• What removable storage options are available for the Power Macintosh G3 series?

The original Power Macintosh G3 series shipped standard with a 1.44 MB floppy disk drive and could also be configured with a Zip drive. Numerous external drives can also be added to  the original Power Macintosh G3 series by using the standard SCSI port.

The New Power Macintosh G3 series can be configured with an internal Zip drive, and external USB-based and FireWire-based peripherals can be easily added.

You can also use SCSI-based devices by adding a SCSI card to the New Power Macintosh G3.

• Can external SCSI be added to the New Power Mac G3 series?

Yes. An IOI SCSI card can be added so that SCSI-based devices can be used.

• What adapters will be available for "legacy" devices?

Various companies are busy manufacturing adapters that will allow ADB, SCSI, and  serial-based devices work with USB and FireWire. Since the New Power Macintosh G3 series  includes an ADB port, and SCSI is no longer included, the most useful adapter for New G3 users will be SCSI host adapters and serial-to-USB connectors.

• What version of the MacOS is pre-installed?

The original Power Macintosh G3 series came with MacOS 8.0 pre-installed, and later had  either MacOS 8.1, 8.5, or 8.5.1 pre-installed.  The New Power Macintosh G3 series, which includes the Power Macintosh G3/300 (Blue),  Power Macintosh G3/350 (Blue), and Power Macintosh G3/400 (Blue), come with MacOS 8.5.1  pre-installed, and are not compatible with earlier versions of the MacOS.

• Will the Power Macintosh G3 run MacOS X?

Apple's current plans for MacOS X pledge that the operating system will be "optimized  for G3-based systems". Because all models in both Power Macintosh G3 series feature PowerPC  750 (G3) processors, hence the "G3" in the title, all models should be fully supported by MacOS X.

• What are the primary differences between the two Power Mac G3 series?

In spite of nearly identical names, the original Power Macintosh G3 series and New Power Macintosh G3 series are completely different.

The obvious difference is case type, as the original Power Macintosh G3 series comes in   an easy-to-upgrade "platinum" tower case, which was also used for the Power Macintosh 8600 and 9600 series and the New Power Macintosh G3 series comes in a unique, easy-to-upgrade, translucent "blueberry" and white case.

While the original case opens with ease, Apple made the New case even easier, with a single latch that opens the case revealing the logic board. The two Power Macintosh G3 series use motherboards that differ in just about every way imaginable. The original motherboard has onboard SCSI, video, and 1.44 MB floppy disk support but no built-in USB or FireWire (an optional FireWire card was available), while the Blue G3 motherboard has onboard USB and FireWire, and no built-in SCSI, video (16 MB video card pre-installed), and no 1.44 MB support. The original G3 system bus runs at 66 MHz, with processor speeds ranging from 233 MHz to 333 MHz, and the New G3 system bus runs at 100 MHz, with initial processor speeds from 300 MHz to 400 MHz.

Essentially, the original Power Macintosh G3 series represents the last of the "old Apple" and the New Power Macintosh G3 series represents the first of the "new Apple" leading the "post-Beige" revolution.

• How fast are the Power Macintosh G3 series compared to each other?

Preliminary MacBench 5.0 benchmarks show that the new New Power Macintosh G3 series are around 25%-40% faster than models in the original Power Macintosh G3 series. The only exception is the Power Macintosh G3/300 (Blue) that is a little bit slower than the previously released Power Macintosh G3/300 MT. This is likely due to the 512k of backside cache in the Blue G3/300 as opposed to 1 MB of backside cache in the original G3/300.

• Does the New Power Macintosh G3 series have a ROM?

The new Power Macintosh G3 series does not have the traditional 4 MB ROM that the original Power Macintosh G3 series has, but it does have a Boot ROM that is around 1 MB.   Codenamed "NewWorld", Apple describes the new method as not having a "single, large ROM that contains the many components of the Mac OS software, along with the 68K emulator, hardware initialization, and the nanokernel." and instead it has "a small ROM [that] provides hardware initialization functions and provides a mechanism to load the Mac OS ROM image into RAM."

• How many PCI slots are provided with the Power Macintosh G3 series?

The original Power Macintosh G3 series has three PCI slots on a single 33 MHz PCI bus  which accommodate up-to three 33 MHz 32-bit or 64-bit PCI cards. Video is onboard.

The New Power Macintosh G3 series has four PCI slots on two PCI buses. One PCI slot is on a 66 MHz PCI bus which is pre-installed with a 66 MHz 32-bit, 16 MB ATI 3D Rage 128 GL video card. The other three PCI slots are on a 33 MHz PCI bus which accommodate up-to three 33 MHz 32-bit or 64-bit PCI cards. For detailed information about the PCI slots in the New Power Macintosh G3 please refer to Tech Info Document #58206.

• How can internal hard drive storage be expanded?

The original Power Macintosh G3, provided that both a hard drive and an internal Zip drive is installed, has one external 5.25" drive bay that can be used to accommodate an additional hard drive, Jaz drive, CD-R drive, or other storage device.

The New Power Macintosh G3 series, provided that a single hard drive and an internal Zip drive is installed, has two internal 5.25" drive bays to accommodate two additional hard drives. Apple advertises the maximum capacity as "over 100 GB" using three 36 GB drives, and will be able to have even greater storage capacity in the future. For detailed information on storage options and compatibility, refer to Tech Info Document #58194.

• How much RAM can the Power Macintosh G3 support? What type?

The original Power Macintosh G3 series supports up-to 768 MB of RAM using three 256 MB10ns 168-pin SDRAM DIMMs.  The New Power Macintosh G3 series supports up-to 1024 MB (1.0 GB) of RAM using four 256 MB 8ns 168-pin, 64-bit-wide, unbuffered PC100 SDRAM (3.3v) DIMMs. Memory from the original Power Macintosh G3 series and older Power Macintosh systems is not compatible.

• Does the Power Macintosh G3 support DVD? Can it be added?

Yes, both the original and the New Power Macintosh G3 series support DVD provided that they are equipped with a DVD drive and the proper MPEG decoder card. A DVD-ROM drive was a custom option for the original Power Macintosh G3 and is standard in one configuration of the Power Macintosh G3/350 (Blue) and a build-to-order option for the remainder of the New Power Macintosh G3 series.