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Mac Spectrum
Leopard Runs Very Nicely on PowerPC Macs
- 2008.11.19 - Tip Jar
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del.icio.usThere has been lots of talk on various Apple discussion websites and Mac mailing lists that I subscribe to about how Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" is not geared towards PowerPC Macs and was developed with Intel Macs in mind. I disagree with this.
A fellow group member had Leopard installed on a 1.67 GHz PowerBook G4 and claimed it was unusable, so much so that he reverted to Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger", something I found very strange. I have seen Leopard running on a number of G4 Macs. I even have it installed on my 1.25 GHz eMac with 1 GB of RAM, and it runs lovely; even when it had 512 MB of RAM, it was very much usable, and maxing it to its 2 GB limit will make it a very snappy machine.
As a tinkerer
and lover of low-end Macs, I have installed it on both a 400 MHz PowerBook G4 Titanium
with 1 GB of RAM and a PowerMac G4 Sawtooth with 640
MB of RAM (see Is Running Leopard on a
Sawtooth Power Mac G4 Worth Doing?). While both of these machines
are way under the minimum specs Apple restricts Leopard too, they
performed a lot better than I expected. Both were useable, but under
heavy use they would struggle.
Apple's minimum spec is an 867 MHz G4 with 512 MB of RAM. I have seen it running on an 867 MHz PowerBook G4 with 1 GB of RAM, which is about as low as you can get officially, and it runs like a dream.
I think the claims of Leopard not being PowerPC optimised is utter rubbish. I had a 1.83 GHz Core Duo Intel iMac with 1 GB of RAM, and Leopard never really ran properly on it. It wasn't until I upped it to 2 GB of RAM that the machine responded and worked properly - that made it more responsive and a lot more useable, but it was still plagued with problems, so much so that I at one point reinstalled Leopard, but the problems persisted.
In some respects, I think my 1.25 GHz eMac with 1 GB of RAM copes better than the Intel iMac did. I don't mean it runs faster - obviously the faster chipset, better graphics, and dual-core give the iMac the edge - but the overall stability and sluggishness on the iMac (considering it's way higher specifications compared to the eMac) is unbelievable.
I have had better results from PowerPC Macs, even lower-end G4s, than on Intel Macs. If there is anyone thinking of installing Leopard on older PowerPC Macs and wondering whether it is worth it, I say go for it.
Leopard is RAM hungry. If you are going to put it on a G4, make sure you have at least 1 GB of RAM, just to make the Leopard experience a nice one. Bear in mind the very low requirements of Tiger, so if you want a lightning fast machine, it might be a better alternative.
Intel Macs seems to be plagued with problem - at least mine was. It was a sad day when Apple dropped PowerPC Macs.
Until Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" is released - which is
supposed to cut out the PowerPC platform altogether - I shall not be
upgrading to another Intel machine. 
Recent Columns by Simon Royal
Royal also has his own Mac specific website.
- A Place for the Classic Mac OS in the Age of Snow Leopard, 10.19. Mac OS 9 has been out of production for nine years, but for basic tasks, such as word processing and email, it provides plenty of power.
- Adding USB 2.0 to a Titanium PowerBook G4, 08.20. TiBooks have built-in USB 1.1, but with a compatible USB 2.0 CardBus card, you can go 2.0. Problem is, not all cards work.
- 'Snow Leopard' and the End of PowerPC Macs, 08.14. Mac OS X 10.6 will be the first version of OS X without PowerPC support. That marks the beginning of the end for G4 and G5 Macs.
- Lombard, the Forgotten PowerBook, 05.06. Sitting between the legendary WallStreet and the widely known Pismo, Lombard provides great value and handles OS X nicely.
- More in the Mac Spectrum index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: Power Mac G5 Quad, Oct. 2005 - With two 2.5 GHz dual-core G5 CPUs, the G5 Quad was the most powerful PowerPC Mac ever and introduced PCI Express.
- Group of the Day: Mac Network deals with all aspects of Mac networking.
