Which OSX for Powerbook G4?

#1 Wed, 19 Dec 2007 - 21:20

What would you recommend for a Powerbook G4 with 256M of memory? OSX 10.3.9, 10.4 or 10.5? Is 10.4 faster than 10.3? Does 10.5 even run on a G4?

Thanks,

Nathan

#2 Wed, 19 Dec 2007 - 21:27

10.5 will run but if your PowerBook has a clock speed of less than 867 MHz you'll need to edit a file on the DVD before it will allow you to install it - it's more of an artificial restriction to make you buy a new Mac than the machine not actually being up to running it well though. 256 is a little on the low side, though Tiger would be OK on that if you make sure you have no Dashboard widgets open and are only looking to do basic tasks. If you're looking to do more than basic tasks or would like Leopard then upgrading to 512 MB or 1 GB is highly recommended (Leopard will also block installation on less than 512 MB, so that's another line in the same file to edit if you really want to stick with 256 MB). Panther's getting a bit old now and is not really any lighter than Tiger (the only extra loads in Tiger, Spotlight and Dashboard can even be disabled completely if you so wish), particularly not on a G4 as the additional optimisations in Tiger often make it faster than Panther, especially when AltiVec is available.

#3 Wed, 19 Dec 2007 - 21:40

I'd recommend Tiger if only for Safari 3 support...

You might want to up the RAM to around a gig, which shouldn't cost you much these days.

#4 Wed, 19 Dec 2007 - 23:07

ill be the od done out and say panther is better even if it is older it doesnt mean its any worse then tiger

#5 Wed, 19 Dec 2007 - 23:16

ill be the od done out and say panther is better even if it is older it doesnt mean its any worse then tiger

It does, technically, if security fixes exist in Tiger that don't exist in Panther.

Don't go back to Jaguar, unless it's for curiosity.

#6 Wed, 19 Dec 2007 - 23:20

ohh now you are making me curious about jaguar heh

im running tiger on a 500 mhz ibook for one reason only

only tiger boots of an external usb drive

#7 Wed, 19 Dec 2007 - 23:29

ohh now you are making me curious about jaguar heh

I can cure that, I run it on a Biege G3 and it's surprisingly less stable than Tiger on my B+W G3.

#8 Thu, 20 Dec 2007 - 07:37

Tiger, most definately.