Running 2 Mac OS X Versions on 1 Computer Possible?

[Resist]

Just wondering if it's possible to run 2 versions of Mac OS X on one computer. I'm thinking if I can run Windows, then why not a previous Mac OS X version as well.

My Macbook Pro runs Snow Leopard and I would also like to run Tiger, because it would help me troubleshoot a relatives iMac that has Tiger on it. They are long distance to me, so we communicate via voice online. Since I don't have Tiger on my machine, it's hard for me to know what they are talking about. So having Tiger on my machine would greatly help me understand their issues.

Although now that I think it over, it would probably be easier to spend the $30 for the Snow Leopard upgrade disk for them.

 

[Dalton63841]

Yes it can. I was running Leo and Snow both on my laptop for a short bit. You don't even use Boot Camp for that.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Yes, but know, that installing a version of Mac OS X that is older than the version the Mac came with can be really tricky and may not work, as the drivers for the hardware don't exist in older versions.

 

[Sydde]

In your situation, maybe. You would have to look at the grey disks that came with your Macbook Pro. You cannot boot your Mac with an OS that is older than its OEM installation. If your Macbook Pro is younger than 10.5 Leopard, you will not be able to install or use Tiger on it.

 

[bmcgonag]

I've gotten around this by using a mac that could run tiger as installed from DVD, then cloning that drive to a new partition on the mac that came with Leopard.

Now this is still likely a situation where the hardware was capable of running Tiger since Leopard had just come out.