New Mac User Purchasing Help

I'm new to mac and have just got an ibook g4 (A1134) for free as had smashed screen and dud battery.

2nd hand screen fitted and it is now working.

I never used mac before and it is just so I can learn OSX.
Use windows 10 convertible and PC normally.

I know it is old and will have lots of short comings.

Any tips or warnings for a mac newbie?

Stay away from anti virus software.

Happy playing.

I'm replying to the thread title…"iBook G4 with 10.5.8 still useful"?

Depends what you mean by "useful". If by "useful" you meant:

- You have 10 year-old Mac software that you need to use…then yes.
- You will never want to do any "Internet Surfing"…then maybe.
- You will only use an internet connection to send/receive email…maybe.

The problem is OS 10.5.8 is an OLD OS. Apple has pretty much stopped supporting OS 10.6, 10.7, and 10.8. Thus 10.5.8 has not received any support in a long time! Which means it is more vulnerable than MUCH newer Mac OS versions (if you were do to a bunch of "internetting" with it).

And on top of everything else. Even if there were no security, identity theft, or loss of financial info risks…an iBook G4 + 10.5.8 = frustrating/slow internet experience.

- Nick

Thanks guys.

I have not used mac before and as this was free though be ok to teach myself mac before buying a new machine.

I am using omniweb now to view this site and in not much slower than my atom netbook I retired last year.
I can put up with slow while I learn the OS and it's pit falls and features.

I have office 2004 on it so it is kind of useful.

this is a teaching tool for myself.

Yes go with it. I would be reluctant to use it omn the 'net as Leopard OS X.5 has not had security updates for years now. Any newer Mac computer will have an Intel processor and many of the programs you are using now, Office 2004 etc, will have to be updated to newer, intel compatible versions.

As I said I'm new to Mac having been brought up in school/college with windows.

I have only had this mac a few days, with 10.4.11 but my work mate has 10.5.8 which will be installed today.

I am getting used to mac os and the keyboard short cuts are still taking time to get used to.
I'm used to a two button mouse.

I have been using it online and all seems ok.
I'm now using tenfourfox browser as we use google docs at my work.

I know mac used to be almost virus free but with its ever growing popularity I know it is changing.
This is one reason for the mac, windows 10....
It is ok but it is very invasive and likes to take over EVERYTHING!

The ibook G4 is about the same speed as my acer d150 netbook i retired last year and replaced with an asus ta100 convertible.
So old but still ok-ish.

elf69 said:

I know mac used to be almost virus free but with its ever growing popularity I know it is changing.

Click to expand...

Not true. Mac's still are virus free. And the popularity of Apple computers has actually dropped from about 10% back in 2010 to about 7% in 2015.

- Nick

I know of 2 malware for mac at least.

I work for a PC repair company.

Local to me more people are leaving windows and moving to apple and linux.

I'm very much liking mac and think I may well move to mac and sell my windows devices, except my desktop.
I do game a bit and my games don't work with mac.

pigoo3 said:

Not true. Mac's still are virus free. And the popularity of Apple computers has actually dropped from about 10% back in 2010 to about 7% in 2015.

- Nick

Click to expand...

Hmmm…??? Not too sure of those figures and their reliability Nick and my understanding was the world wide Apple installed computer user base for Apple was almost 25 percent of computer market share in 2012 and they've been breaking sales figures almost yearly since, and then add their iDevices for a huge installed number, but that's another and different OS (iOS).



- Patrick
======

Ahh you have been indoctrinated all too well about virusesand Macs. Malware is not a virus and if you do upadte to later that OS X.8 Mountain Lion, a great free program is Malwarebytes for Mac combating those threats.

pm-r said:

Hmmm…??? Not too sure of those figures and their reliability Nick and my understanding was the world wide Apple installed computer user base for Apple was almost 25 percent of computer market share in 2012 and they've been breaking sales figures almost yearly since, and then add their iDevices for a huge installed number, but that's another and different OS (iOS).

- Patrick
======

Click to expand...

Nick provided a graph along with those figures in another post (that I can't find right now), but what he says is true. The market share that has really grown for Apple has been iPhones and to some extent other iDevices. But right now the iPhone is Apple's bread and butter. I don't know about Apple figures for the installed computer user base, but HP and Dell and several others still outsell Apple and have a larger installed user base. I think (not sure) I saw somewhere that Lenevo (formerly IBM) sold the most portable computers.

I think maybe this is what you guys are talking about.....

pm-r said:

Hmmm…??? Not too sure of those figures and their reliability Nick and my understanding was the world wide Apple installed computer user base for Apple was almost 25 percent of computer market share in 2012 and they've been breaking sales figures almost yearly since...

Click to expand...

I am sure…because I did my research! As chscag mentioned. I responded similarly in another thread…with charts & links to articles citing the info posted.

Some Apple products may have a market share of around 25%…but it's not computers.

- Nick

p.s. Here's a link to the other post:

http://www.mac-forums.com/showthread.php?t=333131&p=1709311&viewfull=1#post1709311

elf69 said:

I know of 2 malware for mac at least.

Click to expand...

Virus's are a category of malware:

http://www.malwaretruth.com/the-list-of-malware-types/

You specifically mentioned virus's in your earlier post. And I was responded to that statement. There are no Mac virus's in the wild.

- Nick

Indeed no known viruses yet.

As said I'm new to mac os but very much liking it and thinking about swapping to mac for my everyday machine.

Had to take it apart to upgrade to 10.5 as optical is knacked.
Tried it in target mode but does not show up on my mates intel mac.

Took drive out (pain in a55 in a G4) but an intel mac will not install 10.5 to a usb HDD, complained about wrong CPU or something.

So waiting new optical drive to arrive now

elf69 said:

Indeed no known viruses yet.

Click to expand...

And no virus's for the past 15 years. And no current evidence that running AV now would be beneficial.

As I mentioned already earlier in this thread. Maybe some day we will need to be concerned about virus's on Apple computers. But today is not the day!

- Nick

Screen, battery, optical drive. Who knows what will be next as it is old. Do not put any more money into this obsolete machine.

Im looking at buying a macbook 4,1 (a1183) core2duo running 10.7 for £150.

I like mac but have little budget so cannot afford anything bigger/better.

Or might save up keep the ibook then buy a newer mac when can afford it.

macbook A1181 early 2008

I have an ibook G4 which i like, even if only used for few days...

So thinking of swapping from windows 10 to mac.

Been looking at an A1181 2.4Ghz core 2 duo.
If go for it will put in the 120GB SSD I got at home.

Are these good for everyday use?
Or should I save and buy newer?

Im new to mac but love the OS!

thanks guys....

elf69 said:

Are these good for everyday use?
Or should I save and buy newer?

Click to expand...

Save and buy newer.

- Nick