What is the best OS X version for a G4 PB 1 GHz?

masstrkiller

What is the best OS X version for a G4 PB 1 GHz? I have an old PB which has OS 10.3.7 and would like to upgrade but do not want to suffer dramatic performance problems/slowdowns. Was thinking Leopard would be nice but not sure. Can anyone suggest the best OS X version for a G4 PowerBook 1 GHz 512MB SDRAM though I am looking into upgrading the SDRAM to at least 2GB.



Thanks.

kingofsomewherehot

I wouldn't hesitate to run 10.5.x on it. Do up the RAM though. It made a huge difference on my 1.5 G4 when i went from 512 to 2 GB.



I'm running 10.4 on a G3 without problems (well... not OS related problems anyway ), and 10.5 on my 1.5 G4 runs almost as well as on the C2D iMac. Go for the latest and greatest baby !!

ivan.rnn01

Tiger is the best for a machine of that generation, yet Leopard runs seamlessly, no any major problems. iMovie'08 and later can't run w/out special complex tweaks (iMovie'06 is offered by Apple).

pb

Quote:

Originally Posted by masstrkiller


Can anyone suggest the best OS X version for a G4 PowerBook 1 GHz 512MB SDRAM though I am looking into upgrading the SDRAM to at least 2GB.



Thanks.

If the machine finally remains with 512 MB of memory, then the best you could have is Mac OS X 10.3.9. If you upgrade to 2 GB, then you can consider Tiger. Leopard would be heavy for this Powerbook, for my personal preference at least.

oldcodger73

I have a G4 TiBook 867 with IGB RAM, the maximum amount for that machine, presently running 10.3.9.



I'm wondering about upgrading to Leopard. Both the RAM and speed are the minimum for 10.5. This is a second computer and is used primarily for email, web surfing, and some light duty Excel, Word and PS, CS 1 version.



Any thoughts about the advisability of upgrading?



If it's not a good idea, where can one get a legal copy of 10.4?



Thanks.

kingofsomewherehot

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldCodger73


I have a G4 TiBook 867 with IGB RAM, the maximum amount for that machine, presently running 10.3.9.



I'm wondering about upgrading to Leopard. Both the RAM and speed are the minimum for 10.5. This is a second computer and is used primarily for email, web surfing, and some light duty Excel, Word and PS, CS 1 version.



Any thoughts about the advisability of upgrading?



If it's not a good idea, where can one get a legal copy of 10.4?



Thanks.

Go with 10.5 ... it'll work just fine.

kcmac

I use the latest version of Leopard on my rev A 12" PB 867. I did bump it up to 1.12 GB of Ram though. Runs great. I am using the latest version of iWork but am am using an older version of iLife.



I will be getting a new laptop with Snow Leopard. Am finally giving up on Apple ever coming out with a 12" again.

future-ex-pc-user

Hi!

I'm running a Rev. A 12" Powerbook, but only with 640MB Ram. I use however a 7200rpm harddrive. At the moment I'm very successfully using 10.4, but I am thinking of upgrading to 10.5 for being able to use iphoto 8 and some other Leopard only applications.

Can you please comment on the speed decrease/increase from 10.4 to 10.5 on your Powerbook? I won't upgrade my Ram on this machine, since I'm planning to buy a new computer with 10.6. I still didn't give up the hope for a new 12" Powerbook with anti-glare screen ;-)..

I've tried 10.5 once from an external 4200rpm hard-drive and it was good speed-wise, but I have no real life experience. Would you recomend an upgrade?

Thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcmac


I use the latest version of Leopard on my rev A 12" PB 867. I did bump it up to 1.12 GB of Ram though. Runs great. I am using the latest version of iWork but am am using an older version of iLife.



I will be getting a new laptop with Snow Leopard. Am finally giving up on Apple ever coming out with a 12" again.

bindigok

I have a PowerBook G4 with 1.67GHz, a little faster than yours, but I upped my RAM to 2 GB. Leopard runs perfectly, even with 1GB of RAM (and I can run Photoshop CS2 and Aperture 2 just fine). Go with Leopard, it's a great OS and should be fine. Some of the advanced features and apps won't work smoothly, but they are things that are not in Tiger anyway.

kcmac

Quote:

Originally Posted by future-ex-pc-user


Hi!

I'm running a Rev. A 12" Powerbook, but only with 640MB Ram. I use however a 7200rpm harddrive. At the moment I'm very successfully using 10.4, but I am thinking of upgrading to 10.5 for being able to use iphoto 8 and some other Leopard only applications.

Can you please comment on the speed decrease/increase from 10.4 to 10.5 on your Powerbook? I won't upgrade my Ram on this machine, since I'm planning to buy a new computer with 10.6. I still didn't give up the hope for a new 12" Powerbook with anti-glare screen ;-)..

I've tried 10.5 once from an external 4200rpm hard-drive and it was good speed-wise, but I have no real life experience. Would you recomend an upgrade?

Thanks

If you're going get a new laptop with Snow Leopard I would just save my money and wait. The speed difference between what we have now and an all new upgrade should be unbelievable. I am getting pretty excited for this to happen.



Leopard ran well before I updated the RAM but much better after. Noticeable. Your faster hard drive may be on par with my upgrade but I don't know for sure.



Keep hoping for that 12". I would like to see something smaller than a 13" for sure.

oldcodger73

Well after debating whether to upgrade my G4 TiBook 867 to Leopard, see post #5, I decided to do it. The upgrade went smoothly and all programs seem to be running at the same speed or a little faster. The big difference is in Safari, the old version 2.x was having problems with some website, while version 3.2.3 zips along with no problems accessing sites.



Before I upgraded to Leopard I cloned the 10.3.9 drive on to an external firewire one, so if I ever need to use a system 9 program I have that option.