Powermac with Mac OS X 10.3.9

[prince_mallow]

Hi, I guess the best way to describe my issue is to sum it up by telling you that I am a pretty hardcore windows user, as well as fairly decent linux user. But when it comes to macs I just want to throw the thing out the window.

I have a powermac (i think: It's a big heavy boxy tower that has four handles on each corner and opens by pulling on a latch on one side and the whole motherboard comes down with the panel.) I would love to get more use of the thing, but the problem I get is that I can't really do anything with it. It has the microsoft office series, it has photoshop, and it has some pretty cool stuff but it seems the tools I used are all for a more modern version of OS X.

Even getting to this website and posting this post was hair wrenching due to the speed and inability to click on the quick login button in the small of the upper right hand corner because the button wouldn't "click". lol. I'm sorry I do not want to sound like I am putting up a rant on macs: I would just like to know, what can I do to make this mac better, and what can I do on this mac?
Are their sites dedicated to showing which software is compatible with this OS?
Please help teach me the mac ways so that I can add another notch to my belt

Thank you all for your help in advance.

 

[chscag]

Moved to appropriate forum. Title changed for clarity.

Welcome to the Mac Forums. Hopefully you'll receive some good suggestions soon.

 

[prince_mallow]

Moved to appropriate forum. Title changed for clarity.

Welcome to the Mac Forums. Hopefully you'll receive some good suggestions soon.

Thanks, I hope to find out what I can do with this baby soon

 

[Buzzard2010]

If you are interested in upgrading your powermac, download a little app called mactracker (link below), when installed open it and click on "This Mac", it will tell you how much RAM you can install on it, the latest OS you can install etc.
Mactracker

- Simon

 

[hughvane]

Welcome to the PPC Time Warp .

Firstly, let's get the precise model. If it's PPC tower, it'll be a G3, G4, or G5. You can get the information from a panel at the rear of the machine, near where the power plug, USB ports etc are.

Because it has OS 10.3.9 (Panther) on it, I suspect it's a G3 (blue) or G4 (blue, or grey). Have a look here Mac Specs, Prices, Answers, & Comparison @ EveryMac.com - Est. 1996 for pictures of your machine. Another good source of Mac information is Mactracker.

The slowness you're experiencing is due to processor speed, and the browser you're using. For processor details, click on the little blue apple symbol (top left), and About This Mac.

Then go to Applications - which browser are you using, and what version?

As for the software, someone may have loaded later versions of, for example, Office and Photoshop, in error, although Office 04 will work fine with Panther (I haven't tried P'Shop with either my two G3 machines).

Mac tower machines are generally reliable, keeping in mind the old adage of 'horses for courses', and a genuine dream to work on (ie. HD, optical drive upgrade, etc) if you're of a technical persuasion.

 

[Mac SK]

Even getting to this website and posting this post was hair wrenching due to the speed and inability to click on the quick login button in the small of the upper right hand corner because the button wouldn't "click".

Thats a browser issue. You need to upgrade the browser. I use Camino. Also check that the firewall is turned on.

 

[hughvane]

A √ vote for Camino (a lesser cousin of Firefox). It doesn't draw too much processing power, whereas FFox (both are from Mozilla) is a hungry beast.

 

[justin_clark93]

Check the "About this Mac" section under the apple menu in the upper left of the screen. See how much RAM you have, and try upgrading it if possible. Also, if you have a G3 processor, I would say forget about it, and maybe even a slower G4. Later G4s and G5s are good.