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Why do people still use PowerPC Macs?

! definitely agree with some previous posts, I have a Powerbook G4 with Leopard late 2005 model, and a MacBook Pro mid 2012 with Mountain Lion, bought 6 months ago, honestly if it wasn't for the industry demand and for hardware and support anymore not covered, probably I will still use my G4 without buy a new mac.
Just still work great, but in these years where anything is getting already old after 6 months, people, especially younger, really don't understand the value of things that works great.
I can understand if you switch because the new one is amazing, and has plenty of real and valuable features, but honestly when I bought the new mac, except bull*§@ò$ consumers things I didn't find so many differences compared to my G4 except off course the speed of the machine plugs some minus things.
And I'm comparing my late G42005 vs the MBP 2012, it should be more than just speed, in 7 years of Apple production..
Would you want talk about new OS? My G4 never crashed using Tiger, it started doing it rare times with Leopard. The new one with 10.8.5? Speaking about average, much more without include the freezing of the applications.
And I have just the regular os stuff plus music production applications because my work.
If Apple never dropped the support for hardware and software, to PPC machines, at the least the most recent, how they will run now?
Cheers!
 
Powerbooks are still great machines in terms of design, but they just don't have the speed required for comfortable use. Even performing Google search may cause beachballing for a brief moment. Things are far smoother with my Macbook. Build quality is higher on PB since it obviously does not have topcase which cracks, mouse button is also better quality as well as speakers etc.
 
As I sit here using my G5, I am so happy it is still up and running. Don't get me wrong, I love my Mac Pros and Hackintosh for the really heavy game development and 3D modeling, but My Quads are still so very useful. I like them for quite a few of reasons.

1. Nostalgia: I love using PPC because it was different
2. The fact that my Quads are still fast and useful with 10.5.8 (or 10.4.11)
3. This might seem strange, but I like the fact that the Quads have a max-out limit due to their age. I have the 16GB RAM, the flashed 7800 GTX's, the SSD's and all of the last versions of PPC running software. It's as far as it can go (or as far as I need it to go)
4. Makes me feel special ;) This may also seem strange, but I am OLD and need to feel special and these PPC Macs are good for that. Wait, shouldn't I feel special having a Wife and three Children...... Don't tell my family!

It is definitely an individual thing, but I know for a lot of us it has to do with PPC just being different than intel.
 
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JaguarGod said:
It is definitely an individual thing, but I know for a lot of it has to do with PPC just being different than intel.
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This is probably the top reason, IMO. One of the reasons that many people got into Macs in the first place, and still do, is that they are different than PCs. PPC Macs are further different from the Intel machines on the market. Sometimes it is nice to just have something different.

And anyone that thinks they cannot still compete with a Windows machine has not used the low market windows machines that flood the market. They will never compete with a reasonable Intel Mac or a mid market PC, but for what they are they still can do great.
 
Why I like my G5

I like my G5 mostly because it gives me an opportunity to thumb my nose at the ever changing tech environment. It does everything it has to that I use everyday. My music arranging software works better on it than the same program on my Windows PC. It processes video beautifully from my Gpro and now that I've got the cooling right, it runs cool and quietly. I keep a Windows machine for those things I have to...Itunes for my IPAD and apps for my wifes sewing machine, but that's it. I like that I don't have to run the miserable antivirus junk that slows my PC to a fraction of the speed it could be running. I like when someone asks me what kind of computer I use and I can say a G5. I like finding used software that works great for a fraction of the cost of contemporary PC or MAC Software. I actually like that Apple has abandoned me as a user.

Jim
G5 2.5 GHZ Quad core Late 2005 8Gb RAM, 500Gb HD and newly rebuilt cooling! HD 27" Samsung
 
I feel the power, build quality and design were far superior than the Intel models. All of my PPC macs are still screaming to this day.
 
I use my PowerBook G4 primarily for internet radio, and once I plug in a microphone, it becomes easily the best radio I ever had.
 
So I wanted to post an update, as I've been a bit pro-intel lately. Upon getting my MDD, I have found that it works great as a server (just a tad bit loud) and set up my G5 where my Mac Pro usually resides. Just earlier I was doing everything that I do on a daily basis of watching YouTube (360p in WebKit) and browsing the usual MR forums and checking things like email, ebay, Facebook, all of the like.

The only time I truly used the full 8 core power is when I render videos. Which is rare, and if I can wait a bit longer my MBP can handle that. At this point I am almost considering selling my Mac Pro and my current Dual 2GHz G5 to get a G5 Quad. I hate taking my MBP to school but I do it nearly every day and I've been considering getting a iBook G4 or a 15" PBG4 for school as it could do the usual web browsing, some youtube, music, and of course notes.

I am now deeply into PowerPC, and shoot 4 of my 6 macs are PowerPC with 3 being G4s! And I really can't give up on PowerPC, I have projects like the PowerPC Archive and the future Leopard Market which can't be possible without a PPC!
 
After 13 years I finally upgraded my laptop :eek: The Ti isn't going to be retired though :D got the last rev alu macbook about half an hour ago
 

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I still use them b/c I loved those machines. I felt more of an attachment to them, possibly b/c of design I guess. I've used Macs since the G3 days all the way through to the latest maxed out iMac. But it wasn't until the iMac G4 that I completely went Apple and have never looked back.

Honestly, as someone who has used a lot of OS9 and every version of OSX from the PPC through the current Intel days something about those PPC days felt more stable on my machines. I definitely think today's are a lot faster, but maybe not as stable. My apps may not have opened as fast on PPC but I rarely ever saw beachballs. I don't know how to describe it; Intel Macs feel light and fast. PPC Macs felt maybe sturdy from a usability perspective. IMO.

