Testing 10.2 on a PowerBook Wallstreet

[macosXrumors]

I have just posted an article that users of old G3s or first generation G4s owners may find interesting. I tested Jaguar Final Release on a PowerBook Wallstreet @ 233Mhz which is the slowest configuration that runs Mac OS X. It will help some of you to see if the switch is now worth it.

it's here!

[stizz]

(from the above link).....

updated..

Testing Jaguar Final Release on a PowerBook Wallstreet.

For those still hesitating switching to Jaguar with their G3 or G4, here is a test I did of the Jaguar Final Release on my PowerBook G3 Wallstreet running at only 233Mhz with 384Mb of SDRAM and an IBM Travelstar 30Gb hard disk. I have more recents Mac but I prefered testing it first on my Wallstreet as it's the slowest configuration that can run Mac OS X, it's even slower the the iMac revision A because of its hard disk which is only 4200RPM. After reading this article you'll know if the switch to Jaguar is now worth it for your Mac.

The first change to notice is that Jaguar boots quite faster than 10.1.5 on my PowerBook. Anyway, I don't think I'm going to use the shut down function any longer because Mac OS X is very stable and I prefer the sleep mode. There's also a really cool boot screen with a gray Apple logo in the center.

Once Jaguar has booted, I saw an overall performance boost, with an acceptable speed even on a 233Mhz G3 based Mac but to be honest I thought it would be faster. Internet Explorer is still slow, I switched to Chimera for my PowerBook until something like iWeb comes along.

For office apps, internet and software development, the PowerBook running Jaguar is a descent platform. Applications like MS Office, Apple's iAppz and development tools run fast enough even under intensive use. Design applications like Adobe's Photoshop or Dreamweaver run a bit faster on Jaguar but not fast enough as not to get bored by their dodgy speed with everyday use. As for Golive, I don't know if it's Adobe's development team fault, but it's really too slow. It was so, even on my G4, maybe a future version will run better on Mac OS X.

As for multimedia stuff like Games and DivX playback just forget it. OpenGL support on ATI Rage Pro based Macs seems to be activated, I tried the Carbon/OpenGL version of DirtBike and some OpenGL based screen savers like Cyclone which all run but very slowly. Anyway, even on Mac OS 9, you'll notice that this generation of Macs aren't a descent gaming platform. The Sims is the only not too old game that is playable on my PowerBook.

I don't have the DVD kit for the PowerBook G3 so I couldn't see if Jaguar supports it but there is a hope for owners of DVD players. Although the DVD decoding PCMCIA is not likely to be supported by Jaguar, there is still a possibility to play DVDs with the help of QuickTime's MPEG-2 plug-in or with third party software like VLC. I couldn't try it because I'm on holidays and I don't have any DVD-media here. I tested QuickTime playback to see if it's still as laggy as it was on 10.1.x. on old Macs. Playing MPEG-1/MPEG-2 is not lagging a lot until you switch to full screen mode which I would not recommend. So if the MPEG-2 decoding PCMCIA card is not recognized (can someone test that?), forget, even DVD playback. You'd better keep a Mac OS 9 installation on your hard disk for that purpose.

There is also something else that PowerBook G3 users should forget about. There is no support for the Cardbus zoomed video feature. So if you have video-in PCMCIA cards like Irez' Capsure there is very little hope to see drivers on Mac OS X for that kind of hardware. Irez' support staff confirm that.

I also had some problems when I tryied to connect my PowerBook to the internet using its internal 56K modem. Internet Connect doesn't even want to dial. It worked very well on 10.1 so I don't understand why this problem occurs. Fortunately, I mainly use an Ethernet based connection. Well after some days I retried and it dialed, but I still don't know why it didn't want to dial the first day.

