# Best OS for G4 800 MHz iMac?



## Niagaramark (Jul 20, 2007)

Hi 
I just acquired a used G4 iMac (800 MHz), but the seller did not provide the system discs (although that was part of the deal...). It currently has 10.3 running, but I want to do a fresh install of OSX. I have system discs from and older 17" iMac with the same specs, but I think that installs Jaguar? Is is worth installing Jaguar, Panther or Tiger (10.4) on this machine. 

What will give the best performance. It will be used by an elderly lady for email and web surfing, nothing too strenuous. Oh yeah, the machine has 768 MB of RAM.

Thanks


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## broken_g3 (Jun 27, 2008)

Honestly, if you want OS X, Panther is the best beast for this machine. It's leaner than Tiger, so it will run faster, and it is still widely supported. However, if you have an iPhone/iPod touch you want to use, I would suggest getting Tiger instead- I've heard that they will not work with Panther.


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## MACenstein'sMonster (Aug 21, 2008)

Niagaramark said:


> Hi
> I just acquired a used G4 iMac (800 MHz), but the seller did not provide the system discs (although that was part of the deal...). It currently has 10.3 running, but I want to do a fresh install of OSX. I have system discs from and older 17" iMac with the same specs, but I think that installs Jaguar? Is is worth installing Jaguar, Panther or Tiger (10.4) on this machine.
> 
> What will give the best performance. It will be used by an elderly lady for email and web surfing, nothing too strenuous. Oh yeah, the machine has 768 MB of RAM.
> ...


Sounds like the machine I'm using.

I'm running Tiger 10.4.11 without issue and I do a lot of video editing etc.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Tiger is more effective than Panther - the best for that machine is Tiger - 384 ram is about the minimum,


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

I would go Tiger as long as the install volume (partition) is at least 20-30GB. Be very aware that spotlight indexing can take quite some time on older machines and interrupting it either by installing further updates or shutting down can also create problems.

Once things are fully indexed, Tiger will be modestly faster than Panther except when doing large file transfers to secondary drives. Spotlight slows this down somewhat especially with older machines. Remember to wait for spotlight to complete its index of the transfer before disconnecting an external drive.


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## machael (Apr 27, 2008)

I have this same machine (800mhz G4) and it runs Tiger 10.4.11 flawlessly. Its performance has been nothing but utterly dependable.


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

OSX 10.4.11 works the best,
Also you shouldn't have any problems using iLife 08 as well.

iLife 08 system requirements

Although I'm not 100% sure about iMovie 08, You may have to use iMovie 06


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## Niagaramark (Jul 20, 2007)

Thanks

Looks like 10.4.11 is the best option.
Is there enough of a difference between iLife 06 and iLife 08?
I'm thinking iLife 06 would run better/faster than iLife 08 for iPhone, Pages etc.


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## imobile (Oct 6, 2007)

*'Hold That Tiger ' ...*



machael said:


> I have this same machine (800mhz G4) and it runs Tiger 10.4.11 flawlessly. Its performance has been nothing but utterly dependable.


My older 800 MHz iMac is also dancing with Tiger!


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## seymorerage (Feb 28, 2008)

Tiger It runs fine on mine.


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

Niagaramark said:


> Is there enough of a difference between iLife 06 and iLife 08?


Oh heavens to mergatroid yes.



> I'm thinking iLife 06 would run better/faster than iLife 08 for iPhone, Pages etc.


Nein. Go with 08.


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## Macinguelph (Oct 27, 2007)

Going to try Leopard on my Dad's iMac G4 of the same spec. Seems fairly straight forward with a little modification along the way.


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## MACenstein'sMonster (Aug 21, 2008)

dolawren said:


> OSX 10.4.11 works the best,
> Also you shouldn't have any problems using iLife 08 as well.
> 
> iLife 08 system requirements
> ...


iMovie 08 does not work with 10.4.11. but from what I've read it's no big loss. From the Wiki:



> iMovie 08 was criticised due to a drastic abandonment of some iMovie HD 6 features. New York Times reviewer David Pogue said "iMovie ‘08 is an utter bafflement...[it] is incapable of the more sophisticated editing that the old iMovie made so enjoyable...All visual effects are gone—even basic options like slow motion, reverse motion, fast motion, and black-and-white. And you can’t have more than one project open at a time."[5]
> Features removed included the classic timeline, the ability to create DVD chapter markers, support for plugins, and in-timeline audio adjustment and control. Most surprisingly, iMovie '08 imports a much more limited set of video codecs and metadata formats than previous versions of iMovie or today's QuickTime Player. For example, QuickTime Player can be extended to support the FLIP Video 3ivx MPEG-4 codec, but iMovie cannot. Limited import formats also excludes the DV format for storing raw format. As a result, all resulting videos have lossy compression[clarification needed] applied and there is no facility for managing full format video. The peculiar lack of QuickTime support means QuickTime Pro can edit a far larger range of video than iMovie '08. Some users[who?] have also complained of iMovie 08 being slower and less polished than iMovie 06, and taking a long time to render clips and thumbnails.
> Responding to criticism, Apple released iMovie HD 6 as a free download to those who had purchased iMovie '08[6]. Similarly, Apple also reduced the $299 price tag for Final Cut Express to $199 in response to the new iMovie. Several of the features removed from iMovie '08 have been restored into iMovie '09.


