[X4U] Best System Version for Old iMac

[Michael Winter]

On Oct 27, 2005, at 7:14 AM, Stroller wrote:

> I was given a slot-loading 400mhz G3 iMac a few weeks ago, and  
> Panther seems to run fine on it - I'm sure it would be fine for the  
> email & web-surfing of a light user. I think I shoved some extra  
> RAM in mine, as it's now got 256meg, but RAM of this age is cheap &  
> plentiful.

I'd agree with this -we've been running a 400 MHz iMac DV since it  
was new and it does real well with Panther on "native" apps. I would  
say, though, that if she'll be running anything in Classic that is at  
all CPU intensive, she will definitely take a performance hit. My  
kids still play old games on our 233 MHz beige G3 in OS 9 without any  
problems that will exhibit jerky graphics and sound dropouts running  
in Classic on the iMac.

One other possible issue. IIRC, she won't be able to print from  
Classic apps unless the printer has a Classic (OS 9) printer driver.  
I could be wrong about that though, its been a while.

IMO if she's going to be getting a new Mac sometime in the future she  
may want to start transitioning to OS X (both learning OS X and  
software purchases). OTOH, if she doesn't foresee a new computer in  
the somewhat near future, I'd probably recommend sticking with OS 9.

-Mike