Upgrading G5 10.3.9 to 10.5

I will be installing Adobe CS4 (Pshop, Illustrator, etc.) in my PowerPC G5 but the CS4 requirement means I have to upgrade the OS, which is still at 10.3.9. CS4 requires Mac OS X v10.4.11–10.5.4. But I'm confused about which version to get. I know I cannot put in Snow Leopard so I asked my reseller who said they don't sell old Leopard- I have to buy it on Ebay or Amazon. OSX 10.5 is trading for about $150 on Ebay, but there are "upgrade" versions and "full retail" versions, some say they are only for intel processors- which one do I get? Maybe I should just get Tiger? Thanks!

daveed said:

I will be installing Adobe CS4 (Pshop, Illustrator, etc.) in my PowerPC G5 but the CS4 requirement means I have to upgrade the OS, which is still at 10.3.9. CS4 requires Mac OS X v10.4.11–10.5.4. But I'm confused about which version to get. I know I cannot put in Snow Leopard so I asked my reseller who said they don't sell old Leopard- I have to buy it on Ebay or Amazon. OSX 10.5 is trading for about $150 on Ebay, but there are "upgrade" versions and "full retail" versions, some say they are only for intel processors- which one do I get? Maybe I should just get Tiger? Thanks!

Click to expand...

As long as CS4 can use 10.4 (Tiger)...then you can get either 10.4 or 10.5.

As far as the disks...as far as I know you need the full retail version of either 10.4 or 10.5...either of these OS versions are selling for $100+ on eBay...and like you said even as high as $150.

I'm not really aware of any upgrade versions for 10.4 or 10.5.

Good luck,

- Nick

Apple do not sell Leopard nor Tiger any longer, so sites such as Amazon and eBay and many others are the go and as Nick suggests they are not cheap mate. Get full retail install version of Leopard OS X.5 and update to X.5.8.

Tiger will have a much shorter life than Leopard which will be continued for we PPC users.

thank you for your helpful responses- you even answered my next question. If I buy 10.5.1 or 10.5.4 will I be able to upgrade to the highest version supported by the PowerPC. I guess the answer is "Yes" and the version I want to go up to is 10.5.8. I assume this will be an available download or something over the internet? I am also nervous about anything that does not say "full retail version". Here is an offer that is tempting but not sure if is going to work- what do you think?

<<Mac OS X 10.5.2 Leopard New Install Restore DiscsMac OS X 10.5.2 Leopard Mac Pro early 2008
These disk are reinstall disk and will not work on just any mac
So please do your home work before buying these and make sure that this is what you need.
Mac OS X Install Disk 1
Mac OS version 10.5.2
AHT version 3A146
Disk version 1.2
2Z691-6202-A
Mac OS X Install Disk 2
Disk version 1.0
2Z691-6195-A>>

As state, it is a reinstall disk, and it will not work on just any Mac. So, be careful.

daveed said:

If I buy 10.5.1 or 10.5.4 will I be able to upgrade to the highest version supported by the PowerPC. I guess the answer is "Yes" and the version I want to go up to is 10.5.8. I assume this will be an available download or something over the internet? I am also nervous about anything that does not say "full retail version". Here is an offer that is tempting but not sure if is going to work- what do you think?

<<Mac OS X 10.5.2 Leopard New Install Restore DiscsMac OS X 10.5.2 Leopard Mac Pro early 2008

Click to expand...

If you purchase 10.5.1 or 10.5.4...YES you will be able to update for free to 10.5.8 via Software Update.

NO...you do not want that "Restore Disk" you mentioned. You want a full install Retail version of 10.5...and like already mentioned...that's going to cost you at least $100 bucks (probably more) on eBay.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

As stated and repeated and repeated - do NOT buy restore or upgrade discs. They are extremely model specific. You need to look for the full retail version of Leopard.