Why do you like PowerPC?

[Wardenski]

When you say threw out I hope you mean given away or at least recycled so they can once be reused. What is wrong with your G5? There are plenty of skilled technicians like eyoungren that could strip a PowerBook G4 down and have it fixed in under an hour or people like me that can rebuild a G5 LCS.

Two logic board failures and possible CPU failure. At the time, repairing it would cost more than it was worth. I still have the dead G5 though but I have no intention on wasting time on it even if the parts are now cheap. I may strip it out and use it to make a table or something once I get my own house. Maybe, I can sell on some parts such as the GPU (ATI 800XT).

I have heard that baking certain G5 motherboards can remidy some problems but for me its just not worth the hassle to attempt to repair it.

As far as I am aware the iMacs were recylced. As people can probably tell, I am not a collector.

 

[SkyBell]

I have done this (and sometimes still do) when I go on a business trip. I typically do not need a laptop as I carry an iPad when I travel - but I will often bring my iBook G3 800Mhz 10.4.11 with me as it is easier to type out emails and documents on (it has MS Office) - even easier than an iPad with bluetooth keyboard IMO.

For a few months last year, my 300 MhHz iBook G3 running OS 9 was the only way I could access the internet; I was expecting next to nothing to work or be possible to do, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much it could actually handle. Obviously, heavier websites were out of the question, but it tackled MacRumors, eBay, my banking website and Facebook among others without much difficulty.

People do nowadays tend to give weird looks towards the candy colored toilet seat though.

 

[andyrugbyref]

still going strong

Apart from the power consumption.

My Power Mac DC G5 is going so well, Stable, resonably quick. Does everything I need (rather than want). Looks great and is cheap, I paid £70 for 2ghz DC 6gb RAM, perfect condition.


Only downside is the latest Ubunutu PPC wont work, due to the 6600le I think.

 

[wobegong]

Only downside is the latest Ubunutu PPC won't work, due to the 6600le I think.

Yep ATI is better for PPC Linux generally, you will get that card working but you may have to jump through a few flaming hoops first.

To be honest if you can bear the potential security risks of using Leopard it's streets ahead of PPC Linux and in my opinion you're better off sticking to it. Don't get me wrong I love Linux and have done for some time - it's on my now current main machine (PC) I'm typing on now but too many essentials I need are missing on the PPC Linux platform (no games/no Steam, no Skype, no MS Office / Evernote (because no Wine), no basic GPU acceleration etc etc.

 

[FigmentNewtonII]

PPC machine are better at allocating resources.
I have 1.25GB of RAM in my iBook G4. Never once do I have to worry about running out. Programs are light and powerful. In my MBP, I have 4GB of RAM. Yet I have less than a Gigabyte available with just chrome open with a few tabs (3 maybe) and iTunes. The new OSs and programs just don't really try to be as light as possible. Programs seem to have the idea of "Oh we have SO much space. We can go to town." I get understand that because now we can do things we couldn't do before do to limitations. Though, part of it just feels like lazy programing and now trying to slim things down.

PPCs have better designs.
The Macs of today do look pretty nice, but there seems to be more character to the PPC macs. You got color (****ING COLOR!) in the G3 models. That's hard to come by in any computer brand now in days. Even if you can find color it's seems almost slapped on. G3 Macs used it to really make it pop and catch your attention. G4 models have a friendly sense to them. They feel inviting, giving the impression that they aren't scary and are easy to use. G5 models have a sense of power to them. When I see a PMG5 I get this sense of "I have true raw power at my disposal." I'll admit the early Aluminum iMacs do give this sense off as well. Also the Mac Pro before the new one are an excellent upgrade of a fantastic design, but it was the G5 that started it all. The PPC line just have this overall theme with each CPU that really makes them stand out.

They are still useable.
I'd admit I'm a guy to is fascinated and attracted to older devices. Hell I have a typewriter at home that my grandfather was planing to throw away. Why let it go to waste? My iMac G4 and iBook G4 are still very capable machines able to perform a vast majority of tasks I do on my MBP. Since they still have a use I want to utilize them.

