Upgrading from 10.3.9 to 10.4

My parents just bought a Power Mac G5 for my younger brother and sister to use from Printer Ink & Toner Cartridges, HDMI Cables, iPhone iPad Accessories and more | 123 Ink Cartridges Canada. The computer while in excellent condition is a bit dated and is still OS 10.3.9. I realize that upgrading further could start to slow down the computer however the only real use they need it for is using web based browser games that require a newer OS than the ancient one its currently using. I've looked everywhere including the apple website and while I can easily find the subsequents updates for tiger... I can't find the initial Tiger download. Can I upgrade any further or is the computer doomed to be stuck at 10.3.9?

PowerMac G5
Duel 1.8 GHz
L2 Cache 512
Memory 2GB DD SDRAM
Bus 900MHz

ebray09 said:

I've looked everywhere including the apple website and while I can easily find the subsequents updates for tiger... I can't find the initial Tiger download. Can I upgrade any further or is the computer doomed to be stuck at 10.3.9?

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There are no free updates for Tiger...you need to purchase a Tiger install disk. e-Bay is your best bet. Buy a black disk (not gray/silver)...and be prepared to spend around $80.00 bucks.

If you don't purchase a Tiger install disk...then yes...this Powermac G5 is "doomed" to be stuck with OS 10.3.9.

- Nick

It will be more expensive but I would recommend Leopard over Tiger. Apple no longer provides updates for Tiger and current versions of Safari and iTunes will not install on Tiger machines meaning that if you have an IOS device, you won't be able to sync it with that machine.

edit.
I missed some of the stuff in the original post. If you are going to try and access any flash based websites with this machine, you are going to run into a lot of issues as Flash is no longer supported on any PPC based Mac. It's a big reason why my G4 hasn't been turned on in some time.

MikeM said:

It will be more expensive but I would recommend Leopard over Tiger.

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Great idea! Might as well go all the way to Leopard (assuming no software compatibility issues for the OP). If someone is going to spend $80 on Tiger...might as well pay $100 for Leopard instead.

MikeM said:

Apple no longer provides updates for Tiger and current versions of Safari and iTunes will not install on Tiger machines meaning that if you have an IOS device, you won't be able to sync it with that machine.

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This pretty much applies to Leopard as well.

- Nick

Another vote for Leopard which is the last operating system the G5 can run. The black retail install DVD will set you back around the $100 mark. Do not buy a silver/grey model specific, update or so called or drop in discs. None of these will work.

And you do have to purchase Leopard from an auction site, no downloads at all unless you go to a pirate site and then you may well download all sorts of malware hacks so do not even consider it.

I was under the impression that to go Leopard I would have to instal tiger first... and then leopard. Regardless, I somehow came across a copy of tiger and it installed just fine. The system is updating now and I plan on installing leopard as soon as possible.... assuming I can get a copy of it. I'll use my phone-a-friend lifeline before I resort to buying. But thanks for all the advice folks its all much appreciated.

ebray09 said:

I was under the impression that to go Leopard I would have to instal tiger first... and then leopard. Regardless, I somehow came across a copy of tiger and it installed just fine. The system is updating now and I plan on installing leopard as soon as possible.... assuming I can get a copy of it. I'll use my phone-a-friend lifeline before I resort to buying. But thanks for all the advice folks its all much appreciated.

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FYI...if your using "copies" of Apple OS disks...or using someone else's OS install disks...that's a violation of Apple's EULA.

That's why we are advising purchasing your own OS install disks. "Phone a friend"...is not the proper OS upgrade method!!!

- Nick

Oh wow, didn't realize... guess going cheap just isn't an option.

Well to make things clear my family has owned macs since 92' so we've racked up a few instal disks over the years its just a matter of looking. I eventually found it in a locked filing cabinet in a disused lavatory behind a door that said "Beware of the tiger". Have to admit its kind of frustrating to deal with getting instal disks that we've owned over again. I ended up having a kernel panic a couple weeks ago when I tried to download a patch to run 256 colours to play the original fallout. Cost me 75$ from an authorized apple dealer to stick snow leopard in(didn't even get to keep the disklol). I like what Blizzard does once the product is registered you can just download it again off their website in case you lose the product or the CD key. I suppose I could always just be more careful where I put things but after two or three moves over the years... the dust builds.

ebray09 said:

Have to admit its kind of frustrating to deal with getting instal disks that we've owned over again.

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I'm not sure if you're getting Nick's point. Just because you owned a disc does not mean you have the license to install its contents on as many computers as you want. In the old days (pre-Lion) any OS disc had only one license. So, you could legally use it on only one computer. Once you wiped that computer, you were free to install it on another computer. You just couldn't do it on two at the same time - legally. That still applies to those older discs.