Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Hard Decisions About Software

Aside from actually acquiring a RetroBook is what you run on it, and I'm not even talking about Apps. The books operating system is the foundation on which your work environment will be built. These days, Mac OS' break down into three categories; OS 7~9.2 (now know as "Classic OS"), OS 10.2~10.4, and Linux. These will spread over the four broad categories of APPLE notebooks; 68K machines (PB 100~190, and the 500 series), PowerPC machines (5300, 1400, 3400 and 3500 "Kanga"), G3 Powerbooks (Built To Order series, Lombard and Pismo), and the iBooks (Clamshell and Dual USB types). For the 68K machines, you're relegated to OS 7~7.6.1, tho OS 8 has a backward reach capability for older hardware, but is a resource hog on these books, and it all comes down to how much physical RAM you have to work with. OS 8 was really that transitional operating system as Apple began to introduce the PowerPC architecture machines, but OS 8.5 would finally leave the 68K machine in the rear view mirror. All the PPC notebooks work well with OS 7.6.1, and has much to recommend it, especially how (comparatively) thrifty it is with system resources. For a PB 5300 or 1400, I'd go with OS 8.6, as this is the earliest OS that supports WiFi drivers, but a PB 3400/3500 is better suited to OS 9.1. All the G3 Powerbooks will support OS 9.2, which is the absolute best of the Classic OS family, being both feature filled and rock solid. But as we wander into OS X territory, you need to keep a few things in mind if you're hunting the big cats. The first G3 Powerbooks (the Built To Order, or Wallstreet books) have what's known as "Old World ROM's" and require special rules for running OS X. First off, even if you intend to load a dual boot OS system, the partition that will contain OS X MUST be in the first 8 gigs of the hard drive (actually, it's best to set up a partition no bigger that 7.45 gigs for the kitty). Wallstreets can natively take up to OS 10.2 Jaguar, but using software like XPost Facto you can install OS 10.3 Panther (OS 10.4 Tiger is out of the running as the Wallstreets lack the onboard VRAM to support Tiger well). The third generation Powerbook G3 (Lombard), can run up to OS 10.3, but again, XPost Facto can get Tiger running on it, which actually runs pretty good on it. But something to bare in mind with the Big Cats; APPLE's specs for them are on the low end. In my experience, whatever they tell you is recommended system for an OS, double it. While OS 10.4 Tiger on paper only needs 256mgs RAM, you only get really good performance with 512mgs installed. As for the iBooks, clamshells can take up to OS 10.3 and it's a match made in heaven. Dual USB iBooks (or "IceBooks") can take OS 10.4 Tiger, and should (RAM permitting). Then of course, there's Linux...

There's whole websites devoted to installing Linux on PPC notebooks, but for our purposes, there's just one word; UBUNTU. A very popular and well supported distribution, Ubuntu runs pretty well on Lombards, Pismos, and the iBooks, but WiFi is problematic under Ubuntu, so keep that in mind. Given that OS 10 is already a flavor of UNIX (BSD), Linux on a New World ROM machine is something of a lifestyle choise, but still worth considering. You can install Linux on Old World ROM machines... but that's a WHOLE posting in and of itself.

1 comment:

Yugosaki said...

It should also be noted that the wallstreet g3's have a maximum of 192 MB of RAM under OSX for some reason. I have 256 in mine, under OS9 it uses the full 256, but under OSX it only detects 192. Open Firmware can alleviate this, but be warned, that is treacherous territory.