I like experiencing the past.
Many retro products I purchase normally fall into the category of "they were around when I was alive, but I didn't understand them or get to have it." I bought a Gamecube for the purpose of playing games I never got to play as a child. During most of my childhood I used a Gateway and Dell desktop. My father owned a PowerBook G4 which he gave to my family when he upgraded to a MacBook Pro. Seeing the other Macs back then and how I didn't really get to use them, I'm now drawn to them to get that sense of the past I never really understood.

 

[Altemose]

Probably quite well if you have reasonable expectations. My PowerBook G4 is my main computer. Now, it's obviously newer and faster than an iBook G3, but it's still slow by modern standards. I only have trouble when I go to web pages that have a lot of graphics. I have NoScript configured in Firefox to block scripts and I don't allow Firefox to load images either. That's a tremendous help. All the other software I use routinely, like Claws Mail, built in Unix utilities, etc., works fine. Youtube is hopeless though.

G3s are far from being useless. I agree that some basic needs are no longer satisfied by them, but they are not worthless by any means!

I don't think I could do it as a daily driver. To tinker around with sure. But I'm having a hard enough time on this 2009 era machine and it's not even my main machine. It's fine for 90% of what I do but every now and then it will choke and I'm often afraid to do too much on it for fear of choking it. I give major props to anyone that can manage to use a 14 year old laptop day in and day out. It truly is a feat and those that can pull it off have my respect.

I can choke a G5 and my mid-2012 for video editing. I am not planning on doing video editing on the iBook but rather casual usage.

Just today a unhooked my main machine (Custom gaming PC) and put my PowerMac G5 in its place. It's a Dual 2.0Ghz with 7GB of Ram, 360GB HDD, and the stock 64Mb video card. I honestly have been able to do everything I would normally do on my main machine! I can't play the newest games on it but I play some that I played when I was younger (sims, halo). Even youtube plays flawlessly on tenfourfox. I am going to see how long my gaming machine will stay unplugged...

The G5s were ahead of their time. However, any PC from that era will play games from that era so I do not really see this as an achievement. I am happy you are enjoying the Mac though...

To be honest I think the "they still can do most things today...." argument is pretty flawed.

I mean similar aged PC's have access to far more software than a PPC Mac does....

I set up an old office throw-away P4 2.8 with Lubuntu on it as a media centre for a friend. With the speakers attached it plays movies using the (very latest!) VLC just fine through their TV and plays music through (the very latest!) Spotify just fine too. Browsing using (the very latest!) Firefox is faultless etc etc.

I myself have a don't know how old 1.6Ghz HP laptop as a bedroom XBMC server - works just fine and is left on 24x7.

So basically any PC that was reasonably well built and cared for from 'way back when' will be able to do most/all or even more than any similarly aged Mac - but thats not the point.

The point is - at least for me - they are quality quality quality quality - I still think the inside of my G5 is a beautiful thing to see while the inside of any PC is a disaster.

I think that quality absolutely still exists today - my MBP is 100% better than my old PB G4 in every single way and the PB is 100% better than the HP in my bedroom in every single way - including build quality, the MBP is a solid lump of laser cut metal for goodness sake!

The iPhone is in a different stratosphere to the flexi-plastic built-as-cheaply-as-possible competition. These things may not necessarily be the highest spec on paper but my god - they feel good to use! They did when the G5/G4's were out and they do today.

Analogy.
A home souped up, blingy, lowered, neon lit, canon exhaust pipe, v8 transplante engined boy racer.

Or an Aston Martin?

The boy racer car will be great fun for an hour or two.
The Aston you'll want to drive for ever.

There is no denying that the newer Macs are like comparing a Ferrari to a beater Toyota. However, there is no reason we should see our PowerPCs labeled as completely useless.

