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i saved 2 imac 400s from the dumpster. the only problem is there is no cd or harddrives. they both work, i put in a cd rom drive and ran a live boot Ubuntu linux. i tried installing Ubuntu to an external harddrive but it crashed while installing the boot loader. so i'm giving up on that option. they are going to be for my kids... and don't want to break the bank on them.
i was thinking on os9....

my question is what os should i get and where from?


Thanks!!!!!

____________
couple pcs
14" g4 ibook
17" g4 imac
 
OS 9 would be fine, but you might want to upgrade the memory up to maybe 512 MB on them and install something like Jaguar or Panther. Both of those operating systems should run pretty well on those iMacs.

Regarding Ubuntu, are you using the latest version (5.10 "Breezy Badger")? That one should work fine right out of the box especially with those Macs.
 
what about eBay for OS 9. There are a stack available. Most seem to be going for around $30-$50 ("buy it now" price).

great find though. You can use them for all sorts of things, like a central iTunes or iPhoto source to put in a living room, or put all your cooking recipes on it and place it in the kitchen (who needs bench-space, anyway?)

haven't people even used them for fish tanks?

I donno about OS X on an old iMac, although if all you're using it for is internet and word processing it might be ok. I'm sure someone else here has tried it and would know how feasible it is.

I have seen OS x on an old imac before, but it was in screen saver mode at the time ("Flurry", and it was reeeeeally struggling with it!)
 
If you put enough memory on them, they will handle OS X decently (not fast, but decently). I have installed OS X on older G3 iMacs and they have handled them fine with even 256 MB, but I would definitely recommend 512 MB for it to be useful.
 
i would get the oses here. i'd run either os 9, or 10.2 on them, but no higher. try one on each and see how they do, and then convert the other over. now where can i find a deal like that? the closest i've done was save a mac+ from the dumpster.::angel::
 
In my experience, Panther > Jaguar, regardless of hardware. I certainly found that to be the case on my old 450MHz iMac (which I assume is from the same generation as these).

I'd go with OS 9 unless you really find that you need OS X. Unless the previous owners upgraded it, it probably only has 64MB of RAM, which is obviously not suitable for OS X. But you could pop in an extra 256for pretty cheap, for a total of 320MB. That would be alright for Panther (I'd recommend more for Tiger).
 
Thanks for all the feed back!
sinclair_tm.. thanks for the link..
I decided to get os 9... and a new battery for i ipod. (save your receipt..class action lawsuits mean nothing with out them!!!)3
this forum rocks!!!!!!!!!!!
 
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