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Will I lose my programs upgrading from OS9 to OSX?

W

Willsq

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 1, 2006
18
0
Hi - I hope someone can help..
I have a G3 PowerPC Mac running OS9 at 450Mhz, with 384MB of RAM and I wish to upgrade it to the latest Mac OS (better late than never, eh?). From this I reckon I'd be able to install OSX okay (Correct me if I'm wrong). I've read and stored various websites which would guide me through the process.

My problem, however, regards the software I already have on my Mac (including legit. copies of Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand and InDesign) - will I be able to use them once I've installed OSX? The thing is - there is little reason in using my Mac if I don't have these programs. Unfortunately I've lost the install discs so I can't simply reinstall them after I've installed OS9... :(

Thanks in advance. :)
 
What versions of those programs are you using? Some will support OSX, some won't.

Also given your specs OSX will be a lot slower than OS9. Are you really sure you want that?
 
OS X should work just fine on that machine, but I'm not sure you'll be happy with Tiger (10.4) running on just 384 MB RAM. I've ran it on a G3 @ 400 MHz with 320 (and later 512) MB RAM and on my iBook G4 @ 800 after downgrading that to 256(!) MB RAM and I cannot recommend anyone running Tiger on anything less than 512 MB RAM...

As for software: Which versions of named applications do you have? The older versions will not run under OS X (and running them in Classic is not recommended as a working environment, at all...).
 
.

I have two RAM slots, and I'd be willing to buy more RAM. I guess I could take out the 128MB, keep the 256MB, and put a 512 in its place. As for the processor - anyone know how much a new processor would cost?

Software versions:
Adobe Photoshop - 7.0
Adobe InDesign - 2.0
Adobe Illustrator - 9.0
Quark Express - 4.1
Microsoft Office 98 (Old I know)
Freehand 9

Not too bothered about Office 98 as I have Office XP on my PC.

Thanks for your comments.
 
edit: i presume you have an imac, thus get two 512 sticks, they don't cost all that much.
 
ive got a 350 MHz Processor and it runs tiger great! i dont think you will need a processor upgrade!

matter of fact im trying to install classic right now.
 
Frisco said:
You're better off getting Panther (10.3) than Tiger (10.4) with your specs.
Click to expand...
:) Okay, thanks. I just want OS X because I hate looking for hardware/software only to find it doesn't support OS 9. 10.3 would be cheaper than 10.4 as well I suppose which is a plus..
 
Hector said:
edit: i presume you have an imac, thus get two 512 sticks, they don't cost all that much.
Click to expand...
Thanks. Yeah, buying RAM will be my next port of call I think.
 
Me1000 said:
ive got a 350 MHz Processor and it runs tiger great! i dont think you will need a processor upgrade!

matter of fact im trying to install classic right now.
Click to expand...

Good news :) Ta very much. By the way, I thought 'Classic' meant 'before OS X'. That's right isn't it - as in OS 9. Hehe, I'm a bit of a mac newbie as you can see...
 
I'd fully recommend you upgrade. I have an iMac G3 (350) with 320 MB of RAM, and it's a lot better than OS 9, it's a tiny bit slower in some cases, but the features (and multitasking abilities) more than make up for it. And no, you won't lose those applications. Some will run in classic, and some will run in OS X if they're carbonized. You may need to run an updater from the CD to get rid of a dialogue box at startup, but I'm not positive.
 
Adobe Photoshop - 7.0 I think will work in OS X
Adobe InDesign - 2.0 will work in OS X
Adobe Illustrator - 9.0 will not work in OS X
Quark Express - 4.1will not work in OS X
Microsoft Office 98 (Old I know) Definitely will not work in OS X
Freehand 9 Not sure if it will run in OS X

With that said, you can use classic to run most of those apps (though I doubt if Office 98 will work in classic) but classic is a real pain and is prone to crashing and other problems. If you are not able to upgrade to newer versions of your software, then I would recommend staying on 9 or having a dual-boot system so you can boot into X for internet, email, etc. and 9 for all your graphics work.
 
maxrobertson said:
I'd fully recommend you upgrade. I have an iMac G3 (350) with 320 MB of RAM, and it's a lot better than OS 9, it's a tiny bit slower in some cases, but the features (and multitasking abilities) more than make up for it. And no, you won't lose those applications. Some will run in classic, and some will run in OS X if they're carbonized. You may need to run an updater from the CD to get rid of a dialogue box at startup, but I'm not positive.
Click to expand...

Cool, thank you. Just one thing - what's 'carbonising'?
 
I just wanna ask you? If you threw away your install discs, how are you going to reinstall them after installing OS X?

If I were you, I'd just buy a used G4 MacMini. You'd be much better of with that. Or even a refurb. Core Solo/Duo Mini?
 
