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Old 31st Jul 2017, 3:39 pm   #9
MrBungle
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Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: London, UK.
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Default Re: "Vintage" PowerMac G4/800 (2002)

OSX and Linux are related but at the same time completely unrelated. OSX is entirely based on NextSTEP and FreeBSD with some unix gubbins underneath because it saved them writing a lot of the heavy lifting. I remember when Rhapsody first came out. It was NextSTEP that looked like MacOS 9.

The only thing with the G4 is while it might be reasonably usable still, with Linux (forget OSX on it), the amount of power they consume is slightly insane compared to more modern systems. You'd probably be better off over two years buying a ~2010 Intel Mac than paying the electricity bill for the G4! Also if you value your time, then sitting around waiting for the spinning rust in an old G4 versus using literally anything made in the last 7-10 years with an SSD in it is a compromise I wouldn't value any more.

Fundamentally machines of that era are slow and take a lot of power both of which cost time and money. If you want it as a hobby or a museum piece then that makes sense but for every day use it's a bad investment.
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