Macs Keep Going and Going
- 2001.05.11
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I was looking around on TechNN the other day (which is one of the places I visit in my daily Web surfing routine), and I found an interesting article on c|net: Analysis: Windows 2000 clock ticking down. It talked about how companies who don't upgrade to Windows 2000 by the end of the current quarter should wait for Windows XP.
You probably think I have converted to PC and am worrying about upgrading Windows 95 on my own 200 MHz PC. I have not converted to PC; don't worry about that. (Yes, I am worrying about what version of Windows to put on my PC, but that's beside the point.)
What I did not like was a statement at the end of the article: "In practice, a machine should die with whatever operating system it was born with."
I do not agree with this statement at all. When you buy a machine, you don't buy it for a year and then replace it; you are spending that $1,000 or $1,500 or $2,500 on something that you hope will last you three years, maybe four. However, this may not be true for PCs anymore, but it is true with the Macintosh.
My Performa 6205CD, for example, shipped in 1995 with System 7.5.1 (which has been compared to Windows 95, but that is really comparing apples and oranges - no pun intended). Right now, the same 6205 is running Mac OS 9.0, and it can run 9.1. That's an operating system released in 2001 running on a six-year-old computer.
I can go even further than that. The Macintosh Plus was released in 1986. Nine years later you could run the then-current operating system (7.5.5) on it, even though it was sluggish. That was nine years later!
In terms of being able to run current operating systems on older hardware, the Macintosh wins almost every time. You can run Mac OS 9.1 on a Power Mac 7100/66 that shipped with System 7.1.2 in March 1994. You can run Mac OS 7.6.1 on a Mac IIci that first shipped with System 6.0.4 in September 1989. That's a 1997 operating system on a 1989 computer - and it runs well, too.
From my limited experience with PCs, Windows 95 does run on a 1989 vintage 80386-based PC, but it runs about as well as System 7.5 on an 8 MHz Plus. Windows 98 runs on a 75 MHz Pentium from 1995, but it can barely handle it.
This is one of those things that make me glad to be a Mac user. Macs are good, solid investments as computers that can easily last five or six years. Even if you don't plan to keep your computer for more than three or four years, if you have a Mac, you know that someone will be interested in buying your system once your needs have changed.
PC users can't guarantee this. Windows XP wants a 300 MHz Pentium-class chip (I have heard it is slow on this configuration), and setup is supposed to be somewhat difficult. In fact, what I have been hearing is that Microsoft recommends you not install it on anything made before 2000 (in other words, anything that shipped with Win95 is out of the question), and if you want fewer headaches, go out and buy a new computer with XP preinstalled. With some 34% of PC users still using Win95 and about 45% using Win98 (I bet a number of those people upgraded from 95), how many people are going to be able to use XP? The answer: less than half of PC users.
Now for Mac OS X. The beige G3/233 shipped in November 1997 with Mac OS 8, and Mac OS X's minimum requirement is a G3/233 with 128 MB of RAM and 1.1 GB of hard drive space. Very simple. None of that "Well, if you have this type of processor and this amount of RAM, it may work," or "Since your computer does not have a supported (graphics card/sound card), you will need to upgrade it by installing this, that, and the other."
Since Macs last a long time and have the ability to run the current version of the OS for longer, Macs end up saving you time and money in the long term.
"In practice, a machine should die with whatever operating
system it was born with" does not apply to the Mac. Instead of
dying with the OS it was born with, a Mac can keep going and going
with an OS made years after the machine itself.
Recent Apple Archive articles
- iPods, notebooks, and other modern electronics more readily replaced than repaired, 12.07. Whether it's an intermittent failure or a broken display cable, more often than not it's cheaper to replace a broken electronics device than repair it.
- Options for replacing your older iPod, 11.19. Whether you've run out of space on your old iPod or want features it doesn't have, here are your options in new and used iPods.
- Could the $200 'green' PC with gOS Linux become a threat to Apple?, 11.14. The low cost, low power Everex desktop comes with a customized version of Ubuntu Linux, has a Mac-like Dock, and sells for $400 less than the Mac mini.
- Leopard different, a bit buggy, but worth the upgrade, 11.02. Leopard on a Power Mac G4 and a MacBook Pro: It runs well on both computers, but each has some odd bugs, and some of the changes are a step backwards.
- More in the Apple Archive index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: Macintosh LC, Oct. 1990 - only 3" tall, the LC was the least expensive color Mac in 1990.
- List of the Day: The iPhone List Low End Mac's forum for discussing and supporting Apple's iPhone.
