Newbie OS Upgrade Questions from 10.2

Hi I am a poor student so I am currently using 10.2.8 on my computer. It is now so old that I can't download new versions of web browsers etc. so I know that I NEED to upgrade. I have a fairly old 1GHz Powerbook G4 with 512 MB of Memory. I have heard that the latest OS 10.5 significantly slows down the older computers and was trying to figure out if I should purchase an older operating system such as 10.4 or if I should get 10.5. Also I was looking into buying 10.4 and the person selling said I would also need to buy 10.3 because I can't upgrade directly from 10.2.8 is that true? I looked on the mac site and it didn't say anything about that, just that I needed a G3, G4, or G5 and that I needed 256MB of Memory and 3GB free space on the Hard drive. I am sorry if these are dumb questions, I don't really know much about computers, so thanks for your time. If any of you can help me I would really appreciate it!

In theory the PowerBook will install Leopard, but is is pretty close to the minimum specifications, and 5.12MB RAM won't do much for it.

I suggest using Tiger X.4, and buy the retail install DVD, that is the black discs and not grey upgrades or model specific disks. Do a format and clean install rather than upgrade for best results.

Remember no questions are 'dumb'. We all have start somewhere.

Thanks for the info it was a lot of help. If I do a clean install does that mean that I will lose all of my music, pictures, word docs etc. Also I have read somewhere else that the newer versions dont have programs like iphoto and that you have to get it seperately by buying iLife, or is that only if you use the upgrade discs rather than the full version?

Yes sadly. If you have a burner, copy your files to DVD's.

I have installed Leopard and iPhoto 4 appears in the applications so I assume it is on the install DVD for Tiger as well. Make sure you get a retail version of the DVD, they are black disks and don't get the grey model specific install disks.

Ok I will be sure and look for the black full install disc. I also wanted to say thank your again for your help. I means a lot that you would spend time to answer all of my questions. I really appreciate it, and Happy Holidays!