I picked up another iMac G4 last year, upgraded the RAM, installed an airport card, and have it dual-booting Tiger and Leopard and I love it. I randomly hop on it just to web browse and my kids use it all the time for school stuff and iTunes.
 
Considering that they are extremely affordable (including dual and quad G5 systems), and that they run a gigantic library of software, are capable systems for graphic design, and are usually very stable, there is no reason not to use PPC systems.

I wouldn't suggest one for NLE, and you may have problems with media-intensive websites, but for anything else, they are excellent systems, and quite reliable.

My main Macs are all G5s, and my only Intel systems are servers, and my Dell 910 Hackintosh. I use Titanium Powerbooks, dual and quad G5s, and XServe G5 systems every day, and they perform nicely. In fact, a good Quad-G5 will shine, running 10.4, in ways that may surprise many people.
 
powerpc is awesome

i use a dual 2.0 ghz g5 for pretty much everything and when i'm on the road i use an ibook g4 1.33 ghz for everything. windows is disgusting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
firelighter487 said:
i use a dual 2.0 ghz g5 for pretty much everything and when i'm on the road i use an ibook g4 1.33 ghz for everything. windows is disgusting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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You bumped a very old thread, not necessary. What does windows being disgusting having to do with user PowerPC macs? The question wasn't how bad windows is, it was why people use PowerPC Macs when they can have intel.
 
Intelligent said:
You bumped a very old thread, not necessary. .
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Why not?

I just got a iBook G4 1.2 with 1gb and am fine with it . It came with 09 versions of iLife & iWork, found a copy of FCP 3.5 for cheap, for a total investment of $100....well worth it to try out OSX in my book.

And so far it HAS been more solid than my quad core......
 
I'm down to two PPC machines, only keep 'em around as I still rely on an old "Classic"(OS 8) era printing program which is just as advanced as MS Publisher but the "modern OS X" version is crippled/dumbed down to Print Master "fixed" templates so living in the 90s is a headache of life. Print Artist 4.0 set a higher bar above Print Shop... AFAIK, Swift Publisher is the closest for Intel Macs.

Jovian9 said:
Honestly, as someone who has used a lot of OS9 and every version of OSX from the PPC through the current Intel days something about those PPC days felt more stable on my machines. I definitely think today's are a lot faster, but maybe not as stable. My apps may not have opened as fast on PPC but I rarely ever saw beachballs. I don't know how to describe it; Intel Macs feel light and fast. PPC Macs felt maybe sturdy from a usability perspective.
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Part of the stability of PowerPC was Apple kept a streamlined part supplier sourcing agreements so fewer audio/FW/USB/wifi/ethernet chipset variables.
In the Intel era Apple must hop to the next new chipset as companies such as RealTek & Broadcom won't produce the same chips for 2+ years so audio/wifi glitches can slip through the cracks like the 2013 MacBook Air launch, Thunderbolt was Apples' excuse to ditch ethernet/firewire as they had issues with sustained ethernet speeds then with Texas Instruments FW chipset(iMac 2007-2009) which had weird sleep issues where upon wake up FW HDDs were "unexpectedly ejected".

In my opinion the downwards spiral of OS X started with Lion, Mountain Lion resolved most of the complaints but Mavercks opened up new headaches.
 
happyfrappy said:
I still rely on an old "Classic"(OS 8) era printing program which is just as advanced as MS Publisher…
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Uhm. These words do not belong together.

I wrote a long diatribe on my issues with Publisher, but let's just cut it short. Publisher is better than Word. But there's no way in heck you can call it advanced in comparison to InDesign or QuarkXPress.

Hell, even Adobe Pagewrecker (Pagemaker) is advanced in comparison.

Sorry, no offense to you, it's just that I use these tools every day (not Publisher) and have to deal with lots of trainwrecks from customers using Publisher.
 
eyoungren, if you've read past posts of mine I also hate MS Publisher... it sits on a dedicated Virtual Machine for foolish people who send me such files.

InDesign/Quark is overkill for printing small custom projects which may only need >10 copies and no larger than 8x10. Print Artist 4.0 can do things which would normally require Photoshop or Illustrator so throwing together projects is less time consuming. If someone wants a "budget"(flat-rate) printing job, they'll get a job which doesn't involve anything more than a graphics/photo(s) adjustment and work done within PA/Swift Publisher.

AFAIK, most consumer printing software stopped supporting banner printing which allowed doing some interesting stuff :(
 
happyfrappy said:
eyoungren, if you've read past posts of mine I also hate MS Publisher... it sits on a dedicated Virtual Machine for foolish people who send me such files.

InDesign/Quark is overkill for printing small custom projects which may only need >10 copies and no larger than 8x10. Print Artist 4.0 can do things which would normally require Photoshop or Illustrator so throwing together projects is less time consuming. If someone wants a "budget"(flat-rate) printing job, they'll get a job which doesn't involve anything more than a graphics/photo(s) adjustment and work done within PA/Swift Publisher.

AFAIK, most consumer printing software stopped supporting banner printing which allowed doing some interesting stuff :(
Click to expand...
I wish there was an emoticon for snapping fingers, because once you said that I remembered your posts and said to myself: DUH Erik!

Yeah, I get you. Sorry about the drama. :D
 
I use PPC Macs because a 2005 12" aluminum Powerbook 1.5ghz running OS X 10.4 works just as well a 2014 3.1ghz MacBook Pro running OS X 10.9.
By the same assumption,
a 1985 8mhz(.008ghz) Macintosh Plus running OS 6.0.8 should work just as good...just kidding:rolleyes:
 
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