Apple OS questions

[ArchStudent]

Howdy

I was thinking of getting an Apple Notebook for my mother as a gift, as she would like an Apple.

Does the newer Apple OS X have minimum system requirements, meaning that it will not work on older model Apples? Is there a huge difference between Apple OS 9 (or 8) and OS X?

Thanks for the help

 

[drag]

OS X is completely new and completely different from OS 9. As different as night and day.

OS X is based on a unix frameworkd derived from netbsd and nextstep operating systems.

You can run OS X on older hardware. I've run OS 10.2 on G3-era proccessors with little issues, and it will run on any g4-based computer. However the newest version OS 10.3 may not run on G3 stuff, I don't remember for sure. People have gotten it to run computers evern older then that, but it's not worth it except for the novelty of having it work.

OS X has what is called a "classic mode" were it runs OS 9.2 inside of OS X to run older legacy programs.

 

[ArchStudent]

drag thanks for the info I was not sure about certain things... I was thinking of purchasing an Apple ibook clamshell for her, and was unsure if the newer OS X would work, but from what I can understand it should

Thanks

 

[drag]

Originally posted by: ArchStudent
drag thanks for the info I was not sure about certain things... I was thinking of purchasing an Apple ibook clamshell for her, and was unsure if the newer OS X would work, but from what I can understand it should

Thanks

May not run that well though. Personally I wouldn't run it on anything slower then 400mhz and 256megs of ram.

Don't forget that you can get a brand new ibook for around 900 dollars with a student discount.

 

[n0cmonkey]

The clamshells are slow. I've got one of the earlier icebooks (white iBooks), 500mhz, and OS X is slow. Usable, but slow. I don't mind it though.

 

[smp]

I second the >= 400mhz w/ 256mb sentiment.
Look for a used icebook, 600mhz and up ideally. (the 500 is on a 66mhz bus, the rest are 100).
Why a laptop?
A blue and white G3 350 would cut it too.... just up the ram.

 

[ShaqDiesel]

I had Jaguar running fine on a 333mhz Lombard Powerbook with 192 MB of RAM.

More memory is better.

 

[Go3iverson]

My buddy has Panther up and running on a 400MHz Blue and White G3 tower. He's content. Then again, I had Jaguar running on a 233MHz G3 Beige desktop with less than 100MB of RAM for a friend when her Dell died.

 

[ArchStudent]

Originally posted by: smp
I second the >= 400mhz w/ 256mb sentiment.
Look for a used icebook, 600mhz and up ideally. (the 500 is on a 66mhz bus, the rest are 100).
Why a laptop?
A blue and white G3 350 would cut it too.... just up the ram.

Thought about the tower, but the less clutter she has to worry about the better So a laptop would be ideal for her in the long run

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

The nice thing about osx is that due to the compositing display system, even when the gui is less than fast, you don't see stuff redrawing and whatnot. It might get a little choppy and have some delays, but it still "feels" very solid.

 

[InlineFive]

I'm running Jaguar (10.2) on a 333Mhz G3 and it's super slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow compared to my XP 3200+ running WinXP Pro with optimizations. I'm not impressed.

-Por

 

[jemow2]

Originally posted by: PorBleemo
I'm running Jaguar (10.2) on a 333Mhz G3 and it's super slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow compared to my XP 3200+ running WinXP Pro with optimizations. I'm not impressed.

-Por

Try running WinXP on a 333Mhz PC and see how slow that would be.

I ran Panther 10.3 on a G3 500Mhz iMac, and it was passable, but definately not zippy.

<---- Not a Mac fanboy...

 

[thirdlegstump]

Originally posted by: jemow2

Originally posted by: PorBleemo
I'm running Jaguar (10.2) on a 333Mhz G3 and it's super slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow compared to my XP 3200+ running WinXP Pro with optimizations. I'm not impressed.

-Por

Try running WinXP on a 333Mhz PC and see how slow that would be.

I ran Panther 10.3 on a G3 500Mhz iMac, and it was passable, but definately not zippy.

<---- Not a Mac fanboy...

I've actually tried XP on a 350MHz PII with 256MB ram...it's nowhere near as bad as the clamshell running Jaguar or my iMac DV SE running Jag.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: deathkoba

Originally posted by: jemow2

Originally posted by: PorBleemo
I'm running Jaguar (10.2) on a 333Mhz G3 and it's super slooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow compared to my XP 3200+ running WinXP Pro with optimizations. I'm not impressed.

-Por

Try running WinXP on a 333Mhz PC and see how slow that would be.

I ran Panther 10.3 on a G3 500Mhz iMac, and it was passable, but definately not zippy.

<---- Not a Mac fanboy...

I've actually tried XP on a 350MHz PII with 256MB ram...it's nowhere near as bad as the clamshell running Jaguar or my iMac DV SE running Jag.

IIRC the 350 was the move to the 100mhz bus. The toiletseat iBook has a 66mhz bus. Big difference IMO.