Mac OS X not so bad

I'm working on the 2003-era iBook G4 we've had since it was new, and give or take one dead hard drive, and the infamous iPhoto database debacle, we've had a way-better-than-expected run with it.

I've upgraded from OS X 10.3 to 10.4, went from 384 MB to 1.1 GB of RAM, added WiFi, replaced the aforementioned hard drive (a three-hour odyssey I don't recommend, especially when compared to the 2-minute drive swap I can do with a laptop designed to have its hard drive replaced), and seven years on now, the thing performs very well.

I just set up a 2000/01-era G4/466 with OS X 10.4. Compared with the iBook's 1 GHz PowerPC processor, this 466 MHz PPC is even more underpowered in today's computing world. And I only have 384 MB of RAM in it. ... But for Web browsing with Safari (all I've done is install and update the base software), it runs quite well. It'll probably be better if I can find a 512 MB PC100 or PC133 SIMM to stuff in there.

So my feelings, this month anyway, about OS X and even Apple hardware (nowhere near as good as it's made out to be in the fanboy realm) is quite positive. Except for the iBook hard-drive fiasco, for which Steve "Design Guru" Jobs will never be forgiven.