Recently bought a PowerBook G4 (Aluminum) and want to make it useable

[AeroZenoX3]

So as the title suggests it’s my first time with a PPC computer. Now I’ve had a iBook before but I later sold it and got a MacBook. But that’s not why we are here I currently have the latest version of Firefox which is enough for me but some website seem to not like it and refuse it’s connection, I’ve got the mail app to work with gmail but only with incoming mail but it cannot send out. Are there any alternatives instead of using hard drives since the one I have in here is super slow on the verge of failing. I’ve attached a photo of the spec of the laptop. It originally didn’t have an os and took me ages to get one on here later putting panther I believe than upgrading to tiger. I’m also open for any suggestions since this is my first time actually using ppc.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

So as the title suggests it’s my first time with a PPC computer. Now I’ve had a iBook before but I later sold it and got a MacBook. But that’s not why we are here I currently have the latest version of Firefox which is enough for me but some website seem to not like it and refuse it’s connection, I’ve got the mail app to work with gmail but only with incoming mail but it cannot send out. Are there any alternatives instead of using hard drives since the one I have in here is super slow on the verge of failing. I’ve attached a photo of the spec of the laptop. It originally didn’t have an os and took me ages to get one on here later putting panther I believe than upgrading to tiger. I’m also open for any suggestions since this is my first time actually using ppc.

On lower spec'd portables, I like Tiger 10.4.11 and for the 1ghz and up machines, I like unofficial Sorbet Leopard 10.5.9. There are linux options like Macbuntu and Lubuntu remix which are based off 16.04 iirc, but my understanding is that the software repos were turned off, so software is limited out of the box. Additionally, for powerbooks, I had alot of trouble with video drivers. It is worth noting that I am in no way a "good" at using linux. I like it and use it daily on my early Intel macs, but my linux wheelhouse is pretty basic, so Im sure there are those on here who could help you with that like @wicknix for example where I could not. Everything I speak to below this is for Tiger, and/or Leopard and Sorbet.

Browser: DarkWeb and InterwebPPC. DW is a bit lighter but both are great for surfing the modern web.
productivity: Office 2004 and iwork
YT: this requires at least leopard 10.5.8 but Tenfivetube is solid. I also like to use an alternative front end like invidious in an IWPPC Box leveraging something like "In the box".
webmail: I use boxed up iterations of outlook.com and html gmail via Interweb PPC but others have had good success using the mail client in Sorbet Leopard.
online shop - I use boxed up iterations of amazon & ebay.com to run search/research. For actual transactions, I use my iphone14 lol.
Games: Quake3A, UT99 etc. Tinkerdifferent hosts some servers, so if you want to get your FPS on, this is an easy lift and so much fun.

There's other apps I use on my PPC machines but that is the primary DD app lineup. There is of course a bunch more - lots of neat apps folks have put together that Im sure you'll discover with time. Alongside this forum, there is a vibrant PowerPC community at forums.macrumors.com. Lots of knowledgable folks over there as well, so if you haven't, go lurk. Many of us exist in both forum spaces. Anyways, most all of this stuff you can find at the garden - conversely, if you went with sorbet leopard 10.5.9 for example, that community os update has a really convenient PPC application download manager which for those new to PPC macs, is very handy making hunting down PPC appropriate software easier out of the gate.

Best of luck to you.

 

[AeroZenoX3]

On lower spec'd portables, I like Tiger 10.4.11 and for the 1ghz and up machines, I like unofficial Sorbet Leopard 10.5.9. There are linux options like Macbuntu and Lubuntu remix which are based off 16.04 iirc, but my understanding is that the software repos were turned off, so software is limited out of the box. Additionally, for powerbooks, I had alot of trouble with video drivers. It is worth noting that I am in no way a "good" at using linux. I like it and use it daily on my early Intel macs, but my linux wheelhouse is pretty basic, so Im sure there are those on here who could help you with that like @wicknix for example where I could not. Everything I speak to below this is for Tiger, and/or Leopard and Sorbet.

Browser: DarkWeb and InterwebPPC. DW is a bit lighter but both are great for surfing the modern web.
productivity: Office 2004 and iwork
YT: this requires at least leopard 10.5.8 but Tenfivetube is solid. I also like to use an alternative front end like invidious in an IWPPC Box leveraging something like "In the box".
webmail: I use boxed up iterations of outlook.com and html gmail via Interweb PPC but others have had good success using the mail client in Sorbet Leopard.
online shop - I use boxed up iterations of amazon & ebay.com to run search/research. For actual transactions, I use my iphone14 lol.
Games: Quake3A, UT99 etc. Tinkerdifferent hosts some servers, so if you want to get your FPS on, this is an easy lift and so much fun.

There's other apps I use on my PPC machines but that is the primary DD app lineup. There is of course a bunch more - lots of neat apps folks have put together that Im sure you'll discover with time. Alongside this forum, there is a vibrant PowerPC community at forums.macrumors.com. Lots of knowledgable folks over there as well, so if you haven't, go lurk. Many of us exist in both forum spaces. Anyways, most all of this stuff you can find at the garden - conversely, if you went with sorbet leopard 10.5.9 for example, that community os update has a really convenient PPC application download manager which for those new to PPC macs, is very handy making hunting down PPC appropriate software easier out of the gate.

Best of luck to you.

Got Interweb on the G4, Thanks for the suggestions. Currently writting this on the G4. Downloading the rest of the suggestions given. Might check out Sorbet or leopard but this drive is too small and slow going to upgrade it to a SSD before I add a different OS. Thanks