Mac OS X Leopard on a First Generation iMac G4

Officially, this is not supported. Mac OS X Leopard will only install on a PowerPC G4 system that is approximately 867 MHz or faster. However, I recently came into an iMac G4 that is 700 MHz, so it would seem I’m cut off. Right?

Nope!

I managed to install Leopard on my iMac G4 and it runs just as smoothly as the latest version of Tiger. How did I do it? I found a list of steps elsewhere on the internets that I’ve refined and will share here.

Step 1: Create a Leopard DVD Disk Image

I imaged my retail copy of Leopard using Apple’s own Disk Utility that comes with OS X. I had read to do this, and I did it, but I suspect you may get away with skipping this step. If you want to be safe, go ahead and create an image.

Step 2: Find a USB Stick

If you have a USB stick, great. My iMac G4 only has a CD-ROM drive, so I can’t use the Leopard DVD. In fact, like the previous step, you may be able to skip this if your computer has a DVD-ROM. However, these are the steps I took, and it’s pretty cool to boot off a USB, so you can still do this if only for the fun of it.

What you’ll want to do is format your USB stick and make sure you put an Apple Partition Map on it by going into the formatting options. Presumably this enables the USB stick to boot.

Step 3: The Terminal

After I formatted my USB stick, I was then instructed to enable owners on it. I’m not entirely sure this is necessary, but it’s painless to do. Better safe than sorry.

Open the Terminal and enter the following command: sudo vsdbutil -a /Volumes/device

You may be required to enter a root password.

Step 4: The Clone!

Again, if your computer has a DVD-ROM and you have a copy of Leopard, these steps up until now may not be neccesary. Otherwise, the next step here is to clone that image you made (or clone the DVD directly) onto the USB stick.

I was made aware of some software called Carbon Copy Cloner which is free to use. It’s also pretty straightforward to use. Just make sure you check the option to erase destination files on the USB stick before cloning.

Step 5: The Moment of Truth

Whatever your intended method has been so far, this is where it all comes together. Put your DVD in your DVD-ROM, or your USB stick in a port, and reboot your Mac. Keep the Control+Option+O+F keys all firmly pressed until you enter the Open Firmware screen.

The point here is to trick Leopard’s installer into thinking your computer is a 867 MHz or faster machine. Also, if booting from USB, it’s entirely possible that your Mac doesn’t natively boot from USB… but it is capable.

These are the commands I entered:

dev /cpus/PowerPC,G4@0
d# 867000000 encode-int ” clock-frequency” property
boot usb1/disk:3,\\:tbxi

If you’re going to attempt booting from a DVD, you won’t need to enter that third command. That just forces the Mac to boot from USB… you won’t want that. usb1 may not work for you, either. It depends on which USB port you’re booting from. It could be usb0, usb2, etc. Keep that in mind.

With any luck, the machine will boot the installer, and it will be none the wiser. The only problem you may encounter is the slow speed at which it installs. On my 700 MHz iMac G4, it took just under 4 hours. Worth it, though!

iPadded my Kindle

I have so many thoughts on the iPad at this moment, and you can check a few posts below to see why I thought a netbook would have been the better option (and Steve Jobs slamming netbooks during his keynote actively shat on that idea ever materializing), so I thought I would share one specific opinion. It’s not even that complex of an idea.

Will the iPad kill the Kindle? No. First of all, “____-killers” is a buzzword just like any other designed to hype up everyone except the actual consumer (press, shareholders, etc). But most importantly, what Amazon has is a household brand name. Everyone should know what a Kindle is. Maybe it’s not the most ubiquitous of tech brands yet, if ever at all, but it’s strong enough that I don’t think Amazon has to worry. Kindle is synonymous with eBooks. I think under the right circumstances, Kindle would have been a genericized trademark just like Kleenex… although I don’t imagine that’ll happen.

What I do think Amazon should worry about is how technically advanced the iPad is, despite its branding and similarity to the iPhone and iPod Touch. If anything, Amazon should step up their game to make the Kindle a much more quality product and strengthen their brand even further.

I don’t say any of this because I have an allegiance to either product, or any other. I’ve never even held or seen an eBook reader. I do have an iPod Touch and so I can sort of triangulate the kind of experience the iPad may provide, and I do find it appealing. I think Apple has a very nice product, although I question its necessity and branding.

Why Apple Needs a Netbook

I’m not going to post any definitive, groundbreaking reasons that will absolutely make the case for Apple actually shipping netbooks, if only because it’s a futile effort anyway. It’s a waste of time, Apple’s going to do what Apple’s going to do.

But there’s something I’ve been thinking about today that I believe is a pretty modest reason, and a bit substantial too.

Over the last two-to-three years, I’ve become a pretty big Apple user. The problem is that this is looking very appealing to me. Recently I’ve been wanting a netbook anyway, running Windows or otherwise. But the fact that there’s a netbook out there that’s running Snow Leopard near perfectly makes me want that Dell even more than any other.