- October 15 in LEM history: 90: Mac IIsi, LC, and Classic - 97: Yale threatens to drop Mac support - 99: Decelerate your Mac - Time magazine on Jobs and Apple - 01: Is Microsoft the enemy? - 02: Confessions of a Mac to PC convert - The IT job market - 03: Microsoft's holding pattern - 04: October 1990: The first low-end Macs - Dual core 'Books - 07: When to pick Tux - SteelSeries 4D the best mousepad ever? - Irrational rantings of an Intel hater
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- The October 2008 MacBook Value Equation, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 10.15. Apple changed the entire MacBook lineup on Tuesday. How do close-out prices compare to the new ones?
- G3 and Low End G4 Mac Performance Comparison, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 10.15. Factors that impact performance are the version of CPU, the size and speed of the Level 2 cache, and how much RAM is installed.
- The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Apple Design, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 10.15. Apple has produced some beautiful computers and iPods over the years, but also a few of the ugliest and most ungainly computers ever seen.
- 3 Reasons to Use a Mac, and Pismo Troubleshooting, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 10.15. Why one Windows user is also a Mac user, a Pismo that can't see its AirPort card, and sources of kernel panics.
- Best MacBook Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.15. Used 1.83 GHz, $649; 2.0 SD, $750; refurb 2.1 GHz, $849; 2.4, $1,049; black, $1,099; new 2.1, $869 after rebate; 2.4, $1,175 a/r; black, $1,194 a/r.
- Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.15. Used 2.0 GHz Core Duo, $1,000; 2.16, $1,100; refurb, 2.4, $1,349; new, $1,444 after rebate; refurb 2.5, $1,499; new, $1,644 a/r; refurb 2.6, $1,799; new, $2,594 a/r.
- Best MacBook Air Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.15. Used 1.6 80 HD, $1,200; refurb, $1,349; new, $1,549; 1.8 120, $1,999; 1.6 128 SSD, $2,299; used 1.8 64 SSD, $1,800; new, $2,100.
- MacBook (Unibody), 10.14. The MacBook gets the same aluminum treatment as the MacBook Pro - and dedicated GeForce 9400M graphics.
- 15" MacBook Pro (Unibody), 10.14. The new MacBook Pro's case is carved from a block of aluminum for increased strength.
- MacBook Air (GeForce), 10.14. More storage, a video port, and GeForce 9400M graphics improve the MacBook Air.
- MacBook White, 10.14. Entry-level white MacBook gets a SuperDrive, retail price reduced to US$999.
- Death of the iPod 'Way Off in the Future', Tim Nash, Taking Back the Market, 10.14. Someday Apple will decide that the iPod is no longer profitable and discontinue it, "but that day looks to be way off in the future."
- Best Intel iMac Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.14. Used 20" 1.83 GHz, $599; 2.0, $730; 2.16, $800; 24", $950; refurb 17" 1.83, $699; 20" 2.0, $949; 2.4, $999; 2.66, $1,299; 24" 2.4, $1,299; 2.8, $1,549; 3.06, $1,899; rebates on new.
- Best iBook G3 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.14. Used 300 MHz clamshell, $150; 366, $199; 500 CD, $149; 800, $190; 600 DVD, $200; CD-RW, $240; 700 Combo, $250; 900, $369; 14" 600, $230; 900, $449.
- Best Classic iPod Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.14. Used 60 GB color, $150; used 30 video, $140; 80, $170; refurb 80 classic, $169; new 120 GB, $240; refurb 160 GB, $249; new, $280. New & refurb include shipping.
- Will Apple's Rumored $800 Notebook Be a Netbook?, Charles W. Moore, 'Book Value, 10.13. Netbooks are hot, and with the economy in turmoil, Apple needs to offer a netbook for the OS X crowd.
- Best Titanium PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.13. Used 667 MHz Combo, $480; 867 MHz, $530; 1 GHz, $590; SuperDrive, $900.
- Best Classic Mac OS Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.13. System 6, $10; 7.1, $12; 7.5.1, $4; Mac OS 7.6, $13; 8.0, $13; 8.1, $48; 8.5, $25; 8.6, $20; 9.0, $20; 9.2.2, $20; more.
- Best Xserve Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 10.13. Used G4/1 GHz, $999; G5/2 GHz, $1,499; new 2.0 4-core Xeon, $1,900; refurb 3.0 4-core, $2,299; 2.8 GHz, $2,599; 3.0 8-core, $3,499; 3.2, $3,699.
- More links in our archive.
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