The dual G5's are so powerful because since a few years we have a performance ceiling. OK, there is an exotic 12 core NMP nowadays, but at a big expense.
The latest G5's were scoring like 3600 on Geekbench, the ceiling now is around 14000 for the regular top models (quad cores) and 33000 for the 12 core. If Moore was fully followed on the top model, the current MacPro would score around 80000 at the half the price the MacPro 12 core costs now, and it would have SATA 33Gb/s interface (PCI SSD is lame compared to that)! It DOESN'T. So there is lack of software that pushes the raw power needs, and the percentage of Apple Shrink Tax in the models is getting higher and higher.

So in a way, yes you got a damn load of power for your bucks with a G5, and for the 200-300 bucks you can get them for nowadays, they still offer plenty.

Only drawback: power consumption. 150nm CPU's are no fun!
You can get a 70 bucks U1037 Celeron board today, including similarly powerful processor, that only draws 10 watts peak.

I think Moore's law went out the window when people stopped chasing the high clock speeds and went for energy and performance efficiency.

----------

Two logic board failures and possible CPU failure. At the time, repairing it would cost more than it was worth. I still have the dead G5 though but I have no intention on wasting time on it even if the parts are now cheap. I may strip it out and use it to make a table or something once I get my own house. Maybe, I can sell on some parts such as the GPU (ATI 800XT).

I have heard that baking certain G5 motherboards can remidy some problems but for me its just not worth the hassle to attempt to repair it.

As far as I am aware the iMacs were recylced. As people can probably tell, I am not a collector.

Selling parts especially good video cards is a great way to make some dough. Post the parts in the Marketplace. Who knows, maybe someone needs a new video card.

 

[eyoungren]

There is no denying that the newer Macs are like comparing a Ferrari to a beater Toyota. However, there is no reason we should see our PowerPCs labeled as completely useless.

I would argue that the difference is merely that of an older race car versus a modern race car, or an older race horse versus a young race horse.

Both are race cars (or race horses), but the modern race car will outperform the older and the younger race horse is having his go.

But the older race car (or race horse) is STILL a race car (and race horse).

 

[Altemose]

I would argue that the difference is merely that of an older race car versus a modern race car, or an older race horse versus a young race horse.

Both are race cars (or race horses), but the modern race car will outperform the older and the younger race horse is having his go.

But the older race car (or race horse) is STILL a race car (and race horse).

Great Analogy!

 

[gavinstubbs09]

Here's my input.

Cheap
This is one of the first options many consider a PowerPC Mac. You can easily get a dual 2GHz G5 under $100, PowerBook G4's for $150. Then you might even find a good deal on a G4 MDD. I'm sure you can find Intel macs under $200, however you will most likely be stuck at Lion and not Mavericks. In PowerPC's defense, the AlPowerBook still has super nice features like a screen with the same resolution up to the rMBP, backlit keyboards, and the huge variety of ports.

Still Useable
Like a chevy truck from 1995, it can still tow and hold concrete in the bed just like a brand new one can, however the 2014 model can tow/haul with much more capacity than the 1995, but the job can still be done!

I have been using my MDD lately, and (although slower than my MBP) I can browse Facebook, internet, edit and create in Photoshop CS4, use FileZilla, watch YouTube (no 720p on this G4, the 2.7 handles 720p easy), edit and record in Logic Pro 9, listen to songs on Pandora, Spotify, or iTunes Radio, upon more. The only reason I don't have a PowerBook as a main is that if I go on the road and do new recordings with Logic Pro X, CS6, and FCPX 10.1, and also for the speed as it's years newer than my PowerPC stuff.

When it comes to Video Rendering, I am usually in a rush to get it rendered ASAP, and the G5 will do it, but not nearly as quickly as my MBP.

some Software Still Made
VLC, FileZilla, TenFourFox and some others still have software made within the past month that is modern. Although part of that argument goes out the window when Apple stopped making anything for Leopard (ex. iTunes, Logic, FCP, etc.)

