[Robbi]

ok well my dad has had a buddy that's been a mac guy for years and years and over the past few months he's convinced my dad to get a mac since it would be easyer for him to use than the slow and confusing pc he had...

anyway... he did end up getting an old ibook G4 and has been using it with out fail ever since. (though the windows PC is still his main music lib cuz it's bigger) My being a windows guy i was always a little blah on the fact that he had a mac... i didn't really care lol but last week he found a another ibook G4 at a garage sale for $8 lol (the woman had forgotten her password and it suffers from the the video issues though it's not a severe case)

well in an effort to convince me that macs are awesome he's let me use it for a little while just to play with and mess around (and fix the video problem XD.... he's not tech savvy... and i now know that it cant fix it with out spending money on it...) before he reinstalls OSX

in case you didn't guess it... i'm rather enjoying it lol i can now proudly say i will happily use either windows or mac (or both hopefully one day )

this brings me to my questions... is it at all possible in any way (other than virtualization) to run windows on this old ibook? or does it only run on the intel macs BECAUSE of the intel chip? and second of all if i were to one day get an intel mac... is there any limit to the size of the windows partition that can be created? because i still prefer windows... and if i could run it as the main operating system but have the mac design, quality of build, and OSX as a secondary OS that would be really cool!

[AKcrab]

You could make the whole drive a Boot Camp partition and install windows.

[Cold Warrior]

Your iBook can't do Windows. There's an old program called Virtual PC we in the Mac community used to use if we wanted to run Windows on our Macs (including me), but Virtual PC isn't usable and I wouldn't waste your time.

If you get an Intel Mac, you can use Boot Camp to create any size partition you like and install Windows on it.

[Robbi]

aw to bad i can't play around with in in this old ibook... but it's nice to know that i'm not limitedin the size of a partition i can make

thanks for the info

hey random thought... can someone tell me the reasoning behind not having a right click button on mac notebooks and mice? i mean i know they support right click.... so why not make it obvious and simple by putting a right mouse button?

and how does right clicking work when running windows? cuz i know the ctrl+click isn't the same in windows... so how do you right click with out an external mouse?

[ibook_steve]

Macs have never had a second mouse button. The reasoning has usually been because it's simpler for the user. It's kind of silly these days, but one button is usually complicated enough as it is for beginners.

As for right-clicking in Windows in Boot Camp, with an MB or MBP, you put two fingers on the trackpad and click the trackpad button.

Steve

[Simon]

In OS X two-finger tap = right-click

It's very fast and reliable. Not having to search for a second button (and distinguish it from the third one and from the nipple, and from the rocker, and from the ...) is a nice thing.

Also, two-finger drags scroll (horizontal and vertical) regardless of where the fingers are on the trackpad.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by ibook_steve 

Macs have never had a second mouse button. The reasoning has usually been because it's simpler for the user. It's kind of silly these days, but one button is usually complicated enough as it is for beginners.

Ah no - the reasoning goes much deeper than that:

If the default setup shipping with all machines is a single-button setup, software developers are FORCED to assume that most users will only have one button.

This means that anything a user needs to be able to do MUST be available via the appropriate regular menus.

IOW, when learning an application, you can be sure you know where to find stuff, rather than having to check multiple locations because the developers were idiot enough to stick vital functions exclusively in the context menu.

By reducing the context menu to a redundant shortcut-menu, the single-button default is one of the things that makes the Mac a seamless experience and a much more effective tool.

[Robbi]

ah i see well thanks. the two finger tap doesn't work here (but i assume that's because this ibook is running 10.4.11) thanks for the info guys!

Peace

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Robbi 

ah i see well thanks. the two finger tap doesn't work here (but i assume that's because this ibook is running 10.4.11) thanks for the info guys!

Two-finger tap has been a standard function for years and is fully supported by 10.4, as is two-finger scrolling.

Your iBook's trackpad is simply too old.

[Robbi]

oh i see. i just found iScroll2 which has made my track pad able to have two finger functionality so now im happy

[Spheric Harlot]

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Your iBook's trackpad is simply too old.

In reality, the iBook is perfectly capable of doing it (as iScroll2 demonstrates). The reason it doesn't work out of the box is because Apple chose to cripple it by not back-porting the trackpad improvements other Macs got. It's a business issue, not a technical problem.

[Robbi]

i think he meant it was to old to have been supported by 10.4... but yeah... it's just marketing to get you to upgrade i suppose.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally Posted by Robbi 

i think he meant it was to old to have been supported by 10.4....

I *thought* that's what I'd said.

[Simon]

It's "too old" as in Apple deliberately did not include software to support something the hardware is well capable of doing. "Too old" in this case means "we want you to buy a new Mac".

[analogika]

Yes. We all got that now.

[Simon]

Good.

[Spheric Harlot]

You know, if that link weren't there in your sig, and you weren't so adamant about it, I could *swear* you have this personal thing going...

[Simon]

Whatever.

[Mac User #001]

Originally Posted by Robbi 

oh i see. i just found iScroll2 which has made my track pad able to have two finger functionality so now im happy

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

[Salty]

If you're enjoying the iBook that much you should consider getting a MacBook it'll be like five times faster than the G4 in your current one. Also the new ones the whole track pad is the button... good luck having a second button for right click when the whole surface is the button!

But yah to be honest I hate using PC laptops partially because there are two buttons, I use my finger to track and the thumb to press, it'd be like cutting the space bar in half...

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Salty 

Also the new ones the whole track pad is the button... good luck having a second button for right click when the whole surface is the button!

With the new glass trackpad it's much better actually. Either you distinguish left/right clicks by tap location or you just use two-finger tap = right click. It's a much more beautiful solution than having three buttons below the trackpad plus forcing people to drag a finger along the edge to emulate scrolling.

