Older Imac

[KBarrett]

I am wanting to try to update and use my older imac that I've had shelved for a few years . Last running OS X and the browser versions are so out of date, I can't access the internet to update them.

Any suggestions or guidance on what is the most recent OS that would work on this machine and steps to get it onto the machine?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

The iMac5,1 is either a iMac (17-inch Late 2006) or iMac (20-inch Late 2006). The maximum version of OS X it will run is OS X 10.7.5 Lion.

What version are you currently running?

C

 

[KBarrett]

I believe it's 10.5.??? Seems like the ex may have given me leopard, snow leopard or jaguar? to install a few years back. I'll have to double check the specs when I get home.

Is it worth updating to Lion if I'm only going to end up giving it to grandkids to play old games on and maybe watch a DVD/listen to music?

Someone suggested making it a windows machine which triggered a memory that I think the ex also partitioned the hard drive years ago and did add windows. I don't know how to check for that.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Yes, it could be OS X 10.5.x Leopard. You wouldn't need to update it if it already has the old games installed. Lion can be a bit tough to acquire, but you can buy it from Apple here: OS X Lion (10.7).

You can check to see if you have Boot Camp setup with Windows, as it will have a second drive partition, and you can choose which to startup from in  > System Preferences... > Startup Disk.

C