More reasons:
You're in college desperate for a computer and you hate chrome.
You want to try Mac without investing much.
You're a masochist who makes YouTube videos and wanted to have some fun. (Guess who that one is)
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Is PowerPC Obsolete in 2016?
- Thread starter Adamscomputerrepair
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More reasons:
You're in college desperate for a computer and you hate chrome.
You want to try Mac without investing much.
You're a masochist who makes YouTube videos and wanted to have some fun. (Guess who that one is)
Early IntelMac have gone so cheap that there is no point/savings in going PPC.
Evenmore considering that they will atleast run the Leopard-bugfix-and-done-properly release AKA Snow Leopard.
The only reason I'd say vintage hardware is because video back then wasn't compressed so you could direct feed your DV cam in. With iPhone (or any modern) video you have to uncompress it first - a real bottleneck.
Keep up with the videos, as they will be a good guide for the uninitiated, however an idea for a companion video might be how to tackle each requirement in different ways. For example, TTF is the most compatible web browser but it's not the fastest and there are better ways to play Youtube.
Also the greatest bar to web browsing is Javascript but selectively turning it off can work.
Same with video playback, VLC is a great all round but Coreplayer beats it mostly, mplayer is great and XBMC is close behind Coreplayer for certain files.
Id love to try XBMC. Too bad it crashes on startup. And what better ways to play YouTube videos? Help me help me lol.
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The old Intel Mac's (at least as far as laptops go) are still crap. Why? Because you either have the MacBook Pro which is the PowerBook G4, but will still run you $200 because no one cares if it's obsolete, it has the name pro. That, or you have the MacBook, which is about as good as a plastic easy bake oven. Trust me, I have a 2009 model. Well, an 09 in an 08's body. I can warm my coffee on the keyboard while I watch YouTube videos.
I do fairly well with my 2006 17" MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard.
I'm sure. But keep in mind I bought my PowerBook for $80. I bought an eMac for $50. I was given an iMac G4. No one values PPC anymore which makes them valuable
Since when has an older "Macbook Pro" been a Powermac G4? I have an early '08 MBP that cost me $140 and still ticks along running El Capitan doing everything I ask it to do(and that includes some work in Photoshop and Lightroom).
My mid-09 MB is an equally capable computer that I used as my main system for a little while while my mid-2011 MBP had an extended stay at the Apple store. Once again, it's now running El Capitan and does so beautifully.
Let's also not forget the Mac Pro 1,1s that several of us on this forum have. Mine is my main computer at work(fortunately I can use a personally owned computer). It just keeps going and going. I suspect that 1,1s are going to go down in history as the longest lived computers Apple has made since-AFAIK-Thunderbolt is the only thing someone hasn't figured out how to add to one.
I didn't say they weren't good, I'm saying they aren't cheap. I bought an 08 MacBook for $160. Upgraded the logic board to an 09 for another $50. Total investment, $210. My 2009 iMac ran me another $130. I'm buying a Mac Pro 2,1 in a few weeks for $200. They aren't cheap. PowerPC's are a little cheaper.
The base purchase price on my Mac Pro was less than what I paid for my Quad. I think the 1,1 was around $100 and I paid more like $125 or $150 for the Quad.
Granted I now have about $500 in the MP after installing an SSD, upgrading the RAM, CPUs, and video card but all it needed out of the box was a hard drive.
I think I just said this somewhere, but I paid $80 for my PowerBook, $50 for an eMac and was given an iMac G4. Given I have to spend another $13 for upgraded ram
I bought my MBP for $180 last year. It's equivalent to the going prices for the PowerPC Macs I bought in 2009-2010.
I paid $100 or so for my 17" PowerBook G4 last year as well. Normally, I operate in the $60 or less range for PowerPC Macs, but this one was in perfect condition and I wanted to replace a long line of broken and replacement parts for the same model I got in late 2009 for a then price of $158.
No one wanting the latest and greatest values these older Macs is how I would reword your statement. Those of us here know what we have though.
Macs are like anything else. Everyone wants the newer model and last year's model gets discounted. Doesn't make it obsolete or worthless or render it incapable.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/integrate-coreplayer-with-tenfourfox.1970281/
http://ppcluddite.blogspot.co.uk/2016/06/new-ppc-media-center-version-6.html
There's also Youtube extensions for TFF, Safari ClickToPlugin, Greasmonkey/Viewtube for Safari, forcing a mobile device user agent to playback Youtube as .3gp (if available).
