Running 9.2 and I don't like the way it looks. But I love OS X. How do I go about getting OS X on the G3?
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I am getting an iMac G3..
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Assuming it's supported (you might have to go with 10.2 or 10.3, I'm not sure), just get a copy of OS X and install it. Backup the OS9 files you need (if any), then wipe the drive and install it. Shouldn't be too tricky. But again, I don't know which versions of OSX are supported.
It runs 10.4 just fine so long as it has enough RAM.
It won't even boot if it doesn't have enough RAM, but I forget the limit. I don't think 128MB is enough.
You'll probably need an older version, assuming you have enough RAM to handle it. Try eBay. I would think you could get a copy of 10.2 for under $50, but I really don't know. Never checked the prices for older copies of OSX.
But tuc makes a point about the RAM. If your machine only has 128MB RAM, I don't think it will handle OSX.
If you want to run OSX you really should consider upgrading to a low spec G4 emac you could probably pick up say an 800MHz model for a hundred bucks in the States. Even if you got it to run on a G3 imac, it wouldn't be a pretty sight.
I disagree.
X.4 runs quite smoothly on my iMac G3.
I don't push it with heavy apps or anything, but that's another matter.
I had a DV400 with 768MB RAM and a 40GB hard disk for years. It ran 10.3.9 perfectly. It wasn't too hot on Tiger, but I think that was probably because it only had the 8MB VRAM. The ones with 16MB VRAM and the full speed L2 cache on the processor (like the 500MHz version) run Tiger much quicker.
That's a good point about the difference between the 400 and 500mhz iMac G3's, so thanks for reminding me as I configure a 400mhz to run Panther instead of tiger.
Anyone who says that the iMac G3's can't run OSX doesn't know what they are talking about. However, a sticking point at times is the lack of a dvd drive on some of the iMacs. The educational versions came with cdrom only; while many of them came with dvd/cd rom drives.
My suggestion is always to put a new hard drive in them and max out the ram.
