OSX - Old Software (OS 9 or Earlier) ??

[MacAddictvja]

I had pondered the same question, several months ago, as I began
researching, and trying to decide which laptop to buy, either a G3 900Mhz,
or one of the G4 iBooks. I almost bought the G3 laptop, but after reading
many posts, and posting many questions, I decided to go with the new G4 1Ghz
iBook, with OSX 10.3.4 Panther, 768MB RAM, 60GB HD, superdrive/bluetooth.

I have been experimenting with lots of my old software, including 68K
software (that I've run on the old SE/30s, and our old PowerMac 7300/500).

Lots of the old software does run on my new G4 iBook, in Classic. 3D Atlas
does not run on the iBook. But  other old applications are working great:
Time Almanac, and Multimedia Encyclopedia, Spanish, Bible, some old
chemistry programs, Reunion 6, Visual Page, GIF Converter, and Graphic
Converter, just to name a few. And even my old MicrosoftWord 5.1a runs great
on my G4 iBook! I really never thought it would work at all.

Lots of other old software has been running just fine, including many old
games, some of them are very old, from System 7.1, and even some from System
6x. I'm really impressed with way the G4 iBook handles the older software.

I did have some problems with my old external ACOM USB 60GB harddrive. It
does work with my iBook, but crashed the iBook many times. I finally got my
files transferred, but it was a very slow process. Now, I'm saving up for a
fast Firewire 160GB HD! My very old USB keyboard works great on the iBook,
although it crashes my PM 7300.

I have noticed that most of my older software is about the same speed as on
my PowerMac 7300/500, or faster. Images open up in GIF Converter much
quicker on the iBook. MW 5.1a documents also open up much faster.

One thing that is strange, surfing is slower on my iBook, than on my old
PowerMac 7300/500, even though both are connected to our DSL line. And
Internet Explorer is much faster than Safari on the iBook! Netscape is slow
on both the PM 7300 and G4 iBook.

Hope that helps with your question. Maybe others can share their experience
with using old software on the iBook, and PowerBooks.

-- vjamacaddict
G4 1Ghz iBook, OSX 10.3.4 Panther, 768MB RAM, superdrive/bluetooth
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> From: Pierre-Paul Savard <pablocito24 at videotron.qc.ca>
> Subject: [P1] Ibook and OS X, vs OS 9
> 
> I know I am a late comer to the OS X bandwagon...but anyway...
> Could you tell me if I buy a new iBook, as with the early
> versions of OS X, I would still be able to use all my programs
> which were made for the OS 9 ?
> 
> If yes, will I see a decrease in their functionality and/or speed?
> 
> I guess I won't be able no more to boot in a special partition,
> native OS 9 , and that I will now have to open all my old
> programs in the OS ''classic'' included with OS X?
> Am I right?
> 
> --
> Pierre-Paul Savard