Q: can i use snow leopard on an eMac?

Snow Leo is out of the question, 10.5.8 is the highest any eMac can go...

Leopard requirements/10.5.x...

    *  Mac computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867MHz or faster) processor

minimum system requirements

    * 512MB of memory (I say 1.5GB for PPC at least, 2-3GB minimum for IntelMacs)

    * DVD drive for installation

    * 9GB of available disk space (I say 30GB at least)

Classic/OS9 Apps no longer supported.

Trouble is Apple no longer sells it, check eBay & such for the Retail version, not the Gray Discs...

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=mac+os+x+leopard+retail+10.5

There are workarounds if the 867MHz CPU is the only hangup...

http://sourceforge.net/projects/leopardassist/

http://lowendmac.com/osx/leopard/unsupported.html

No eMac can run higher than Mac OS 10.5.8 Leopard. Snow Leopard requires an intel processor; all eMacs have PowerPC processors.

Early eMacs with 700 and 800mHz processors can run no higher than Mac Os 10.4.11 Tiger.

You can find your model specs without a mouse. Use this link to locate your serial number and follow the instructions to get the model from the chart on the page:

How to locate the serial number and identify your model

Great news, thanks Pete!

You can add Bluetooth...

http://eshop.macsales.com/item/IOGear/GBU421/

FYI those eBay prices are higher then what I had to pay at Apple for the same disc. If you call the Apple help line and give them the serial number from your Mac they will send you the one, or two discs you need for $20 each and once Snow Leopard is installed if your system is correct to handle it you can then download Lion, or Mtn. Lion from the App Store.

This poster's answer is correct, they no longer sell Snow Leopard or earlier from the App Store but they are available from Apple directly at roughly $20 for a Home user version. Neither did I know this until I called and glad I did as these eBay prices are high. For systems no longer supported I was glad to have saved the expense for the newer systems it allowed me to then install on my Airbook. Boot on!:)

Suzieseller,

You are mistaken.

You cannot run Snow Leopard, Lion or Mountain Lion on an eMac!

These versions of OS X are for Intel Processor Macs only.

Older Macs, such as an eMac, use Motorola PowerPC processors.

The Intel OS X versions are incompatible.

Petemadeley,

As far as I am aware Apple sales no longer stocks retail versions of OS X 10.5 Leopard.

OS X 10.5 Leopard sold for Apple's original price of $129 U.S.D..

If you can find this online either at the original price, cheaper or a little more expensive than this,this is the OP's only options.

The only options are other online sources.

My advice, forget eBay!

You can still find OS X Leopard 10.5 via Amazon.com.

Since your eMac is only a 700 MHz model, I would not recommend installing or running OS X 10.5 Leopard.

With only a max. RAM of 1 GB of RAM, OS X 10.5 will run as slow as a turtle.

I will make that eMac painfully slow to use!

You need to find black retail discs of OS X 10.4 Tiger.

OS X 10.4 Tiger will run far better on that eMac than OS X 10.5

Also, be advised, you need to determine if your eMac has a drive capable of both reading CDs and DVDs.

Tiger came in both DVD and CD form. If your eMac doesn't  have a combo CD/DVD drive and only a CD reading drive, you need to locate the CD set of OS X 10.4 Tiger discs.

Here's an Amazon link to Tiger.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=O S+X+Tiger

Here's another link for eMac discs both CD/DVD sets s well as a rare set sold with the iWork suite of apps for your eMac.

http://fastmac.com/osx.php

Given how old OS X10.4 Tiger is now, these are not unreasonable pricing for these.

Good Luck to you!

Petemadeley,

As far as I am aware Apple sales no longer stocks retail versions of OS X 10.5 Leopard.

OS X 10.5 Leopard sold for Apple's original price of $129 U.S.D..

If you can find this online either at the original price, cheaper or a little more expensive than this,this is the OP's only options.

The only options are other online sources.

My advice, forget eBay!

You can still find OS X Leopard 10.5 via Amazon.com.

Since your eMac is only a 700 MHz model, I would not recommend installing or running OS X 10.5 Leopard.

With only a max. RAM of 1 GB of RAM, OS X 10.5 will run as slow as a turtle.

I will make that eMac painfully slow to use!

You need to find black retail discs of OS X 10.4 Tiger.

OS X 10.4 Tiger will run far better on that eMac than OS X 10.5

Also, be advised, you need to determine if your eMac has a drive capable of both reading CDs and DVDs.

Tiger came in both DVD and CD form. If your eMac doesn't  have a combo CD/DVD drive and only a CD reading drive, you need to locate the CD set of OS X 10.4 Tiger discs.

Here's an Amazon link to Tiger.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=O S+X+Tiger

Here's another link for eMac discs both CD/DVD sets s well as a rare set sold with the iWork suite of apps for your eMac.

http://fastmac.com/osx.php

Given how old OS X10.4 Tiger is now, these are not unreasonable pricing for these.

Good Luck to you!

Sorry for the double post. I wanted to make sure you had a chance to see my comments before deciding to purchase nd install OS X 10.5 Leopard.

I would highly advise against do so.

Find, purchase and install OS X 10.4 Tiger and all then use software update to update to its last version, OS X 10.4.11.

Again, Good Luck!

Right MichelPM, I was mixing it up with my MAC Book, sorry my bad! thanks for catching it although I'm sure Apple would too have corrected me if he called them. Obviously PM is not when I should be trying to reply to any Forums!:)