in general use than Windowd PC.

I have never used PPC as my main computer, I discovered Mac when Apple had already switched to Intel so I was not potential customer during PPC days. I have Powerbook but it collects dust at the moment. I have no need for PPC apps and for Mac in general so that apowerbook is not that important, very nice laptop of course, pretty queit.
 
I actually used a Powermac g5 for almost 18 months as my main web development machine. I could only afford the G5 without going into debt and happen to have Adobe CS4 from an old MDD that I sold. (I still kick myself in the butt for doing that.) That's why I still used it. I would rather start with what I could afford and not go into debt.

There's nothing wrong with using what you have available to you. Could I have bought a Wintel box that was a bit more potent? Sure, but I did not want to go that route and the software I had on hand would not run on anything but a PPC machine.
 
nostalgia mostly. and style. i also have an old house and two classic cars. the appeal is the same for all of them. but they are also practical. a brand new mac is obsolete as soon as i get it so i have to look to the past. i require firewire, a computer that will run my older software and has an optical drive so all of that leaves out the newest ones. in all honesty any intel mac made in 2009 would meet all my hardware requirements. i also don't require the latest and the greatest and take pride in seeing what these old machines can do and tend not to focus on what they can't do. but there are limits. the machines have to be useful to me. i recently sold an old clamshell in excellent shape because i no longer had a use for it. i'm also amazed at the cheap prices for these things these days. so they're slower than the newest. big deal. my 70 vw is also slow but............
 
I love the design. Apple still has style with macs today, but nothing like what it would have been back in the early 2000's. Shoot, no other desktop looked like the Power Mac G4 let alone the iMac G4! I have mine just as cool side projects and if I get sick of my MP for a day I can fire up the G5 and get by just fine with that. And.... they are cheap :D

As a side note, I always wanted a MDD, and finally got one. I'm actually starting to favor my G5 over my Mac Pro!
 
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Character.

I've got an an aluminium MacBook sat next to my bondi-blue iMac & the G3 makes me smile everytime. Although the MacBook is an incredible piece of engineering the Intel Macs just don't have that same sense of character that these PowerPC Macs possess.
 
Quite honestly i dont know if its in my head or true, I get the feeling of more stability when on a PPC machine rather on a x86 machine no matter what OS im running and that things work the way they should.
I also think there are loads of fun alternative OSes to PPC like MorphOS for example which is great fun to meddle with.
 
I still use mine because (knock on wood) it still works. I bought my iBook G4 new in 2005 and even now, nine years later, it still does everything I need it to do. I don't need to have the "latest and greatest", and I don't see a point in replacing a machine that still works just fine. I suppose it will eventually die, and when that day comes, I'll replace it. But until then, I simply have no reason to upgrade.

However, it bears mentioning that I am also a film photographer, classic car owner, and vinyl record collector/listener... so maybe there is a little nostalgia factor too :)
 
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I'll just say here than having five PowerPC Macs at home on Leopard and one on Tiger that newer is not necessarily better.

I work on a Mac Pro at work running Mavericks. Before that it was Mountain Lion. Honestly, the useability and stability of ML/Mavericks in a server environment just sucks. Getting flashbacks to OS X 10.4 Tiger days when I couldn't start more than two copy/delete operations without Finder dropping the server connection and beachballing for 20-30 minutes.

My coworker's G5 is more stable on Leopard and more fluid in what it does than this MP with Mavericks. The only reason I push to stay as current as possible as work is because my industry demands it. Otherwise we'd be back to me on the G5 and my coworker on the G4.

Stability then, is one of the major reasons I use PowerPC.
 
eyoungren said:
I'll just say here than having five PowerPC Macs at home on Leopard and one on Tiger that newer is not necessarily better.

I work on a Mac Pro at work running Mavericks. Before that it was Mountain Lion. Honestly, the useability and stability of ML/Mavericks in a server environment just sucks. Getting flashbacks to OS X 10.4 Tiger days when I couldn't start more than two copy/delete operations without Finder dropping the server connection and beachballing for 20-30 minutes.

