How can you visually differentiate between a Revision 1 and Revision 2 "Blue & White" Power Mac G3 model?

As noted by site sponsor Operator Headgap Systems, the "CMD" chip in the left rear corner of the motherboard can be used to differentiate between a revision 1 and revision 2 "Blue & White" Power Mac G3. OHS continues:

The CMD chip on Rev. 1 logic boards is PCI646U2 and on Rev. 2 logic boards is 646U2-402. To find the location of the CMD chip on the logic board, get a flashlight in shine it on the chip near the left rear of the motherboard as you face the open case. I just look for the hyphen in the number. If you have a hyphen you are on a rev. 2 motherboard.

On the resale market, revision 2 motherboards tend to be preferred due to fewer issues with MacOS X and large hard drives. OHS provides more details regarding potential issues with the revision 1 motherboards as well.

What type of modem is provided by the Power Mac G3?

All Power Mac G3 models were offered with an internal 56k modem as an option. None were installed by default.

Can USB and Firewire be added to the "Platinum" Power Mac G3 models?

Yes, USB and Firewire ports can be added to the Platinum/Beige Power Mac G3 models with a compatible PCI card.

Site sponsor Operator Headgap Systems sells a PCI card with five USB 2.0 ports compatible with a Beige/Platinum Power Macintosh G3 with a $77D.45F1 ROM booting MacOS X -- it will run in MacOS 9 with OHS provided drivers as well but only at the slower USB 1.1 speed -- for less than US$25 including shipping in the continential US. Site sponsor Other World Computing has a number of USB and Firewire PCI cards from which to choose.

Please double check to ensure a particular USB or Firewire PCI card of interest is compatible with both your Mac and your operating system.

Was the iMac keyboard and mouse really standard with the "Blue & White" Power Mac G3 models?

Yes. In an apparent last-minute move to cut costs, Apple decided to use the standard iMac G3 keyboard and "hockey puck" mouse with the "Blue & White" Power Mac G3 series.

However, because the Blue & White Power Macintosh G3 models have an ADB port as well as two USB ports, the options for alternate input devices are virtually limitless. However, Apple warns that if you have two similar input devices plugged in at the same time in both formats, results are "unpredictable". In other words, if you have both an ADB-based and USB-based mouse plugged in at the same time, the movement of one mouse may effect the other. So don't do that.