williamfrommontrose

Q: I have an older powerBook G4 running OS X 10.4.11.  How can I upgrade this operating system?

I have an older powerBook G4 running os x 10.4.11.  Can I upgrade this to a better operating system?

Posted on Jan 29, 2016 9:06 AM

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Q: I have an older powerBook G4 running OS X 10.4.11.  How can I upgrade this operating system?

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  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Jan 29, 2016 9:10 AM in response to williamfrommontrose
    Level 10 (311,951 points)
    Jan 29, 2016 9:10 AM in response to williamfrommontrose

    Yes. Buy a retail Mac OS X 10.5 DVD from a source such as Amazon or eBay.

     

    (138939)

  • by Limnos,

    Limnos Limnos Jan 29, 2016 9:14 AM in response to williamfrommontrose
    Level 9 (53,665 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jan 29, 2016 9:14 AM in response to williamfrommontrose

    The newest system a Powerbook can run is 10.5 which itself is very out of date and I am not sure you would see much benefit in running it instead. You may find that most software has moved beyond 10.5 support.  I just transitioned from a G4 but even though I had 10.5 discs I never bothered installing them because there wasn't much of a benefit for me and I figured by G4 was happier running 10.4.11

     

    If all you need is a newer browser, check out TenFourFox.

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Jan 29, 2016 11:32 AM in response to williamfrommontrose
    Level 6 (14,279 points)
    Desktops
    Jan 29, 2016 11:32 AM in response to williamfrommontrose

    Should your vintage obsolete G4 PowerBook have a processor of less than 867MHz

    the highest upgrade to that hardware limit is Tiger 10.4.11. And that is a good OS X.

     

    Even if the computer can upgrade to Leopard 10.5.8, it may balk without additional

    hardware upgrades; more RAM and greater capacities of unused space in hard drive.

    A specialty SSD such as the OWC Mercury Legacy Pro; this can be used with IDE/ATA.

    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/Mercury_Legacy_Pro

     

    My vintage obsolete powerPC G4 computers all have a TenFourFox build suitable to

    their range of processors; for G5 PPC there is a different build, too.

     

    Good luck!