- November 21 in LEM history: 00: OS upgrades, downgrades - AltiVec vs. Pentium III - 01: Saved by the clones - Computer of the future - 02: Apple Education: Let's get to it - 03: Panther lets Macs and PCs work together, - Lombard SCSI bug - 05: 3 survivors from the 1970s - Real world battery life inadequate - Windows to Mac file transfer with Zip disks - $99 alternative to Microsoft Office - 06: Parallels 1.0 far more polished than beta
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Recent Content on Low End Mac
- Apple's Tablet an End Run Beyond Netbooks, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20. Whatever Apple has planned will leverage existing technologies while going beyond what its competitors can offer.
- NASA Chemical Sensor for iPhone, Smartphone Death Match, iPhone Earrings, and More, Ian R Campbell, 11.20. Also mobile phone dangers, new apps, GPS solution for iPod touch, new iPod and iPhone cases, and more.
- Apple #4 in Reliability, Apple Tablet a Gadget for All?, HP's i7 Notebook Outdoes Mac Rivals, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.20. Also Flash 10.1 improves video on Hackintosh netbooks, thin-and-light notebooks impress, Windows XP finally on the way out, and more.
- i5 iMac Benchmarked, Mac mini 'Shouldn't Be Overlooked', Twitter Client for Classic Mac OS, and More, Mac News Review, 11.20. Also why Apple leaves the low end to others, 10.6.2 fixes video playback problem in 27" iMac, 3D Leopard and Snow Leopard performance, and more.
- Replacing the Hard Drive in a Clamshell iBook, John Hatchett, Recycled Computing, 11.19. Yes, it is one of the most difficult Apple notebooks to disassemble and reassemble, but a 10 GB hard drive just will not do.
- IBM Model F: A Great Old Keyboard with an Outdated Layout, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 11.19. Although it used a different technology than the revered IBM Model M keyboard, the Model F was a great keyboard in its own right.
- Soft Touch Keyboards, Wireless Mouse Options, Loving SeaMonkey 2, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.18. Also the future of browsing with PowerPC Macs and the multiple mouse input bug introduced with OS X 10.5.8.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best eMac Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz Combo, $100; SuperDrive, $269; 1.25 GHz Combo, $119; SD, $319; 1.42 GHz Combo, $289; SD, $498.
- Best Mac OS X 10.6 and Mac Box Set Deals, 11.18. "Snow Leopard", single user, $25; 5 users, $45; Mac Box Set, single user, $139; 5 users, $180; Server, $414. Shipping included.
- Best Xserve Deals, 11.18. Used 1 GHz dual G4, $649; 2.3 dual G5, $795; 3.0 4-core Xeon, $1,899; refurb 2.26 4-core, $2,499; new, $2,888; refurb 8-core, $2,999; new, $3,449; more.
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, 11.17. Used 1.83 GHz, $750; 2.16, $800; 2.33, $900; refurb 2.4, $1,299; 2.53, $1,449; 2.66, $1,699; 2.8, $1,899; new 2.53, $1,579; 2.66, $1,799; more.
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.17. Used 400 MHz, $50; 933 MHz, $80; 500 dual, $60; 867 dual, $90; 1 GHz dual, $150; 1.25 GHz dual, $225; 1.42 GHz, $499.
- Best Mac OS X 10.5 Deals, 11.17. "Leopard" upgrade, $80; single user license, $135; 5 users, $173; Mac Box Set, 5 users, $230; Server, 10 users, $340; unlimited, $850. Shipping included.
- Best Mac mini Deals, 11.16. Used 1.42 GHz G4 mini, $379; 1.66 GHz Core Solo, $419; 2.0 Core 2, $450; new 2.26 GHz nVidia, $580; 2.53 GHz, $769; Server, $990.
- Best iBook G4 Deals, 11.16. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo, $210; 1.33 GHz, $298; 14" 1.33 GHz, $398; 1.42 GHz, $479; SuperDrive, $498.
- Best iPod shuffle Deals, 11.16. Used 1 GB, $35; 4 GB, $65; refurb 1 GB, $39; 2 GB, $59; new 2 GB, $55, 4 GB, $75. New and refurb prices include shipping.
- More deals in our archive.
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