Apple’s problem is the potential losing of money in a market they’re not even in (yes, losing, since ownership of Mac OS X is pretty much 1:1 with a Mac and nothing else, if OS X is being bought and there’s no Mac it’s being put on, I think we can count that as a loss). It wouldn’t be very hard for a company like Dell to purposefully manufacture netbooks with the intention of being perfect Mac OS X machines. Obviously they could never admit it, or legally promote it. But they can get away with making the hardware, and letting the Hackintosh community do the rest. And from what I’ve read, the process of installing Snow Leopard on to that Dell netbook is a lot easier than it’s ever been on previous machines.

So if it’s easy for people to install Mac OS X on a netbook, and buy that netbook for $300-$500… where’s the incentive to buy Apple hardware? Other than support?

Googlesoft Chomernet Framesplorer

Google Chrome Frame. Have you seen this, have you heard about this? If not, it’s all right here for you.

Microsoft slammed it, Mozilla has come out and sided with Microsoft in slamming it. Ordinarily I’m supportive of Google’s projects, but this seems odd to me. It’s one of those things that might have looked better on paper than in practice.

Of course, my reasons are different from Microsoft or Mozilla’s. They’re saying vulnerabilities may be doubled, it may be creating a sort of browser soup, and confusing the user and muddying the internet. Sure, possibly.

What I’m going to do is defend Google against themselves. Are you ready? Here’s what I think: It should NOT be Google’s job to patch Internet Explorer or any other browser.

It’s not their browser. It’s not their browser. It’s not their browser.

It’s definitely not their job. If Microsoft doesn’t care enough to make a quality product, Google shouldn’t concern themselves. I thought that’s what Chrome was about, anyway?

You don’t see Microsoft putting out plug-ins for Mac OS X or Linux that make those operating systems behave like Windows. You don’t see Aston Martin putting their engines in Ford Explorers.

I think it’s admirable that they want to try and help people who use Internet Explorer, but the best thing they can be doing is working on their own browser.

Speaking of which, why not drop this Google Chrome Frame crap and, I don’t know, release Chrome for OS X?! You want to help people out, Google? How about releasing your browser for us Mac and Linux people instead of wasting your time on Internet Explorer.

You’re using a modified version of Apple’s own web engine anyway. The least you can do is release your browser on its engine’s native platform.

Microsoft Stores

This post got me thinking.

Microsoft needs to distance themselves from Apple. I can’t speak for the US, but here in Canada they would be wise to open up as many stores as they can in as many locations as they can.

Why?

It’s because Apple have acted like complete morons here. Last time I checked there were less than 5 Apple stores in all of Canada. Sure, there are hundreds upon hundreds of certified Apple resellers, but that’s different. Those are not Apple brand stores that people can identify with.

If Microsoft’s plan is to open stores next to established Apple locations, then this retail project of theirs deserves to fail, as much as I hate to say it.

Even though there are hundreds more store locations in the US, I’m sure the same strategy would work there. Open as many stores away from Apple as they can, because you will find people starved for a decent tech store.

I love Apple, and I love Microsoft. But damn they’re stupid.

Troll Trolling

I want spend this post calling out MacDailyNews as the sorriest excuse for a Mac blog I’ve ever come across.

Despite its name, they spend a great deal of time posting on Microsoft and how much Microsoft sucks. Such a post will be followed by a “MacDailyNews Take” in which they jerk off to how much Microsoft sucks and Apple is awesome.

Apple is awesome. As much as I’ve grown to dislike Windows, I still think Microsoft is awesome too. There’s room to like both, and there’s room to criticize each equally and fairly. MacDailyNews does neither, and the result is a following of the worst kind of Mac “fans” out there. The kind that would unabashedly sniff Steve Job’s farts, and God help you if you happened to catch a whiff and said “Ugh—*cough*AACK,” because that would be a clear indication of your lack of belief in His Steveness.

In today’s world, there’s so much of This vs That, that you’re expected to pick a side and the thought that, perhaps, choosing more that just one side is completely UNHEARD OF. I see this all the time in Wii vs Xbox 360 vs PS3 arguments, or indeed Mac vs PC arguments. You have to back only one of them up, and it’s damn near blasphemy if you ever show any kind of interest or support for anything other than what you’re backing. There’s absolutely no room to like more than one side in the eyes of some people.

A Linux user who loves Windows and OS X just as much? Get out of here. That’s ridiculous. Almost as ridiculous as a Christian accepting that, maybe, there’s a chance there is no God?

Right? Right?

