Update 2008 imac so it isn't obsolete?

I am going to add my own thoughts to you on this as I am one to hang onto Macs and keep them working and running for a long time.

I own and use a 10-year old iMac every single day.

RAM is cheap these days.

So, installing the max 6 GBs of RAM is a no brainer.

You MUST use THE EXACT RAM that your model iMac is spec'd for.

Proper spec’d and reliable Mac RAM can ONLY be purchased from online Mac RAM sources Crucial memory (crucial .com) or OWC, aka, Other World Computing (macsales.com).

When buying RAM for Macs from Crucial memory, purchase ONLY directly from the Crucial memory website.

NOT from some other online source.

RAM modules are, relatively, easy to install.

That iMac will run a maximum OS of Mac OS X 10.11.6 El Capitán.

This is what I currently run on my late 2009 iMac and it runs and works fine for my needs.

You will need to switch to third party Web browser for security and the latest versions of Mozilla Firefox and Waterfox Web browser will run on your model iMac and OS X 10.11.6 just fine.

Another easy thing to do?

Purchase a large capacity SSD ( Solid State flash memory Drive ) within a FireWire 800 enclosure and its own external power supply brick.

Something like this from O W C.

https://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/on-the-go

Make sure to purchase the external DC power supply brick to power this drive instead of your Mac.

Get the largest SSD size drive in this enclosure as you can afford.

Install Mac OS X onto this external drive and make this external drive your Mac's main boot drive.

This is how I run my own late 2009 iMac and the enclosed FW800 SSD drives runs pretty well from the external connection.

I have NO complaints.

Make sure you have one other external drive for use as a data backup drive.

Either a much larger capacity standard, mechanical spinning external hard drive or another external SSD drive for extra data storage and data backups.

This is about it!

The total investment will be around the $300-400 range for these upgrades.

Cheaper than another, newer, used iMac.

If you really want to use and work with this iMac, than these hardware upgrades will work.

Do what you will.

I really like to keep these old machines running. But its more of an intellectual exercise than an application of modern office efficiency. So the short story is that you can easily update the 2 GB RAM to 4 or 6 GB. But trying to run modern office software that can interact with the rest of the world will be an ongoing chore. Web browsing can be miserable as this machine will have a lot of trouble with videos (who knew that video would be everywhere in 2008). It's possible that any Mail that you do on this machine never be able to migrate to another machine. It has plenty of chops to run the word processors of its era - but someone will send you a file that you can't open. So if you want some privacy in your home office, you could write the next great America novel on it. with the special bonus of being able to watch your parents old DVD collection any time you want.

FWIW, it is already considered obsolete by Apple so they won't work on it nor will AASPs. The latest version of OSX it can run is El Capitan 10.11. Personally I wouldn't put any money into it.

Your statements are not completely true and somewhat harsh and misleading.

I am still running a fairly decent amount of up to date apps on a late 2009 iMac running both Mac OS X 10.9.5 Mavericks and OS X 10.11.6 El Capitán, as well as a good amount of older, legacy software that is too expensive now for me to update.

Mail is not a problem.

Secure Web browsing is not a problem.

Getting to my offsite, “cloud” storage services is no problem.

Generally my Mac life on this 10-year old iMac has been problem free.

I use a lot of older Adobe software ( Adobe CS4/CS5 ) but also, use latest and cheaper graphics design and publishing software from Serif Labs, like Affinity Photo, Designer and Publisher, Swift Publisher an older version of Pixelmator and Corel Painter from 2017 and older video and audio apps from Apple.

Some older CAD software, as well.

And I use open Office software, like Libre Office.

My Mac work and personal projects life has been very trouble free on this iMac.

But, I am very savvy with technology, anyhow, and can get a lot of mileage out of older hardware.

FWIW, MichelPM brings up a fair point. However, a 6GB iMac running El Capitan would not suit my needs. Then there's the issue of lacking the latest security protections.

It certainly could work for some.

dialabrain wrote:

MichelPM wrote:

Your statements are not completely true and somewhat harsh and misleading.

So a 6GB iMac running El Capitan would suit my needs? That's good to know. No idea what you thought was "harsh" or "misleading".

I wasn't responding to you, but to grizzly marmot”s statements.

Sorry, I guess I haven't had enough coffee to see who you were responding to. :)

MichelPM wrote:

Your statements are not completely true and somewhat harsh and misleading.

So a 6GB iMac running El Capitan would suit my needs? That's good to know. No idea what you thought was "harsh" or "misleading".

I do very well on my 10-year old, 27 inch screen iMac.

It does alow for a lot more extra internal RAM, though.

I have the full 16 GBs of RAM installed.

The big difference in overall performance of my iMac really comes from my external 500 GBs, FireWire 800 enclosed SSD. though.

That external SSD has made a world of difference in the performance of this old iMac!