Mac Musings

Older Macs in the Age of Leopard

Apple has released the system requirements for Mac OS X 10.5: 'Leopard' won't run on any Macs with G3 CPUs - and it won't be supported on G4 Macs slower than 867 MHz, although there may well be ways of installing it on older, slower G4s. How can we best prepare our older Macs for the Age of Leopard?

• The future of eMacs in the Age of Leopard, 2007.10.24. Early eMacs aren't officially supported under Mac OS X 10.5, but Leopard could run well with the right upgrades.
• The future of G4 iBooks in the Age of Leopard, 2007.10.22. Almost all of the G4 iBooks are supported by Mac OS X 10.5, but 4200 rpm drives could be a real bottleneck.
• The future of G4 iMacs in the Age of Leopard, 2007.10.18. Some G4 iMacs are officially supported under Mac OS X 10.5, but some aren't. Could Leopard run well on 700-800 MHz G4 iMacs?
• The future of titanium PowerBooks in the Age of Leopard, 2007.10.17. Most of the 'titanium' PowerBooks aren't officially supported under Mac OS X 10.5, but with maximum RAM and a fast hard drive, they should be able to handle it.
• The future of 'Mirrored Drive Doors' Power Macs in the Age of Leopard, 2007.10.09. Every indication is that the MDD Power Macs will be full supported by Leopard. Here's what makes them a good bet for OS X 10.5.
• The future of 'Quicksilver' Power Macs in the Age of Leopard, 2007.10.08. If the rumored cutoff at 800 MHz or 867 MHz for Leopard is correct, these should be among the oldest Macs supported by Mac OS X 10.5.
• The future of 'Digital Audio' Power Macs in the Age of Leopard, 2007.10.05. With a faster system bus and AGP 4x graphics, these just might be the best of the older Power Macs for running Leopard - if Apple will let you.
• The future of early G4 Power Macs in the Age of Leopard, 2007.10.04. Mac OS X 10.5 ships this month. Even if it can run on Yikes, Sawtooth, and Mystic Power Mac G4 models, can you expect it to run well?
• The future of G3 iBooks in the Age of Leopard, 2007.09.14. All of the G3 iBooks can run Mac OS X, but which ones run it well? And which version should you use?
• The future of G3 iMacs in the Age of Leopard, 2007.09.13. From August 1998 through December 2001, G3 iMacs were Apple's hot consumer computers. Which ones are best for OS X, and which should be avoided?
• The future of G3 Power Macs in the Age of Leopard, 2007.09.12. There's no G3 support in Leopard. What does that mean for those with a Beige G3 or a Blue and White G3?
• The future of G3 PowerBooks in the Age of Leopard, 2007.09.11. There's no G3 support in Leopard. What does that mean for Kanga, WallStreet, Lombard, and Pismo PowerBooks?