Q: I have an IBook dual USB Mac OS x laptop. What should I do with it?

Hi, and welcome to Apple Support Communities.

Classilla is a browser for Mac OS 9.

Which exact iBook model is it?

You can choose from this list:

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/index-ibook.html

Which version of Mac OS X is it running now?

How much RAM is installed?

What kind of optical drive does it have? (CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD, or Combo Drive?)

I keep my iBook G3 500 MHz in Mac OS 9. Mac OS X 10.0.3 is pretty awful.

After it downloaded, it had Internet explorer 5 on it. It wouldn't let me install anything except Classila.

Do you mean after you installed Mac OS X 10.0.3 from the Install CD?

Internet Explorer 5 is pretty useless.

How much RAM is installed? What is the hard drive capacity? The small (usually 10 GB) hard drive is why I kept my 500 MHz iBook in Mac OS 9, although I do have Mac OS X 10.1.5 on it (mainly to answer questions here).

How much RAM is installed?

This is an 11-year-old computer, you know?

What, exactly, are you wanting to do with it?

It's all right for old OS 9 games and for working with AppleWorks (if it still has the original software package installed, which it sounds as though it may since it still has Mac OS 9.1).

Did you get all of the original software CDs with it?

They will look like this:

http://www.ifixit.com/iBook-Parts/iBook-G3-12-Inch-Restore-CDs-500-600/IF150-029

If you maximize the RAM with a 512 MB module (if that hasn't already been done), it is capable of running Mac OS X 10.4.11, but if the hard drive hasn't been upgraded from the original 10 GB one, that is a major hindrance.

Good luck with it.

"Had?"

Don't you have it any more?

Try going to Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > System Profiler and click on the hard drive there (ATA or PATA), and see what it says about the hard drive capacity and available space.

Internet Explorer for Mac was last updated 10 years ago. You can't use it on very many sites these days (as you have discovered).

I would suggest maximizing the RAM with a 512 MB module.

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Other%20World%20Computing/100SO512328L/

We need to know how much space is on the hard drive. See if Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility gives you the information on the hard drive (its capacity and available space).

Mac OS X 10.1 is available from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Mac-OS-10-1-OLD-VERSION/dp/B00005QVGV

Once you have installed Mac OS X 10.1, you can then download the update here:

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1226

Note this:

If updating from Mac OS X 10.1, you must install Security Update 7-18-02 for v10.1 prior to installing this update.

However, this is still a 10-year-old version of the OS and is not very good, so be forewarned.

If the iBook has a drive which is capable of reading DVDs and has enough available space on it, then it would probably run best with Mac OS X 10.4.11 (once you have maximized the RAM with the 512 MB module).

Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) Requirements:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1514