Re: OS X on my G3

joeyp770 <joeyporter@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Oh by the way I have an IMAC G3 333, 128, 6Gb HDD.

Good, that gives us something to work with.

Officially, you are able to run anything up to and including 10.3.9 (the
last update to Panther), given sufficient RAM and hard drive space.
10.4 (Tiger) won't install on this iMac model because Tiger requires a
machine with built-in Firewire. (There are workarounds for this, but
there isn't much point - the machine is too slow to run Tiger very
well.)

> I think that I might just have an outdated version of OSX. Which really
> sucks because I just bought it and now it looks like I have to buy another
> upgrade just to be able to run any apps.

Yep. You could try locating a copy of 10.1, which was a free/cheap
update to 10.0, but 10.2 (Jaguar) or 10.3 (Panther) would be better
(they originally cost full price, but try somewhere like eBay).

Your computer already meets the minimum specifications for 10.3 and
earlier versions of Mac OS X, but in my experience I would never use any
version of Mac OS X in a machine with less than 256 MB of RAM, as it
bogs down too quickly and has to use virtual memory.

That iMac model supports a maximum of 512 MB of RAM: two slots, using
PC66 SO-DIMMs (PC100 or PC133 should work), maximum of 256 MB per slot.

It isn't easy to upgrade the RAM as it requires opening up the machine
and removing several components to access the RAM slots. There are
detailed instructions on Apple's web site (do a search in the Support
area). Assuming it currently has two 64 MB SO-DIMMs, you could replace
one of them with 256 MB and get 320 MB total, which is reasonable for
running 10.2 and OK for 10.3, but more would be better.

The hard drive size is also an issue: 10.3 requires more disk space than
10.2, which will leave you less for applications and data. If you don't
want to upgrade the hard drive, you might want to stick with 10.2, but
it will give you less options for available applications.

Given the likelihood of needing to upgrade several components, keep an
eye on how much you need to spend. It may be more cost-effective to
sell that iMac and buy a later model which already has more RAM and a
larger hard drive. Any of the iMacs with slot-loading optical drives
will be a better choice, but avoid the 350 MHz model as it doesn't have
a Firewire port.

All the 400 MHz and faster iMacs are supported by 10.4 (Tiger) as long
as you get the CD version of the installer, or the computer has a
DVD-ROM drive, or you can find another way to install the software via
Firewire. (The 1999-2000 models had DVD-ROM drives in the high end and
CD-ROM drives in the low end, but they switched to CD-RW drives in 2001.
The retail version of Tiger is supplied on DVD-ROM but the DVD-ROM can
be exchaned for CD-ROMs by paying some extra money to Apple and waiting
for them to send them to you.)

Another benefit of the 350 MHz and faster models is that the RAM is much
easier to upgrade, as it can be accessed via a door in the bottom of the
computer. (Upgrading the hard drive is still difficult.)

The adddition of the Firewire port (400 MHz and faster iMacs) gives you
a lot more options, including the ability to add an external hard drive
if you want more storage space but don't want the hassle of replacing
the internal drive.

> Oh well I guess that is the way it goes. I really wanted to spend money on
> some RAM before anything else. But as this point I can't even install
> Flash, much less Office or any of the apps that I really want to use. All
> I can really do with this version on OSX is surf the internet, as long as
> the page doesn't use Flash. I wish that there was a way to install popular
> programs for OSX that didn't use the .dmg extention.

It is a moot point. Very few Mac OS X applications were available for
10.0.x. It wasn't until 10.1 that the applications started appearing in
quantity, and this was usually the minimum OS version required to run
new Mac OS X applications at the time. Given the evidence, it sounds
like the .dmg support behaved oddly in 10.0 (or they may have changed
something like the file format). I have archived copies of the various
10.0.x updates which are in .dmg format, so basic support for disk
images must have been there.

(Historical point of amazement: the 10.0.4 "combo" updater was a mere
19.4 MB. Compare that to the monstrosities we have now with 10.4.x,
where the latest Combo updaters are exceeding 100 MB.)

The number of applications available to you will increase the later the
version of Mac OS X you install.

Most current applications require some version of 10.3 at a minimum, and
the number which require 10.4 is growing.

There are quite a few applications which will run on 10.2.8, and some
still support 10.1.5, but you may need to locate older versions of the
application.

> If you have any
> suggestions or any upgrades that I can install (preferably free) to help
> install .dmg files it would be appreciated.

Locate a copy of the 10.1 update (should be two CDs, if memory serves).
It originally cost something like US$10, so you should be able to get it
for next to nothing.

This will give you more options, hopefully including modern .dmg
support, but you will probably find that there are almost no
applications left which will run on 10.1.x.

The subsequent updates to 10.1.5 are available for download from Apple,
probably also via Software Update, which was included in 10.1 (in System
Preferences).

Adding more RAM and getting hold of 10.3 is probably your best choice
(short of replacing the computer).
--
David Empson
dempson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
.

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