Keeping with the religious example I’ve now just got myself stuck in, being open minded doesn’t mean your faith has to be challenged. Just because you’re an avid Mac user and a big Apple fan, doesn’t mean you can’t use Windows or Microsoft products and enjoy doing so. Yeah, sometimes Microsoft makes it hard to enjoy using their products, but… Apple’s not perfect either. And you should trust a blog to draw a clear distinction there.

I realize I could simply not visit the site, but despite its overwhelming flaw and clear shittiness, MacDailyNews does offer some interesting bits of news in the Apple community. But the majority of its content is an insult to its own God damn name, and I think the internets would be better off without shit like that clogging up the tubes.

Wireless Apple Mighty Mouse

I bought the Mighty Mouse yesterday, and having spent a full day with it I can say it’s a really good mouse. Much better than I expected based on the minute or two hands-on experience I’ve had whenever fondling Apple hardware at Best Buy.

Despite my love-hate relationship with OS X’s mouse acceleration, the mouse feels pretty comfortable to use. The shape was odd at first as it’s wide and a bit flat. But like most things it grows on you in time.

And if you really want to bond with a new mouse, it’s my belief that you should game with it right away. That’s real, proper gaming… not some quick little game of Bejeweled, but something like Doom. Yes, Doom. If Doom is a bit old for your tastes, then there’s Doom 3. But I’m telling you, Doom.

Once you’ve established a trust with your mouse after surviving a tense situation like being stuck in a small room with imps, cacodemons, and lost souls with only a pistol… you’ll be friends for life.

Well, its life.

The only thing that’s bothering me at the moment is when you turn off the mouse or put the Mac to sleep, it doesn’t like to connect back up right away. Maybe this has only been my experience, but it seems to take forever. Unless I click the mouse a bunch of times, then it connects. Other than that, it’s been great.

Expensive, but great.

Paintbrush for Mac OS X

There are a few things that bother me about Apple and OS X. I’ve been a Mac user for almost three years, coming from a long history of Windows use. There were certain things I was used to having in a default installation of Windows. I’m not talking about those superficial things that most OS fanboys get caught up in arguing about. I’m talking about things that should be standard across all operating systems.

It goes both ways. There are things standard in Windows that I think should definitely be in OS X, and vise versa. One of those things is a standard, simple paint application. Something you can knock out a drawing in without dropping hundreds of dollars and wasting precious system resources on bloated software you’ll never use.

If Apple aren’t going to include it, fine. Surely there’s something out there that will suffice? Well, I found it. In only a matter of seconds, too. I’m amazed I found it so quickly, because I would thought I’d have found it long ago.

Paintbrush is exactly what I think Apple should include in OS X. And it’s exactly what I was looking for. It’s simple, it’s lightweight, and best of all it’s free. I’m a bit of a software junkie when it comes to OS X, and I really love when I find free stuff. Especially free stuff that’s really awesome.

The other thing that really bothers me about OS X is that all it comes with is Chess.app as far as games go. I know that as Mac users we’re supposed to be intellectual, creative, arty farty types who’d love the smell of Einstein’s shit, but… I’m still positive there are only two Mac users in existence who actually know how to play the damn game.

And now that got on the subject of games, I might as well share a game for OS X that I found a couple months ago. It’s called Quinn. What’s Quinn? It’s “A Tetromino Game for Mac OS X.”

…that means Tetris.

iMac Fund Begins!

I had been a Windows PC user since 1994. I was 9 years old at the time, and new to computers. Back then it was Windows 3.1 and MS-DOS, hardly user friendly compared to today. Up until 2005 I had a vague impression of Macintosh computers. And in 2005 I became greatly interested in the Apple world, and I’ve been following ever since.

Early 2006 I bought an old Power Macintosh G3 on eBay (the old “Blue & White” one) which ran Mac OS X Tiger pretty damn well. Not bad for a seven-year-old computer at the time running the latest version of Apple’s operating system. You wouldn’t find a PC that old running Vista.

In June 2007 I got my first brand new Mac, specifically the white MacBooks. I’m now using it as my main computer, and it’s functioning as a Desktop since I have it connected to an external display, keyboard, and mouse. And speakers. It’s currently the best computer I’ve ever owned. I say that as my loyal PC sits tucked away, still running, but stuck doing specific tasks. Like a cute little puppy.

I’ll be an Apple customer for life. I’m hooked.

Except that my MacBook isn’t really doing it for me. As I said, I’m using it as a Desktop replacement. What I’d really like is a proper desktop Mac, an iMac, that I can sit at and is a permanent fixture on my desk. Now that Apple has refreshed their desktop lineup (March 3rd) I find it’s time for me to finally get serious about saving up for one.

Today marks that day. The day I start saving. I’ve had a separate bank account, at a separate bank, from my normal bank since this last summer. It’s been sitting at $0 this whole time. Not anymore.

This is the best way you can save for something. Get a whole different bank account at a different bank, put money in it, and just forget it even exists. Out of sight, out of mind.