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BLUE FOX ROX

Q: How do I upgrade my old mac so I can run OS X Panther?

OK folks.. I just got my first Mac.. I'm really excited, but while I have a pretty decent working knowledge of PCs, I don't know anything about Macs. I have been told that if you want to edit video or make music, Mac is the best, so that's what I'm looking to do.. I have a sealed copy of OS X Panther that I would like to run for watching videos and making music and I also have a sealed version of Adobe Design with Illustrator 10 and Photo Shop 7. What do I need to get to upgrade this machine so that I can run these programs. This is the system info I have been able to find so far.

Specs:
Capacity: 12.1 GB
Available: 10
Where macintosh HD (ATA Bus 1 Dev 0, v3.22)
Created: 1995

Any help would be much appreciated! As I said, I don't know anything about Macs, so please feel free to explain everything to me in as simple terms as possible.

mac g3, Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier, not sure

Posted on Jan 18, 2009 3:11 PM

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Q: How do I upgrade my old mac so I can run OS X Panther?

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  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Jan 18, 2009 4:11 PM in response to BLUE FOX ROX
    Level 9 (60,884 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 18, 2009 4:11 PM in response to BLUE FOX ROX
    From the Apple menu, choose Apple System Profiler. This will give you a bit more detail about your Hardware. Is this a a beige desktop unit about 8 inches tall that could sit under your monitor, or a beige MiniTower (tall, but rather wide) or a beige All-in-One with a built-in 15 inch display?
    Or is it a brightly colored unit?
    Or a black PowerBook 3400, the forum where this is posted?
  • by Texas Mac Man,

    Texas Mac Man Texas Mac Man Jan 18, 2009 5:50 PM in response to BLUE FOX ROX
    Level 8 (46,611 points)
    Jan 18, 2009 5:50 PM in response to BLUE FOX ROX
    BLUE FOX ROX, welcome to Apple Discussions.

    If you would like to have more information on your Macintosh (model, date of production, etc) then enter your serial number at this site. Information, based on the serial number, will be shown. http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

     Cheers, Tom

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jan 18, 2009 6:55 PM in response to BLUE FOX ROX
    Level 9 (53,909 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 18, 2009 6:55 PM in response to BLUE FOX ROX
    watching videos

    We can make a better assessment once we know exactly which machine you have, but any G3 is going to have a hard time doing videos. The concept of computers and video was only really starting to come in during G3 days and at that time was pretty high-end things for a G3 and mostly restricted to a few formats. Some newer formats would choke your computer completely.

    What do I need to get to upgrade this machine so that I can run these programs.

    Again, it would help to know more about your computer. Not to sound discouraging but although G3s can run Panther, they weren't really designed for it. I don't know much about the programs you want to run, but it is quite possible your computer may need substantial upgrades to run Panther comfortably, and even then some things such as video will never be great. These upgrades may cost at least as much as, say, getting a low end G4 which even in its base configuration will be a happier machine with OSX.