Free and Low Cost Ways to Bring Some Leopard Features to Macs Running Tiger
Low End Mac Reader Specials
Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core 8GB kit $232 / 4GB kit $116 / 2GB kit $72. New Macbook 2GB DDR3-$65. HARD DRIVES available -- Free shipping / LIfetime warranty.
Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com
LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.
Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.
Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.
Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.
- 2007.10.29
Bookmark in del.icio.us 
Suggest to
Slashdot
It's official: If you're running Mac OS X 10.4.x, you are officially running outdated software.
Maybe you're ready to run Leopard - but your iBook G3 can't run it! (Some might say you shouldn't run even "Tiger" 10.4 on a G3, but I have a friend, running Panther with Photoshop CS2 on his 466 MHz clamshell G3 iBook, and Photoshop is faster for him than Photoshop CS is on my original MacBook - that just shows you the longevity of Macs.) So what is a poor G3 user to do?
Nothing.
That's right, you can do almost anything Leopard can do under Tiger.
Now before the Apple Thought Police come to my door in the middle of the night and send me to room 101, let me explain what I mean. Leopard has plenty of new features that Tiger doesn't offer natively. And while Leopard has all of it's features integrated, it also requires an 867 MHz G4 to run, at minimum, and for low-end Macs, that's just to fast.
Time Machine
Time Machine has been glorified as the savior of backup utilities, and it has a pretty snazzy interface to boot. So how can Tiger ever come close to this marvel of Core Animation goodness?
It can't. But Carbon Copy Cloner can. While Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC) doesn't look like a galaxy blazing thorough time, it does everything else. Right at this minute, I'm backing up the hard drive of my MacBook (I'm writing on my eMac using Mac OS 9.22) and have set up hourly, incremental updates of my user folder. For everyone that knows what an incremental update is, sweet; for everyone else, it means that as I have CCC set it up, ever hour it will take my user folder and mesh it with the existing backup on my external drive. By meshing it, I mean to say that CCC won't overwrite everything - it will only change anything that changed in my user folder since the last backup.
I can't scroll through time, but I can have hourly backups with a little free software.
Editor's note: Carbon Copy Cloner 3 sounds powerful. We've been using SuperDuper at Low End Mac headquarters for years, and this commercial app (not yet Leopard compatible) not only does everything CCC does, but also has some very useful utilities to help you test OS updates before you commit to them. dk
Spaces
Wow! That's all I have to say after playing with Spaces at the Apple Store on Friday. How can Tiger ever do such a thing?
Well, there's Desktop Manager. Desktop Manager was written for Panther (OS X 10.3), but it works smoothly on Tiger. It provides you with as many extra desktops as you want. I use four but if you need eight, have at it. Desktop Manager is not as streamlined as Spaces, meaning that you can't just hit F8 and see all of your desktops, but if you're on any on any of the 60 Mac models left out of the loop, Desktop Manager is perfect.
Desktop
So you really like how the new Leopard Desktop looks, but you just don't seem to have the specs to be able to run it? Well for a couple payments ($20 and $13), you can! First of all, ShapeShifter from Unsanity has the ability to swap out the existing look of boring old Tiger for something that looks Leopardish. Another option is ThemeChanger.
Secondly, you like all of those snazzy Leopard icons but don't have then in Tiger? Candybar is a neat little utility that changes any icon you want it to, to whatever you want it to look lie. Remember, though, that Shapeshifter costs $20 and Candybar costs $13.
There are some things that you just can't change: Finder's cool little cover flow of all your files, and the Quicklook option is quite nice too. But when it all boils down to it, you can't miss what you can't run. And for all of us running machines that just don't quite make the Leopard cut, Tiger can do 90% of it all just as well.
This article was written using Corel Word Perfect 3.5 on an eMac G4 800 running Mac OS 9.2.2. 
Recent Advantage Mac articles
- Vintage Macs provide a less distracting writing environment, 09.18. A Mac OS X user finds an old Macintosh IIsi and discovers the joy of writing undisturbed by music, messaging, and streaming content.
- The GIMP, a free alternative to Photoshop, 09.13. Although it's not as powerful or polished as Photoshop, the GIMP may be all the image editing software you need.
- Compared with creaky old Windows, OS X is a pleasure to use, 09.08. Compared with bogged down Windows 9x and 2000 computers, a late 90s G3 with OS X is a breath of fresh air.
- Free Desktop Manager reduces clutter, improves work flow, 08.11. Instead of cluttering your desktop with every program you're running, Desktop Manager lets you cut the clutter to focus on your work.
- More in the Advantage Mac index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 'Sawtooth' Power Mac G4, Aug. 1999 - Available in speeds from 350-500 MHz, 'Sawtooth' introduced AGP video to the Mac.
- Group of the Day: G4 List is for those using Power Mac G4s or G4 upgrades.
- November 22 in LEM history: 99: Gradebooks - 00: Leveraging Apple design - Quadra 630 to Power Mac 5200 - 02: Laptop or desktop? - 04: SuperDuper: Quick, easy, efficient backup - Cross-platform programming for the rest of us - 05: Mac video surveillance on the cheap - Which OS is best for my vintage Mac? - No 'best browser' for the Mac - Sorry state of browsers for classic Macs - 06: Core 2 means cooler running 'Books - 2.0 GHz G4 upgrade
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- The Long Term Value of a High End Mac, Andrew J Fishkin, Best Tools for the Job, 11.21. Low-end Macs are more affordable up front, but the flexibility and upgrade options of a top-end Mac can make it the better value in the long run.
