Cool Mac Gear

I'm finding all sorts of neat and cool tips in Scott Kelby's "the Mac OS X Conversion Kit," which I reviewed here last week.

One is a little one-page tutorial on what you can safely uncheck in the OS X Custom Install dialog and save a bunch of hard drive space.

Scott notes that: "If you install everything that is included on your Mac OS X install CDs, you will likely fill more drive space than the capacity of the first five hard drives you owned."

Too true.

According to Scott, stuff most of us can safely dispense with installing includes:

• Localized Files - You only need this if you need support for non-English languages; saves 240 MB

• Additional Asian Fonts - You can dump this one if you don;t work in Asian languages; saves 155 MB

• Additional Printer Drivers - If you have the drivers for your printer already installed, you don;t need these; saves 500 MB.

• Additional Applications - Most of us will want to keep this because it supports Apple's iApps, but if you don't use 'em and don;t plan on doing so you can save another 180 MB.

For this and a whole lot of other OS X lore, check out this great little book. You can read my full review here (including links for where to purchase):
http://www.applelinks.com/mooresviews/osxconv.shtml

My mistake re: DDR RAM

From Dr. Jonathan Tyzack

Hi Charles,

it seems that I was mistaken about the DDR RAM, my apologies - however, I was basing it on the fact that MDD PowerMac G4s introduced the so-called "controller chip" to the mobo architecture (which allegedly sped up the feeding of data between CPU, RAM, hard disk etc). I had assumed that all the DDR RAM macs also included this and that was the reason why their was a "hardware" block to OS 9 booting on these machines. To be honest, I hadn't realised that machines that were previously capable of booting OS 9 simply weren't anymore. Anyway, I'm not disputing that an arbitrary firmware block to OS 9 is a bad thing (I'm agnostic on this issue, truth be told), but I am disputing that Apple should take the time and effort to get OS 9 working on machines where driver updates or other software updates are required when it is far better spent doing something else like polishing off the remaining quirks in OS X (I'll put it to you this way, would you prefer Apple spending more of their time optimising OS X to run better or not?).

Cheers,
Jonathan

P.S. One other thing, there are many people saying software hasn't yet been updated to run (natively, presumably) in OS X, but do they know whether or not it runs in Classic? The only examples of software that I know of that don't like the Classic environment are all dependent on direct communication with the hardware (e.g. older games, some printers and scanners, etc) and also Quark Express which has screen redraw issues. Can anyone add to that... or perhaps a suggestion for a future OS X Odyssey article (or an entirely new column) for you - compile a list of Classic software that you and your readers know to function well, partially or not at all in the OS X Classic environment. It could help your readers who are wary about buying new hardware or upgrading to OS X come to some decision as to whether or not they can, without the need to also upgrade all of their current software at the same time. Software that I (sometimes) use in Classic that I know to function well or well enough is MS Word, Photoshop and Excel 2001 (an unfortunate consequence of my job, alas), GeneJockeyII and Photoshop 4. Fortunately, that is all I do need Classic for these days.

Hi Jonathan;

No apology necessary. We're all speculating in this discussion.

I agree with you that it is not reasonable to expect Apple to devote time, money, and resources to engineering dual-booting in new products. Blocking existing dual-boot capability is another matter, and IMHO wrongheaded, but that is just my opinion.

I've had great luck with running Classic apps in Classic mode. Some seem even more stable running there than running in an OS 9 boot. The only software items I can think of that I used regularly in OS 9 that won't run in Classic Mode are dictation applications -- ViaVoice ME and the Classic versions of iListen. However, the corresponding OS X native versions are better anyway.

I too would be interested in hearing from readers on this topic as I'm sure there are other non-compatible Classic apps, but by and large, Classic Mode works well.

Charles

Panther Compatibility

Charles,

As I read all the info about the upcoming Panther, and loss of dual booting, several questions come to mind.

First is what will Panther run on. Reviews suggest all kinds of systems, and possible patches for older ones.

Second, since I am still in OS9 because of hardware (pismo/Beige) and software, I am wondering if Panther is supposed to make the "Classic" experience so good that booting into OS9 is a moot point. If so, then dual booting is a moot point.

Do you have any inside dope on these issues?

Ben Gravely

Hi Ben;

I have no real "inside dope," but what I'm hearing is that Panther performs more speedily on older, slower Macs tahn Jaguar does, which is encouraging. I haven't heard much about Panther's Classic implementation, but there's room for improvement.

Charles

Dual Booting

From Michael W Snider

Charles,

It's not the Firewire 800; it's not the DDR RAM; it's not new drives--it's developing two OS's for a mixed hardware environment. It can't be done. There's an issue under OS X 10.2.6 with some 12" Powerbooks, in which under some circumstances the video circuitry doesn't wake from sleep and the machine must be rebooted. The problem "is being investigated" and may require a firmware update or a fix to the OS or it may be a QA problem in manufacture. One thing or another can be fixed, but do the math: going through all the permutations of hardware and software to making sure all the features of each combination are present and reliable while developing new features and new hardware is beyond Apple's resources. It's beyond anyone's resources. There's not enough left of that dead horse to tell it was a horse, let alone beat it.

Exasperatedly,
Michael

But Michael;

The original flat screen iMacs would dual-boot, and the base eMac still can. I have trouble accepting that the relatively minor changes in the second-gen. flat screen iMacs would have presented a substantial obstacle to continued dual-boot support, or that the SuperDrive in the high end eMac does.

I don't fault Apple for not engineering dual booting into new machines, but blocking it in machines for which it's already engineered, which seems to be the case in some of these units, is gratuitous downgrading.

Charles

Re: OS X Odyssey 345 - Screen Freezes In OS X?

From Byron Ellis

So, I was just surfing around and noticed you having posted this... which makes me feel better as my machine has been doing the same thing lately, though I discovered you don't actually need to reset the machine.... I usually mange to put the machine to sleep and then it awakens just fine...

It is rather annoying though

Byron Ellis

Hi Byron;

For what it's worth, this problem hasn't manifested on my iBook since I upgraded to OS X 10.2.6 about four months ago.

Charles

Re: OS X Odyssey 406 - Help With PowerBook to G5 Power Mac "Conversion"

From James Rae Smith

Dear Charles

What everyone else apart from you uses to back up in OSX is Carbon Copy Cloner. It will do almost everything that Tri-Backup does and is free - well donationware and well worth the 5 dollars that Mike Bombich asks for it.

But please don't try it. It's too good for the likes of you and anyway I enjoy your eccentric choice of software. Maybe Norman might find it useful.

All the best
James

Hi James;

I actually don't use any backup applications. I just keep my iBook and PowerBook fairly synchronized through daily use and manual backups.

However, I have posted briefs on every update to Carbon Copy Cloner in Shareware Beat, and by all accounts it's an excellent piece of software at a friendly price. I certainly have nothing against it.

That said, in general just because "everyone" uses something, doesn't *necessarily* mean it's good. Consider Windows, Word, and Internet Explorer.

For Norman's purposes, I figured the Back Up User Prefs utility seemed the most appropriate solution because that was what he essentially wanted to do, and it's freeware, but a new update of Tri-Backup was released last week, so I included it as well.

Charles

The OS X Odyssey archives may be accessed here:
http://www.applelinks.com/news/odyssey/

CM

Charles W. Moore