[doublepost=1465575880][/doublepost]Regarding prices, when I considered an Intel Mac last year, a decent early Macbook was £200, a 1st Gen Mac Pro £220 - in the end I bought a Quad and the 3 top Powerbooks in each size and still had change left from £150!
It's down to luck and the state of play we're you're located - but thus far, I've found Intel prices far above PPC.
My 2 cents on the topic.
Are Powerpc's obsolete in 2016 ? Absolutely not.
A short history, came from NEC V20 , 8086 up to 80386DX desktop until my friend gave me a Pentium II-MMX in 2000 and told me explicitly to stop using DOS and install Windows.
In 2009 I bought my first smartphone an Iphone 4 because I felt that it had all items I wanted on the road, browsing, music player, GPS, calendar , phonebook which I could take with me all in one device.
At the same time I started to follow my CCNA Exploration course and needed a laptop , thus I bought a pristine 2007 Blackbook running Snow Leopard from a friend because I knew it was like new.
Went through all kind of Intel iterations until I ended with a Macbook Air 11inch Broadwell , a maxed out Mac Mini server model with a 27" Thunderbolt display in 2014.
Bought a iBook G4 just for the fun of fiddling with it and loved OS X Leopard which I never had used because it reminded me off Snow Leopard and was quite amazed how far ahead OS X was in those days compared to Windowz.
Went through painfull OS X upgrades, up to 10.11 which I feel becomes less and less what I want from OS in functionality and looks.
Saw the 12" Macbook arrive and sold my 11" Macbook Air a few days later for a Powerbook G4 12" , as a result of my disappointment in the price ranges of the Intel Macs and bizarre features .
Replaced the Mac Mini with a 2012 Maxed Out Retina Macbook Pro since I needed the RAM to run several virtual machines at the same moment and a bigger and faster SSD. This has now become my main workhorse which I mostly use because it is coupled to the Thunderbolt Display.
Upgraded the Powerbook G4 12" with a Newertech Battery and an IDE SSD which gives me 5 working hours of runtime and a cool and silent machine except when I'm pushing it whilst running a Virtual Machine and maxing out the RAM usage.
Messing around with OS X 10.5.8 , FreeBSD 10.3, Debian 8, Ubuntu Mate 16.04 LTS, OpenBSD 5.8 brings back my console and UNIX love that I've had every since college.
Bought a Powerbook G4 15" just because I found it in pristine condition for 100 EUR here locally.
I use my Powerbook G4 12" the most out of the 3 machines I own now, and I feel I'm really getting back for the buck.
Would I recommend a PowerPC to an computer noob ? No, you need to tinker and really love debugging, looking for stuff to keep it running.
Would I give a PowerPC to a family member ? Yes, since I'll end up installing and maintaining it anyway
Can it be used in 2016 ? Absolutely, just last week I had to verify if I could logon to the company VPN and couldn't get it working on the MBP Retina because I refuse to install Java.
Just for fun , I installed an older Citrix ICA client, discovered the Allow Java button in Webkit and tadaah VPN + Citrix Desktop from work were running 2016 style on a 2006 Powerbook G4 12", doesn't blink and runs even smoother than the HP Elitebook , 4GB , i5 ,Win 7 32 bit crap I have to use at work.
My colleague running 10.11 on his MBP Retina who did install Java discovered that he has to use Firefox now because Safari no longer works with the company Juniper VPN since upgrading to El Capitan, had him debugging his logon issues on my Powerbook G4 . LOL
Are Powerpc's obsolete in 2016 ? Absolutely not.
A short history, came from NEC V20 , 8086 up to 80386DX desktop until my friend gave me a Pentium II-MMX in 2000 and told me explicitly to stop using DOS and install Windows.
In 2009 I bought my first smartphone an Iphone 4 because I felt that it had all items I wanted on the road, browsing, music player, GPS, calendar , phonebook which I could take with me all in one device.
At the same time I started to follow my CCNA Exploration course and needed a laptop , thus I bought a pristine 2007 Blackbook running Snow Leopard from a friend because I knew it was like new.
Went through all kind of Intel iterations until I ended with a Macbook Air 11inch Broadwell , a maxed out Mac Mini server model with a 27" Thunderbolt display in 2014.
