# Leopard on iMac G4?



## ericlewis91 (Jul 12, 2007)

Leopard on iMac G4?
It is a 17''/1.25ghz G4/768mb ram/64mb video/superdrive/80gb

Is it worth upgrading? right now it has 10.4 but i really could use the Spaces and overall leopard finder etc?

would it run okay?

later on i plan on getting a 1gb bringing it up to 1.25gb? should i wait till then? or is it fine? what are ur experiences?


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## Mississauga (Oct 27, 2001)

I have Leopard running fine on an iBook G4 1.33GHz/768MB - not blazing fast, but worth the features, in my opinion. Extra RAM would certainly be beneficial.


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## ericlewis91 (Jul 12, 2007)

Mississauga said:


> I have Leopard running fine on an iBook G4 1.33GHz/768MB - not blazing fast, but worth the features, in my opinion. Extra RAM would certainly be beneficial.


did it significantly decrease opening times of apps? freeze up?


i may just leave tiger on there

cause the disks i got from the reseller have 10.3 on it...and the mac has 10.4(i have no 10.4 disks) and i got a family back of leopard with 2 liscenses left

so if i put leopard...there is only panther to go to


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## Mississauga (Oct 27, 2001)

If you're at all squeamish about running Leo on the G4, stick with Tiger. Tiger runs splendidly on G4s with 1GHz or faster processors. I'm doing a Tiger clean install on a client's iBook G4 as I type this - want the user to have the best experience.


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## ericlewis91 (Jul 12, 2007)

Mississauga said:


> If you're at all squeamish about running Leo on the G4, stick with Tiger. Tiger runs splendidly on G4s with 1Gb or faster processors. I'm doing a Tiger clean install on a client's iBook G4 as I type this - want the user to have the best experience.


but technically speaking ....the store never gave me a liscence for this 10.4 i am running? should i be scared?

should i go buy a used tiger...so that way i have a liscence? or dont worry?


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## Atroz (Aug 7, 2005)

I'm running leopard on a 1.5Ghz G4 Powerbook. Runs fine. It's up to you to decide if it is worth the money, but you can rest assured that it runs fine.


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## zmttoxics (Oct 16, 2007)

Mississauga said:


> If you're at all squeamish about running Leo on the G4, stick with Tiger. Tiger runs splendidly on G4s with 1Gb or faster processors. I'm doing a Tiger clean install on a client's iBook G4 as I type this - want the user to have the best experience.


Haha, you said 1 gigaBYTE processor. That doesn't make any sense! Ever! 

Try 1 gig, or ghrz for short.


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## Mississauga (Oct 27, 2001)

zmttoxics said:


> Haha, you said 1 gigaBYTE processor. That doesn't make any sense! Ever!
> 
> Try 1 gig, or ghrz for short.


OOPS! Thanks for spotting that. DUH! Corrected.


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## Zer0tails (Oct 21, 2007)

running leopard on my imac g4 1.25 ghz as well. It runs fine to me, not blazing fast but not windows slow. It's just great for surfing, listening to tunes and youtubing.  

I say go for the upgrade since you have the family pack. Eventually you'll want to go for leopard.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

Should work fine with your setup as-is, and will work better when you upgrade the RAM.


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## mr.steevo (Jul 22, 2005)

Hi,

Why not install Leopard on a partition of your external back up drive and test it out before installing it on the iMac's hard drive?

...You do have a back up drive, right?

s.


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## reddrag0n (Jul 19, 2006)

I'm running Leopard on my overclocked 933 Quicksilver 2002 and it runs just fine. The only drawback is that i have to unplug and replug in my usb cable in order to see my backup drive. Other than that, everything else runs smoothly.


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## iLabmAn (Jan 1, 2003)

Mississauga said:


> I have Leopard running fine on an iBook G4 1.33GHz/768MB - not blazing fast, but worth the features, in my opinion. Extra RAM would certainly be beneficial.


Would you suggest then that Leopard is NOT for G4s?

I installed Leopard on my DP 867 MDD machine and it seems ok, although I do find booting time a little on the slow side compared to Tiger.


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## Mississauga (Oct 27, 2001)

iLabmAn said:


> Would you suggest then that Leopard is NOT for G4s?


Absolutely not! Leopard runs fine on any officially supported G4 Mac. My only recommendation is to max out the RAM. It would appear 1.5GB or more is the sweet spot.


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## Pelao (Oct 2, 2003)

> Absolutely not! Leopard runs fine on any officially supported G4 Mac. My only recommendation is to max out the RAM. It would appear 1.5GB or more is the sweet spot.


I would agree. My 12" PB is maxed at 1.25GB RAM. It runs Leopard very well - no negatives. However, if I have a bunch of RAM hungry things happening it will run out of RAM. In daily use this never happens because I use it mainly for light work, but still it would be nice to have 1.5 or 2GB RAM.

