My Mac: G4 iBook

[First published on my old Mac blog on 11/11/2007]

I have been using a 12" iBook with a 1.2 GHz PowerPC G4 Processor and 1.25 GB RAM for about three years. My current operating system is 10.4.10 (Tiger). I am tempted to switch to Leopard, but I'm still sitting on the fence. Before this computer I had a G3 iBook, but that only lasted two years. It had too many repair problems and at one point AppleCare decided it would be better to give me a new computer, my current iBook.

I bought the iBook in order to write my dissertation. My family already had—and still has—a G3 iMac, but that was community property in community space. I needed to be able to write in a quiet place, which was frequently somewhere other than home, usually the library. I also needed a computer that was easy to carry and affordable. The 12" iBook met both requirements.

Since buying one I have also found the iBook useful for teaching, because I can run PowerPoint or Keynote presentations in the classroom from it. Many of my other teaching duties, such as grading, record-keeping, and class preparation work more smoothly because of it too. Sure, a bigger computer would be nice, but as an adjunct professor I am a gypsy, just like when I was a graduate student. I do not have an office to call my own. Everything has to fit into my iBook and book bag.

I never regretted the decision to buy such a small computer, though sometimes I long for a bigger screen. Mine is so small that I have to switch between windows when working with more than one. How wonderful it would be to look at my text and a PDF document and my bibliography application all at the same time! Maybe someday when I work at the same desk all the time.

You might have noticed that I did not consider any other kind of small laptop. Why would I? I got my first Mac in 1987, back when Microsoft was using DOS. Microsoft's development of Windows later on was horribly clumsy by comparison, and I've never seen a version that made switching a compelling option. But I'm preaching to the choir here.

Why I’m not using Leopard yet

[excerpted from a post on my old Mac blog from 10/29/2007]

I would love to install Leopard (OS 10.5) on my Mac, but I think I will pass for now. Tiger (OS 10.4) works just fine on my old G4 iBook, and I am concerned about giving up more of its processing power to the operating system. A small part of me is also skeptical. How much of the new release is just eye candy? How much would Leopard really increase my productivity? I am also reluctant to say goodbye to the classic option on my Mac, the ability to run programs from the pre-OS X days. I don't use that much, but I still have a lot of files from that time that I have yet to convert.

If I had an Intel Mac, my reservations would make less sense. First, the classic option is no longer available on Intel Macs anyway. Second, they offer much more processing power. Third, Leopard is the first Mac OS designed to take advantage of the new Intel Macs' processing power.