Q: Upgrade OS 10.4.9 (Power Mac G5) to OS 10.5 (for installation of MS Office

You can't download OS X 10.5. It is only available on DVD which you must purchase. Thoss DVD are no longer available from Apple and are actually getting expensive.

Allan

I would get OpenOffice. There is a version that will run on your G5 with its existing OS:

Edit: link directly from OO website: OpenOffice 3.2.1

You should upgrade your OS to 10.4.11. Run Software Update.

Message was edited by: John Galt

Microsoft Office 2008 will run just fine on your machine.  Just apply the (free) 10.4.11 Combo Update by running Software Update.

The next, newer (and current) version of Microsoft Office for the Mac is Microsoft Office 2011 and it won't run on your Power Mac G5 machine as it requires an Intel Mac (Mac Pro).

So your choices are either Microsoft Office 2008 or OpenOffice.

Sure.  Just buy the black 10.5.x retail install disks.  Gray ones are strictly machine-specific and will work only with the Mac model they came with.

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)

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

Repair Permissions afterwords, reboot.

1058 Combo Update, 10.5.8...

http://support.apple.com/downloads/Mac_OS_X_10_5_8_Combo_Update

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard installation system requirements

http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24950

Leopard is no longer available at the Apple Store but may be available by calling Apple Phone Sales @ 1-800-MY-APPLE (1-800-692-7753).

If you can't obtain a retail install DVD from Apple, look on eBay or Google the installer part numbers to possibly find at an on-line store. Here's what to look for:

MB427Z/A  Leopard 10.5.1 install DVD

MB576Z/A  Leopard 10.5.4 install DVD

MB021Z/A  Leopard 10.5.6 install DVD (single user)

MB022Z/A  Leopard 10.5.6 install DVD (5-user family pack)

Installing Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1544

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Installation and Setup Guide

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/leopard_install-setup.pdf

After you install the base 10.5, download & install the 10.5.8 combo update at http://support.apple.com/downloads/Mac_OS_X_10_5_8_Combo_Update

The DVD should look like this

Caution - Leopard does not support classic mode. So, if you currently open OS 9 apps in classic mode, you won't be able to do this if you upgrade to Leopard.

I prefer the freeware NeoOffice http://download.neooffice.org/neojava/en/index.php NeoOffice is equivalent to Microsoft Office. It can open Excel files, Word files & PowerPoint files. You can also create these types of files that can be opened by PC users.

 Cheers, Tom

You're welcome UnoAbrar, do let us know how it turns out!