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Still possible to use iMac G3 as daily machine?

Appleuser201

Appleuser201

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Oct 12, 2018
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dbdjre0143 said:
Just depends on the G4. I have no problem using normal internet tasks on my 1.67 GHz G4 Powerbook (posting from it now while also burning a CD ;)), but it was a bit painful on my 1GHz iBook I used to have as my main Mac before this.
That said, I was using Tiger on the iBook, so I don't know how Leopard Webkit would've performed, and I also wasn't using uMatrix in TFF back then, so I don't know how much better it would be with either of those options.
Click to expand...
TFF is bloody slow, L webkit is the way to go
 
dbdjre0143

dbdjre0143

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Nov 11, 2017
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Appleuser201 said:
TFF is bloody slow, L webkit is the way to go
Click to expand...
Eh, once again it depends. No doubt, Leopard Webkit is notably quicker, but I also find it to be a lot less stable. On really heavy pages, sometimes it will randomly crash, and when it does, I cannot use it again without restarting my Mac.
On the other hand, with turning off extraneous scripts in uMatrix, TFF picks up speed, and while not as quick as LWK, it is much more stable, more secure, and more standards compliant.
I find that in PPC, I use a complement of browsers for various tasks moreso than just one browser for everything. (In addition to LWK and TFF, I use TenFiveTube regularly for watching Youtube).
 
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laylow

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Dec 17, 2018
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I only use TFF when something won't load in webkit or shiira. Cause yeah..it's slow.
 
Appleuser201

Appleuser201

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Original poster
Oct 12, 2018
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dbdjre0143 said:
Eh, once again it depends. No doubt, Leopard Webkit is notably quicker, but I also find it to be a lot less stable. On really heavy pages, sometimes it will randomly crash, and when it does, I cannot use it again without restarting my Mac.
On the other hand, with turning off extraneous scripts in uMatrix, TFF picks up speed, and while not as quick as LWK, it is much more stable, more secure, and more standards compliant.
I find that in PPC, I use a complement of browsers for various tasks moreso than just one browser for everything. (In addition to LWK and TFF, I use TenFiveTube regularly for watching Youtube).
Click to expand...
I don’t own a g5 Mac but from videos I’ve seen, tenfourfox takes 10 seconds to load youtube while WebKit or any other browser is much quicker. Is it still possible to use the default safari on one of those things?
 
dbdjre0143

dbdjre0143

macrumors 6502
Nov 11, 2017
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Appleuser201 said:
I don’t own a g5 Mac but from videos I’ve seen, tenfourfox takes 10 seconds to load youtube while WebKit or any other browser is much quicker. Is it still possible to use the default safari on one of those things?
Click to expand...
Agreed with @z970mp. Leopard-Webkit offers all the speed of Safari, with most of the compatibility of TFF (but not all). The only thing keeping me from using LWK as my default all the time is stability. Any time I get a couple of JS-intensive tabs open, about 25% of the time, it will just "quit unexpectedly" and I can't use any Webkit-browser again until I restart.

TFF also (while never as quick as LWK), isn't nearly as slow once you apply some of the tweaks from @eyoungren's thread. I don't have all the tweaks in my setup, but the biggie is blocking out some unnecessary scripts with uMatrix.

Edit: For the record, @Appleuser201 I also don't have a working G5, but I main a G4, so I'm sure a G5 would be even better. ;)
 
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z970

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Jun 2, 2017
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dbdjre0143 said:
Agreed with @z970mp. Leopard-Webkit offers all the speed of Safari, with most of the compatibility of TFF (but not all). The only thing keeping me from using LWK as my default all the time is stability. Any time I get a couple of JS-intensive tabs open, about 25% of the time, it will just "quit unexpectedly" and I can't use any Webkit-browser again until I restart.
Click to expand...

It will refuse to load any website after you open it again right?

After it crashes, you need to open it again (which is what you've been doing), quit the application, then open it a second time, and it should start functioning once more.

Works for me.
 
dbdjre0143

dbdjre0143

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Nov 11, 2017
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z970mp said:
It will refuse to load any website after you open it again right?

After it crashes, you need to open it again (which is what you've been doing), *quit the application*, _then open it a second time_, and it should start functioning once more.

Works for me.
Click to expand...
Yep, that's the behavior. Thanks for the tip! Will definitely give that a try next time it happens.
 
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z970

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timidpimpin said:
I would say you need at least a G4 for daily use in 2019. Preferably something that's around 1GHz or higher.
Click to expand...

Plus an installed mSATA,

And lots of moxy. Lots and lots of moxy.

(I find them to be cheaper than regular SATA SSDs + adapters on a $ = GB basis. As far as desktops go however, just make sure to get them with 3.5" adapters that have the JM20-something chipset. 2.5" IDE pins are not equal in size to 3.5" IDE pins.)
 
dbdjre0143

dbdjre0143

macrumors 6502
Nov 11, 2017
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382
West Virginia
z970mp said:
And lots of moxy. Lots and lots of moxy.
Click to expand...
Definitely some truth in this. I have no trouble at all using my 1.67 GHz G4 with 2 GB of RAM and an SSD for anything I want, but using that machine is night and day compared to the 1 GHz iBook it replaced.
I know many folks on this forum regularly use much lower spec'ed machines than the iBook I have but I would have a very hard time going back to it for daily usage. Its now my server though, and it does that job admirably well. :)
 
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z970

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Jun 2, 2017
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Dronecatcher said:
Sometimes........it feels like I'm the only user on this forum who doesn't have a SSD in any machine :D
Click to expand...

Hey, when you're relying on a G4 day to day, you need all the help you can get.

Up until very recently, I only used regular spinners in my G5. For a while, I also only had a spinner in my PowerBook.

But when you put a solid-state in both of them, you can really feel the difference.
[doublepost=1550607408][/doublepost]
pochopsp said:
Another one here! Never bought a SSD in my life!
Click to expand...

I'm very new to the party myself, but I believe you're missing out.
 
Z

z970

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Jun 2, 2017
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Dronecatcher said:
Two of my Powerbooks have 7200RPM drives so I suspect I wouldn't feel that much of a difference, however, if any drive fails I will probably go SSD.
Click to expand...

Now, that's a different story. 7200 drives aren't painful to use like 5400 and 4200 drives are. They still aren't as good as a solid state drive, but they will certainly get the job done.
 
Dronecatcher

Dronecatcher

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Jun 17, 2014
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timidpimpin said:
I would say you need at least a G4 for daily use in 2019. Preferably something that's around 1GHz or higher.
Click to expand...

I'd agree there and yet my 800Mhz Tibook seems to bend the rules ;)

Picture 2.jpg
 
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z970

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Dronecatcher said:
I'd agree there and yet my 800Mhz Tibook seems to bend the rules ;)

View attachment 822621
Click to expand...

That's the awesome power of the L3 cache. There's a reason why the MDD is for the most part still able to hold its own.

I wonder what would have happened if the G5s had an L3 cache, no matter what they say about them "not needing it". The aluminum PowerBook G4s certainly could have used it.

Fast = good. All machines need fast. :)
 
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mzs.112000

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Apr 22, 2015
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timidpimpin said:
It's 20% lower in clock speed, not 25%. 200 is 20% of 1000.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I think I typed 25% because I was working on something else on my phone...
[doublepost=1550634183][/doublepost]
captainfamicom said:
Using a HYPER optimized 800 mHz G3 works great as my secondary machine, so much so that I'm keeping my PowerBook disassembled for just a little longer ;).
Click to expand...

800MHz G3? For real? What do you use it for?
I can't see it working for internet anymore...
 
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