OSX On a G3 iBook-Am I bloody mad?

Hairy Homer · 27-08-2003 4:48pm #1

OK, this will probably get me a reprimand for heresy at the altar of worship of the great God Mac but there is a plea for help in among the screams of frustration.

A few months ago I got equipped as part of general corporate policy with a ditsy G3 PowerBook running the new sooper dooper (if you read the Mac-worshipping press) OSX operating system.

At this point in time, and after much patient endeavour, I have no hesitation in saying that it sucks like a Harrier Jump Jet with reversed engines. It is inferior to its predecessor in just about every way, particularly in terms of performance.

It's not just that I'm running several programs in OS9 emulation mode, although that is truly a pain in the nether regions. It's that the native apps run so bloody slowly as well.

Our file and print server is a Windows 2000 box, and our part-time tech support guy reckons there are (ahem) issues with running OSX/AppleTalk over W2K's implementation. Yes the machine drops its connection to the server several times a day, but techy guy reckons he'll be able to improve that just as soon as he's closed the gap on his Mac knowledge that is there because the bulk of his business is with Windows/Linux systems.

But leaving that aside. The machine is just dammed slow, even running native apps and accessing files from my desktop. Were I still using OS9 I would have looked immediately to increase the memory available to each of the key apps that I run. Can't do that with OSX 'Oh it's Unix so it does all that automatically', I am told.

I hate the dock too, although I'm beginning to come to terms with the way it differs from the old Apple Menu which I grew to love.

The last time I had to wade through treacle like this was wayyyyy back when I bought my first ever PC (a 16MHz 386SX with 1Mbyte of RAM and a 40Mbyte hard disk) and tried to run Windows 3.0 on it. I quickly copped on to the fact that regardless of default install, that spec was for DOS only.

Is it the case that OSX on a 800MHz G3 with 128Mbyte of RAM is similar folly or does anyone know ANY tricks I could employ to speed things up? I'm getting so brassed off with looking at that multicolour spinning disk every time I try to get Word to do a word count.

Any and all help appreciated.

HH

flywheel · 29-08-2003 7:33pm

from your spec i think the 128MB ram would be a significant bottle neck...

would you be able to upgrade it - say to 384MB or better still 640MB?

kevmac · 02-09-2003 12:40am

I am pushing the limits but 10.2.7 runs smoothly on my ibook 300mhz but I have 320MB RAM.

Looks like your IT guy is winging it - the fact that he is letting you use a G3 in this day and age with just 128MB is madness.

And why are you using emulation? Has your IT bloke not got you native applications?

I use OS9 with Quark at work and OSX is light years ahead - no comparison.

Hugh_C · 10-09-2003 1:02pm

I'm running 10.2.6 on a Lombard 333MHz G3 powerbook with 512 megs of RAM, and it is reasonably quick. And very stable. I think you need a bit more RAM, which you can find on the net pretty cheaply. What version oSX are you running?

h

Hugh_C · 10-09-2003 1:03pm

Originally posted by kevmac
I am pushing the limits but 10.2.7 runs smoothly on my ibook 300mhz but I have 320MB RAM.

10.2.7? you're in the future dude...

Dr_Teeth · 10-09-2003 3:40pm

Originally posted by hughchal
10.2.7? you're in the future dude...

Not if the snazzy git has a G5..

oh, and as for the topic.. yes you are mad. I have a G3-500 iBook with 384MB of RAM and OSX is annoyingly slow. I would recommend a G4 chip, 512MB of memory and a graphics card capable of doing Quartz Extreme if you want to get the best out of OSX.

Teeth.

flywheel · 10-09-2003 5:16pm

Originally posted by Dr_Teeth
I have a G3-500 iBook with 384MB of RAM and OSX is annoyingly slow.

i've the same set-up and find it works grand for my needs (native OSX only - classic not installed) - suppose it depends what the machine is being used for

might be worth plugging in a decent sized stick of RAM and seeing how it goes - although if you have a (significaltly larger) buget, forking out for a new G4/G5 machine would of course give you better performance

suppose it depends if you have 1000s or just 100s to spend on the problem, if you have 1000s get a new machine, if you have 100s get some memory and close what you don't need open

Hugh_C · 10-09-2003 10:23pm

Originally posted by Dr_Teeth
Not if the snazzy git has a G5..

Really, 10.2.7? Never 'eard of it.

flywheel · 10-09-2003 11:58pm

Originally posted by hughchal
Really, 10.2.7? Never 'eard of it.

re: Apple ships the G5 with Mac OS X 10.2.7
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2003/08/18/g5ship/

...The Power Mac G5 will also ship with an updated version of Mac OS X Jaguar, bringing the operating system to 10.2.7. The update contains enhancements for technologies found in the G5 -- Apple declined to comment on when or if the update would be available for existing Macintosh computers...

BrianG

Dr_Teeth · 11-09-2003 10:10am

Maybe I'm just less tolerant of slowness.

The crummy old P3-450 win2k machine I have to use in work has a more responsive GUI by a long way than my iBook running OSX.

Really, 10.2.7? Never 'eard of it.

Yer, it's the G5 64bit extensions innit.

Teeth.

kevmac · 11-09-2003 9:41pm

OK, smart arses, made a mistake, but even with 10.2.6 my 300mhz ibook works fine.

BTW anything between 10 and 10.2 runs like a dog - only 10.2 upwards is worth it.

10.2.7 to appear on Software Update at end of September.

Hugh_C · 12-09-2003 8:32am

Originally posted by kevmac
10.2.7 to appear on Software Update at end of September.

There's also a 10.2.8 mentioned about the place, but that's also possibly for special architecture like G5s.

I was going to say 'why will they bother with 10.2.7' with Panther just around the corner, but there again, it is going to be 170 euro or something. It ain't free.

Note to self: must get broadband connection at home.

flywheel · 12-09-2003 10:53pm

this should clear up what's happening with the Jaguar version numbering:

http://www.thinksecret.com/news/panther7B59.html

"Apple also seeded build 6R57 of Mac OS X Update 10.2.8. In a seed note, the company explained the new Jaguar version numbering scheme: "The version number has changed, this was previously seeded as 10.2.7 build 6Rxx. Please also note that the OS version number for the Power Mac G5s is Mac OS X 10.2.7 build 6Sxx." (The G5s run a version of Jaguar with special hardware support, code-named Smeagol.) When 10.2.8 is released, it will update installations of Version 10.2.6, Apple said in the seed note."

hth,
BrianG

OSX On a G3 iBook-Am I bloody mad?

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