Software updates for my old Mac

[Gemma]

I have a question regarding software updates, but please bear with me as I am a bit of a technophobe!

I have a G5 iMac, OSX 10.3.9 (I bought it back in 2004). It has taken a heck of a lot of use over the past 4 years (8+ hours almost every day) and to be honest it probably hasn't got much juice left in it, but I'm hoping it'll keep going a bit longer.

I have noticed lately, that I seem to be having more and more problems with running software. In particular, Safari and Firefox seem to be really struggling. They both crash on a very regular basis and seem to struggle to open certain websites at all (I am using Safari 1.3.2 and Firefox 1.0.6). I wondered whether this might be because they are such old versions, so I checked out the downloads on the Apple website to see if I could get the newer versions, but my operating system won't support them, it's too old!

I am wondered whether it is possible to get newer versions than the ones I am using, but not as new as the current versions, because obviously my computer can't handle the latest ones! Would this even help? Or do I have to face facts and retire the old boy and upgrade to something better?

Hope someone can advise! Thanks very much.

 

[Ric]

Hi there and welcome,

When was the last time gave the Mac a clear out..reloaded the OS.

To use newer versions you are going to need to update your OS, maybe to 10.4 or up to 10.5

How much RAM does your mac have ?

regards

Ric

 

[Gemma]

Hi Ric,

Thanks for your reply. My Mac has 1GB RAM. I did wonder about updating the OS, but as I mentioned my knowledge of all things technical is fairly limited and I wasn't sure whether my Mac would even be able to run the latest OS?

My other concern is how much longer it can realistically keep going? It has taken a heck of a lot of use and has already broken down twice, resulting in costly mends on both occasions, seeing as the Applecare Protection Plan has now expired. What is the lifespan on these things? I'm wondering at what point it is better to upgrade, rather than keep patching it up?

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Hi Gemma & welcome

I'm sure your G5 has some life left in it yet ... Upgrading your iMac's RAM & OS Version would be a lot cheaper than buying a newer Mac, but having said that, the price of iMac's is coming down all the time ... the current line of iMacs are very nice machines and if you can really afford to upgrade then you would really enjoy using an Intel iMac, I'm sure ...

It's difficult to say what the lifespan of a G5 iMac is, but I have a few older Macs that continue to function to this day, despite their age. But then again, things were made to last in the old days .... (last century )

Your iMac would certainly run Tiger quite well and even Leopard too! Just make sure you have plenty of RAM installed

Have a look on eBay or a similar auction site for a Full Retail Version of Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger) to get an idea of the cost and you can check out the cost of RAM at an online vendor like Crucial.com, Other World Computing or Newegg.com.

Hope this helps ....

 

[Gemma]

Hi there,

Thanks very much for the input. I'll definitely be looking into upgrading to Tiger, I think that's a very good plan. Perhaps I can keep it going for a while with a bit of TLC! I think I'll wait a bit longer for a shiny new one (and to be honest, I kind of prefer my old-style white design to the new brushed metal look anyway!)

Thanks folks. I'm sure it won't be the last time I'll be picking your brains!

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Glad to help I'm with you on the brushed metal look too, Gemma ... don't really like it.

Tiger is a really great OS version and there were a lot of changes made when Apple first released it ... it's a really good step up to take ... I haven't upgraded to Leopard as I feel Tiger really works for me and from what I've seen I don't really think I made a bad decision.

Having said that, I'm sure that if Leopard was the first version on Mac OS that I ever experienced, I'm sure I'd like it, it's just I don't want to stop using Tiger just yet ...