[olePigeon]

FYI: control-click does right click was well.

[olePigeon]

Also, if you're coming over from Windows, you may want to turn on Full Keyboard access. This allows you to navigate GUI elements like Windows does.

System Preferences, Keyboard & Mouse, Keyboard Shortcuts, then there's a checkbox at the bottom.

Control-F2 lets you navigate the menus, Control-F3 allows you to navigate the Dock. If pressing the FKeys does the audio, video, etc, then you'll have to hold down the Function key as well (i.e. Control-Function-F2) or turn on F-Keys in the Keyboard & Mouse preferences (which is what I do, I'd rather hit Function to get to the audio and video keys.)

[Robbi]

Originally Posted by Salty 

If you're enjoying the iBook that much you should consider getting a MacBook it'll be like five times faster than the G4 in your current one. Also the new ones the whole track pad is the button... good luck having a second button for right click when the whole surface is the button!

lol easy for you to say... i don't have a spare $1700 kicking around lol

but to actually be perfectly honest, i don't like the aluminum macbooks... compared to the old polycarbonate white and black ones, the aluminum ones just look a little bit messy color wise. I prefer the uniform single color of the old ones... and that "oh so wonderful glass screen" just seems like an accident waiting to happen... i know it's not good to drop a laptop in the first place but the old screens just look like they could take more ware and tear before having a big old crack across the middle of any glass screen cuz you dropped the laptop or something similar...

id rather pick the old model that they still offer or to get one off ebay if they aren't offered by the time i can and am able to get one.

[ibook_steve]

Originally Posted by Robbi 

lol easy for you to say... i don't have a spare $1700 kicking around lol

but to actually be perfectly honest, i don't like the aluminum macbooks... compared to the old polycarbonate white and black ones, the aluminum ones just look a little bit messy color wise. I prefer the uniform single color of the old ones... and that "oh so wonderful glass screen" just seems like an accident waiting to happen... i know it's not good to drop a laptop in the first place but the old screens just look like they could take more ware and tear before having a big old crack across the middle of any glass screen cuz you dropped the laptop or something similar...

id rather pick the old model that they still offer or to get one off ebay if they aren't offered by the time i can and am able to get one.

I don't have one, but I don't think that having a glossy screen makes it any more (or less) prone to cracking than a matte screen. They're both made with a thin layer of glass, AFAIK. It's just the top layer coating that determines whether the screen will be glossy or matte.

In either case with either type of screen, the rule is simple: don't drop it.

Steve

[shifuimam]

This is the case with most LCDs, but I believe that the aluminum MBs and MBPs have an additional layer of glass that covers the LCD and the bezel around the LCD.

The LCD itself also contains a layer of glass, like any LCD.

[Robbi]

yeah that external layer of glass is what i mean... it just seems like it would be considerably more fragile....

[Simon]

Originally Posted by Robbi 

lol easy for you to say... i don't have a spare $1700 kicking around lol

but to actually be perfectly honest, i don't like the aluminum macbooks... compared to the old polycarbonate white and black ones, the aluminum ones just look a little bit messy color wise. I prefer the uniform single color of the old ones... and that "oh so wonderful glass screen" just seems like an accident waiting to happen... i know it's not good to drop a laptop in the first place but the old screens just look like they could take more ware and tear before having a big old crack across the middle of any glass screen cuz you dropped the laptop or something similar...

id rather pick the old model that they still offer or to get one off ebay if they aren't offered by the time i can and am able to get one.

I disagree entirely with you on the Al vs. plastic MB thing, but if you really want a plastic iBook you don't need even close to $1700.

The refurb store has a white 2.0 GHz MB for $849 right now.

[Terrin]

Strange, the starting price for the white plastic Macbook is $999, not $1, 700. That doesn't even take into consideration discounts you can find at Apple (e.g. the education discount, or refurb discount).

Your also wrong about the strength of the screen. I saw a guy on some video try to stab a knife through a Macbook. IT took him three tries really hammering at it.

Originally Posted by Robbi 

lol easy for you to say... i don't have a spare $1700 kicking around lol

but to actually be perfectly honest, i don't like the aluminum macbooks... compared to the old polycarbonate white and black ones, the aluminum ones just look a little bit messy color wise. I prefer the uniform single color of the old ones... and that "oh so wonderful glass screen" just seems like an accident waiting to happen... i know it's not good to drop a laptop in the first place but the old screens just look like they could take more ware and tear before having a big old crack across the middle of any glass screen cuz you dropped the laptop or something similar...

id rather pick the old model that they still offer or to get one off ebay if they aren't offered by the time i can and am able to get one.

[beg_ne]

Originally Posted by Robbi 

lol easy for you to say... i don't have a spare $1700 kicking around lol

but to actually be perfectly honest, i don't like the aluminum macbooks... compared to the old polycarbonate white and black ones, the aluminum ones just look a little bit messy color wise. I prefer the uniform single color of the old ones... and that "oh so wonderful glass screen" just seems like an accident waiting to happen... i know it's not good to drop a laptop in the first place but the old screens just look like they could take more ware and tear before having a big old crack across the middle of any glass screen cuz you dropped the laptop or something similar...

id rather pick the old model that they still offer or to get one off ebay if they aren't offered by the time i can and am able to get one.

The base model Unibody MacBook is $1099 on the refurb store, also as someone who has owned both I can attest that the casing on the Unibody is vastly superior to the old polycarbonate.

I guess if you plan on dropping your laptop alot the polycarbonate might be better... That said anytime you drop your laptop you best be prepared to buy a new one or pay a big repair bill because it's likely to cause a catastrophic failure than anything else, either right away or at some point in the future.

[Simon]

Originally Posted by djmayne2001 

I have dropped mine a few times already...