Upgrade Mac OS suggestions needed

L

llauzonvt

Registered
I just purchased a PowerMac G3 (Blue and White) for my daughter. We're working on becomming a family of switchers, but right now, most of my hardware and software knowledge is in the PC world.

It has OS 9.2.2 installed and I would like to upgrade it to run iTunes and hopefully Safari. I also need it to be able to connect to a WEP router.

It's a 350Mhz with 320 MB RAM and a 6GB hard drive.

Looking through the list of OS X, it looks like Safari is introduced in 10.3

The current version of iTunes (7.3.1) indicates it needs at least OS 10.3.9 and a 500Mhz processor.

I believe I need to locate an older version of iTunes and a OS X 10.3 install disk set. Are there places (other than eBay) I can look for those?

The Apple website doesn't offer older versions of iTunes and I don't know how to determine which version will run on a 350Mhz PPC.

Also, Is there some online source for manuals for these older Macs? The time/date seems to be reset to 1953 every time I start the computer, so I believe I will also need to replace the CMOS battery.

thanks!
Louis
 
llauzonvt said:
I just purchased a PowerMac G3 (Blue and White) for my daughter. We're working on becomming a family of switchers, but right now, most of my hardware and software knowledge is in the PC world.

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In addition to replacing your battery, you need to upgrade other components in order of importance:

6 GB HD--Upgrade your hard drive capacity to at least 40 GB, but 160 GB/250 GB won't hurt. A larger hard drive is the single most important upgrade you can perform on an old Mac, especially one running MacOS X.

350 MHz processor--Upgrade to the fastest G4 which is compatible with your computer. For your computer, you should be able to pop-out the G3 and pop-in the G4. However, you should keep your old G3 because some software upgrades don't like to install on processor-upgraded systems. They run on software-upgraded systems just fine.

320 MB RAM--Because you have more than 256 MB RAM, MacOS X 10.4 will run. However, the more RAM, the better. Upgrade to at least 512 MB. Upgrade to 1 GB RAM--the maximum for your computer--if you can afford it.

You will notice that individually the upgrades are not expensive. Collectively, they add up to a substantial amount of money. And you still have an old machine. In and of itself, this is not a bad thing. However, it is a serious consideration. Do you want to spend that much money on an old machine when the new ones are so much faster than the upgraded computer?
 
This has been covered many time in other threads - your logic board will limit a larger hard drive to a maximum partition of 128GB. You won't get full use of a larger hard drive without some additional hardware, or, as some will point out, some questionable software. I would suggest staying within the hardware, like 80GB.
 
I would not bother to replace the G3 processor, as entire G4 towers are available (shipped, even) at less than the price for many of these upgrade boards the other person linked to. I'd suggest you get familiar with the OS and then consider upgrading to a G4 or higher Mac if desired.

Replacing the battery that keeps the time is very easy, and IIRC they have them for about $5 at OWC. IIRC they also have 10.3 disks and hard drives at a reasonable cost, or you can always post a WTB on the Swaplist.

If you have or can get a hard drive bigger than 6G, that is probably a good idea, as 10.3 itself takes about 3G. 10.3 install disks do come with Safari and iTunes in them so you don't have to worry about those.

For good deals on Mac stuff, I recommend joining the LowEndMac.com Swaplist.
 
You _could_, of course, also forget about updating the hardware and use OS 9.2.2 instead. Yes, there's not much newer software for it, but a well-installed OS 9 (easy) with the right browser, E-Mail app and jukebox software (early iTunes, maybe) makes for a well running computer. It'll feel quicker than running Panther and behaves well without much RAM or harddrive. If you need more space for songs etc., you can simply add a harddrive externally (FireWire).
 
fryke said:
You _could_, of course, also forget about updating the hardware and use OS 9.2.2 instead. ...
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instead is not the right word here. There will be absolutely nothing to prevent the OP from running MacOS 9.2.2 on his upgraded machine. He may run MacOS 9.2.2 as his sole OS, he may dual-boot it with MacOS X, or he may run MacOS 9.2.2 as his Classic environment. Your response would have more accurately been worded as follows:

You _could_, of course, also forget about updating the hardware and use OS 9.2.2.
 
thx for correcting me, but I stand by what I said, because he was talking about using 10.3, and I meant he'd be using 9.x instead. Instead. Instead.
The important thing is that for OS 9.2.2 and light use of web/mail and some other stuff, it simply doesn't matter that much whether the hardware is upgraded, whereas OS X is _very_ powerhungry.

Of course he could install both OSs, but the way it sounds, I believe I read this correctly, it should be a low-maintenance machine. OS X and dual-booting and/or Classic is a *lot* of overhead for a low-maintenance machine.
 
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