 

[CSCONTO1]

In Reply to Thread Starter

I have always had a soft spot for PowerPC Macintoshes. They are just so AWESOME! They have always been great design wise, as they just had that extra special "Steve Jobs Touch" to them that I feel most intel macs (Except for the first generation iMacs and MacBooks) lack today. Anyhow here is a short list of my PowerPC Macs:

1.) iBook Clamshell 366 Mhz with 512 Mb of RAM. Unfortunately died due to logic board issues in early 2012. RIP my friend, and my first ever Mac.

2. iBook G4 1.2 Ghz with 768 Mb of RAM. This machine was great, and I screwed around with it so much I honestly can't remember how many times I took it apart and put it back together again. I sold it around February of last year.

3. PowerBook G4 667 Mhz with 256 Mb of RAM. This machine was the coolest I had owned yet, but it had problems with video cables and hinges, so I had to get rid of it.

4. PowerBook G4 1.0 Ghz with 1.25 Gb of RAM. This was my main machine for the whole summer of 2013, and was excellent. It was easily one of my favorite laptops ever and I regret selling it to this day.

5. PowerMac G4 QuickSilver 2001 867 Mhz with 1.5 Gb of RAM. Funny story, I found this mac on the side of a road during the summer, and it was in great condition! It was missing the RAM and HD but I later got it fully functional, with the original mouse/keyboard and original 17" Apple ADC monitor. It now has 1.5 Gb of RAM, a 250 GB IDE HD, a 2x SuperDrive (original too!), and a Radeon 9000 Pro, not to mention a pci wireless-n card pulled from a newer Dell, and finally a pci usb 2.0 card. It is my pride and joy, and will keep it for years to come!

 

[ResPublica]

I don't really get why one should prefer the Designs of the older PowerPC Macs? In fact most 2006 Intel Mac designs were simply continuations of the PowerPC designs. Why would a Power Mac G5 be more beautiful then a Mac Pro that looks identical, can run the same software and more, with far better performance? Quite a few PowerPC Macs, I must admit, were truly unique (iMac G4, G3), but that can't be said of all of them.

I don't think I would still buy another PowerPC Mac, but when you know how to handle them and what they are capable off, they can still be very productive machines. I'm very happy with the Mac mini G4 that I use when I stay by my parents for a few days.

 

[roadbloc]

I don't really get why one should prefer the Designs of the older PowerPC Macs?

For me it is just one model. I don't think Apple have ever topped this design.

(And my G4 has outlived all of my Intel Macs.)

 

[opeter]

I always liked the older Macs for their look ...

The first generation of PowerMac G4s, aka this one:

And the, the beige towers and desktop type Macs:

... and escpecially the older MacOS desktop systems, like MacOS Classic 9.x or older.

No dock, no fancy Aqua ...

 

[rjcalifornia]

Cheap. Dirt cheap. Down here, you can't go around with expensive toys

Also, I don't know why but I prefer Mac OS for laptops and Windows for desktops.

 

[catzilla]

I went from a G4 to Intel, I missed the G5, now I want one. I just used a G4 iBook (I may still get it) 1.33, running 10.4 (or 10.3). The interface wasn't the greatest but it was pretty snappy. Great value for the money.
I have a G3 AIO, tower, MDD, cube, main street, Lombard, Pismo, 1400, 2400, 3400, 3500, clam shell, I'm trying to get my PM 6500 back. I love PPC.

Edit: I also have a 2300, but it's pretty beat up. It was a thrift store find, stuck in a Doudock. It was in brand new condition, but I gave it to a friend and his kids destroyed the screen plastics.

 

[G4TheWin]

Probably quite well if you have reasonable expectations. My PowerBook G4 is my main computer. Now, it's obviously newer and faster than an iBook G3, but it's still slow by modern standards. I only have trouble when I go to web pages that have a lot of graphics. I have NoScript configured in Firefox to block scripts and I don't allow Firefox to load images either. That's a tremendous help. All the other software I use routinely, like Claws Mail, built in Unix utilities, etc., works fine. Youtube is hopeless though.