Our 1.25 eMac is running Tiger. It has 1 GB RAM. I will not put Leopard on it until I can get more RAM. My daughter's 1.33 iBook has 1.5GB, but is still on Tiger. Everything is running nicely. On the other hand, a few of the Leo features would be cool so I may upgrade it.


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## EvanPitts (Mar 9, 2007)

A G4 will run Leopard entirely adequately. Minimum to install is 867MHz, but this can be hacked down. I am not a fan of the cheap DVD media it ships on, many people have had problems with defective or unreadable disks. But with a good disk, it should run fine.

I would suggest checking to make sure all of your software is Leopard ready. Leopard broke a number of programs. Make sure you do not need Classic as well. Some devices also do not have working Leopard drivers, so you need to check into that.

Other than that, your machine should run Leopard, and I guess the only thing really is whether you will like the features or not. For myself, I really like Spaces but... Since I do not like Spotlight, the crummy new look dock, Dashboard, Widgets,and Stacks, I remain a Panther user.


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## CDN420 (Jan 13, 2009)

*Help On version of Leopard*

Hello All,

first let me thank anyone for their help in advance

I converted to MAC this past spring buying the macbook, i believe it is intel but i love it and it works amazing and does exactly what i want...

now i am getting intrigued... a friend of mine gave me a G4 iMAC, 768 mb ram, superdrive and a 80 gig HD. it has "panther" i believe is is OSX 1 i believe

I want to put leopard on it to match my macbook as leopard is all i have ever known when it comes to mac's

i put my leopard disk (that came with my macbook) and it said not compatible i assume it is because intel vs G4 processor.... what version am i looking for?

or am i being a complete newbie here and just missing something...

help and guidance to how to make the transition would really help


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## zmttoxics (Oct 16, 2007)

CDN420 said:


> Hello All,
> 
> first let me thank anyone for their help in advance
> 
> ...


Panther = 10.3.

To run Leopard (10.5), you need a cpu faster then 800mhz (867 i think it is). Tiger (10.4) is to optimal OSX for lower end macs.


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## MacGenius24 (Mar 4, 2008)

Am running leopard on a serval G4's in my classrom 

And Also At Home its On My Mini Sytem And iBook G4.


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## Macinguelph (Oct 27, 2007)

CDN420 said:


> Hello All,
> 
> first let me thank anyone for their help in advance
> 
> ...


Hi CDN420 - quite the name by the way. First of all, well get one thing that will bug members of this forum a lot: Mac is spelled capital M and small ac, not MAC as in MAC address.

Secondly, the reason that your MacBook DVD will not install Leopard on your iMac is because the disc (Grey in colour I assume) is your system restore/install disc designed specifically for your MacBook and nothing else. In order to install Leopard on the iMac, you will need a retail OS X 10.5 install disc - MSRP $129.00 at finer Apple retailers or online. 

Thirdly, before you buy a retail disc, make sure that your iMac is 867 Mhz or above to be able to install Leopard as this is not a recommendation, it is a pre-conditioned check before installation can happen (there are work arounds I know, but for most it applies.) If Leopard is not an option, OS X 10.4 Tiger is an excellent step up for that machine.

Hope this helps.


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## CDN420 (Jan 13, 2009)

Macinguelph said:


> Hi CDN420 - quite the name by the way. First of all, well get one thing that will bug members of this forum a lot: Mac is spelled capital M and small ac, not MAC as in MAC address.
> 
> Secondly, the reason that your MacBook DVD will not install Leopard on your iMac is because the disc (Grey in colour I assume) is your system restore/install disc designed specifically for your MacBook and nothing else. In order to install Leopard on the iMac, you will need a retail OS X 10.5 install disc - MSRP $129.00 at finer Apple retailers or online.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the help. and your recommendation, i assume you buy a retail disc of panther as well? and yes your right my leopard disc is grey.

Yeah i had that name since university and i use it on many message board site's and it kinda stuck as many of my peeps know me by that name.... now that i am older i still like it for nostalgia... being from Nova Scotia it is quite fitting.

and thanks for the tip on Mac item i did not know that it was one of those annoying terms for the Mac Faithfuls... as i said i am new, i look forward to reading and catching up with the rest of you on using my Mac


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## Macinguelph (Oct 27, 2007)

You're welcome, and welcome to ehMac. It's an interesting place full of a lot of good people and good info. Glad you're enjoying your MacBook, I've enjoyed mine more than I thought I would actually - first laptop and all. 

The iMac you have is not terribly current by today's standards, but should be useful as all older Macs are for some time to come. That particular model is a bit of a collectors item commonly dubbed the "lampshade iMac" because it looks a bit like the Pixar lamp. It won a lot of fans due to its industrial design. Another cool website with excellent info is
Low End Mac: The Mac Experience
Lots of articles for running less than new hardware and software.


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