Hi Matthew!
Just a few comments, FWIW.
OSX is processor hungry and RAM hungry. Our iMac (600 MHz, 768 MB RAM)
is slow. We really must replace it with another Dual PM soon. That
said, my wife LOVES what she can do with it. She runs Photoshop and
Word, putting together relatively massive picture documents, internets,
does her mail, has a large genealogy database (Reunion 8), all without
closing programs. OSX puts in RAM what you are currently using and the
dynamically allocated RAM is a godsend! It keeps track of everything
very well and lets you operate efficiently, even with lots of programs
running simultaneously. Sometimes patience is required while it adopts
to a change in your work flow.
Although my personal opinion is that OSX is far superior to OS9, I have
friends who lament the way OSX does things. If you are heavily
dependent on how OS9 operates, particularly regarding finder window
management, OSX will take some getting used to. I have little OS9
experience so I fell right into the groove (coming from Amiga). OSX is
sweet! And of course, it is the future.
Jaguar has one advantage over the later cats. It packs more icons on a
screen. If this would be important to you, consider it. I've been
reluctant to move "up" for that reason. Bruce Johnson says Tiger is
the most stable cat, and his opinion carries a lot of weight with me.
OSX loves screen real estate, and so will you if you convert. My
experience is notably better with my 19" monitor than the 17" I used
previous to that.
A friend bought a 350 MHz G3 B&W(?) and is thrilled how Jag runs on it,
especially with his recent move from 256 MB to 512 MB RAM. His 1st OSX
machine is a 500 MHz iMac. He was OS9 for years.
There will be an adjustment period, but in the end it will be worth it,
IMNSHO. ;^)
I suggest you make the change sometime soon, and save your pennies for
upgrades. Personally, I feel OSX needs a DP 1 GHz or better. YMMV.
But you must let your conscience be your guide.
- Peter Schaff
On Wednesday, June 15, 2005, at 10:31 AM, Matthew W. Schmeer wrote:
Hey all:
I'm back on the list after a long absence since moving to Overland
Park,
Kansas.
At any rate, I'm looking to finally make the jump to OS X at home, as
my
work machine will be replaced with a OS X-only booting machine this
fall (I
teach at a community college), and I have a few major questions.
First,
here's my system configuration:
B&W G3 400Mhz (stock, not overclocked, no ZIF upgrade)
Stock Apple CD/DVD-ROM drive
Mac OS 9.2.2
Original ATI video card w/DVD hardware daughtercard
1 80GB WD Caviar drive, partitioned into two OS 9 boot volumes
1 10GB Maxtor drive (stock), one OS 9 boot volume
1 250MB Maxtor SCSI drive (from on old LC II!) on an internal Adaptec
SCSI
card (non-booting, used as a temp drive for cache files in the past,
now
just sort of superfluous).
512 MB RAM
IOGear 4-port USB PCI card
Stock Apple 56k fax/modem (used to fax, primarily with the bundled
FaxSTF)
Epson 740i
StyleWriter II via Belkin Serial Adapter
External USB Iomega Zip 100
External D-Link 7-port USB Hub
External BusLink USB Floppy
LiteOn 52x24x52x CD-RW in external FireWire Case
External Samsung 4x CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive in USB case
Canon Digital Rebel EOS digital camera (6 MP one, the older model)
This machine is NOT connected to the Internet, as I get free Internet
access
at work and my wife likes to see me when I'm at home.
Now, here are the questions:
1) Moving to X, is it better to move this machine to X.3.9 and stick
with
that, or jump straight to X.4.2 (Macintouch is reporting a X.4.2 update
today). For those of you running Tiger, is it stable enough on your
machine
or are you seeing lots of incompatibilities with hardware, software,
etc.?
2) Aside from Dashboard and Spotlight (which, truthfully, I think are
cool,
but have no serious need for), what are the advantages of Tiger over
Panther
for the B&W G3, or vice versa?
3) I'm not in a position to purchase hardware upgrades; how can I
ensure the
maximum performance out of OS X on this machine?
4) Do the perhiphrials I've listed here function as well under X as
they do
under 9, in terms of driver reliability?
I want to make this leap because, obviously, X is the future of the
Mac, and
when I purchase a new Mac down the line, I'll need to be familiar with
the
system.
I realize that transitioning from 9.2.2 to X is a leap in terms of the
OS
structure, but I'm not as concerned about the learning curve as I am
about
productivity and system stability on my current machine. I also
realize
I'll have to invest in upgrading some older software packages to their
newer
versions, but most that I have are Carbon apps anyway and should keep
working on the new system. Having to re-invest in Spell Catcher and a
few
other essential utilities that I rely on in 9.2.2 will hurt my
pocketbook a
bit, too, but better late than never.
I'm subscribed in Digest mode, so if I don't respond right away, please
don't take it the wrong way.
Regards,
Matthew Schmeer
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