How is OpenBSD? I heard that it won't support suspend, and since I use my iBook as a laptop, that wouldn't really be benificial. Is there a workaround (besides using hibernate)?

 

[2984839]

How is OpenBSD? I heard that it won't support suspend, and since I use my iBook as a laptop, that wouldn't really be benificial. Is there a workaround (besides using hibernate)?

I don't know of a true workaround, but I usually just dim the screen before I close the lid to save power. Since my battery is pretty old and worn out, I usually leave it plugged in anyway, so the suspend issue doesn't usually bother me.

If you want to give BSD a shot, FreeBSD has a PowerPC version that may have better hardware support. I haven't tried it myself, but you can find it here: http://www.freebsd.org/platforms/ppc.html#hardware

I made a thread on OpenBSD on this machine here, if you're interested: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1729203/

I may update that, since I'm running 5.5 now.

 

[visvaldis]

For years I worked as graphic artist in advertising, always on Macs with Quark. For home I bought an iMac G3.
Since 8 years I have a G4 MDD with OS 10.5. Only 80 GB hardrive, but a great machine. I have all the software on it I need. I have added RAM and replaced the original optical drive and power supply. For a novice like me working on the inside is easy.
Lately, it gives me power-up problems and I like the machine so much I want to fix it.
I bought a new Mac-mini, but the G4 appeals to me much more. It's too bad the machine gets older.

 

[LOLZpersonok]

I like the PowerPC Macs because they feel "different". I like the Intel Macs and I would love to have a new one to run the latest versions of Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X and Motion, along with Adobe After Effects.

My first Mac was a Power Mac G4, and though I knew it was old I didn't think it'd be too slow and I'd be able to run the newer versions of iMovie, which I can't. I think another reason to liking the PowerPCs because they're old, and I'm into older computers and things like that.

I really like the design of the Power Mac G3 B&W and the Power Mac G4, because it's cool and convenient. I like the designs of the iMac G3 and G4.

 

[primal]

My very first computer was a ppc 6100 running 8.5, I bought it second hand and used for 3 years before I bought my second computer brand new, a g4 digital audio.
Since then i have also had a g3 ibook.. All of these machines ended up running ubuntu linux, which is the only os i use now. Happy to say that in my almost 20 years of computing i've never experienced a virus lol.
Love the machines but after trying linux soon realized I did not like the mac Os's.
Sadly the ibook is now a door stop because of a chip than needs to be resoldered to the motherboard..

 

[jji7skyline]

Were you able to install Java 6/7 to play Minecraft? I've tried to do it on my PowerMac G5 SP1.8Ghz with no success.

Also what video card are you using?

 

[Altemose]

Were you able to install Java 6/7 to play Minecraft? I've tried to do it on my PowerMac G5 SP1.8Ghz with no success.

Also what video card are you using?

You can play Minecraft 1.5.2 on a PPC. You need the older launcher or use the Linux copy. The download is still on the website.

 

[grockk]

PPC macs have so much style and really refined the entire industry.

 

[GraniteTheWolf]

For me is all about nostalgia. The design reminds me of the days growing up in middleschool when our school had a library of G3 iMacs (eventually turned into G4's)
I actually hated macs at the time because it made me think of schoolwork lol...

That nostalgia though.... I even bought an old 2005 Alienware Area 51 M7700 with a desktop P4 cpu in it, a great older gpu, modern sata hdd (Amazing how i could take a sata hdd cable from a slightly newer alienware laptop and it works with the raid controller in it) Its my retro-gaming rig to play XP and older games.

 

[Zotaccian]

PowerPC as an CPU architecture, well can't say I like or hate it other than the fact that there are much more software for Intel's x86.

Apple's PowerPC machines still have great timeless design (well, not all but most) and they are cheap so you end up buying them even though you don't need them and of course selling later if they are just in the way.