Bought a iBook G4 just for the fun of fiddling with it and loved OS X Leopard which I never had used because it reminded me off Snow Leopard and was quite amazed how far ahead OS X was in those days compared to Windowz.
Went through painfull OS X upgrades, up to 10.11 which I feel becomes less and less what I want from OS in functionality and looks.
Saw the 12" Macbook arrive and sold my 11" Macbook Air a few days later for a Powerbook G4 12" , as a result of my disappointment in the price ranges of the Intel Macs and bizarre features .
Replaced the Mac Mini with a 2012 Maxed Out Retina Macbook Pro since I needed the RAM to run several virtual machines at the same moment and a bigger and faster SSD. This has now become my main workhorse which I mostly use because it is coupled to the Thunderbolt Display.
Upgraded the Powerbook G4 12" with a Newertech Battery and an IDE SSD which gives me 5 working hours of runtime and a cool and silent machine except when I'm pushing it whilst running a Virtual Machine and maxing out the RAM usage.
Messing around with OS X 10.5.8 , FreeBSD 10.3, Debian 8, Ubuntu Mate 16.04 LTS, OpenBSD 5.8 brings back my console and UNIX love that I've had every since college.
Bought a Powerbook G4 15" just because I found it in pristine condition for 100 EUR here locally.
I use my Powerbook G4 12" the most out of the 3 machines I own now, and I feel I'm really getting back for the buck.
Would I recommend a PowerPC to an computer noob ? No, you need to tinker and really love debugging, looking for stuff to keep it running.
Would I give a PowerPC to a family member ? Yes, since I'll end up installing and maintaining it anyway
Can it be used in 2016 ? Absolutely, just last week I had to verify if I could logon to the company VPN and couldn't get it working on the MBP Retina because I refuse to install Java.
Just for fun , I installed an older Citrix ICA client, discovered the Allow Java button in Webkit and tadaah VPN + Citrix Desktop from work were running 2016 style on a 2006 Powerbook G4 12", doesn't blink and runs even smoother than the HP Elitebook , 4GB , i5 ,Win 7 32 bit crap I have to use at work.
My colleague running 10.11 on his MBP Retina who did install Java discovered that he has to use Firefox now because Safari no longer works with the company Juniper VPN since upgrading to El Capitan, had him debugging his logon issues on my Powerbook G4 . LOL
My 2 cents on the topic.
Are Powerpc's obsolete in 2016 ? Absolutely not.
A short history, came from NEC V20 , 8086 up to 80386DX desktop until my friend gave me a Pentium II-MMX in 2000 and told me explicitly to stop using DOS and install Windows.
In 2009 I bought my first smartphone an Iphone 4 because I felt that it had all items I wanted on the road, browsing, music player, GPS, calendar , phonebook which I could take with me all in one device.
At the same time I started to follow my CCNA Exploration course and needed a laptop , thus I bought a pristine 2007 Blackbook running Snow Leopard from a friend because I knew it was like new.
Went through all kind of Intel iterations until I ended with a Macbook Air 11inch Broadwell , a maxed out Mac Mini server model with a 27" Thunderbolt display in 2014.
Bought a iBook G4 just for the fun of fiddling with it and loved OS X Leopard which I never had used because it reminded me off Snow Leopard and was quite amazed how far ahead OS X was in those days compared to Windowz.
Went through painfull OS X upgrades, up to 10.11 which I feel becomes less and less what I want from OS in functionality and looks.
Saw the 12" Macbook arrive and sold my 11" Macbook Air a few days later for a Powerbook G4 12" , as a result of my disappointment in the price ranges of the Intel Macs and bizarre features .
Replaced the Mac Mini with a 2012 Maxed Out Retina Macbook Pro since I needed the RAM to run several virtual machines at the same moment and a bigger and faster SSD. This has now become my main workhorse which I mostly use because it is coupled to the Thunderbolt Display.
Upgraded the Powerbook G4 12" with a Newertech Battery and an IDE SSD which gives me 5 working hours of runtime and a cool and silent machine except when I'm pushing it whilst running a Virtual Machine and maxing out the RAM usage.
Messing around with OS X 10.5.8 , FreeBSD 10.3, Debian 8, Ubuntu Mate 16.04 LTS, OpenBSD 5.8 brings back my console and UNIX love that I've had every since college.
Bought a Powerbook G4 15" just because I found it in pristine condition for 100 EUR here locally.
I use my Powerbook G4 12" the most out of the 3 machines I own now, and I feel I'm really getting back for the buck.
