Which Version of OS X is for Me? Uprgrading a G4

[whosmicah]

Hello all. I have a PowerMac G4 with 512MB of RAM, 350mz processor, 9.55 GB of internal memory, and am currently running OS 9.2.2. I have a external Hard Drive (40GB) used to store music, files, etc. I have already backed up everything on my computer onto it, and am currently duplicating my music backups onto CDS. Just to be safe.

Anyway, I am quite tired of how this operating system will not work with just about any programs or hardware. Its a real pain searching for programs or software that will actually work with OS9. The new digital camera and software CD I have recieved cannot communicate with the low operating system, requiring OSX.

I am wondering which OS X installation disk set I should purchase? Jaguar, Panther or Tiger? Which one will work best with my computer? I'm not really big into networking, let alone understand it to a point, and use Photoshop, Mozilla and iTunes mostly. What OS will be best for a personal home computer?

Any input you can give would greatly help. Thanks!

[Lt Major Burns]

i would reccommend Panther for that system. Tiger really needs a minimum of 512mb ram, so you may find it chugs a little, whereas Panther will be fine. the only major difference is spotlight and dashboard, and Panther has a very solid search system anyway, it's like NearlySpotLight™. and dashboard is next to useless, IMO.

you can probably find panther disks for less than £40 now as well.

[fryke]

Complete agreement. Panther would be the best OS X version for that G4. Its performance and feature set is better than Jaguar's, and Tiger's a little too demanding for that machine.

[whosmicah]

I see. Thank you very much.

I was also wondering what programs come with Jaguar?
Is GarageBand a Tiger-exclusive application?

[andychrist]

Fryke, do you think Tiger would be too demanding for a 350 MHz processor, or that 512 MB RAM would be insufficient? Because Tiger runs just about as tolerably as did Panther on my old BondiMac (which I have upgraded with a 500 MHz G4 card and maxed out to 512 MB RAM.)

Now, while my iMac's CPU may be a bit faster, it has an FSB of only 66 MHz and just 6 MB VRAM, as opposed to 100 MHz and 16 MB respectively on the PowerMac. And as the memory is expandable to 1 or 1.5 GB on that machine (depending on the model), I wonder whether it might just be worth it to blow some bucks on RAM and take a chance on Tiger. I mean after all, both Photoshop and GarageBand are pretty hungry for memory, so you'd want to max it out anyway, regardless of which version of X you install.

And while Panther was an acceptable OS, 10.4 does have some distinct advantages. Spotlight actually works a lot better on my old kit than did Panther's Search, which would stall so miserably as to be unusable. Also, a lot of apps have seen marked improvements in Tiger. Anyway, whosmicah, don't even think about running Jaguar, it just sucks performance-wise in comparison with the later cats.

Of course the big question on the horizon is what Macs will no longer be supported at all in Leopard...

BTW, GarageBand will run on Panther but Tiger is recommended. It is part of the iLife suite and must be purchased separately from the OS. iLife is included in the software of new Macs, however.



Best of luck to you, whosmicah.

[chevy]

A larger internal HDD may also help for OS-X.

[ex2bot]

whosmicah,

10.3 or 10.4 are all good. Of course, I wouldn't want to go back to 10.3 now that I'm used to 10.4, esp. Spotlight. Awesome.

Keep in mind that NONE of the iLife apps come with OS X. You have to buy them separately. The iLife apps are iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb (new in iLife 06), and Garageband. iLife 06 costs $79. You'll probably be able to find 05 (including Garageband) for less. ** And, before I forget, iLife 07 will undoubtedly be announced next week.

Doug

[Mikuro]

I agree that Panther is a good bet. It offers a great combination of features, performance and compatibility, and is simply better than Jaguar in every way.

Tiger wants more RAM than Panther for some unknown reason (it's not just Dashboard, although that is a memory hog), so if you decide to go with Tiger, I would invest in some extra RAM. Tiger runs nicely with 1GB.

Whichever version you choose, you'll want to either install it on your large external drive, or buy a new internal drive. Anything less than 20GB is a bit tight for an OS X boot volume. A 10GB drive is just barely usable, and will require you to go to lengths to strip out unnecessary system components (like printer drivers and foreign-language items).