Something I've noticed while using my PDQ is that 8.5 seems to boot up faster and is more responsive than 8.6. My PDQ is slowed down by the dead PRAM ram battery and the startup memory test having to test 256 MB of RAM, so downgrading to 8.5 was beneficial for me since I got a slightly faster boot time compared to 8.6 and 9.1. The laptop had 9.1 when I bought it, which I found to be slow on this Mac. I downgraded to 8.5 and then updated to 8.6. I didn't think there would be a difference between running 8.5 and 8.6, but in my case there seems to be. Today, I decided to downgrade back to 8.5. For those who have used both 8.5 and 8.6 on their macs (any model which supports running these two OS versions), which do you prefer? Has 8.5 been better than 8.6 on your Macs, or was upgrading to 8.6 more beneficial?
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OS 8.5 vs 8.6
- Thread starter MacFox
- Start date
Mac OS 8.6 all the way, for stability and much more native PPC code. Mac OS 8.5 might have less RAM and HD overheads being a smaller install (and perhaps "feels" initially faster than low-end G3s with a slow stock HD), however in app usage the PPC optimisations of 8.6 will bring it ahead.
Still don't use 8.6 much though; on mid range PPCs (think 1400, 3400, 5x00, 6x00, 7x00) it is decent but you can do more with 9.1 on anything with 128MB+ RAM and a 250+Mhz CPU.
Still don't use 8.6 much though; on mid range PPCs (think 1400, 3400, 5x00, 6x00, 7x00) it is decent but you can do more with 9.1 on anything with 128MB+ RAM and a 250+Mhz CPU.
I personally don't use 8.5 or 8.6. Either something is slow or old enough (or I just want to) run 7.6.1 or 8.1 on it or it's new enough for 9.1+. A PDQ should run 9.2.2 perfectly fine.
You'll want to strip everything you can out of the system folder to reduce RAM usage and if you're okay with being a little limited in terms of G3/G4-era software you can run, you might see if you can find the original 8.1 install for that machine, if it had such an option. Upgrading to a newer hard disk or an SSD will also be a benefit, speed-wise, that might be worth looking into.
In terms of avoiding waiting for bootup, have you considered sleeping it when it's not in use? You'd still want to reboot at least once a week but if you leave it sitting out you could just leave it on or sleeping.
You'll want to strip everything you can out of the system folder to reduce RAM usage and if you're okay with being a little limited in terms of G3/G4-era software you can run, you might see if you can find the original 8.1 install for that machine, if it had such an option. Upgrading to a newer hard disk or an SSD will also be a benefit, speed-wise, that might be worth looking into.
In terms of avoiding waiting for bootup, have you considered sleeping it when it's not in use? You'd still want to reboot at least once a week but if you leave it sitting out you could just leave it on or sleeping.
I've tried to install 8.1, but my PDQ refuses to boot from the PBG3 series 8.1 install disc, so 8.5 is the oldest I can go. Demanding software that requires OS 9, I reserve for my Sawtooth G4 or my dual USB iBook G3. I mainly use my PDQ for transferring files to and from my SE. I occasionally game, do some writing, or watch a DVD on the PDQ too. I've considered upgrading the HDD, but it hasn't been a priority for me, so I've been putting it off.
I have considered letting the PDQ sleep when not in use, but I haven't done so since I don't use it as much as my other Macs.
The big advantage too 8.6 is USB support, though I don't think your machine has USB by default? When I had a Promfoma 6400 I found 8.6 ran faster, weird.
Nope, my PDQ doesn't have built-in USB. I have a USB PCMCIA card, but it only works on 9.2.1+. I get around the lack of USB by using CF/SD to PCMCIA cards for my removeable storage needs.
Been playing around with different Mac OS versions on the PDQ recently and I finally got 8.1 to work. Thinking the image I have isn't bootable or I burned it wrong. Anyway, I booted from the HDD (which was running 9.2.2 at that point), installed 8.1 onto a CF card via my CF to PCMCIA adapter and it worked. I encountered a couple of issues, however. Whenever I try to set the date in the Set Date control panel, the Mac either freezes or I get a finder error. 8.1 also doesn't seem to be able to read FAT formatted SD cards because when I put in my SD to PCMCIA adapter with a 2 GB FAT formatted SD card, I got an error message about not being able to read more than 32K. Unsure if these issues under 8.1 were due to the CF card I was using, my adapter, 8.1 itself or what? I ended up going back to the stock HD and installed 8.5.1 on it. Under this new install of 8.5.1, I've encountered issues reading PCMCIA cards in general that I haven't seen before. Sometimes the card will be recognized, sometimes it won't. I'm thinking either the PCMCIA slots are going wonky, OS 8 is being glitchy, the Mac is overheating (it was rather hot to the touch when I turned it off), or maybe a combination of all of these things?
9.2.2 has its benefits, but I find that the boot time is longer and the OS feels less responsive on this Mac.
