OS X on iBook....OK?

adam11 · January 9, 2002 3:51AM

Can anyone comment on their experience on OS X running on aniBook. I am thinking of the new 14" for my wife (600mz) with 640m of ram, airport etc.

She wont really be running too many apps - Appleworks, iTunes, Office X, iPhoto, Explorer, Quicktime, Graphic Converter, and play DVds ..... (not all at the same time of course). No video editing, no games.

In fact - from the above I cant even see a need for OS 9.

well - does OS X run OK on this sort of iBook config or not ?

cheers

adam

kate · January 9, 2002 4:39AM

[quote]Originally posted by Adam11:



well - does OS X run OK on this sort of iBook config or not ?

cheers

adam<hr></blockquote>

If you consider X running at all well, and opinions differ somewhat on that point, you sure can do it on an iBook. So do I.

Things regarded as "slow" are "slow" even on better machines. iDisk access for instance. If this is an issue, hmmm.....otherwise X is very usuable, but not yet refined. It even has some quirks, Finder is often unresponsive, Mail does nasty things very often, etc.

However, I run it on my 500MHz iBook and manage to feel like doing so further. And I have been a strong critic of X since the beginning. If I can do......

.

But go to a dealer and get yourself an impression. "Felt" speed and the GUI experience is very much personal these days.

adam11 · January 9, 2002 5:35AM

Thanks kate, I already have OS X as the default on my Dual 500 G4 and my 867 G4.... frankly I love it.

i guess that the Dual 500 is a sort of guide for me... but the multi processors kick in sometimes I guess. I spoke to the guys at Tzone who think that they will have the new 14" displayed and for 'take home' on the weekend. I will test it out and make up my mind on the spot.

Thanks and cheers

adam

logan cale · January 9, 2002 9:02AM

I use 10.1.2 on my 500 MHz iBook constantly. I haven't even booted into 9 for several months.

It's very usable for most things, slow every once in a while, and definitely not as fast as an 867 G4 (it screams on that

), but usable.

evil ed · January 9, 2002 9:22AM

yup, i use OS X 10.1.2 on my PowerBook G3 500 and it's very usable. I'll be able to tell you in a couple of weeks just how well it works on an iBook 600 when I recieve mine.

artman @_@ · January 9, 2002 9:41AM

Bump up that resolution on that iBook for OS X. 1024 x 768 just barely works. It's my main issue with OS X...the BIG GUI icons and fonts. I heard that now you can resize the icons using a slider (haven't found or tried this yet).

I guess after downloading certain hacks (http://wwww.unsanity.com) it's work out fine. Get all the memory and CPU speed on the iBook, too.

ghost_user_name · January 9, 2002 10:31AM

IMO (everyone happy?) it's slow. OS X is slow and not getting any faster.

sizzle chest · January 9, 2002 10:34AM

I find OSX very smooth on my iBook 600 combo w/ 384mb RAM.

Sometimes I have lags in Internet Explorer (DSL connection via Airport) that seem to occur even when less than 100% of the CPU is being utilized. Not sure if this is just a problem with IE, but it's my only speed/usability issue with the iBook and OSX, and it only happens when I have many IE windows open, and even then only occasionally.

sizzle chest · January 9, 2002 10:37AM

Artman mentioning the Unsanity hacks reminded me of two things you can do to make OSX more responsive on a system where it's ALMOST fast enough.

First, get the "drop shadow killer" (or whatever they call it) haxie from Unsanity. That makes a difference, especially when moving/resizing windows.

Next, change from the "genie" to the "scaling" animation for minimizing windows.

Neither of those things will make your machine run faster in things like running a Photoshop filter, but they'll make the interface feel snappier and more responsive.

kate · January 9, 2002 11:16AM

[quote]Originally posted by sizzle chest:

Artman mentioning the Unsanity hacks reminded me of two things you can do to make OSX more responsive on a system where it's ALMOST fast enough.

First, get the "drop shadow killer" (or whatever they call it) haxie from Unsanity. That makes a difference, especially when moving/resizing windows.

Next, change from the "genie" to the "scaling" animation for minimizing windows.

Neither of those things will make your machine run faster in things like running a Photoshop filter, but they'll make the interface feel snappier and more responsive.<hr></blockquote>

Do all this, get TinkerTool, Visage, TransparentDock etc. and Sosumi if you are not pleased by the default looks.

Oh, and there is no treat against the spinning CD cursor anyway. It comes quite often, even when just running the Finder, this is "normal" as you might already be aware of.

I find X on this Qucksilver 800MHz not better responding than on my iBook, there is much to be done left in that field, yes.

fran441 · January 9, 2002 12:50PM

Mac OS X 10.1.2 works great on my PowerBook G3/500.

leonis · January 9, 2002 12:58PM

iBook 600Mhz G3 with 384MB RAM

OSX okay though live window resize is jerky

Apps are running surprisingly smooth.

But it takes a loooooooooooong time to boot. I think it's hard drive related

[ 01-09-2002: Message edited by: Leonis ]

eman · January 9, 2002 2:42PM

[quote]Originally posted by Scott H.:

IMO (everyone happy?) it's slow. OS X is slow and not getting any faster.<hr></blockquote>

I don't know about everyone, but yes I'm happy.

eman · January 9, 2002 2:45PM

I run 10.1.2 on my 500MHz DVD iBook and It runs very well. As others have said, sometimes it gets a little slow, but it really is great. Haven't restarted in 9 since 10.1 came out.

ghost_user_name · January 9, 2002 2:46PM

[quote]Originally posted by Leonis:



But it takes a loooooooooooong time to boot. I think it's hard drive related<hr></blockquote>

For me on my dumpy little iMac OS X was always fast to start and log in. One of the things that was better than OS 9.

eman · January 9, 2002 3:45PM

[quote]Originally posted by Scott H.:



For me on my dumpy little iMac OS X was always fast to start and log in. One of the things that was better than OS 9.<hr></blockquote>

At least something was good for you in OS X. I feel that it's kinda slow on my iBook. My only major complaint.

ghost_user_name · January 9, 2002 3:58PM

It never crashed on me either. Hung up bad one time but a terminal and a kill -9 clean it up. Or was that a regular force quit.

mmurray · January 9, 2002 4:16PM

[quote]Originally posted by Scott H.:

It never crashed on me either. Hung up bad one time but a terminal and a kill -9 clean it up. Or was that a regular force quit.<hr></blockquote>

I don't think anyone has mentioned the wake from sleep time yet. Its instantaneous! I rearely reboot my Powerbook just sleep and open the lid and its ready to go.

Michael

ghost_user_name · January 9, 2002 4:20PM

Well that may be more to the lack of sleep. It seems that OS X does not go into any kind of "deep" sleep.

sizzle chest · January 9, 2002 4:53PM

Right, the wake from sleep is really fast, but at the expense of burning MORE battery power while asleep than in OS9. I used to leave my sleeping iBook laying around for long periods of time, but if I do that now, it drains the battery dry before too long. It also stays slightly warm even when asleep for hours.

adam11 · January 9, 2002 5:33PM

Wow, thanks for the feedback.... do you guys run classic from startup.... or just as required... I am assumeing that the less you have going the better.

When classic is running (although I hope this to be minimal for my wife on this iBook) how do the apps run in both classic and native X ... for example if you have one open in each.

Cheers

adam

OS X on iBook....OK?

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