Confused: System Upgrade on Titanium Powerbook G4

[Mactogo771]

Hi all,

I'm using a Powerbook G4 which is about 6 years old, it's the original one, lovely sturdy with a silver keyboard (girly comment lol). It came with Panther, and i used the system update over time, it's now up to version.10.3.9. I need to upgrade for obvious reasons. Two questions:

1. Would it run better using Tiger 10.4 or Leopard 10.5. If i upgrade to Tiger, does it have to be 10.4 or can it be 10.4.1 etc.. i've read here and there poor reviews about Leopard and some say Tiger is better.

2. Where can i buy either? I can't find the retail version anywhere so frustrating ! though Amazon had Leopard at a whopping $299 !. I'm told Ebay is the place, but how come people sell their CDs when I read somewhere about 'not being able to use a disk that someone else used on their machine? how does that work?.

3. Spec of my G4 is
Mac OS X version 10.3.9
Processor 1.67 GHz Power PC G4
Memory 512 MB DDR SDRAM (i've never added memory to a computer, do i need more ?)

I need to get this sorted for uni asap, thanks for your help with this .

 

[HBeagley]

This machine is very capable to run Mac OS X Tiger, I have a PowerBook G4 12' and Tiger runs fine on a 867MHz G4 and 384MB of RAM, I would not try Leopard on yours as the GPU will not support things like Core Image and Quartz Extreme.

Also you would need a 1GB of RAM in your PowerBook as Well.

If you Post what GPU you have in your Ti PowerBook G4 I might be able to tell you my PowerBook G4 12" supports Quartz Extreme, but not Core Image so I'm not so sure if Leopard will work.

Best bet is to obtain a retail copy of Mac OS X Tiger and use that until Apple stop updates for it than consider making the leap into Mac OS X Leopard.

Yours Truly

HBeagley

 

[jglavin]

Looks like you can upgrade your memory to 2 GB for about $70 - I would do that and put Leopard on. The latest applications are more likely to run on Leopard than Tiger... As for where to get the disc I don't know but have you tried calling Apple? They might be able to cut you a deal on either one, you never know... Or perhaps just send it to you? I always feel its best to ask just in case.

And on the version... whichever you install be sure to run system update and get it to the latest version.. for Tiger I think its something like 10.4.11 and for leopard it is... 10.5.8 maybe? This is always free for any version of the OS.

 

[ingenious]

With a RAM upgrade, Leopard would run fine. I mean, sure, Tiger might be faster, but Leopard is compatible with like 98% of current Mac software, and Tiger isn't.

 

[GreatDrok]

Definitely add more memory and install Leopard. I have an iBook of similar vintage with a much slower CPU (933Mhz) and only 640MB of RAM which originally came with Panther and it runs Leopard quite nicely. I don't think it is any slower than it was running Tiger and there are a few extras in Leopard which are nice to have.

 

[mrchinchilla]

+1 on upgrading RAM and installing Leopard. Besides I've received word that 10.5.9 might be on the cards.

 

[rjphoto]

I've been running Leopard on an 867 Mhz 12" PowerBook with 1.25Gb of ram with no major* problems other than speed issues.

(* PhotoShop 7 is not compatible with 10.5. Creative Suite 3&4 are not compatible with PowerPC from what I understand.)

 

[eRondeau]

+1 for Tiger. I recently downgraded my 1GHz iBook G4 and my friend's 1.42GHz iBook G4 from Leopard to Tiger. Leopard was bogging them down on the simplest tasks -- granted, another gig of RAM would have helped, but the vast majority of popular applications work perfectly well under 10.4.11, or at least have versions available for it. The iBooks were no longer "fun" to use under Leopard; downgrading to Tiger made them feel like new again. YMMV.

 

[BertyBoy]

+1 for Tiger, if you need to upgrade at all. More RAM is probably the best upgrade, even if you don't upgrade the OS.

Leopard has just too many background tasks - Tiger has some too - that really slows down everything. Multiple CPUs help immensely with this.
I have the 17" version of your PBG4. I still have Leopard installed on a 20GB partition, just because I've paid for it (and I don't want it on my MDD, and it came with my Mac Pro). I only use it when I really need to, otherwise it stays in Panther, same as the MDD.

I also bought Tiger, it's on the MDD and the PBG4, but I never use it.

You'll also find that software that requires Leopard usually requires an Intel processor, or a high-end G5.

So, upgrade your RAM first and re-evaluate if you need a new OS.

Incidentally, your PBG4 is an Aluminium PowerBook G4 (with the ports on the side of the case, right?). The Titanium PowerBook G4's (I had the original 500MHz version too) had all the ports on the back, and topped out at a 1GHz G4.