Josias said:
I just wanna ask you? If you threw away your install discs, how are you going to reinstall them after installing OS X?

If I were you, I'd just buy a used G4 MacMini. You'd be much better of with that. Or even a refurb. Core Solo/Duo Mini?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the ideas. Looking at the comments in this thread, I've come to the conclusion that I don't need to reinstall the applications after I install OS X. Or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

I would buy a new machine, but then there'd be no chance of me having the applications in question anyway, unless I fork out about £2000 for the latest versions. I want to keep the programs I've got, and simply update my OS from 9.2 to X.
 
I have a slightly different opinion than others on this thread...

With your current RAM, you probably aren't going to be too happy with any version of Mac OS X. What size is your hard drive? That is also important due to the way Mac OS X handles virtual memory.

I had a Blue & White G3 350 with 1gb of RAM and a 60gb hard drive and it runs Tiger perfectly. However, my friend had a G3 450 with only 256mb of RAM and a 10gb hard drive, and it runs like crap.

Pump up that RAM to a gig, and have a nice big drive, and you'll be fine.
 
Willsq said:
Cool, thank you. Just one thing - what's 'carbonising'?
Click to expand...
Carbon applications were applications that work in both OS X and OS 9. It was meant as an in between step so developers could offer their products to people who use either OS (kind of like Universal). Cocoa apps on the other hand only work in OS X. So in your case, Photoshop 7 was carbonized, but Illustrator 9 was not.
 
dpaanlka said:
I have a slightly different opinion than others on this thread...

With your current RAM, you probably aren't going to be too happy with any version of Mac OS X. What size is your hard drive? That is also important due to the way Mac OS X handles virtual memory.

I had a Blue & White G3 350 with 1gb of RAM and a 60gb hard drive and it runs Tiger perfectly. However, my friend had a G3 450 with only 256mb of RAM and a 10gb hard drive, and it runs like crap.

Pump up that RAM to a gig, and have a nice big drive, and you'll be fine.
Click to expand...

My hard drive is 20GB, and currently it has nearly 17GB free. A bit better than your friends' I suppose. I am willing to buy some new RAM though, perhaps by replacing my 128 stick with a 512 one. At least then I'd have 768MB, which would be much better than what I've got at the moment. Thanks for your comments by the way :D

On the hardware front, I think I'm okay then.
What I'm more concerned about is whether I'll be able to keep my applications in the transition (old versions of Photoshop etc.), and whether the Classic environment in OS X is stable enough to let me use my applications that only run in OS9 natively. Without owning another Mac with OS X installed, I don't know if I can really weigh up whether the change to OS X is worth it. If I can't keep most of these programs, then I must say I'd rather stay with OS 9...
 
baleensavage said:
Carbon applications were applications that work in both OS X and OS 9. ...
Click to expand...
This is not quite true. Most Carbon apps will run in MacOS 9 and MacOS X, but not all. Notable exceptions are Office v.X and Office 2004. These Carbon suites are MacOS X-exclusive. It is better to say that Carbon apps are those based on the MacOS X Carbon APIs. A summary explanation of Carbon is available here.
 
baleensavage said:
Carbon applications were applications that work in both OS X and OS 9. It was meant as an in between step so developers could offer their products to people who use either OS (kind of like Universal). Cocoa apps on the other hand only work in OS X. So in your case, Photoshop 7 was carbonized, but Illustrator 9 was not.
Click to expand...

Ah right, cheers. So if I were to install OS X, I'd be able to use Photoshop as if I'd installed it on the more recent OS? And for the other programs, such as Illustrator, I'd still be able to use them, but only in 'Classic' on OS X?
 
I think what I'm trying to get at at the moment is:

When I install OS X, will it wipe off the programs I'm talking about (Photoshop/Illustrator etc.), or will it keep my current programs? If the former, could I back them up in some way or can I only backup documents and personal files?
 
Willsq said:
I think what I'm trying to get at at the moment is:

When I install OS X, will it wipe off the programs I'm talking about (Photoshop/Illustrator etc.), or will it keep my current programs? If the former, could I back them up in some way or can I only backup documents and personal files?
Click to expand...

Your old applications will migrate into a folder "Applications (Mac OS 9)" within your OSX Applications folder. They won't be deleted. And, if they ran in OS9 before the upgrade, they will run in OSX under Classic, no problem. I personally run both Illustrator 7.0 and Photoshop 5.0 in Classic. Looks a little weird, but it works so well, I haven't seen a need to upgrade.

As for RAM, an upgrade couldn't hurt, but I can attest to running Tiger on an only slightly faster G4 with the same amount of RAM, and it works fine. If you're going to be using Illustrator and Photoshop often, though, that much RAM probably will get cramped in a hurry.
 
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