- iPhone #1 Worldwide, Google Voice Search for iPhone, iPhone 3G Battery Pack, and More, iNews Review, 11.21. Also British accents throw off Google voice search, lots of new iPhone apps, universal USB car charger, new protective cases, and more.
- 15 Reasons Macs Are Better, Quad-core iMac in January?, USB 3.0 Spec Finalized, and More, Mac News Review, 11.21. Also 25 years of Macs, 'Snow Leopard' in Q1?, SimpleTech's faster and greener hard drive, Hyperspaces, StarOffice for OS X, and more.
- DisplayPort Copy Protection, Trackpad Update, Netbooks Not to Be Taken Lightly, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.21. Also Apple set for record sales, 4-finger gestures on original MacBook Air, MacBook Apple's best consumer notebook to date, Cricket laptop stand, bargain 'Books from $490 to $2,299, and more.
- Virtualization Shootout: VMWare Fusion 2 vs. Parallels Desktop 4, Kev Kitchens, Kitchens Sync, 11.20. Both programs do the same thing, but one runs Windows XP smoothly alongside Mac apps, while the other bogs down everything but Windows.
- Just Right: Papa Bear, Mama Bear, and Baby Bear MacBooks, Charles W. Moore, 'Book Value, 11.20. Some people like small and light notebooks, others prefer huge desktop replacements, but the best value tends to be in the middle.
- Apple Caves to Hollywood with DRM on iTunes Videos, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 11.20. HDCP on the new MacBooks means that you may never really own those videos you buy from the iTunes Store.
- Leopard Runs Very Nicely on PowerPC Macs, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 11.19. Some claim that Mac OS X 10.5 is so optimized for Intel Macs that it runs poorly on PowerPC hardware. That's simply not the case.
- No High Definition iTunes Video for You, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 11.19. The October 2008 MacBooks are preventing users from viewing some high-def iTunes content from being viewed on their external displays. Poor form!
- Every Working Computer Is Useful to Someone, Allison Payne, The Budget Mac, 11.19. Whether it's a PowerBook 1400, G3 iMac, or Power Mac G4, it could be all the computer someone needs.
- 3 WeatherBug Options for Apple Users, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.19. Have instant access to current local weather conditions with a Dashboard widget, iPhone app, or Firefox plugin.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best Power Mac G4 and AGP Video Card Deals, 11.20. Used 400 MHz, $50; 733, $100; 800, $199; 1.25 GHz, $300; 800 MHz dual, $200, 867, $300; 1 GHz, $350; 1.42, $400.
- Best iBook G3 Deals, 11.20. Used 300 MHz clamshell, $150; 366, $199; 800 CD, $180; 600 CD-RW, $240; 700 Combo, $290; 900, $369; 14" 600, $360; 900, $449.
- Best Power Mac G3 and PCI Video Card Deals, 11.20. Used beige 300 MHz, $25; blue & white 350, $80; 400, $90; 450, $105; PCI video cards from $15; shipping additional.
- Best iMac G4 Deals, 11.18. Used 15" 700 MHz Combo, $243; 800 MHz, $280; 1 GHz, $380; 17" 1.25 GHz SuperDrive, $400; 20", $549.
- Best MacBook Air Deals, 11.18. New 1.6 80, $1,150 after rebate; 120, $1,744 a/r; 1.8 80, $1,794 a/r; 1.6 128 SSD, $2,150; used 1.8 64 SSD, $1,500; new, $2,200 a/r; 1.86, $2,398 a/r.
- Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 Deals, 11.18. Mac OS X 10.0.3, $30; 10.1, $20; 10.2, $60; 10.3 CD, DVD, $100; CD, $119; 10.1 Server, unlimited users, $58; 10.3 Server, unlimited, $150.
- Best iPod nano Deals, 11.17. Refurb 3G/4 GB, $79; new, $114; refurb 8 GB, $99; new, $125; 3G/8 GB, from $134; 16 GB, from $189. Prices include ground shipping.
- Best Titanium PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.17. Used 1 GHz with SuperDrive, $478 plus shipping.
- Best Xserve deals, 11.17. Used G4/1 GHz, $999; G5/2 GHz, $1,288; new 2.0 4-core Xeon, $1,900; refurb 3.0 4-core, $2,599; 2.8 GHz, $2,499; 3.0 8-core, $3,499.
- More deals in our archive.
About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts
Have a question?
Ask an expert!
Navigation
Used Mac Dealers
Apple History
Best Used Macs
Video Cards
Email Lists
InfoMac's Low
End Mac Forum
Favorite Sites
MacSurfer
MacMinute
MacInTouch
MyAppleMenu
InfoMac
Macs Only!
The Mac Observer
Accelerate Your Mac
RetroMacCast
PB Central
MacWindows
The Vintage Mac
Museum
DealMac
DealsOnTheWeb
Mac2Sell
ramseeker
Mac Driver Museum
JAG's House
System
6 Heaven
System 7 Today
the pickle's Low-End
Mac FAQ
Abandonware
Petition
Mac vs. PC Info
Affiliates
The Apple
Store
Mac
Connection
MacMall
TechRestore
MacResQ
ExperCom
Crucial
Memory
batteries.com
Advertise
