An alternative OS for older PowerPC Macs- MintPPC

I got an older iMac G3 600 Mhz, 1GB ram, Rage 128 Ultra 16MB GPU and it runs Mac OSX Tiger ok but kinda slow.  I have been researching other OSes to put on this machine that would make it snappy like Mac OS 9-- but I don't want outdated OSes like Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X Panther.  I thought of the various distros of Linux that runs on the PowerPC-- Ubuntu 11.10 and its various flavors like Xubuntu or Lubuntu (might be a bit sluggish on a G3 from what i read,) Yellow Dog Linux (a pretty good distro tailored to PPC machines,) but i got to say, Mint PPC won me over because this distro is built and tweaked to run on PPC machines and it is the fastest Linux distro for PPC machines.

Mint PPC is light weight, fast and snappy and there is a dedicated community built around it! It has user forums to answer questions and to troubleshoot problems. I got my eyes on Mint PPC 11.

It seems easy enough to setup and run. Instructions are provided on the Mint PPC website incase a problem should arise.

Remember, it is free! Mac OS X Tiger's days might be numbered on the iMac G3. . . if not maybe it will dual boot between Mac OS X Tiger and Linux Mint PPC.

There is a whole new world out there in the open source community and Linux!  There are tons of free software for Linux-- productivity apps, creativity apps, education apps, games-- you name it!

Linux Mint PPC is definitely gonna breathe new life into this iMac G3! I've watched a few videos on Mint PPC running on a G3 on youtube and i read reviews of Linux Mint PPC and they are all positive reviews.

If anyone is interested, the url to Linux Mint PPC:
http://www.mintppc.org/

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My quest for the perfect iPad screen protector is over!

I tried a few screen protectors for my iPad 2 and they weren't so great.  The big problem was that they leave air bubbles or left a sticky residue after I peel it off the iPad.  Then i discovered the perfect iPad cover-- iVisor! Easy on, easy off, easy to clean, no sticky residue and easy to apply -- PLUS NO AIR BUBBLES!

iVisor is the perfect screen protector for the iPad!

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Transformers: War on Cybertron Autobots (DS)

I bought some games for my Nintendo 3DS and most titles were 3DS titles but a few were DS titles and I have to admit, I wish certain DS titles should be ported to the 3DS-- Transformers: War on Cybertron Autobots is my favorite game at the moment despite it being a DS title.  I rarely play Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D or Super Marioland 3D as much as this Transformers game. I am hooked!  It has elements of an action shooter and rpg elements in which you gain exp. and level up your characters and you could unlock characters too!  This game is a dream come true for Transformers fans, esp. G1 fans-- this game is Neo G1.

The graphics are pretty good and the controls are ok.  The voice acting is excellent-- the got Peter Cullens to voice Optimus!

Man, I hope Transformers: Fall of Cybertron comes to the 3DS!

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I am using TenFourFox 12 and loving it!

Tenfourfox 12, the unstable branch of Tenfourfox which recently came out is fairly stable.  In case you didn't know, Tenfourfox is based on Firefox and Tenfourfox 12 is based on Firefox 12.  I am using Tenfourfox 12 with the https everywhere extension and it is a great web browser for us PowerPC Mac users.  It runs pretty well on my Dual 867 Mhz G4 running Mac OSX Leopard and my Dual 450 Mhz G4 running Tiger. For people who aren't brave enough to run an unstable branch of Tenfourfox, they could run Tenfourfox 10.0.4.  The developers of Tenfourfox stated that Tenfourfox 11-16 will be unstable branches while Tenfourfox 10 will be the stable branch. So there you have it.

Tenfourfox unstable branches will introduce new features vs. the stable branch which will address bug fixes.  For me, I rather use the unstable branch due to the geek in me.  And yeah, i turned off all the plugins (which isn't officially supported in Tenfourfox because of security reasons due to plugins no longer being updated by their developers- and flash video . . . well just use html 5 which is better anyways and not have to worry about vulnerabilities in our outdated flash player.)

I can't wait to see Tenfourfox 13 and wonder what improvements and new features that has to offer!

Get Tenfourfox 12 here:
http://tenfourfox.blogspot.com/

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Excited about the future of Firefox derivatives like Tenfourfox on Macs!

Tenfourfox 10.0.3 has been released  a while already and Tenfourfox's future looks very promising! Tenfourfox 11 and so forth will be under their developers' unstable branch and Tenfourfox 12 will add more speed to our PowerPC Macs. I read in the Tenfourfox development blog that the developers might release another derivative of firefox for Mac OSX 10.5 only, with benefits like hardware video acceleration and support for older Intel Macs left behind by Apple Inc. They also are developing a Tenfourbird email client based on Thunderbird for our beloved older Macs.

With active development for our older Macs like Tenfourfox, i can get by a little bit longer before i make the jump to an Intel Mac when i start school.

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