upgrading an old mac laptop

hello all - (TOTAL NEWBIE HERE)

i have an old laptop running:

mac ox x version 10.4.11
900 mhz PowerPC G3

is it possible to upgrade this old laptop OS to something more recent? and if so, where would be the best place to buy a new OS? or can i download it?

(and please dont just suggest a new laptop)

again, total newbie here....

thanks,
mark

An older Mac laptop with a 900mhz cpu is sort of a borderline case from an OS perspective. 10.4 is probably the "speediest" OS to run on your Mac laptop. You could update to OS 10.5 (Apple's minimum cpu speed required for 10.5 is 867mhz)...so your 900mhz just barely qualifies.

I was running OS 10.5 on a 933mhz iBook...and it seemed ok "speed-wise"...so you would probably be ok with 10.5.

As far as where to get 10.5. e-Bay or Craig's List...and expect to pay $100 or more for it (not a cheap upgrade). FYI...a 900mhz Mac laptop is probably worth around $150 bucks (maybe $200 on a good day)...so paying $100+ for an OS upgrade is a lot for that computer.

You may be best off sticking with the OS you have.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

hello nick -

thank you for kindly answering my question... lotsa forums like to make fun of the newbies.

our business depends on a java app load successfully. this java app:

Vimas technologies - Audio Recording Applet SDK

does not run on our my old clunker mac. the company who wrote the java app told me my mac OS was too old.

really, i am not a mac person (surprise!) and i just bought this old junker laptop to "test" how websites will look and run on a mac.

but it sounds like you are telling me either to buy a new(er) mac or spring $100 for a new(er) OS?

hmmm - wish there was a cheaper option..... ideas?

thanks, mark

Leopard requires a G4. So you're pretty much stuck with 10.4.11

technologist said:

Leopard requires a G4. So you're pretty much stuck with 10.4.11

Click to expand...

Thanks for catching that detail! I was mostly focusing on cpu speed.

- Nick

bump for Mark - just got earlier post approved

Mark Edwards said:

our business depends on a java app load successfully. this java app:

Vimas technologies - Audio Recording Applet SDK

does not run on our my old clunker mac. the company who wrote the java app told me my mac OS was too old.

but it sounds like you are telling me either to buy a new(er) mac or spring $100 for a new(er) OS?

hmmm - wish there was a cheaper option..... ideas?

Click to expand...

Mark,

If I'm understanding correctly...the Java App you're working with won't run under Mac OS 10.4.11...and that you need a newer version of the Macintosh OS. I went to the link you provided...and it says that the "target OS platforms" for Macintosh computers are those running Mac OS 10.5 and 10.6.

The G3 900mhz iBook you have (as "technologist" correctly pointed out) officially from Apple cannot run Mac OS 10.5 since it does not have a "G4" processor. To run Mac OS 10.5...you need a Macintosh computer with at least an 867mhz cpu and a G4 processor.

This computer does not need to be a laptop computer...it could also be a desktop (which might be less expensive). If you're lucky...you could search on e-Bay for a laptop or desktop Mac that meets these requirements...and also has OS 10.5 Leopard installed on it. A computer like this is still going to run you around $100-$150...but you could get lucky and find a desktop for less...you never know with e-Bay. But then with a desktop computer you will most likely have to pay more shipping.

Just for completeness sake...even if the laptop you have had a G4 processor...it would still cost you $100-$125 for an OS 10.5 "Leopard" install disk.

Finally. This java app you're working with is designed to work with Mac OS 10.5 & 10.6. Mac OS 10.6 (newest version is 10.6.4) is the latest & most modern version of the Mac OS. I would imagine that you might want to test how this java app looks when running Mac OS 10.6. In order to do this...you need a Macintosh computer with an "Intel cpu"...which is the cpu used in currently shipping Mac's.

Mac OS 10.6 requires a Mac with an Intel CPU...so even if the iBook G3 900mhz could run OS 10.5...it would not be able to run 10.6.

I hope that this makes sense...and was helpful,

- Nick

hey thanks nick - i really appreciate it.

i would have thought that the problem would have been entirely in the java JRE, not the computer itself!

yes ebay is a good solution - a bit hit-n-miss for sure.

it sounds as if my options are either to spend more $$$$$ to run 10.6 or make close friends with a local mac person.

note - running safari on xp-windows does not simulate anything useful as far as java is concerned.


ONE MORE QUESTION - how much success have people had running 10.6 on a regular windows pc - maybe dual boot or go the vmware route?

Mark Edwards said:

hey thanks nick - i really appreciate it.

it sounds as if my options are either to spend more $$$$$ to run 10.6 or make close friends with a local mac person.

ONE MORE QUESTION - how much success have people had running 10.6 on a regular windows pc - maybe dual boot or go the vmware route?

Click to expand...

Mark,

Yes...one definite "low cost" option would be to team up with someone & use/borrow their Mac equipment to do your testing.

Regarding your question...about "running 10.6 on a regular Windows PC". If what you mean is installing the Mac OS on a "Windows Computer" such as a Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc. computer...this is illegal & this not a permissible discussion topic here on Mac-Forums.

If you're talking about running a Mac in the Windows environment via "bootcamp" VMware Fusion, or Parallels...that would be a possibility to do your testing...but you would still need a newer Mac computer to do it on.

HTH,

- Nick

far be it from me to discuss something illegal !

somebody just recommended a "mini-mac" i found a g4 here for $160

Apple Mac mini - 256 MB RAM - 1.25 GHz - 40 GB HDD

i am thinking this might be the best of all worlds... whaddya think?

thanks again,
mark

Mark Edwards said:

far be it from me to discuss something illegal !

somebody just recommended a "mini-mac" i found a g4 here for $160

Apple Mac mini - 256 MB RAM - 1.25 GHz - 40 GB HDD

i am thinking this might be the best of all worlds... whaddya think?

thanks again,
mark

Click to expand...

The Mac-Mini you mentioned has a 1.25hgz G4 cpu...so it will run Mac OS 10.5 "Leopard" with no problems.

But the link seems to mention that it comes with Mac OS 10.4...so you will still need to purchase OS 10.5 (probably at least $100)...and this G4 based Mac will never run 10.6 (no Intel cpu)...if you needed to test your Java App with OS 10.6.

HTH,

- Nick