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I have a iMac6.1 with 2GB of main memory, running OSX 10.4.11.
I don't want to change this system, but would like to install a more recent version of OSX on a 200GB external drive.
What is the most recent OSX version which would still run smoothly on this old hardware?
iMac, Mac OS X (10.4.11)
I just did a Google search of "OS X system requirements" and came up with several pages that may answer your question.
You can run up to Mac OS X 10.7.5. But you need all compatible software before you upgrade past 10.6.8:
It is inexpensive to upgrade to OS X 10.6.
This should work very well on your Mac.
Ring Apple to order a DVD.
I had done this too, of course, but didn't come up with a page which really solved my question. If you found a suitable page with your search, would you mind sharing it with me?
Well, the point is: I don't want to UPGRADE. My 10.4 Tiger runs stable, and I certainly would not give it up. I want to install a fresh OS on a new drive, and then boot from this drive, and then, one by one, transfer my applications to the new system.
But if you say my hardware is sufficient enough to *upgrade*, it must be also sufficient to install a fresh copy. Honestly, I was mostly worried about the available RAM necessary.
What about this? http://support.apple.com/kb/sp517
I believe you will find the answer to any related questions in apple.com under support. You just have to hunt for it.
First you say you want to install a more recent version than OS X 10.4.11 and then you say you don't want to upgrade OS X 10.4.
Please clarify.
Personally, I would just stick with Tiger 10.4.11.
What's the big advantage to upgrading? It will probably run slower.
Snow Leopard was the first proper native code for Intel so if I had an Intel Mac I would upgrade to that.
Exactly. I want to keep 10.4 on the internal hard disk. I want to install a newer version on an external drive. Then I want to choose at boot time, which OS version to boot.
I do NOT want to upgrade, because I don't want to risk that any of my current applications will break because of the upgrade.
(Well, it's, technically, not an upgrade, since I still will keep my current version).
I see several advantages from having a newer version of OSX available. Two examples:
- Firefox supports Tiger only up to Firefox 3.6.26. For running newer versions of Firefox, you need a newer OSX.
- Skype supprts Tiger only up to Skype 2.8. This means when you connect to someone running Skype on a Smartphone, you can do only voice chat, not video chat.
There are several more example like this. I agree with you that I should still keep my old version, and I certainly will do this. However, at times, I want to be able to run a newer version. I don't want to buy a new Mac just for this.
if you have at least 2 gig memory then the highest you can go is Lion 10.7.5 at 32 bit not 64 because of the imacs EFI. You will not get Rosetta so if you still run PPC programs forget it.
Which OSX Version would run on my hardware?