Would I recommend a PowerPC to an computer noob ? No, you need to tinker and really love debugging, looking for stuff to keep it running.
Would I give a PowerPC to a family member ? Yes, since I'll end up installing and maintaining it anyway
Can it be used in 2016 ? Absolutely, just last week I had to verify if I could logon to the company VPN and couldn't get it working on the MBP Retina because I refuse to install Java.
Just for fun , I installed an older Citrix ICA client, discovered the Allow Java button in Webkit and tadaah VPN + Citrix Desktop from work were running 2016 style on a 2006 Powerbook G4 12", doesn't blink and runs even smoother than the HP Elitebook , 4GB , i5 ,Win 7 32 bit crap I have to use at work.
My colleague running 10.11 on his MBP Retina who did install Java discovered that he has to use Firefox now because Safari no longer works with the company Juniper VPN since upgrading to El Capitan, had him debugging his logon issues on my Powerbook G4 . LOL
This is the best answer I've heard all day. Thank you.
Those Elitebooks have nice hardware. The i5 2520Ms aren't terrible, something OS X could enjoyMy 2 cents on the topic.
Are Powerpc's obsolete in 2016 ? Absolutely not.
A short history, came from NEC V20 , 8086 up to 80386DX desktop until my friend gave me a Pentium II-MMX in 2000 and told me explicitly to stop using DOS and install Windows.
In 2009 I bought my first smartphone an Iphone 4 because I felt that it had all items I wanted on the road, browsing, music player, GPS, calendar , phonebook which I could take with me all in one device.
At the same time I started to follow my CCNA Exploration course and needed a laptop , thus I bought a pristine 2007 Blackbook running Snow Leopard from a friend because I knew it was like new.
Went through all kind of Intel iterations until I ended with a Macbook Air 11inch Broadwell , a maxed out Mac Mini server model with a 27" Thunderbolt display in 2014.
Bought a iBook G4 just for the fun of fiddling with it and loved OS X Leopard which I never had used because it reminded me off Snow Leopard and was quite amazed how far ahead OS X was in those days compared to Windowz.
Went through painfull OS X upgrades, up to 10.11 which I feel becomes less and less what I want from OS in functionality and looks.
Saw the 12" Macbook arrive and sold my 11" Macbook Air a few days later for a Powerbook G4 12" , as a result of my disappointment in the price ranges of the Intel Macs and bizarre features .
Replaced the Mac Mini with a 2012 Maxed Out Retina Macbook Pro since I needed the RAM to run several virtual machines at the same moment and a bigger and faster SSD. This has now become my main workhorse which I mostly use because it is coupled to the Thunderbolt Display.
Upgraded the Powerbook G4 12" with a Newertech Battery and an IDE SSD which gives me 5 working hours of runtime and a cool and silent machine except when I'm pushing it whilst running a Virtual Machine and maxing out the RAM usage.
Messing around with OS X 10.5.8 , FreeBSD 10.3, Debian 8, Ubuntu Mate 16.04 LTS, OpenBSD 5.8 brings back my console and UNIX love that I've had every since college.
Bought a Powerbook G4 15" just because I found it in pristine condition for 100 EUR here locally.
I use my Powerbook G4 12" the most out of the 3 machines I own now, and I feel I'm really getting back for the buck.
Would I recommend a PowerPC to an computer noob ? No, you need to tinker and really love debugging, looking for stuff to keep it running.
Would I give a PowerPC to a family member ? Yes, since I'll end up installing and maintaining it anyway
Can it be used in 2016 ? Absolutely, just last week I had to verify if I could logon to the company VPN and couldn't get it working on the MBP Retina because I refuse to install Java.
Just for fun , I installed an older Citrix ICA client, discovered the Allow Java button in Webkit and tadaah VPN + Citrix Desktop from work were running 2016 style on a 2006 Powerbook G4 12", doesn't blink and runs even smoother than the HP Elitebook , 4GB , i5 ,Win 7 32 bit crap I have to use at work.
My colleague running 10.11 on his MBP Retina who did install Java discovered that he has to use Firefox now because Safari no longer works with the company Juniper VPN since upgrading to El Capitan, had him debugging his logon issues on my Powerbook G4 . LOL
Those Elitebooks have nice hardware. The i5 2520Ms aren't terrible, something OS X could enjoy
Are you suggesting that dreaded illegal thing called Hackintosh?
