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phihungnz · Aug 1, 2006, 10:42 AM

Hi all,

Finally, I have decided to buy a Powerbook G4 eventhough I don't know anything about Mac (apart from turning it on and click around)

I'm a windows user.

the reason I bought this laptop is I can't resist its beauty.

I was wondering if I could run Windows XP on this machine, or any tricks that can allow me to work on Win XP & Mac.

Here are my laptop details:

Powerbook G4 , 17 inches LCD
Mac OS 10.4.3
Processor 1.67 Ghz Power PC G4
Memory 512 MB DDR SDRAM

Many Thanks in advance, I really appreciate your help,

Phi

macboy · Aug 1, 2006, 11:13 AM

Welcome to MacNN. This questions been answered a lot of times before, but here goes.

Powerbooks dont have the Intel processor so they cant run Windows natively. There is an option to buy a software called VirtualPC which will let you load WindowsXP on your Powerbook, but the performence is really really horrbile. Usable for basic things like Word and browsing, but dont expect to play games on VPC.

If you really needed to run Windows and Mac OSX both, you should have got yourself a Macbook Pro which comes with Intel chips that let you dual boot XP and OSX

Either way, while now you've bought a Powerbook, which in itself is a great machine - why dont you try use OSX. Its not hard to learn and it'll do everything that Windows does and more.

Hope this helps.

ibook_steve · Aug 1, 2006, 11:15 AM

You can only use Virtual PC or something open source like WINE. VPC from Micro$oft will run decently on that machine but it won't run anywhere close to the performance of Boot Camp or Parallels on an Intel Macbook Pro. Are you buying this new or used? You definitely want more than 512 MB in there.

Steve

Googer-Giger · Aug 1, 2006, 09:10 PM

When you purchase vpc, don't expect to play any games, I used to run vpc on my 12" book, it registered the processor in windows as a 200mhz pentium 2. However, I was using vpc 4, there are later versions that are faster and more reliable, so check out the back of the box.

Javizun · Aug 2, 2006, 12:25 AM

aww man while i agree with you regardng its beauty-i would have went with the future now.
power pc eventually will fade away. Apple is really pushing their new hardware and intels so i dont see any future on a powerbook. You might want to try paralells it should be a unibin. Virtual pc is a snail i coulndt deal with it. Good luck with your powerbook and enjoy your visit to macworld

ghporter · Aug 2, 2006, 06:39 AM

All discussion of non Mac OSs on Mac hardware go in the Alternative OS forum. And the posts so far are on target-VPC will work, but it's slow and not as capable as you might like. For about the same cost as a copy of VPC with XP, you can get a decent low-end PC that WILL run games and not be as frustratingly slow as VPC is.

phihungnz · Aug 2, 2006, 10:08 AM

wow....many thanks all for your prompt replies, it's fantastic to be here.

so, option 1 is to buy a software called Virtual PC, but the downside is the slow performance.

I'd like the second option which is to sell this one and upgrade to Powerbook Pro? wow, that would be fantastic if a Mac Laptop can use both Windows XP and OSX.

Don't get me wrong, I love OSX, it looks so cool and I'm sure it does many things ( as soon as I learn about it) . But the thing is, the company where I work for use Windows XP, Office everywhere.

Has anyone experienced XP in a Powerbook Pro laptop?

I'll start doing some researches now for Powerbook Pro, need to investigate on the XP thing.

Thanks so much all,
Cheers!
Phi

jriveractu · Aug 2, 2006, 10:22 AM

actually, it's the MacBook Pro. Apple dropped the iBook, Powerbook and Power Mac (soon) names to symbolize the drop of PowerPC processors and the start of the Intel ones .

I've seen XP running on Parallels software on a MacBook Pro and it's fantastic, runs even better than any PC.

James L · Aug 2, 2006, 10:24 AM

Originally Posted by phihungnz

Don't get me wrong, I love OSX, it looks so cool and I'm sure it does many things ( as soon as I learn about it) . But the thing is, the company where I work for use Windows XP, Office everywhere.

Office files are platform independent... meaning that if you create a Word document in Microsft office on your mac, and email it to a coworker at work, they can open it in their Microsoft office on their PC.

If Office is the only reason you want XP on your mac, then just buy Office for Mac and rest assured it works fine.

Interesting tidbit of useless information... Office came out FIRST on the Mac, BEFORE it came out on Windows. Office on the Mac is often 1 version ahead of Office on the PC.

Having said all that... if you are interested in an Intel Mac machine, it is called the MacBook Pro.

Cheers,

James L

phihungnz · Aug 2, 2006, 11:50 AM

Hi jriveratu & James,

Thanks heaps for your info,

Yep, I'm getting a MacBook Pro, urgently, I just can't wait to see it.

After a few researches on the Net, it took me back to .....APPLE website...lol...., Apple introduced something called Boot Camp Beta Version or something like that, to allow me using both OSX & XP.

I'll come back and let you know if I can make it ( or crash it ...

.)

Cheers,
Phi

Macola · Aug 2, 2006, 12:32 PM

Originally Posted by phihungnz

Hi jriveratu & James,

Thanks heaps for your info,

Yep, I'm getting a MacBook Pro, urgently, I just can't wait to see it.

After a few researches on the Net, it took me back to .....APPLE website...lol...., Apple introduced something called Boot Camp Beta Version or something like that, to allow me using both OSX & XP.

