On 4/11/02  tobias, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:

> I'm sure I'm revisiting an old subject, but: should I rather run 9.1 instead
> of 8.6 on my 2400/180? (OT: and what on a beige G3?)

I have BOTH loaded on different partitions on my HDs, both for 2400 and
desktop G3s and G4s. In every case, I use 8.6 for my preferred boot drive,
and advise others to do likewise, unless 9.1 specific stuff is needed.
Depending on the size of the HD, I run 4-6 partitions.

On my 2400, I leave all my installers, a virgin OS 9.1 and 8.6 on a
partition I never boot from. Its sole purpose is to support other partitions
or run VPC (so I dump my HP 200LX DOS & Win  files there too). I've
resorted, as needed, to "dirty" installs of System, Finder, fonts, net prefs
etc. whenever my boot partitions show signs of System corruption.

I have a full (bloated) OS 9.1 and 8.6 on two partitions, a main one with
apps and another with 9.1 specific stuff (it can access the other partition
for general use apps). I use CC810 for multiple system configurations. These
systems will drive any Mac under any circumstances and contain extensions I
use to troubleshoot desktop machines or interface with other non-Mac
platforms.

Then I run a leaned out 8.6 as my main boot drive which flies and is quite
stable. It has all connectivity, USB, Firewire extensions, modem, IrDA,
(hybridized--meaning later additions of OT, Carbon, etc.) etc. Despite
running 200+ extensions it will boot between 65-80 sec.

My preference is 8.6 because it will open any app w/o returning back to the
Finder, and it is slightly less memory intensive. The necessity to
constantly pass through the Finder in 9.1 to open anything drives me nuts.
That's the "trick", IMO, that Apple uses for (supposedly) more stability in
a wobbly memory stack. I've not noticed 9.1 being any better at Power
Management or more stable, and since the 2400 is always with me, security,
keychain, etc. are not big issues. 9.1 is necessary to run iTunes, iMovie
etc. The other oddity is that RamDoubler has to be reinstalled every time I
change from a 9.1 boot partition to another 8.6 partition; 8.6 does not
require the aggravating reinstall and with RD/SD/CC8, it is a most pleasant,
fast and stable OS. RD is far superior to VM on ram challenged 2400s and
lets you open apps until all "doubled" ram is used up.

An aside for MS Office 2001 & Explorer users: I've achieved excellent
stability by applying all updaters and letting MSIE5.1 "First Run" over
everything else so MSIE 5, Office '98, 2001, Express & Entourage all coexist
along with Mozilla, Opera, Netscape, WannaBe iCab etc. Sometimes I run them
all to test out different things.

The advantage of partitioning allows protection of data, apps, insulated
testing of new software, repairs and diagnostics between drives and much
else. So all in all, as I thrash everything a lot (so much so that DW2.1
even failed a few times to bring back corrupted partitions), multiple
partitions w/8.6 as the main system (with many customized Finder tweaks)
keeps everything speedy, reliable and highly pleasurable. Despite my recent
rants about Apple's (comparative) lack of speed, the ineffable ease of any
function just one track pad move away keeps me smiling and dedicated to this
still mighty serviceable 2400 platform.

If I was on a PC laptop, even with 4x ram at 1.3 ghz, things would be
hopeless. Recently this G3-400 for efficient utility ran circles around my
best buddy's Compaq maxi-powerhouse as we were building his new website--a
good story for another time. OS 8.6 was more than OK in "overpowering" the
W'2000 PC.

Sidney Ho


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