Q: I've been given a 2006 mac pro with nothing but OS X 10.4.11 on it. I'd like to get it up and running as a working machine but how???

If this is the same computer from your other post, Readers already told you it is a very nice PowerPC G5, NOT a 2006 Mac Pro. It can run 10.4.11 as it is running now, and can run 10.5 if you can find "full retail" DVDs to install from. There are no downloadable versions of Mac OS X available for it, and it cannot run 10.6, because that requires an Intel processor, and yours is a PowerPC G5 processor.

If you want to keep it on 10.4 then you would still need to do a clean install from retail DVD in order to get the system back to original spec, from the sounds of it a let has been deleted for the OS before you get it.

Ebay would be your best bet, something like: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Sealed-NEW-Apple-Tiger-Retail-version-10-4-2-on- RARE-CDs-/252164232819?hash=item3ab628d6…

will install 10.4.2 onto it and then you should be able to upgrade it to 10.4.11 via Mac OS X 10.4.11 Combo Update (PPC)

Or you could get 10.5.1 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-Mac-OS-X-Leopard-10-5-1-Retail-MB427Z-A-/142099531 259?hash=item2115cac5fb:g:-jsAAOSwU1FXQK… and upgrade to 10.5.8 via Download Mac OS X 10.5.8 Combo Update

Which every way you go you need to get the black DVD's not the grey ones, annoyingly these are rarer and therefore a little more costly. You might be lucky and see grey ones for your specific machine.

Just what "features I need easily to get it up and running." are you looking for.

Many websites will not work with 10.4, 10.5 and even up to 10.8 since the browsers for those OS version are not being updated. That includes the Chrome and firefox browsers.

It's an 'Early 2005' Power Mac G5, so is ancient in computer terms (11 years), but you can still use it for basic tasks, and as lllaass says you need to find an older version of a given browser which a lot of sites will not render correctly on or loose functionality.

It would be more of a hobby machine rather than a daily machine.

He could use the TenFourFox browser. That is still being updated, and there is a version optimized for G5s.

Every time my son the computer-head gets ahold of an old computer, he Installs Debian Linux on it. He claims that gets around issue of obsolete Operating Systems.

I used TenForFox years ago on y G4 Power Mac. I did not find it satisfactory at all.

I'm not crazy about the speed of TenFourFox, but it is presumably more secure than a 10-year-old browser version. I can't see trying to do much surfing on such an elderly Mac, whatever the browser.