In terms of features, Jaguar now beats Mac OS 9. I was particularly impressed with Sherlock which is really helpful, it lets you find what you want faster and easier, though it's still quite confusing for non-US users. iChat is a really descent AIM client though ICQ support would really be appreciated too. Apple has also really worked on stability. After two weeks of testing it, I had no freeze, no kernel panic, not even application unexpected quits (except Chimera).

I think the switch to Jaguar is now worth it, even for G3 based Mac owners. Those who have already switched to Mac OS X 10.0 or 10.1, must have paid for this switch around $300 in total. I'd advise to owners of PowerBook G3 Wallstreet or first generation iMacs, a processor upgrade to at least 500Mhz G3 and why not G4. There are many cool and affordable processor upgrades available for this very popular generation of Macs.

Now let me add something important that is a bit irrelevant to what I mentioned above. I was quite happy to notice that Greek keyboard layout has been added on Jaguar, but I was disappointed when I saw that it only works with Cocoa applications so it isn't compatible with Microsoft Office which is a Carbon application. Rainbow Computer which is the equivalent of Apple in Greece, has developed its own completely localized Mac OS X with support of Greek input on Carbon/Cocoa applications, but they only allow those who can prove that they have purchased their Mac in Greece to buy it for 144Euro. It would be nice if Apple US could include at least full (Carbon/Cocoa) Greek input support and why not localization to Mac OS X on the standard version, there are thousands of Mac users around the world that need to use Greek language and there is currently no way to do that if they don't buy their Mac at a higher price on www.applestore.gr. All this could be easier if Apple could use the work that Rainbow Computer team has done.

As I had informed you that I was preparing this article, Thanks to other Powerbook Wallstreet owners for your feedback. I hope I answered to all your questions. Those who finally decided to switch to Jaguar, let me inform you that you can do this switch while helping macosXrumors by ordering it from that link I recently added on the head of the site's front page.

[macosXrumors]

stizz I'm correcting some mistypes on the article, can you please update the thread so that the copied article is ok ?

There is no sense to copy/pasting that here. If you think it's anoying and unuseful then ask the admin to delete that thread. If my site was full of banners it would maybe have some sense...

[Aftershock]

I have a 300Mhz Wallstreet PB, and AFAIK you can only upgade it to 192 MB?

[macosXrumors]

I upgraded my mine to 384M. You need a full-sized 256M SODIM module for the first SODIM connector and a mid-sized 128M module for the second SODIM connector.

Wallstreet doesn't accept mid-sized modules larger than 128M, they accept full-sized only 256M modules.

I hope I helped you.

[earthshine]

Hi, I'm happy there's improvement with the new OS. This is great news. I own this particular model Powerbook.

I have a question, though. My PowerBook still has its original 2GB drive. I've heard that this is a 2-CD install, and 3 if you want developer tools. Is this the OS that swallows my drive whole? I'm mildly worried.

I've Cardbussed my way to an external FireWire 60GB drive, but it isn't bootable.

Perhaps I could put a new internal drive in the 'Book, 40GB for $200 doesn't sound bad. Anyone know if that pre-existing 'OS X must reside on the first 8GB partition on Wallstreets' rule applies to 10.2 also?

Thanks for the incredibly apt Jaguar review.

eshine*eshine

[Snowball]

OS 10.2 will need about 1.9 GB to install, so even if your drive is 2 GB large, the actual formatted space will be less. So you will definitely need to get a bigger internal HD if you want to use any OS X release.

As to the issue with the 8 GB partition to run OS X, this is a firmware issue with the WallStreet lineup as well as the first revision of the iMac, and since the firmware in these models is OldWorld (i.e. non-upgradable) no OS X release will change this limitation. Sorry. But at least this situation makes you do a good practice of partitioning your internal HD.

[Zarembo]

Just wanted to let you know my Wallstreet handles 512 megs of ram. I've read Sonnet makes an upgrade card that handles this amount of ram. After I get a new Ti-book, I'll upgrade my Wallstreet to a 500 mhz, I think, G4 Sonnet . That should make it very useable for my children.