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BigMark · May 4, 2002, 08:05 AM

After some thinking, I thought it would be best to put this article here to reach as many Powerbook OS 9 users as possible.

I've a Pismo (500MHz, 320MB RAM). I just bought and installed a new IBM 40GB drive (US$ 165) and installed Mac OS 10.0, then updated it with 10.1 then ran Software Update and updated it to 10.13, then 10.14.

I was previously hesitant to upgrade to X. OS 9 didn't crash much on me, and I had it set up the way I wanted it.

I am so glad I made the switch.

Not only is X alot faster than I thought it would be, but it is alot faster than running OS 9! I ain't lying.

Boot up from cold is almost twice as fast, including logging in.
My AirPort card immediately picked up my wireless network, and set up of Network settings took all of 45 seconds.

I have all the apps running in OS X that I had in OS 9, so I have not bothered installing the Classic environment- good riddance! That's something I didn't think I'd be able to say, but OS 9 really does look like Windows 3.1- just looking at the old control strip icons makes me wonder how I put up with those crappy graphics.

So my advice to all other Pismo users who are sitting on the fence- go for it. Do it in one go, like ripping off a plaster (Band-aid) and say goodbye to OS 9.

dr. zoidberg · May 4, 2002, 08:59 AM

i�m running x exclusively on my pismo/400/320... and while i love it pretty much i really can�t say that it�s faster than os 9.

i�d say the speed of the finder itself is pretty sufficient... however most of the apps (thank god now i have everything i need for work) would do very well with a speed boost.

so here�s hoping that a 10.2 update gives some more thrust and general snappiness(TM). otherwise maybe i�ll go for some new TiBook, which i�d honestly love to do anyway.

BigMark · May 4, 2002, 09:10 AM

I also forgot to add that a problem I had since I bought the Powerbook was that it was very, very, VERY slow on battery power, despite zapping every setting that can be zapped, and buying and trying different batteries.

Running Mac OS X, that problem has now gone, although it's more likely that this was due to the old IBM 6GB drive.

Running on battery power, I can now surf the net, watch DVDs etc., all without any loss in speed or general sluggishness.

Hooray.

zigmeister · May 4, 2002, 04:49 PM

How about sleeping and *not* waiting 50 secs to start working? How about moving the mouse while watching a DVD (hooked through s-video to my VEGA) and not freezing? How about flawless and instant videomirroring?

Man, I love OS X on my Pismo. Its amazing how I now loath OS 9 which I used to love - you hit it dead on by comparing it to Win 3.1 - Good riddance OS 9, now I really have a kickass laptop.

[ 05-04-2002: Message edited by: zigmeister ]

PeteWK · May 4, 2002, 05:40 PM

Yep Yep Yep...been thinking about doing it. I've got OS 10 but I haven't put it on my laptop. Yep Yep Yep.

PeteWK

k2man · May 4, 2002, 05:46 PM

I have a PIsmo 500 with 384 megs of Ram. I've been on OS X since early January, and love it (am about to get a PB 800, which should fan my passions even more!).

ANNOYANCES
** It's definitely slower than OS 9--ie, the Finder (moving and scaling windows, responsiveness of button clicks), and scrolling windows in all apps is more sluggish than OS 9. Sometimes it's a bit more sluggish, sometimes it's a lot more sluggish. But you do get used to it.

** Also, OS X's type size (especially in the Finder) is bigger, making it so that windows can't show as many files names and characters as they used to on your 1024-768 screen.

** OS X drains your battery faster than 9. Maybe 10-15% faster.

BENEFITS

** Much more stable. Still crashes, but maybe once every 3-4 weeks, and usually when I'm swapping Firewire drives in and out of the Firewire ports.

** Multitasking works much better. I'm constantly doing multiple things at a time (copying files, surfing, rendering something, etc.).

** DVDs play MUCH better (including while you're running other apps--see above).

** It's a lot prettier to look at.

** Love the fact that it works with Java apps.

** It's got a bright future, Apple's very aggressive about improving it.

10.2 should make some huge strides as well....

maffioso · May 5, 2002, 02:44 AM

10.2, well we will se Monday and I can't wait, a friend of mine, knows a developer, and he already has 10.2, I can't wait!

Apple is getting itself back on track, now i just want to purchase a new PB!

angelmb · May 5, 2002, 05:41 AM

My Pismo 500 1 GB RAM runs Mac OS X very well, fast and so, but it is difficult to me sait faster than Mac OS 9. Despite this, I suggesst use Mac OS X to Pismo users, just buy some RAM, a better hard drive could make a great job, remember, is a unix system, lot of files there, my original 12 GB IBM HD works well.

Your friend�s developer friend has 10.2 ?? I expect it by summer, don�t?

maffioso · May 5, 2002, 06:31 AM

He supposedly has a prebuild of it, but thats another story. I wouldn't recommend Mac OS X on anything less then a G3 500Mhz w/ 512MB Ram. X loves ram, and it was painfully slow on a G3 300Mhz, and i mean really really pailful!

Good luck

tooki · May 5, 2002, 10:32 AM

Well, I've run OS X on my Pismo since 10.0, and while it's gotten faster, the only benefits I see are OS X's vastly superior DVD playback, and the nearly-instant wake from sleep.

BigMark, if OS X is faster than your OS 9, then probably your OS 9 was messed up and needed reoing.

tooki

k2man · May 5, 2002, 02:33 PM

Regarding X's instant sleep...

This may be common knowledge, but you can get the same benefit from OS 9 if you disable Appletalk (go to the Chooser). Since I never needed it for networking or printing, I turned it off and my Pismo went to sleep and woke instantly under 9...

tooki · May 5, 2002, 03:35 PM

Turning AppleTalk off certainly makes a HUGE difference (ca. 9 seconds to wake up vs. 20 with AppleTalk on), but it's still not as fast as OS X.

tooki

Cellery · May 5, 2002, 04:20 PM

If your machine runs OS X faster than 9, I'll trade you my TiBook 667 for it. OS X runs markedly slower on this machine, and OS X even has AltiVec accelerated components! If you're getting OS X to run faster on a G3, that's a first. Like tooki said, it might be a messed up OS 9 install, I've never seen speed gains moving to X. That said, it's a great OS and the stability and quick wakeups are worth it to me.

skyman · May 5, 2002, 09:24 PM

Originally posted by tooki:
<STRONG>Turning AppleTalk off certainly makes a HUGE difference (ca. 9 seconds to wake up vs. 20 with AppleTalk on), but it's still not as fast as OS X.

tooki</STRONG>

tooki,

Glad to see you are still hang'in around.

webb3201 · May 5, 2002, 10:31 PM

I made the switch last March on my Pismo (now TI and never looked back). The gui speed may be a bit slower, but I could care less as I can actually multitask. I tried using OS9 the other day while moving a large file (500mb) to a back up server and had to walk away while the process was completing. While running X, I simply keep working. That is much more important IMHO than the small (maybe 5-10% decrease in Finder speed).