Sonnet: G4 in a WallStreet

[AHunter3]

With prices below $400 I had to give it a try, and I have to say I'm very impressed with with the extra responsiveness of OS X when you have a G4 to push it around

Just to make things interesting: I once had another WallStreet that had a PowerLogix 500 MHz G3 upgrade in it. Like this one, it was maxed out on RAM at 512 MB. And the Sonnet CPU is also running at 500 MHz. So the only differences were G3 versus G4 (unless you wish to assume a meaningful difference between PowerLogix equipment and Sonnet equipment).

Under MacoS 9.0.4, there isn't much difference. (I've been running at a stock 300 MHz for a few months in between, but that's the impression I've got). Under OS X, things that were muddy or unresponsive (e.g., scrolling speed, speed for different menus to drop down, speed of windows opening or closing) zip along quite nicely.

To switch startup disks, WallStreet owners must download an installer that, in conjunction with the MacOS X Installation CD (don't ask), constructs an alternative to the MacOS 9 Startup Disk Control Panel, called Startup Disk X. The installer, annoyingly enough, requires MacOS 9.1 or above in order to function, but the resultant control panel, Startup Disk X, works fine under MacOS 9.0.x and possibly under MacOS 8.6 although I haven't tried it yet.