So go ahead and install iLife '08. Everything will install except iMovie '08 (no loss). Then you can download iMovie HD 6 which was offered as a free DL to those who purchased '08. The disappointing reviews of iMovie '08 prompted Apple to offer this freebie which contains all of the missing goodies.

iMovie HD 6


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## Craigger (Aug 8, 2005)

MACenstein'sMonster said:


> iMovie 08 does not work with 10.4.11. but from what I've read it's no big loss. From the Wiki:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


damnit! I wish i had have known this before losing my brain editing video for the last month in imovie '08


Thanks for the headsup though. I loved 06HD


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## chas_m (Dec 2, 2007)

MACenstein'sMonster said:


> iMovie 08 does not work with 10.4.11. but from what I've read it's no big loss.


Opinion has shifted on iMovie 08 over time. Most people love it these days.



> The disappointing reviews of iMovie '08 prompted Apple to offer this freebie which contains all of the missing goodies.


This is not actually true. I got iMovie 08 *ahead* of release date (as I was contributing to a book on iLife) and the iMovie HD download was available then -- ahead of the first review ever published on iMovie 08 (David Pogue's error-filled and generally-retracted-but-still-available NYT review).

The big "problem" with iMovie 08, in hindsight, turns out to be that it's called "iMovie." It was a radical, and total, rewrite to re-aim the app at occasional-use consumers and steer serious video editors upscale to Final Cut Express. This bewildered the audience who were used to the complicated interface by now, and bemoaned the loss of so many extras (none of which, a quick glance at YouTube will confirm, were all that important to putting out a basic video).

If they'd said that iMovie HD was staying where it was and we're introducing a new stripped-down version for the web generation called "iVid" (or something like that) you wouldn't have heard a peep.

It's all moot now anyway -- iMovie 09 puts back most of what Pogue et al were bitching about, but keeps the innovating (and delightful to use) 08 interface. And iMovie HD is still right where it was. Best of all worlds.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

I agree with the majority - Tiger is definitely the way to go.
Forget Panther, there are more and more applications that will not run on Panther but require Tiger - the most recent one I ran into was Firefox 3 whgich prompted me to upgrade my last "Panther" Mac to Tiger.
I'm running an old 450MHz G4 on Tiger (10.4.11) and it runs like a champ.


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

+1 for Tiger.

iLife 08 has great stuff with the exception of iMovie 08, as has been stated earlier. iMovie HD (or 06) is the best way to go.

Now, the improvements to iMovie in iLife 09 appear to be of interest (still does not matche iMovie HD's abilities but it's an improvement), but it needs Leopard iirc.


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## rbrumble (May 21, 2005)

Everyone seems to be recommending Tiger, but I put Leopard on my 1.2 GHz G4 iBook with 768 Mb ram on release day and it's also worked flawlessly. I try to keep my OS up to date on both of my machines so my software is the same between my iBook and my newer iMac. 

Leopard actually runs a bit faster on my iBook than did Tiger (or I perceive it to be faster, which for me is the same). 

Looks like these days might be coming to an end with snow leopard though, but if I were you, I'd go ahead and put Leopard on my G4 - it'll be fine.

Bryan


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## eMacMan (Nov 27, 2006)

He is below specs for Leopard. Do a back door install, kill TM and all the other Bells & Whistles, and Leopard would probably be OK. For the moment the OP would probably be better off with Tiger. 

Apple is looking to make all PPCs obsolete within a year or two. In the meantime Tiger should serve him well.


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## MACenstein'sMonster (Aug 21, 2008)

chas_m said:


> Opinion has shifted on iMovie 08 over time. Most people love it these days.
> 
> 
> 
> This is not actually true. I got iMovie 08 *ahead* of release date (as I was contributing to a book on iLife) and the iMovie HD download was available then -- ahead of the first review ever published on iMovie 08 (David Pogue's error-filled and generally-retracted-but-still-available NYT review).


So, just because you had an insider's look with the book writing and pre-release copy thing we're supposed to believe you over some newspaper guy who's quoted in the Wiki???  

Thanks for the clarification Chas.


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## Lawrence (Mar 11, 2003)

I don't use iMovie 08 because it isn't compatible with Final Cut Express 3.5

Hopefully iMovie 09 can be used with Final Cut Express 3.5,
Otherwise I'll still be using iMovie HD (06)


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## Macinguelph (Oct 27, 2007)

eMacMan said:


> He is below specs for Leopard. Do a back door install, kill TM and all the other Bells & Whistles, and Leopard would probably be OK. For the moment the OP would probably be better off with Tiger.
> 
> Apple is looking to make all PPCs obsolete within a year or two. In the meantime Tiger should serve him well.


Oh, I agree completely. I'm installing leopard simply because I have seen it run well on other unsupported machines and it is very close to spec anyway, plus, I know how. This hack install if you will is not for the inexperienced.

Tiger is still a great OS and will be far more suitable than Panther. For the moment anyway, Tiger is still supported by Apple and offers much snappier performance and to top it off Safari 3. I have Tiger on my 350 Mhz G3 iMac, and it runs faster than Jaguar or Panther has ever done on that machine.....it should be blazing on a G4.


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## robert (Sep 26, 2002)

What about on an ibook G4 800mhz?
Is Tiger .11 still the best bet?


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## Macinguelph (Oct 27, 2007)

Tiger is certainly the best OS for the G4 if it below spec for Leopard. Like I said before, it is faster and more useable in today's world than Panther.


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## MacGenius24 (Mar 4, 2008)

I run tiger on G3 In my classroom and it the best. 


I would get iLife 08 And use iMovie 06.


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