Should I upgrade to a newer version of Mac OSX on my Mac Pro (1,1)?

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Hey everyone,

So I recently got a Mac Pro 1,1, w/specs below, and it currently runs 10.6.8 Snow Leopard. Since I am also a big PowerPC guy, I thought it would be very nice to have a current operating system on my new Mac.

I know that it will be beneficial, since current software has started shunning-away Snow Leopard , but I am also aware that I may see a change in performance... I do know that operating systems normally get heavier and heavier, but would I notice a dip in performance on such a machine? Or perhaps would I actually see BETTER performance since newer software accompanies newer software? (for example, Minecraft runs WAY better on my MacBook Pro's Mountain Lion partition than on its SL partition).

*Another thing to note is that I may be getting a 256GB Samsung Evo SSD soon, which can really help with performance.*

In summary, I'd like to know if it's worth-it to upgrade to either Mountain Lion or Mavericks (NOT Yosemite). I understand that those two will be way more up-to-date, but is speed going to be a trade-off or will I be fine all-around with a newer OS? Since I use PPC Macs a lot, it's nice to have the speediest experience possible on this machine. If those two OSs are obviously more compatible, but way slower, I'd like NOT to upgrade to them.

-If anyone here has any of those two OSs on their similar machine, it would be great to hear how it runs-

-Thanks,
MDD

 

[reddrag0n]

I have Yosemite on my Mac Pro 2,1 and it screams. 500 GB 7200 rpm main drive with a 8800GT for vid. It handles everything i throw at it, and it still keeps on going. Sure, it's a quad 2.66 with 5 GB ram, but for an older machine, she is no slouch. I guess, it all depends on what you want to do with your machine. Myself, it's music and photoshop mostly and she purrs like a kitten.

 

[Rayamedia]

Definately worth doing and there are easy to follow guides to set it up. I have a mac pro 1,1 with Yosimite and before with mavericks. Both work well. Web kit apps don't like my pc flashed ati5770 on Yosimite and web pages flicker which never happened before. Switching the card cures it but I have to use it for its power but thats my only issue.

The only thing to watch out for is to make sure you turn off automatic OS updates as an update could break the patch to get yosimite going. You just have to install updates manually and repatch the system.

But its a definate yes. The aging macpro will be like a new machine and if you pop in an ssd it will be a pretty powerful pc despite its age.

 

[reddrag0n]

if you want, here is the steps i did, and yes, i updated with no issues

Mac Pro 2006/2007 OS X mod

They say 10.10.2 might break the boot.plist file. But we will find out in time.

 

[PowerMac G4 MDD]

Definately worth doing and there are easy to follow guides to set it up. I have a mac pro 1,1 with Yosimite and before with mavericks. Both work well. Web kit apps don't like my pc flashed ati5770 on Yosimite and web pages flicker which never happened before. Switching the card cures it but I have to use it for its power but thats my only issue.

The only thing to watch out for is to make sure you turn off automatic OS updates as an update could break the patch to get yosimite going. You just have to install updates manually and repatch the system.

But its a definate yes. The aging macpro will be like a new machine and if you pop in an ssd it will be a pretty powerful pc despite its age.

I think I may go with the latest version of Mavericks. I am wondering if my cards will handle it though; I have my original 7300 card for my second display and a 2600XT for my main display. I'd like to throw some games at it and maybe creative suites (as well as general tasks that anyone would do).

What do you think?


EDIT: Looked at the guide that 'dragon' posted, and it's those little things that seem like they are a pain to do. I'd rather now go into this ATM... I may just stay on Snow Leopard for this machine. I'm going to have a Windows partition anyway for a few Windows-only games that I play, and maybe I can load creative suites on that, if I want to. If not, I found a 2013 version of one of the suites I am looking at, and it's for Snow Leopard.

 

[MacVidCards]

redragon didn't just put Yose on a 1,1

If you boil it down, all you need is a working Yose install from ANY supported Mac (can be done on external USB drive, firewire mode, etc)

Take the working install and replace the boot.efi files. (there are 2)

DONE !!!

It really is that simple, the 2600 will work, the 7300 will show 7Mb of RAM and be a slug, no 3D drivers

I have a 1,1/2,1 running Yose, once you have a supported GPU you quickly forget it isn't a "supported" system, it "Just Works"

 

[reddrag0n]

Actually, mucked with a few files. adding board id's and modding the boot plist file.

But you are right, after installing and running it for awhile, you do forget that Apple said it's not supported.

And PowerMac G4 MDD; as for gaming, with the Geforce 210 i had instaled, i was able to play Starcraft 2 on low settings. With the 8800GT, i play it on high settings.

 

[HyperZboy]

Stick with Mountain Lion or Mavericks at the top end for now until Apple fixes the following bugs...

Bluetooth/iPhone issues, plug in it and goodbye wireless keyboard/mouse... REBOOT!

Wifi issues still (I fixed my wifi issue, but I had to do it manually. Apple's standard installation screws it all up for some people and they can't figure it out despite all my issue reports from the very beginning)

Won't boot to the correct screen if you have multiple displays even with an Apple graphics card.

As a developer account I've tested every version. They cannot fix these problems because they don't care about Mac Pro users unless you have the newest one. :-(

If you need one of the new features, forget it. Most of them aren't compatible with Mac Pros anyway because of the Bluetooth issue.

As Steve Jobs would say, unless you're will to jump through a lot of hoops, Yosemite is still a bag o' hurt. I'm sure all the Fanboys with the most popular Macs will all disagree, but Yosemite is NOT Mac Pro friendly. Sorry.

 

[MacVidCards]

Actually, mucked with a few files. adding board id's and modding the boot plist file.

But you are right, after installing and running it for awhile, you do forget that Apple said it's not supported.

And PowerMac G4 MDD; as for gaming, with the Geforce 210 i had instaled, i was able to play Starcraft 2 on low settings. With the 8800GT, i play it on high settings.

Adding board ids isn't necessary if done as I mentioned, I'm guessing you mean to do the installer?

Do the install in another Mac, switch the 2 @ boot.efi files and more drive to 1,1.... done.

 

[Tucom]

Before installing any newer OS on the Mac, you'll most likely need to upgrade the RAM to at least 8GB's. I'd go with 16 if you can.

 

[reddrag0n]

I have 5 GB in mine, and she purrs just fine

Stick with Mountain Lion or Mavericks at the top end for now until Apple fixes the following bugs...

Bluetooth/iPhone issues, plug in it and goodbye wireless keyboard/mouse... REBOOT!

Wifi issues still (I fixed my wifi issue, but I had to do it manually. Apple's standard installation screws it all up for some people and they can't figure it out despite all my issue reports from the very beginning)

Won't boot to the correct screen if you have multiple displays even with an Apple graphics card.

As a developer account I've tested every version. They cannot fix these problems because they don't care about Mac Pro users unless you have the newest one. :-(

If you need one of the new features, forget it. Most of them aren't compatible with Mac Pros anyway because of the Bluetooth issue.

As Steve Jobs would say, unless you're will to jump through a lot of hoops, Yosemite is still a bag o' hurt. I'm sure all the Fanboys with the most popular Macs will all disagree, but Yosemite is NOT Mac Pro friendly. Sorry.

I have had no issues of what you explained. My wireless is an airport extreme n from 2006 and it connected just fine, no dropouts nothing.
The wrong screen doesn't happen for me, maybe because i have monitor 1 on one dvi and the other on the dvi 2, so when i log in, the login and main desktop screen is on the same monitor, my left monitor.
As for handoff and airdrop support, i don't use those features since i have nothing in my house that requires any of that. and i only use my iphone for texting mostly.