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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Notebooks > Thoughts on the ideal OS for a 600mhz G3 iBook?

Thoughts on the ideal OS for a 600mhz G3 iBook?
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Wiskedjak
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Mar 29, 2007, 01:37 PM
 
Tasks will just be web browsing and light word-processing.

Web browsing (Firefox 2.0.0.3) and word processing (Word, Excel v.X) seem rather sluggish in a 4 month old installation of 10.3.9.

Machine has 640mb of RAM.

I'm thinking of sending it back to 10.2, or maybe Linux (Ubuntu)

Thoughts? Experiences?
     
imitchellg5
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Mar 29, 2007, 02:15 PM
 
10.3 should be the best. I would try 10.4.9 though. Don't go back to 10.2. Jaguar was really slow on my PowerBook, waaaay slower than Tiger (867 MHz G4 640 Mb of RAM).
     
mfbernstein
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Mar 29, 2007, 05:37 PM
 
10.3.9 really should be best. I think you'll find that 10.2 was actually slower. I doubt 10.4 will be faster, but it will definitely make your iBook run hotter (not good).

Have you tried Camino instead of Firefox? Firefox Mac is generally sluggish. Office isn't too hot either, though there are some tips to speed it up.
     
SciFrog
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Mar 30, 2007, 12:37 PM
 
10.4 as long as you have 384M RAM.
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imitchellg5
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Mar 30, 2007, 01:45 PM
 
Originally Posted by SciFrog View Post
10.4 as long as you have 384M RAM.
He said that he had 640 Mb. I would try Camino. It's a quite a bit faster than FireFox on older Macs.
     
shifuimam
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Mar 30, 2007, 03:21 PM
 
You could always try Linux... Ubuntu has a PPC release that is quite nice, and Yellow Dog Linux is an option as well.

I'm running 10.3.9 on my 466MHz iBook with 320MB RAM. It's pokey but it works.
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ibook_steve
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Mar 30, 2007, 04:45 PM
 
I have 10.4.9 running on the same iBook as you as well as my old 400 MHz G4 tower and it runs perfectly fine on both. With 640 MB, you'll be fine running 10.4.

Steve
     
kick52
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Mar 30, 2007, 09:45 PM
 
if you get camino, make sure you get a optimized version for the G3, as it'll run faster.
     
ixus_123
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Mar 31, 2007, 11:44 PM
 
I have a 366Mhz G3 ibook that ran Ubuntu (Dapper) on it with the XFCE desktop - that was great for web browsing & email. If it wasn't for the 800x600 resolution I'd probably still be using it.

Currently it still runs Ubuntu Dapper but as a webserver running my blog.

I think it's well worth taking a day out to install & try out Ubuntu. If you want to use spreadsheets, I find gnumeric to lots faster than Open Office calc
iBook G3 366mhz as a web server:
http://kieren.demon.co.uk/wordpress/
     
applgeek
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Apr 1, 2007, 02:38 AM
 
I would recommend 10.3, as is what i run on the 500's and a 600 at work. If it is light, that is all you need. you also wont have things like dashboard and other processes clogging up the system.
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SLiMeX
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Apr 1, 2007, 09:50 AM
 
Originally Posted by shifuimam View Post
You could always try Linux... Ubuntu has a PPC release that is quite nice, and Yellow Dog Linux is an option as well.

I'm running 10.3.9 on my 466MHz iBook with 320MB RAM. It's pokey but it works.
I've heard of Ubuntu, does it cost money? How would it run on an old iBook?

Once I get all the parts in for my Clamshell, I'll be attempting to boot 10.4.9 using Xpost Facto. I have successfully done it before, and it worked. So, it's worth another try. I didnt notice it running too hot, however.
BlacBook | 2.0ghz core duo | 2x320gb | 2gb ram | mba superdrive
     
applgeek
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Apr 1, 2007, 04:52 PM
 
Ubuntu is linux. if you like linux, then it wont be a problem.

Ubuntu is free. You can even get a free disk! With Ubuntu, you boot from the CD, (running the OS) and if you like it, you can click "install".

Do you really need xpostfacto to run tiger?
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SLiMeX
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Apr 1, 2007, 05:39 PM
 
Yes, I'll be needing XpostFacto to run Tiger on that Clamshell (no Firewire)
BlacBook | 2.0ghz core duo | 2x320gb | 2gb ram | mba superdrive
     
   
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