A few questions about my imac g5

Hey guys, I just bought a used imac g5 and I had a few questions. Here are the specs:
Model Name: iMac G5
Model Identifier: PowerMac12,1
Processor Name: PowerPC G5 (3.0)
Processor Speed: 1.9 GHz
Number Of CPUs: 1
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory: 1.5 GB
Bus Speed: 633 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.2.6f1
Serial Number (system): W8547B8NTAQ
Hardware UUID: 00000000-0000-1000-8000-0014511E99D0


I was wondering if I would be able to take 10.5 off of it and put 10.6 on? Like, could the machine handle it and would it run well? I am getting a brand new imac next month but I want to give this to my mother if I can bring it a tiny bit more up to date. She would want to watch netflix and such with it, which it can't do right now. Any help would be appreciated, or if you need more info. Thanks!
Sara

This excellent sticky may help initially.

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/os...49-what-os-disk-do-i-need-brief-overview.html

No stick with OS X.5.8 which is the final operating system for PowerPC computers, Snow Leopard OS X.6 and higher are for Intel machines only.

If you got the Leopard install disc with the machine, format the drive Mac OS Extended and under Partition > Option select Apple Partition Map Scheme, install and set up password for Mom. If not, set up a new account under System Preferences > System > Users & Groups > New Account by clicking the little + button. When all is good you can delete the original account by highlighting and hitting the little - button.

swood9 said:

She would want to watch netflix and such with it, which it can't do right now. Sara

Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure Netflix is Intel only. If not, streaming video is probably going to be choppy and not very enjoyable.

MacDude121 said:

I'm pretty sure Netflix is Intel only.

Click to expand...

That would indeed be the case since SIlverlight, the plugin that Netflix uses to stream content, is Intel only. It's possible that an old version of Silverlight was supported on PPC machines but it's also likely that such an old version won't work with Netflix (although anything is possible).

Not to put you off your G5 which is a but little dated machine. If you wanted Snow Leopard and Netflix look for an Intel iMac, preferably a Core 2 Duo capable of running Lion.