If Apple would allow people to use OS X on ANY computer than, they would make more money, right now they probably lose more money trying to stop people from using it without Apple branded hardware, than they lose from people actually using it on non-Apple hardware.
A lot of hackintosh people would people would PAY Apple if they would allow their software to be used legally on any machine. Even if the software is free for Mac/MacBook users, non-Mac/MacBook hackintoshers would gladly pay $9.99 to be able to use it on any hardware.
Well...yeah... Ive made a couple. Worth their time, if you have something decent.
I'm busting chops man. I used an ASUS Vivobook Hackintosh as my main Computer until Christmas Eve 2015. That is when I slipped and dropped my laptop some 25 feet down a flight of stairs. It was like a horror movie. I screamed a little louder as it crunched down every step.
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I'd pay $20. I DID pay $20 for a copy of Mountain Lion.
I put an SSD in my iMac G4 and it was a bit snappy for a time, eventually I took it out though since I figured all the other bottlenecks (processor, bus, ram, etc,) were probably making the SSD overkill. I used an IDE to SATA adapter inside the iMac, eventually I just put a regular laptop SATA drive in there and it works just as well.
I have a hackintosh, it is not a very popular build though, so it has NOTHING BUT PROBLEMS, right now Yosemite just took a royal ****, so it won't boot, my Mountain Lion DVD does not want to start so I can't install that, and my other old PowerBook(which I have yet to replace) also took a ****. This means I am using a normal computer until I get ML to install, then get Yosemite(or El Capitan) to install.
Anyone care to enlighten me as to how the three PPC Macs I'm about to spend $500 each on are "inexpensive"? That's especially true in light of the fact that the same money would buy me a new better-than-base model 13" Retina(which I don't want) or a nice used Mac Pro 4,1(a reasonably current machine).
Granted I have no desire to buy a newer Intel Mac laptop since I already have what I consider to be the best portable Apple has ever made-the mid-2012 15" "Classic" MBP with a high resolution anti-glare display. These are the last and best of the breed for the pre-Retina Unibody form factor-they retain the upgradeability of older models, but don't have the GPU meltdown issues of virtually ever other 15 and 17" MBP and have USB 3. Mine has 16gb of RAM and I fitted a 1TB Samsung Evo a few weeks ago-it absolutely flies.
There is not a comparable display available on an current production portable from Apple. Matte screens were standard on laptops for years, but glossy screens took hold I think mainly for their more vibrant(not necessarily more accurate) color rendition. After using a couple of PC laptops that had screens in the same vein as the Macbooks(i.e. a glossy top surface) and then being wowed by the glass screen of my first MBP, I've now come back to loving the matte finish on my now main MBP. Aside from actually being usable outside or with my back to a window, the color rendition is more accurate to my eye(something I care about for photography)although a bit less vibrant. Of course, I calibrate all my screens, but even setting my freshly calibrate 15" next to my freshly calibrated 13" shows a difference in fidelity. I wish Apple would bring out a retina screen or at least higher resolution screen with this finish. The 17" unibodies were 1920x1200 and could be had either way.
Granted I have no desire to buy a newer Intel Mac laptop since I already have what I consider to be the best portable Apple has ever made-the mid-2012 15" "Classic" MBP with a high resolution anti-glare display. These are the last and best of the breed for the pre-Retina Unibody form factor-they retain the upgradeability of older models, but don't have the GPU meltdown issues of virtually ever other 15 and 17" MBP and have USB 3. Mine has 16gb of RAM and I fitted a 1TB Samsung Evo a few weeks ago-it absolutely flies.
There is not a comparable display available on an current production portable from Apple. Matte screens were standard on laptops for years, but glossy screens took hold I think mainly for their more vibrant(not necessarily more accurate) color rendition. After using a couple of PC laptops that had screens in the same vein as the Macbooks(i.e. a glossy top surface) and then being wowed by the glass screen of my first MBP, I've now come back to loving the matte finish on my now main MBP. Aside from actually being usable outside or with my back to a window, the color rendition is more accurate to my eye(something I care about for photography)although a bit less vibrant. Of course, I calibrate all my screens, but even setting my freshly calibrate 15" next to my freshly calibrated 13" shows a difference in fidelity. I wish Apple would bring out a retina screen or at least higher resolution screen with this finish. The 17" unibodies were 1920x1200 and could be had either way.