OSx 10.4 on an iMAC G3

[vancejohns]

I have a Ruby iMac, 450Mhz with 256m of Ram and an 80 Gb internal drive. I'm currently running OSX v 3.9 and it runs very well and suits my needs perfectly I use it for internet browsing, iTunes (v6) and the latest version of Quicken. However, the new version of Turbo Tax, requires OSx v4. Will v4 run OK on this machine? Is there a particular release that would be best? I really don't want to purchase a new computer yet if I can avoid it.

Thanks,
Vance

 

[Makosuke]

10.4 should run on that machine, and probably not too much different than 10.3, but only if you add some RAM--10.4 generally requires more RAM to run than 10.3. I'd call 384MB a bare minimum, preferably 512MB. It'll technically work with 256MB, but probably significantly slower than it should.

That machine should have two slots in it; if you currently have a single 256MB stick, just get a second 256MB stick (or even a 512MB if you don't mind spending a little extra). If it's got two 128MB sticks, you'll have to ditch one, so you're going to need at least 256MB, preferably 512MB.

If you get the RAM from somewhere like DMS or OWC it should run you around $25 for 256MB or $50 for 512MB, so it's not a huge expense if it'll postpone needing a new computer for a little while. Should also make the machine run a little faster as well.

 

[teleromeo]

That should work. I use tiger on a G3 with 700 mhz. Just get enough ram. It was terribly slow with 128 Mb in it. I got much better when I popped an extra 512 Mb in.

 

[tuxtpenguin]

Yep. I ran Tiger on an Indigo iMac with 384 MB RAM. It ran like a champ.