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What to do with my Apple iMac "Core 2 Duo"

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padams35

macrumors 6502
Nov 10, 2016
467
302
I'm a fan of the Linux approach. It is fairly simple (if tedious) to burn a stack of live DVDs for different distros to test drive.
 
Koivari

Koivari

macrumors member
Jun 5, 2018
40
86
Finland
My "daily driver" is an early 2009 24-inch iMac and the day new iMacs or more preferably Mac Minis will emerge i will trash this thing. Ok it works and so, but it is slow on everything. Not much help from SSD when Youtube videos won´t play without stutter and many web pages and pdf-files jam the machine for good and processor load is 100%. 2.9 Ghz Core 2 Duo just won´t do it anymore.

Nice eight years though. I bought this brand new about a year after the 24" was officially cancelled (some forgotten inventory found by Apple perhaps?) and it was BTO and cheap (1050€) at the time. Time to move on, my 10.5 iPad Pro has more torque than this thing.
 
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JoeInMilwaukee

macrumors regular
Apr 7, 2015
207
239
Milwaukee, WI
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pl1984

Suspended
Oct 31, 2017
2,230
2,645
JoeInMilwaukee said:
Interesting. I'm running Lion on a 17-inch iMac Core 2 Duo (not my primary machine). Outside of Mozilla's ESR program, the last supported version of Firefox is 48.0.2, which I'm also currently running.

Would I be better off with 45.9.0 ESR or 48.0.2?
Click to expand...
I wasn't aware 48.0.2 would run on Lion as the system requirements specify Mavericks (10.9) or higher. Typically I would say use the latest version but 45.9.0 is an ESR release whereas 48.0 is not.
 
redheeler

redheeler

macrumors G3
Oct 17, 2014
8,419
8,841
Colorado, USA
JoeInMilwaukee said:
Interesting. I'm running Lion on a 17-inch iMac Core 2 Duo (not my primary machine). Outside of Mozilla's ESR program, the last supported version of Firefox is 48.0.2, which I'm also currently running.

Would I be better off with 45.9.0 ESR or 48.0.2?
Click to expand...
pl1984 said:
I wasn't aware 48.0.2 would run on Lion as the system requirements specify Mavericks (10.9) or higher. Typically I would say use the latest version but 45.9.0 is an ESR release whereas 48.0 is not.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure if the latest Firefox Quantum release still works on Lion and Mountain Lion as I transitioned the iMac 6,1 over to Linux Mint as the primary OS, but it did as of earlier this year. Not sure why Mozilla opted to drop official support after version 48, but luckily the workaround is incredibly easy.

See this post for how.
 
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pl1984

Suspended
Oct 31, 2017
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I just checked my Lion system and it's running Firefox 48.0.2. Installation didn't require any modifications.
 
EugW

EugW

macrumors G5
Jun 18, 2017
13,742
11,447
I would retire it. Or else consider CloudReady Chrome OS or else Ubuntu, if possible.
 
Candykane75

Candykane75

macrumors member
Jun 14, 2017
64
57
holland
As long as your not using it on the internet in the future you are fine, (no specter and meltdown patch for old imacs )
Stand alone with old software it can be a lot of fun. old photo an video editing ect ect.. if you can find it

but if you want safe internet, You can install linux on it. Then you will be safe ;)
Mine is running a older version of mint at the moment. It works great , I installed it on a C2D windows laptop with simular specs then transported the drive to the mac and it just works...
Don' t think it will become a beast even with a SSD 3GB yes youtube and netflix it will run with . netflix with some stutter in Heavy scenes now and then ... Liber office will run. chrome firefox ect will run just dont expect a beast of a machine .
its more of a collectors item then a real everyday machine .
 
J

JoeInMilwaukee

macrumors regular
Apr 7, 2015
207
239
Milwaukee, WI
pl1984 said:
I wasn't aware 48.0.2 would run on Lion as the system requirements specify Mavericks (10.9) or higher. Typically I would say use the latest version but 45.9.0 is an ESR release whereas 48.0 is not.
Click to expand...

It appears Mozilla's "System Requirements" is in error; 48.0.2 is definitely supported by Lion. 45.9.0 ESR is probably more secure than 48.0.2 but the latter probably has more features.
[doublepost=1537238132][/doublepost]
redheeler said:
I'm not sure if the latest Firefox Quantum release still works on Lion and Mountain Lion as I transitioned the iMac 6,1 over to Linux Mint as the primary OS, but it did as of earlier this year. Not sure why Mozilla opted to drop official support after version 48, but luckily the workaround is incredibly easy.
Click to expand...

The latest Firefox Quantum is definitely NOT supported by Lion (of that I'm sure).
[doublepost=1537238557][/doublepost]
Candykane75 said:
As long as your not using it on the internet in the future you are fine, (no specter and meltdown patch for old imacs )
Stand alone with old software it can be a lot of fun. old photo an video editing ect ect.. if you can find it

but if you want safe internet, You can install linux on it. Then you will be safe ;)
Mine is running a older version of mint at the moment. It works great , I installed it on a C2D windows laptop with simular specs then transported the drive to the mac and it just works...
Don' t think it will become a beast even with a SSD 3GB yes youtube and netflix it will run with . netflix with some stutter in Heavy scenes now and then ... Liber office will run. chrome firefox ect will run just dont expect a beast of a machine .
its more of a collectors item then a real everyday machine .
Click to expand...

I don't use my 2006 iMac Core 2 Duo as my primary machine. I typically use it to watch or listen to podcasts or if I don't want to power-up my 2012 Mac mini for a minute or two just to check the weather or email.

I did install an SSD in my 2006 iMac a few months ago, mostly as an experiment. You're right, it's not exactly a beast with the SSD; it boots up much faster and launches apps faster, but that's about it. If I end up tossing the Mac in a couple of years I can always remove the SSD and use it in another Mac.
 
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pl1984

Suspended
Oct 31, 2017
2,230
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JoeInMilwaukee said:
I did install an SSD in my 2006 iMac a few months ago, mostly as an experiment. You're right, it's not exactly a beast with the SSD; it boots up much faster and launches apps faster, but that's about it. If I end up tossing the Mac in a couple of years I can always remove the SSD and use it in another Mac.
Click to expand...
I keep trying to explain this to people but few seem to care. Most people blindly recommend installing the SSD.
[doublepost=1537275896][/doublepost]Perhaps I misunderstood what the OP was inquiring about. I was under the impression he asked the question because he could no longer properly browse the web thus my recommendation for a new browser.

However he may have been asking about what he could use it for in general. If that's the case I would recommend he ask the question in the PowerPC forum. While the system in question isn't a PowerPC the members over there have been welcoming Intl users with older systems. Perhaps MR can create a forum specifically for older, unsupported Intel based Macs.
 
J

JoeInMilwaukee

macrumors regular
Apr 7, 2015
207
239
Milwaukee, WI
I downloaded the first version of Firefox above 48.0.2, which happened to be 49.0.2 and got it running on my 2006 iMac with Lion. I'll keep experimenting with incremental version increases as time permits.

Going to 49.0.2 allowed me to update the Adblock Plus extension, which would download under 48.0.2 but fail to install. So one big improvement already!

Thank you, redheeler!
 
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