10.2, 10.3 or 10.4

[Alabaster]

I have an imac G3 400mhz DV model with 256mb of ram and i'm wondering witch operating system would run best. I would like to keep it up to date, but am worred 10.3 might take a speed hit.

Would 10.4 have any major advantages over 10.3? Speed?

Would 10.2 be significantly faster then 10.3 or 10.4 in things other then startup?

Would Safari 1.3.2 (latest safari for 10.3.9) be out of date?

I have been told all of these systems would take a speed hit if they are installed over top of the current os 9. Is this true?

Any other things i might want to know before installing os x on this model?

note: I won't be using dashboard or spotlight.

 

[mduser63]

In general, newer versions of OS X are faster on old hardware than older versions. So your best bet may be Tiger. However, newer versions are more RAM hungry, so if you're going to run Tiger, I'd suggest maxing out the RAM.

 

[Eraserhead]

You will probably need to upgrade the RAM to 512MB+, I'd max it out personally.

 

[Multimedia]

10.2 Is a Dog, 10.3 Better 10.4 Best

I have an imac G3 400mhz DV model with 256mb of ram and i'm wondering witch operating system would run best. I would like to keep it up to date, but am worred 10.3 might take a speed hit.

Would 10.4 have any major advantages over 10.3? Speed?

Would 10.2 be significantly faster then 10.3 or 10.4 in things other then startup?

Would Safari 1.3.2 (latest safari for 10.3.9) be out of date?

I have been told all of these systems would take a speed hit if they are installed over top of the current os 9. Is this true?

Any other things i might want to know before installing os x on this model?

note: I won't be using dashboard or spotlight.

10.2 is half as fast aas 10.3. Forget about 10.2 and the horse it rode in on.

10.3 may not want as much RAM as 10.4 and while you have the minimum necessary for 10.4 to install, unless you max out your ram, 10.3 would be the best choice.

 

[dukebound85]

i have the same computer and have used both 10.2 and 10.4. Never got 10.3

Both are usable for light tasks. Bear in mind, it only has 256mb of ram too.

I personally couldn't tell a difference in performance

 

[Alabaster]

Thanks for the help
I just remembered i have another imac G3, a 500mhz model with 384mb of ram. I'll probably end up just transferring the ram over to make the 400 DV have 384mb of ram. Would it still be best to run 10.3 or would 10.4 be a better option?

 

[Multimedia]

Put All The RAM In The 500MHz G3 Then Install Tiger

Thanks for the help
I just remembered i have another imac G3, a 500mhz model with 384mb of ram. I'll probably end up just transferring the ram over to make the 400 DV have 384mb of ram. Would it still be best to run 10.3 or would 10.4 be a better option?

Move the RAM all to the 500GHz iMac and install 10.4.8 Tiger.

 

[clevin]

Thanks for the help
I just remembered i have another imac G3, a 500mhz model with 384mb of ram. I'll probably end up just transferring the ram over to make the 400 DV have 384mb of ram. Would it still be best to run 10.3 or would 10.4 be a better option?

384 is safe for 10.2/10.3, for 10.4, u need at least 512MB, I know Tiger officially ask for 256MB, but thats a torture if u ask me. so IMHO, unless u can get ur RAM >512MB, go get 10.3.

 

[D3LM3L]

If you're not going to the use the iMac too much, 10.3 is your best bet because it's the most compatible in terms of apps and Safari works well on it. 10.4 is a long shot because it needs more RAM. Forget 10.2 all together- it's TERRIBLE.

 

[Frisco]

I am surprised on how well Spotlight works on my G3 350 iMac. I have 512 mb RAM.

My main issue is that online videos are for the most part unplayable. For example, I can preview music on iTunes, but if I want to preview a tv show or movie it won't play.

 

[Allotriophagy]

I ran 10.2 on a 292MHz G3 with only 192MB of RAM. It was not especially bad - I could use Safari and iTunes, or Word and Safari. Just requires you to slow down your expectations a bit, really.

For a while I had to use 10.4 on a G5 with only 256MB. Again, quite doable though rather sluggish.

So really, you can probably install any version you like on your current hardware without upgrading anything - and it will work, slowly.

 

[SuperCompu2]

I've done a lot of work with G3's in the past few months, and I'd say go 10.3 Panther all the way. Tiger will run but I think the iMac is optimal for Panther.