Hello! And, sadly: goodbye!
It was great two+ years with a Power Mac, but the time has come to an end (mostly). I just wanted to thank you all for your support. And: keep them running! This is my *long* Mac/PowerPC story: I mostly stumbled into the PowerPC thing, since I got several old Power Macs by chance and they didn't cost a thing for me. I installed Mac OS X on them and played around with it. It was nice, but since I'm really a Linux guy, I also installed Linux on them. But not just any Linux – one of the more complicated variants: Gentoo Linux, http://www.gentoo.org. I have to say that the main reason for me abondoning the PowerPCs is the Power Mac G5 “Late 2005” Dual-Core 2.0 GHz which never really worked like it was supposed to. I loved it though, but it's just too much time going into this “project” of mine. I was using a 64-bit userland (applications) on a 64-bit Linux kernel. This was just right for the 16 GB of DDR2-RAM that where sitting there and waiting to be used… *yeah* Well, the ATI Radeon X1900 PCIe Mac Edition with 256 MB VRAM that I bought as an upgrade for the original nVidia GeForce 6600LE with 128 MB VRAM is still not supported in Linux, since it simply lacks a driver. There is currently being one developed, but since there are *always* some other problems with programs on PPC64, failing to compile and such, I just went on with it and got a widely supported platform instead: AMD Phenom II X6 with 6 cores @ 3.2 GHz. It has only 4 GB DDR3-RAM for the time, as the possible 16 GB are way too expensive at this time. But I can assure you that it is an immense performance boost! As for Mac OS X: I used 10.2 up to 10.5 and loved especially 10.3 Panther, because it has all that is needed for a great operating system. 10.4 is now the one used on my G3 B&W 350 MHz at work but it is quite slow. This is okay though – and intended, since at work I don't need a fast machine. At home I have a G4 AGP (350 MHz), a G4 GE (with an OWC 1.4/1.5 GHz upgrade) and a G4 Quicksilver (733 MHz original, upgraded Dual-800 MHz). The last is running 10.5 Leopard, but I got the impression that the video card nVidia GeForce2 MX400 is the main reason for it “feeling” a bit rugged/bumpy. Then I have a G4 MDD (Dual-1 GHz originally, upgraded Dual-1.42 GHz) at my sister's. This will go to my father, and the G5 Dual-Core 2.0 GHz of mine will go to my sister with Mac OS X 10.5 and all her Mac applications. I had Gentoo Linux installed on the G4 Quicksilver with the single 733 MHz and the Dual-800 MHz PowerPC processor. It is usable, but feels a bit slow. Most visual effects are disabled, since it simply is too slow. This is the great thing about Mac OS X 10.3/10.4: that it feels so great with so few hardware resources. Linux cannot do this. Mac OS X 10.5 on the other hand is like Windows Vista/Linux with KDE: it simply requires so much preformance to work smoothly. Don't give this required computing power (CPU/GPU) and you'll have no fun. The G4 Mirrored Drive Doors Dual-1 GHz was my inital way into the Mac world, I used all my Mac OS X version on it and started with my Gentoo Linux installation on this one – this installation is now on my Quicksilver. I got the Dual-1.42 GHz upgrade for my sister to enhance her workflow. A human should never wait for the computer – a good computer will always wait for the “slow” human in front of it :-) Well, she'll be happe with the Dual-Core 2.0 GHz G5 I guess. If anyone will try to use Linux on a Power Mac – for example when 10.7 is out and 10.5 will no longer be recieving security fixes – I can only recommend to run *any* PowerPC distribution of Linux on 32-bit G4 computers. The G4 ist the best supported PowerPC computer on my Gentoo Linux. The 64-bit kernel/userland configuration as well as more modern hardware in G5s will be more troublesome than all the trouble you can image on all the G4s together. The G4 Mirrored Drive Doors with an ATI Radeon 9000 Pro (64 MB VRAM, AGP 4x) was the best supported computer I found for Linux on the Mac. Others may lack hardware accellerated graphics, like my Quicksilver with nVidia GeForce2 MX400 graphics card. It will work like in the MDD with an ATI Radeon 9000 Pro though. I also have the impression that the G3 B&W is not so well supported either, but it may well work great once you're over the initial problems. There seem to be various 32-bit PowerPC distributions of Linux out there. I would recommend openSuSE Linux, since it is also great on x86/amd64 platforms. I also heard of ArchLinux beeing available for PowerPC. Yellow Dog seems to be very popular in the United States. I got the impression they changed their focus towards Sony's PlayStation 3. But since this hardware is no valuable target market anymore they may again focus on something else. There is also a community edition of Ubuntu Linux for the PowerPC available, but I don't know how good it is supported. This list isn't complete. But all these distibutions have one thing in common: they are true 32-bit installations. Good for the G3s/G4s, but not ideal for the G5s. Gentoo Linux runs also well on PowerPC 32-bit. The 64-bit version is less good supported, but works well too. Only the hardware in general acts a bit stubborn with Linux. Or is it the other way around? Anyway – I wanted to thank you all for your help in the past two years. If you need anything regarding Linux, maybe I can help. Maybe not, since I now discontinue its use because of lack of time. I'll continue using my G3 B&W though, since I love its charme and it being slow is kind of a feature for me at work. I like it slow. Mac OS X 10.4 is well suited since I don't use the internet much there – yes, work is still mostly internet free for me, believe it! As the comparison of Mac OS X and Linux: Linux is now on my new Phenom II X6 fast as hell and very much like Mac OS X is concerning optical features and usablility. The Look and Feel is great. I use KDE by the way. In the United Stated Gnome is more widely use, I heard. Anyway – all my programs, settings, accounts and all personal files are now moving /again/ to the new computer. With Linux this is possible. Never heard of anything like it on other operating systems. (From the PC (to the PC to the PC) to the Mac (to the Mac to the Mac) and back to the PC with not much impact on the personal settings and files.) Cheers, Andreas aka Mac User #330250 aka Linux User #330250 -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. 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