My coworker's G5 is more stable on Leopard and more fluid in what it does than this MP with Mavericks. The only reason I push to stay as current as possible as work is because my industry demands it. Otherwise we'd be back to me on the G5 and my coworker on the G4.

Stability then, is one of the major reasons I use PowerPC.
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This is exactly why I broke down and bought my Macbook Mid 2009 model on Amazon. My industry as a developer is changing and I have to change with it. It sucks because I love my Powermac G5. I could easily have Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Leopard WebKit, TenFourFox and Entourage all open on twin 19" LCD screens while listening to iTunes. Not once would the G5 lock up. Rarely would I see the beach ball. My poor MB can't keep up. It has 4GB DDR2-800 RAM on a brand-new 500GB SATA2 hard drive.
 
heartsglory said:
This is exactly why I broke down and bought my Macbook Mid 2009 model on Amazon. My industry as a developer is changing and I have to change with it. It sucks because I love my Powermac G5. I could easily have Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Leopard WebKit, TenFourFox and Entourage all open on twin 19" LCD screens while listening to iTunes. Not once would the G5 lock up. Rarely would I see the beach ball. My poor MB can't keep up. It has 4GB DDR2-800 RAM on a brand-new 500GB SATA2 hard drive.
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I hear you!

I had days where I was burning a disk, printing tabloid sized pages, three or four file copies, QuarkXPress, Acrobat, Photoshop, Illy, Word, Entourage and TenFourFox all running and iTunes playing and the G5 here at work barely broke 50% cpu.

It handled (currently handles) everything thrown at it, I never had (have to) worry about how many apps are open and it keeps right on going.

This Mac Pro can get a beach ball at any time and I'm at a dead stop until it's done! AND I have to quit less used apps!
 
I'm running my G5 with Leopard right now and it's fast. Granted not as fast as an i5 or i7 mac now, but it's just as fast as my girlfriends MBP early 2009 with an intel dual core 2.0 I believe.
 
It honestly sucks that I have to abandon my G5. Heck even my MDD Dual 1.25 ran pretty sweet. MY DC 2.3 G5 never bogged down unless I was applying massive amounts of PS filters. If it wasn't for having to keep up with the ever-changing web technologies I would STILL be typing this up on my G5.
 
Why do I still use PowerPC?

There are very nice computers still. Some are faster than PCs I've seen. They can run Office 2008, iWork 09' and iLife 09'. Most PPC computers can run OS X Leopard, which really isn't all that old. iTunes 10 is the latest that will run on PPC, and while you can't sync to iOS 7 devices on iTunes 10, you can still use iOS 6 I believe or earlier. They are also very beautiful machines, and aside of being cheap, still run pretty fast today. I am typing this on an iBook G4 from 2005. With some upgrades, they can be just as fast as a lot of newer computers. If I had the choice between a touchscreen Windows 8 computer and a PowerBook G4, I would go with the PB. I think they're pretty slick machines even today!
 
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jrsx said:
iTunes 10 is the latest, and while you can't sync to iOS 7 devices on iTunes 10, you can still use iOS 6 I believe or earlier.
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Just to clarify, iTunes 11.x is the latest, but 10.6.3 is the highest Leopard (PowerPC) can run. And to keep it simple, if your iDevice uses a 30-pin connector it will sync on a PowerPC Mac running iTunes 10.6.3, but ONLY if it's running iOS 6.x or less.

Any iDevice using a Lightning cable connector is not capable of syncing on a PowerPC Mac.

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Jacksonc said:
I have a 2002 iMac and it has 10.2 and OS 9 installed. It still works great as a music player.
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I've got a December 2001 Quicksilver with a 1Ghz Sonnet upgrade. :)

At work I have a G4/350 PCI and a G4/450 AGP, both circa 1999. Have an iMac G3 333mhz at home doing the same thing as your iMac. :D
 
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