Hi,
What is peoples opinion on the best software setup for an iMac G3 <500mhz, 256-512mb RAM. I am thinking of installing Tiger (perhaps with dashboard and maybe spotlight disabled depending on performance) but am unsure as to which would be the most responsive office suite to install? Appleworks, MS Office or some freeware stuff? Does not need to be anything fancy - just as fast as possible.
Thanks in advance.
Mark,
I am not sure what you are asking.
Do you mean OS wise or what?
I have a burnt orange iMac that I run OS 9.2 on.
If it were my machine, I'd keep it at 9.2.2, and use the WamCom version of Mozilla web browsing.
You don't mention the speed of the iMac, but I wouldn't bother with OS X unless you're above at least 350 MHz, and then I'd probably aim for installing Panther. That's just personal opinion, and others may disagree. It's still not likely to be a speed demon on the 'net, but you'll have a bit more compatibility than under OS 9.
Apologies, I'm not sure what I'm asking either - no idea what happened to the rest of my post!
What is peoples opinion on the best software setup for an iMac G3 slot loading, under 500mhz in terms of office suite. I am not after the most powerful thing available (computer is for an elderly relative) just something that will run slick - I like Bean as a minimalist word processor but sadly the creator has not made more programs to make up an office suite. I am considering the final version of Appleworks but have not used it before and would appreciate opinions - obviously there are alternatives such as MS Office, Neooffice, etc, but I do not know how well these would run on an older machine?
I am yet to pick the OS between Panther and Tiger - I think I will select Tiger as, from what I have read, there is very little to no performance difference between the two if I run 256-512mb RAM. I may also consider disabling the Dashboard and Spotlight which should end up with a decent little machine?
Thanks again
My two cents:
1. Max out the RAM. Slot loaders use PC100 RAM which is plentiful and cheap. Depending on which specific model you have, you can put either 512MB or 1GB in it.
2. I'd track down a copy of MS Office v.X; at least that way you can share files with the outside world, or make it easier should you want to convert them to a newer format.
Hi,
Thanks for the reply. Office v.X looks like it may be a winner so far - thanks for bringing it to light.
I would ideally have 512mb RAM in it - as you say PC100/PC133 is cheap at the moment.
I think with Tiger (stripped of Dashboard and maybe Spotlight), 512MB RAM and Office v.X the system should be fairly ok for light use?
Thanks again.