Green as a green Apple

TomT321 · Sep 14, 2009, 06:01 PM

Greetings,

I am very new to the "Mac" family and purchased a used Imac G5 off of Ebay. So far I am very pleased, but have found out that my computer is the very first generation of G5s. It has a 1.8 Gh single core processor, 160 GB hard drive and the Ram was upgraded to 768 MB. It was loaded with the Tiger 10.4.11 osx and I am impressed but wonder if it would be worth my while and if this set up would support upgrading to the Leopard osx or beyond that to Snow Leopard. The old adage if it ain't broke don't fix it comes to mind, but then again Leopard has some very neat items not found on Tiger. I do not want to upset the "apple cart" pardon the pun, but looking for some straight advice.

Thanks
TomT

mrkramer · Sep 14, 2009, 06:09 PM

Leopard would run fine on there, I'm not sure if there would be a speed improvement on that machine or not. Snow leopard is intel only so it wont run on your G5.

SqB · Sep 14, 2009, 06:16 PM

Sorry, but as the soup guy said "no snow leopard for you!" However, that's really no big deal. You can still have the whole Apple experience and you have a computer that should be running well for quite a while.

As for Leopard from Tiger, my personal opinion is that it's a great upgrade. You'll definitely enjoy the difference.

emptyCup · Sep 15, 2009, 07:33 AM

Your machine has two RAM slots. You currently have one 512MB stick and one 256MB stick installed. Having the same size in both slots will give you a slight boost in speed. Increasing memory will be more noticeable. Your machine can go up to 2GB.

I have left my old iMac on Tiger because it can run Silica. Since these machine have a modem port, I plug my phone line into it and Silica gives me Caller ID right on the Mac's screen. Although there are Leopard features I like, this eliminates a lot of wasted time answering the phone.

RKO · Sep 15, 2009, 07:41 AM

A bit more RAM and some leopard and you have a good stable machine. Won't be the greatest and fastest but a good intro to the mac world until you decide to upgrade later.

TomT321 · Sep 15, 2009, 08:44 AM

One and All,

Thank you for your responses, I do appreciate them and more than likely will add a bit more ram and do the leopard upgrade. Like some one said it will give me a decent "beginner's" machine and once the economy straights out I can think about a new Mac with all the bells and whistles.

Sep 14, 2009, 06:01 PM	#1
TomT321 macrumors member Join Date: Sep 2009	Green as a green Apple Greetings, I am very new to the "Mac" family and purchased a used Imac G5 off of Ebay. So far I am very pleased, but have found out that my computer is the very first generation of G5s. It has a 1.8 Gh single core processor, 160 GB hard drive and the Ram was upgraded to 768 MB. It was loaded with the Tiger 10.4.11 osx and I am impressed but wonder if it would be worth my while and if this set up would support upgrading to the Leopard osx or beyond that to Snow Leopard. The old adage if it ain't broke don't fix it comes to mind, but then again Leopard has some very neat items not found on Tiger. I do not want to upset the "apple cart" pardon the pun, but looking for some straight advice. Thanks TomT

Sep 14, 2009, 06:16 PM	#3
SqB macrumors regular Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Central FL, Wishing I was in CO	Sorry, but as the soup guy said "no snow leopard for you!" However, that's really no big deal. You can still have the whole Apple experience and you have a computer that should be running well for quite a while. As for Leopard from Tiger, my personal opinion is that it's a great upgrade. You'll definitely enjoy the difference. __________________ When my friends call me to fix their computers, I tell them to go buy an . Nobody calls anymore.

Sep 15, 2009, 07:41 AM	#5
RKO macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: ɹəpun uʍop	A bit more RAM and some leopard and you have a good stable machine. Won't be the greatest and fastest but a good intro to the mac world until you decide to upgrade later. __________________ Flynn is not always in........

Sep 15, 2009, 08:44 AM	#6
TomT321 Thread Starter macrumors member Join Date: Sep 2009	Thanks One and All, Thank you for your responses, I do appreciate them and more than likely will add a bit more ram and do the leopard upgrade. Like some one said it will give me a decent "beginner's" machine and once the economy straights out I can think about a new Mac with all the bells and whistles.

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Sep 14, 2009, 06:09 PM	#2
mrkramer macrumors 68020 Join Date: Jul 2006	Leopard would run fine on there, I'm not sure if there would be a speed improvement on that machine or not. Snow leopard is intel only so it wont run on your G5.

Sep 15, 2009, 07:33 AM	#4
emptyCup macrumors 65816 Join Date: Jan 2005	Your machine has two RAM slots. You currently have one 512MB stick and one 256MB stick installed. Having the same size in both slots will give you a slight boost in speed. Increasing memory will be more noticeable. Your machine can go up to 2GB. I have left my old iMac on Tiger because it can run Silica. Since these machine have a modem port, I plug my phone line into it and Silica gives me Caller ID right on the Mac's screen. Although there are Leopard features I like, this eliminates a lot of wasted time answering the phone.