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Windows on an iBook G4

N

njaremka

macrumors 6502
Original poster
May 11, 2010
494
0
i want to tap the macrumors knowledge base on this one...

since windows can be installed on pretty much any machine, is there ANY way to get windows running native on an old iBook g4? i would willingly sacrafice osx on that thing (not the i really WANT to), if there was a way to get this done.
 
Windows (natively) on a Mac was only possible after Apple transitioned to Intel processors. Since the iBook G4 is the older IBM PowerPC variety, it cannot be done.

Unless someone wants to update me.
 
Not natively, there is no PPC build of windows. If you really need windows on there Microsoft used to make an emulation program that you could use, I think it was called virtual PC, but that is discontinued and even if you find it will be very slow.
 
Not possible, as the iBook does not support Windows natively, due to the different CPU architecture.
You could try VirtualPC though, but it is slow as hell.
Or find a PPC Linux distro.
 
i have virtual pc already for the machine, and yeah, calling it slow is being generous.

can linux run windows programs? i'm not familiar with linux, other than the name.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

Linux on Intel can run select windows apps via WINE. On ppc the performance will be similar to VPC since it still has to emulate an Intel CPU on PPC.

B
 
njaremka said:
can linux run windows programs? i'm not familiar with linux, other than the name.
Click to expand...

not on PPC, if you need to run windows, you can probably find a windows machine free on craigslist that's about the same age as your iBook. Otherwise maybe it's time to upgrade to an intel mac.
 
mrkramer said:
not on PPC, if you need to run windows, you can probably find a windows machine free on craigslist that's about the same age as your iBook. Otherwise maybe it's time to upgrade to an intel mac.
Click to expand...

i have an intel mac - a 2010 macbook pro

the ibook is going to be our secondary device, so i'm trying to figure out the best use for it.
 
njaremka said:
i have an intel mac - a 2010 macbook pro

the ibook is going to be our secondary device, so i'm trying to figure out the best use for it.
Click to expand...

A secondary device that HAS to run Windows?

I'd post the iBook for trade on Craigslist/Kijiji for a similar era/spec PC laptop.
 
G-Mo said:
A secondary device that HAS to run Windows?

I'd post the iBook for trade on Craigslist/Kijiji for a similar era/spec PC laptop.
Click to expand...

i never said that it ABSOLUTELY has to run windows, i'm just trying to figure out what would be a best use for it.
 
Windows on PPC iBook G4 - My thoughts

njaremka said:
i never said that it ABSOLUTELY has to run windows, i'm just trying to figure out what would be a best use for it.
Click to expand...

Dude,

I am a strong supporter of keeping PowerPC alive.. and also believe that both platforms of Intel and PPC serve specific purposes.. First off, what windows do you want to run on the ibook G4? Your best bet is going to be windows 2000.. You could get away with running windows xp, but you would have to turn off all the eye candy and fancy-shmancy stuff in there for it to run somewhat ok..

Also, max out your memory on the ibook G4. You should have no problems.. if you need virtual pc, I can help you with that.. I have a 2010 6-core mac pro and my PB G4 is used 70 percent of the time because what I do on my PB is everyday stuff as I also use my Mac Pro the same..

The iBook G4 is still a nice little laptop for basics and small windows work, but depending on what you wish to run on windows it might be better to get a small windows laptop or an intel mac.. BUT IN NO WAY AM I ADVOCATING YOU TO GET RID OF OR JUNK THE G4 iBook.. There is nothing wrong with running two platforms... Here is what I have:

2010 Mac Pro 6-core - originally was 2009 but replaced logic board and processor board - 300 dollars.. processor was only 800.00 for the 6-core which i purchased back in december 2010. My original processor was a 4-core 3.33 w3580.

PB G4 1.67 w/2GB DDR2 memory, SSD drive(PATA).. optimized to handle up to 720p youtube through mplayer os x extended using quicktime codecs and non-flash based codecs.

G4 Pismo - used for my OS 9 work - sheepshaver stinks
Gateway P-6860fx gaming laptop which has Windows 7 on it and 8GB of memory..

So, you see... Intel and PowerPC can co-exist. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.
 
Joshuarocks said:
Dude,

I am a strong supporter of keeping PowerPC alive.. and also believe that both platforms of Intel and PPC serve specific purposes.. First off, what windows do you want to run on the ibook G4? Your best bet is going to be windows 2000.. You could get away with running windows xp, but you would have to turn off all the eye candy and fancy-shmancy stuff in there for it to run somewhat ok..

Also, max out your memory on the ibook G4. You should have no problems.. if you need virtual pc, I can help you with that.. I have a 2010 6-core mac pro and my PB G4 is used 70 percent of the time because what I do on my PB is everyday stuff as I also use my Mac Pro the same..

The iBook G4 is still a nice little laptop for basics and small windows work, but depending on what you wish to run on windows it might be better to get a small windows laptop or an intel mac.. BUT IN NO WAY AM I ADVOCATING YOU TO GET RID OF OR JUNK THE G4 iBook.. There is nothing wrong with running two platforms... Here is what I have:

2010 Mac Pro 6-core - originally was 2009 but replaced logic board and processor board - 300 dollars.. processor was only 800.00 for the 6-core which i purchased back in december 2010. My original processor was a 4-core 3.33 w3580.

PB G4 1.67 w/2GB DDR2 memory, SSD drive(PATA).. optimized to handle up to 720p youtube through mplayer os x extended using quicktime codecs and non-flash based codecs.

G4 Pismo - used for my OS 9 work - sheepshaver stinks
Gateway P-6860fx gaming laptop which has Windows 7 on it and 8GB of memory..

So, you see... Intel and PowerPC can co-exist. Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.
Click to expand...

like i said, i'm just trying to figure out where this device will fit into our home. by no means am i getting rid of it! (it was my first apple device :cool:)

last night, i swapped out the hard drive and ram module. got it updated in size and speed, so i have a decent base. next week, i'm getting a copy of 10.5 to load onto it. the little ibook should be a decent second internet device.

i don't HAVE to run windows on it, but ihave a copy of virtual pc with windows xp that i might load back onto it. our second computer is a 2010 macbook pro 13" and it has boot camp setup with windows xp also. if i HAVE to run windows for anything, it gets loaded to the pro. (windows runs so much better in bootcamp than VPC)
 
Sit.rep, Qemu runs xp, virual pc 7.03 runs xp and Legacyfundationsedition .... for newer I get error 0x00005c firmware (bios) ACPI incompatible problems... in theory you could add acpi & bios files in Qemu, however I am not clear how... (I am trying to software update to the point I can run new opera browser for whatsapp support/ compatibility) . Suggestions?
 
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