The Mac Observer

Amazing Speed from a Macintosh 8600

TMO Talk (0)

MyMac published a blog by the legendary John Farr on Friday about his experience with an old Macintosh 8600 pulled out of storage. In Finder operations, it felt far snappier than his new MacBook.

"The 8600 had a lot of RAM, 648 MB maybe, and a 450 MHz G3 upgrade. That much RAM makes OS 9 shoot for the stars, too. It was unspeakably fast. Yes, noticeably snappier in the Finder than the 1.83 GHz MacBook with two gigs of RAM that Iim typing this on now. As far as I was concerned, it was The Fastest Mac in the World, hands down."

Mr. Farr described pulling the 8600 out of a storage shed where the temperature had reached -13F. He let it warm up, and after it booted perfectly, he was amazed at its speed in the GUI. "And it was so ridiculously fast. I mean, I could sell tickets or something. ("See? See?? Want to close a window? WHAM! Hit the pull down menu? WHAM!")"

In part II of the continuing story, Mr. Farr recounted his mailing label project for a client -- to replace her old Performa with his more capable 8600 that heid put away months ago. Now, heis perhaps rethinking the idea of giving up that beautifully fast Macintosh.

Post A Comment or Log-in. Need an account? Register here.
 

Recent Headlines - Updated May 25th

Fri, 2:40 PM
Particle Debris - The TV Industry’s Dreadful Little Secret
2:33 PM
News - Mobile Devices Account for 20% of Web Traffic in US, Canada
12:49 PM
News - Apple Now Offering “Free App of the Week” for iOS
12:21 PM
News - Tim Cook Declines $75 Million Dividend Payout
11:25 AM
News - Absinthe 2.0 Provides Untethered Jailbreak for iOS 5.1.1
11:10 AM
Quick Look Review - F18 Carrier Landing (iOS) is a Boatload of Fun
10:51 AM
TMO Appearances - Jeff Gamet talks Cool Apps & Accessories on Not Another Mac Podcast
10:12 AM
Hot Forum Topic - Forum Poll: Which is Your Favorite Photo Sharing Service?
9:41 AM
Product News - Facebook Brings Native Photo Sharing to iPhone with New Camera App
8:58 AM
News - TSA Ready to Spend $3M on Apple Gear
8:25 AM
TMO Quick Tip - Mac OS X: Getting the Most Out of the Fonts Window
Thu, 7:56 PM
News - Jonathan Ive Tells BBC He Wants to Stay at Apple
 

The Mac Observer Reader Specials

  • Macsales.com SuperSpeed SSDs from $58. Transform your Mac with an SSD Solution of up to 960GB! You won't believe it's the same machine! Once you experience an OWC SSD, no going back! - Macsales.com
  • Mac RAM Upgrades: MacBook Pro 16GB kits $475, 8GB Kits for $119.99! iMac 16GB RAM Kits (4x 4GB) for $229.99! Mac Pro Memory 32GB Kit for $399.99, 64GB Kit for $889.99! Mac Hard Drives 2TB Seagate SATA II for $249.99! Click Here!
  • Macpokeronline.com If you're using a Mac, then you've gotta check out PokerOnAMac.com. Online casinos and poker rooms are literally giving away cash and the casino sites at Poker on a Mac do the unthinkable, they actually reward! Join today, the download is free!
  •  Looking to find online casinos for mac? We can help you find the best real money casino sites where you can play your favorite casino games including blackjack and slots.

Apple Stock Quote (AAPL)

Loading...

Hot Topics

TMO Express

Join the TMO Express Daily Newsletter to get the latest Mac headlines in your e-mail every weekday. Find out more!

Top Deals From DealBrothers.com

Recent Features

Support The Mac Observer

We noticed you may be running AdBlock on your computer. It takes real money to run this site and to deliver the news, tips, and opinions you love to read.

If you wish to block the ads that pay for the creation of our content, we ask that you instead support TMO Directly, either with a $5 monthly recurring contribution, or a one-time donation of any amount of your choice. Thanks!

Subscribe with Paypal Donate with Paypal