Q: iMac G3 OS
I just purchased two Lime iMac G3 with mismatching apple keyboard and puck mouses at a garage sale for $15 for both. One has Mac OS 9.2, while the other has Mac OS 9.1. I was wondering if I should atleast upgrade it to OS X for a modern look, but don't know which verison to go to or what versions I can even install. Would it hurt the value of the iMac if I ditched OS 9 for OS X? One of the iMac does have a couple scratches it the screen, so I'm willing to test OS X out on that one. Also looking to upgrade HDD size and ram since it has a 6 GB HDD and 96 MB of Ram. Also need to find out if theses beasts have wif and how to set it up. Let me know what you guys think I should do because I don't know much about this stuff. I want to get into computers as a hobby, and figured these old iMacs would be perfect to start and they wouldn't break the bank. Thanks for reading and hope you reply.
iMac, Mac OS 9.2.x
Posted on May 20, 2015 10:19 AM
Thanks. Indeed, 10.3.9 is the highest OSX option.
Outdated Apple specs say that the max RAM is 256MB but, with newer memory modules developed after Apple engraved the specs in stone, you can achieve 512MB:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/apple/memory/iMac/G3_233MHz_266MHz_333MHz
Illustrated instructions for installing RAM are here:
https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iMac+G3+Model+M4984+RAM+Replacement/1500
In my experience, 256MB would "work" with OS 10.3 Panther but you would be better off with 384MB (one 256MB and one 128MB stick) or 512MB (two 256MB sticks).
The tray-loading iMacs have no provision for an Apple Airport card, leaving only third-party solutions. These are adapters that plug into an open USB port. Unfortunately, these require compatible drivers and all those I can find in a quick search require OS 10.4 or higher. So you are probably stuck with using a wired connection. Prepare for some really slow browsing, however. I have a 1.25Ghz G4 PowerMac with gigabit ethernet support and it is deadly slow because few if any web pages are now optimized for the long-abandoned PowerPC processor used in your iMac.
Posted on May 21, 2015 7:49 AM

