Leopard on a G5
I know, it's not an unsupported machine... but I have a question for the assembled. This this just me? Here's the deal... I've just got my iMac G5 back from repair, thanks to Apple generously arranging a small warranty extension for me, as my machine has a known PSU problem. Just before it died, I upgraded it from 1GB of RAM to 2GB. It's a 20" model, 2GHz CPU, on its stock 250GB SATA hard disk. I have a second 19" monitor plugged in as well. The thing is, I've just been catching up on LowEndMac and I've been reading all these articles about people running 10.5 on below-spec G4s and commenting on how nice and fast they are, and how high-end G4s are still pleasant machines. While my Mac was away, I tried shifting back to a borrowed 1.5GHz G4 mini with my old copy of Tiger on it. I couldn't work on it - it was just too sluggish. So, I stripped down, cleaned and rebuilt my PC, which was replaced by the iMac. It's an Athlon XP 2800 with 1G of RAM and 120 & 60GB hard disks. I tried Vista for a while, but I didn't like it. I was using the cut-down "TinyVista" distribution, which actually runs acceptably on a "low-spec" PC such as a just-under-3GHz box with "only" a gig of RAM. It worked all right, was usably quick, but it adds nothing to XP and I missed some small XP features like the tree view in Explorer. So when Vista timed out and started demanding to be activated, I gave up and put a fresh install of the newly-released version of Ubuntu on it. And lo, with a bit of mucking around to import my home directory and settings from my old copy of Ubuntu 7.04, it all works fine. Ubuntu on a 32-bit Athlon 2800 is pleasant, quick and responsive. It's not a blisteringly quick PC by modern standards but it's entirely usable. The biggest let-down on Ubuntu is OpenOffice, which is a bit sluggish, but usable - it's mainly just starting it and opening documents that takes a few seconds. Now I have the Mac back and I've switched back to Leopard, which I prefer as an OS to Linux, even though my Linux desktop is more customisable. The thing is, I am finding it distinctly sluggish. It's nowhere *near* as quick as my Ubuntu machine. This was a clean install of Leopard maybe 6mth ago. I don't use it heavily. I need Firefox, Skype, Adium, Thunderbird and Word 2004 to work. Firefox feels so sluggish with a dozen-plus tabs open in a couple of windows that I've started keeping Safari open too, just for Gmail, as that's an intensive web page and slows down Firefox. To get a quicker version of Safari, I'm running the nightly build of Webkit. It can barely keep up with me typing this message in Gmail; the cursor lags a fraction of a second behind as I type. (I do about 80wpm.) I often have things like iTunes open in the background, streaming some ambient internet radio station like Sofaspace or DidgheadRadio. I may have a console open or a copy of Preview. BOINC is my screensaver but I don't let it run in the background. But this machine really drags its feet. It is not pleasant to use; it's really frustrating to have to wait several seconds for Firefox to start responding to mouse clicks, or to hit backspace half a dozen times before Gmail notices and deletes a word all in one go and maybe overshoots. If so many people are happy with Leopard on a G4, why is my G5 so disappointing? I don't know what to do. I don't think there's anything wrong with my installation. My CPU usage goes up and down but the machine is often only doing 50-75%. I have loads of memory. I am not doing anything CPU-intensive like compiling code or running big Photoshop filters. The iMac dual-boots into Tiger and that's not noticeably quicker. I really wish there was some way I could upgrade my machine to an Intel motherboard, but I believe all the innards are different. They're only the same on the outside. I'm tempted to build a Hackintosh and try that out. My PC is elderly and lacks the horsepower to do stuff like virtualisation of modern OSs, which would be useful to me. But this iMac is >< that close to being relegated to my TV set and movie player or something, which would be a shame and a waste of what ought to be a nice machine. Comments? Thoughts? -- Liam Proven • Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamproven Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] • GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 • Cell: +44 7939-087884 • Fax: + 44 870-9151419 AOL/AIM/iChat: [EMAIL PROTECTED] • MSN/Messenger: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo: [EMAIL PROTECTED] • Skype: liamproven • ICQ: 73187508 --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send em
Re: Leopard on a G5
