Mac OS X 10.5 installation disc

I'm a Mac newbie who recently bought an iBook G4 (PowerPC, 1.42GHz, 1GB memory). The OS installed on it is 10.5.8. However the person who sold it to me did not have the installation discs and said he would try to get them later. He now confirms he will not be able to get them.

I'm trying to buy an installation disc from ebay (for backup and possibly even a clean reinstall) and get prices ranging from around £5 to nearly £150. Do the £5 deals look ok? Are there things I should be aware of before buying? Would I need to buy iLife and Microsoft office separately (which are currently installed)?

sban said:

I'm a Mac newbie who recently bought an iBook G4 (PowerPC, 1.42GHz, 1GB memory). The OS installed on it is 10.5.8. However the person who sold it to me did not have the installation discs and said he would try to get them later. He now confirms he will not be able to get them.

I'm trying to buy an installation disc from ebay (for backup and possibly even a clean reinstall) and get prices ranging from around £5 to nearly £150.

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You want "black" OS 10.5 install disks (not grey/gray disks)...these are model specific.

Of course you're getting prices ranging from around £5 to nearly £150. The £5 auction you linked still has 5+ days to go in the auction...I can guarantee you that it WILL NOT still be £5 5 days from now! £150 for an OS 10.5 install disk I would say is on the high side...and I would stay away from prices that high.

Here in the U.S. "black" OS 10.5 install disks are selling for around $100-$125 (US dollars).

HTH,

- Nick

Overall, I'd make sure that you're buying a retail version of Leopard and not an OEM or "grey disc" version. Retail versions work on every type of Mac (but cost a bit more), while grey disc versions are Mac-specific (because they were included standard) and thus aren't universally compatible.

If you're doing a clean install once you get Leopard, then yes, you'd have to buy new copies of iLife and Office to reinstall.

Hope this helps.

Thanks a lot for your responses guys. I've just made a bid for this one and will see where it goes. If I actually buy this, I will use it as a backup option rather than for a clean install.

Well hand in there and it WILL go much higher alas!

harryb2448 said:

Well hand in there and it WILL go much higher alas!

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In fact I have given up Maybe another one later.

Expect to pay about US$100 to $150 and you will not be disappointed. No such animal as a cheap full retail install Leopard DVD.

Maybe not... any more. BUT
Oh never mind. I give up.

Hello again. The person who sold me the iBook has now given me his original installation discs (finally!) but they seem to be 10.4.2 (two grey discs with white lettering saying iBook G4 Mac OS X 10.4.2). If I want to do a fresh install, do I use these discs and then some update to bring it up to 10.5.8 (which is what is installed on the iBook at the moment)?

sban said:

Hello again. The person who sold me the iBook has now given me his original installation discs (finally!) but they seem to be 10.4.2 (two grey discs with white lettering saying iBook G4 Mac OS X 10.4.2). If I want to do a fresh install, do I use these discs and then some update to bring it up to 10.5.8 (which is what is installed on the iBook at the moment)?

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You can't bring it up to 10.5 as that is a "pay-for" upgrade from 10.4

Allow me to explain...

The "X" in Mac OS X is roman numeral ten. So, each major release of OS X gets a new decimal point. So, the major release that comes with your iBook is Mac OS X Tiger - 10.4. The highest version that you can go up to free of charge is 10.4.11. Likewise, the highest version of Mac OS X Leopard - 10.5, is 10.5.8.

Thanks for the reply cwa107. In that case it seems he has either given me the wrong discs or later paid for an update to 10.5.8 in which case these discs are of no use to me. Let's see if I can clarify with him.

sban said:

Thanks for the reply cwa107. In that case it seems he has either given me the wrong discs or later paid for an update to 10.5.8 in which case these discs are of no use to me. Let's see if I can clarify with him.

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Yeah, based on the vintage of that machine, I'd say it likely did come with Tiger from the factory. Unfortunately, it's pretty common for people to get a paid retail version, install it on another machine and then keep the disc for themselves, even though they have no right to leave it installed on the original machine that they sold.

My hope is that one day Apple doesn't go the Microsoft route and start implementing some form of Product Activation to prohibit this, as the result of this kind of behavior.