OS9.2 to Panther on old iMac

R

RonaldMacDonald

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I was just about to buy a new eMac to relace my old type iMac. I bought a book about Panther and it says that Panther runs fairly well on the old G3 iMacs. If this is true I would rather put off buying anything new for the time being. Any comments on this? On Panther, will it run faster or slower than the original iMac?

Also, I would like to know, when you upgrade to Panther, does it leave OS9 on your machine? What about Classic? I have yet to buy the Panther software.

Lastly, I can go from 9.2 to Panther without having to first upgarde to Jag first, correct? Thanks!

Ron
 
What are the specs of your old iMac, and what kind of apps do you want to run on it? If it only has a 233 MHz processor you may not have a pleasant experience with OS X; also Panther will need at least 256 MB RAM, 512 recommended. And in any case, none of the G3 iMacs can take full advantage of all Panther has to offer.

Yes, Panther will leave OS 9 on your HD.

And you can go straight to Panther without Jaguar so long as you get the full install CD, not just an Upgrade.
 
I'm using Panther on my 500 DV iMac with 512 Mb RAM since last september (mostly for InDesign) and I am very pleased.


And in any case, none of the G3 iMacs can take full advantage of all Panther has to offer.
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That is right, but these are not the most important things in operating I think.
 
Oh, you have the slot-loading iMac, that is not so bad. But you will have to add at least one stick of 256 MB RAM, preferably two. As long as you don't want to run anything that requires a great video card, such as games or most of iLife, you should be fine with Panther. But really, max out that RAM!
 
andychrist, may I ask, why are you suggesting so much ram? This machine is used by my employees in a store that I am not able to visit often. I would prefer that they do not use it for any kind of entertainment. In fact, I should probably try to leave that stuff off the machine to make sure they don't get too comfy :)

Any suggestions on installing a stripped down installation would be appreciated.
 
OS X uses many times the RAM of OS 9 for comparable applications; it was designed for machines that could accommodate larger and faster RAM than the original iMac. You could get by in theory with the RAM you have now, but your machine will probably bog down.

Of course, you can install Panther first and see how it runs, and only install more RAM later if you find you really need it. But I sincerely doubt that you will have acceptable performance below 256 MB RAM. Even if this machine will be used mainly by your employees, I assume that you will not want them working on a machine that slows them down...

In any case, the good news is that you will not have to buy a whole new Mac to enjoy Panther-- and Panther will make your machine run like a whole new Mac!
 
We'll give it a try. Can you tell me what junk I can leave out when making a custom install? The only languages we use are American English and Japanese. And like I said, we don't need games, music and other entertainment. I want them concentrating on their work :)
 
I think it is really just those extra languages you will want to eliminate; the only game Panther comes with is Chess! Do install the BSD subsystem (it allows you to run a lot of productivity/diagnostic apps) but not iTunes, and look to see if there are any drivers on disk 2 that you may need for printing/scanning. Really the installation is very easy and self explanatory. Just keep an eye out for the Options button when you select Custom Install-- it is really easy to miss if you are clicking through the installation panels in a rush.

Have fun with Panther!
 
You can probably also leave out the extra Fonts. MAKE SURE you uncheck all the Printer Drivers that you won't use, because these take up a LOT of space.

We run OS X on an iMac here that is just about identical to yours, and although it is nowhere near as fast as my iBook, the performance is OK. My sisters don't use it for anything particularly 'heavy' though, and looking at what you said you'd be running, I agree; buy as much extra RAM as you can afford. If not, Panther will be forced to use HD space as RAM, and on an old hard drive like that, it will be VERY slow. Just my opinion :)
 
Thanks for all the advise. I also have an old G4 that is 10 GB HD and 400MHz. It has 192MB of ram already and I want to add another 256, will that be OK? Again, I am just running stuff like Illus, PS, Office, 4D and some other little junk.

BTW, I recently dusted off and fired up that old G4 on OS 9 (I never put Jag on it) and I was surprized how fast it is. It is way faster than my 1.3GHz windows machine running XP.

I am on my way out the door to pick up Panther and some ram.
 
Really, if you want OS X to run as fast as OS 9 on your old Macs you should aim for 512 MB or more, especially as you may want to be able to run Classic inside X. But again, you can add new RAM one stick at a time and judge performance for yourself.
Also, if you ever find that you need to get even better performance out of that old iMac, you might consider replacing its loud, slow and small HD with a new quiet one at 7200rps. I couldn't get over the speed boost doing that gave my old iMac. It's also a good insurance policy against the current HD suddenly dying and losing all your data, aside from the increase in storage capacity.
 
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