On Dec 9, 2008, at 12:11 PM, Liam Proven wrote: > I don't know what to do. I don't think there's anything wrong with my > installation. My CPU usage goes up and down but the machine is often > only doing 50-75%. "Only 50-75%" is a pretty hefty load, but I don't think this is your problem. > I have loads of memory. I am not doing anything > CPU-intensive like compiling code or running big Photoshop filters. > The iMac dual-boots into Tiger and that's not noticeably quicker. You mention 'a dozen plus tabs open in Firefox' as a normal occurrence, plus webkit at the same time. I'll wager if you install a flash blocker in Firefox and Safari it'll help things. Flash is the king of all CPU-suckers. Look in Activity Monitor and see what's hogging the CPU and memory. -- Bruce Johnson University of Arizona College of Pharmacy Information Technology Group Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
Re: Leopard on a G5
2008/12/9 Bruce Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > > > On Dec 9, 2008, at 12:11 PM, Liam Proven wrote: > >> I don't know what to do. I don't think there's anything wrong with my >> installation. My CPU usage goes up and down but the machine is often >> only doing 50-75%. > > "Only 50-75%" is a pretty hefty load, but I don't think this is your > problem. > > >> I have loads of memory. I am not doing anything >> CPU-intensive like compiling code or running big Photoshop filters. >> The iMac dual-boots into Tiger and that's not noticeably quicker. > > You mention 'a dozen plus tabs open in Firefox' as a normal > occurrence, plus webkit at the same time. I'll wager if you install a > flash blocker in Firefox and Safari it'll help things. Flash is the > king of all CPU-suckers. > > Look in Activity Monitor and see what's hogging the CPU and memory. Worth a try. Yes, lots of tabs is normal for me - I'm a journalist, so I am usually fossicking around online looking for stories and leads. I run AdBlock+ in both Firefox and Safari/Webkit as a matter of course, so I don't normally see a lot of Flash. I used to use FlashBlock on my G3. Flash is one of the few programs I've seen that genuinely seems to use Altivec and it was dog-slow on a G3 CPU, so I blocked it. I will try it and see! -- Liam Proven • Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamproven Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] • GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 • Cell: +44 7939-087884 • Fax: + 44 870-9151419 AOL/AIM/iChat: [EMAIL PROTECTED] • MSN/Messenger: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo: [EMAIL PROTECTED] • Skype: liamproven • ICQ: 73187508 --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
Re: Leopard on a G5
What's the best flash blocker that I can easily tum on and off and manage the settings, such as no flash on sites I don't have bookmarked or something. Thx! __ Sent from Joey's iPhone 3G 2.1 on AT&T's all-new wireless network. Visit www.apple.com/iphone for more information. Apple & AT&T - Raising the Bar. On Dec 10, 2008, at 5:45 AM, "Liam Proven" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > 2008/12/9 Bruce Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: >> >> >> On Dec 9, 2008, at 12:11 PM, Liam Proven wrote: >> >>> I don't know what to do. I don't think there's anything wrong with >>> my >>> installation. My CPU usage goes up and down but the machine is often >>> only doing 50-75%. >> >> "Only 50-75%" is a pretty hefty load, but I don't think this is your >> problem. >> >> >>> I have loads of memory. I am not doing anything >>> CPU-intensive like compiling code or running big Photoshop filters. >>> The iMac dual-boots into Tiger and that's not noticeably quicker. >> >> You mention 'a dozen plus tabs open in Firefox' as a normal >> occurrence, plus webkit at the same time. I'll wager if you install a >> flash blocker in Firefox and Safari it'll help things. Flash is the >> king of all CPU-suckers. >> >> Look in Activity Monitor and see what's hogging the CPU and memory. > > Worth a try. > > Yes, lots of tabs is normal for me - I'm a journalist, so I am usually > fossicking around online looking for stories and leads. I run AdBlock+ > in both Firefox and Safari/Webkit as a matter of course, so I don't > normally see a lot of Flash. > > I used to use FlashBlock on my G3. Flash is one of the few programs > I've seen that genuinely seems to use Altivec and it was dog-slow on a > G3 CPU, so I blocked it. > > I will try it and see! > > > -- > Liam Proven • Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamproven > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] • GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 • Cell: +44 7939-087884 • Fax: + 44 > 870-9151419 > AOL/AIM/iChat: [EMAIL PROTECTED] • MSN/Messenger: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > om > Yahoo: [EMAIL PROTECTED] • Skype: liamproven • ICQ: 73187508 > > --~--~-~--~~~---~--~~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to g3-5-list@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~--~~~~--~~--~--~---