I'll come back and let you know if I can make it ( or crash it ...

.)

Cheers,
Phi

So that you don't hose your brand new Mac, just check the forum here...there are a bazillion™ other posts about this.

jriveractu · Aug 2, 2006, 01:56 PM

good luck phihungnz

. while you're out there reading through forums, check out the different alternatives to using windows . while apple did release boot camp, there are other great alternatives available (like parallels) . happy hunting

Chuckit · Aug 2, 2006, 03:32 PM

Apple actually recommends Parallels over Boot Camp, it seems.

ghporter · Aug 2, 2006, 09:46 PM

Apple apparently has a business arrangement with the Parallels folks. Parallels is not perfect by a long way-it seems to still only handle USB 1.1, for example (a serious limitation). Boot Camp, on the other hand, simply manages booting (Intel Macs use a very different boot mechanism from PCs) and providing you with a partition to install Windows on, allowing you to run Windows natively-a significant improvement in my mind.

phihungnz · Aug 8, 2006, 11:39 AM

Hi all,

I'm back with my new Macbook, the one with 13.3 inches.

I have managed to use Boot Camp to install Win XP on it, oh my, it's really fast!!! it's fantastic!!!

Just two things that I'm not happy, there is no print screen button on Mac Keyboard, unfortunately, I use this button a lot.

the second thing is my hard drive capacity is 50 GB, so Boot Camp only let me have 30 GB maximum on Windows Paritition, the rest 20 GB will remain on Tiger X.

Can I ask you guys a question?

Is there a way if I want to use all 50 GB for Windows? because I think 30 GB is not enough for me.

Thanks so much all!
Phi

imitchellg5 · Aug 8, 2006, 06:31 PM

You have to have at least 5 gigs extra plus Windows.

Apfhex · Aug 8, 2006, 07:06 PM

Originally Posted by phihungnz

Just two things that I'm not happy, there is no print screen button on Mac Keyboard, unfortunately, I use this button a lot.

the second thing is my hard drive capacity is 50 GB, so Boot Camp only let me have 30 GB maximum on Windows Paritition, the rest 20 GB will remain on Tiger X. Is there a way if I want to use all 50 GB for Windows? because I think 30 GB is not enough for me.

1. Use Command-Shift-3, if you're in OS X.

2. Well, do you want to use OS X on your MacBook or just Windows?! Both OS's need some space to "breathe" (virtual memory, temp files, etc). I suppose it might be possible, once you've burned your drivers CD with Boot Camp, to just format the entire drive as one Windows partition, I'm not sure, but why get a Mac in that case...

krish · Oct 21, 2007, 11:29 AM

hey!
i have a powerbook G4...as i am a new user to apple....i just wanted to know what things i could do with it...ie shortcuts...effects...whatever! this is its spec: version 10.2.8 memory (ram) 512 and processor:500Mhz powerpc G4...is this a good spec? and if i wanted to install new ram where is the cheapest place i could buy 1....i dont knw what is the maximum i could have in this laptop but do you think 1 gb in total would be enough?what is the maximum? and how could i run xp on this machine? and i would also like to run adobe photoshop csx3 is this wise? thanks! and if anyone has a laptop like this please get in touch! ciao!

goMac · Oct 21, 2007, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by krish

hey!
i have a powerbook G4...as i am a new user to apple....i just wanted to know what things i could do with it...ie shortcuts...effects...whatever! this is its spec: version 10.2.8 memory (ram) 512 and processor:500Mhz powerpc G4...is this a good spec? and if i wanted to install new ram where is the cheapest place i could buy 1....i dont knw what is the maximum i could have in this laptop but do you think 1 gb in total would be enough?what is the maximum? and how could i run xp on this machine? and i would also like to run adobe photoshop csx3 is this wise? thanks! and if anyone has a laptop like this please get in touch! ciao!

That machine is ok, not good or great by todays standards. I don't think it would run XP well at all, and it probably wouldn't run Photoshop well at all either. A 500 mhz Powerbook is more like an email and Word machine, it doesn't really have enough power for any modern stuff.

Mac OS 10.2.8 can't run Photoshop CS3 anyway, I don't think.

aptenergy · Oct 23, 2007, 10:39 AM

Originally Posted by krish

hey!
i have a powerbook G4...as i am a new user to apple....i just wanted to know what things i could do with it...ie shortcuts...effects...whatever! this is its spec: version 10.2.8 memory (ram) 512 and processor:500Mhz powerpc G4...is this a good spec? and if i wanted to install new ram where is the cheapest place i could buy 1....i dont knw what is the maximum i could have in this laptop but do you think 1 gb in total would be enough?what is the maximum? and how could i run xp on this machine? and i would also like to run adobe photoshop csx3 is this wise? thanks! and if anyone has a laptop like this please get in touch! ciao!

Your computer was made in 2001, which means it's about to be 7 years old. That's competent for running Microsoft Office and other basic programs, but that's pretty much about it. If you wanted to run Photoshop CS3, I would just suggest selling your computer altogether (although you may not get *that* much money for it) and just get a new MacBook. Most software made in the last several years won't even run on your operating system anymore (you have 10.2.8, 10.5.0 will be released this Friday and won't even install on your Mac because you don't meet the requirements).