Should I repurpose my old iMac into a Windows machine?

[Cristatus]

I've got an old mac from 2008, using a 2.8 GHz Intel C2D processor, and only 2 GB of DDR2 RAM.

I'm guessing I'm already running the last version of Mac OS X, being 10.6.8, with no further scope of updating this machine.

What do you guys suppose I could do with this machine?

Or should I just sell it off?

 

[Oyeve]

Sell it or scrap. Windows will run like ass on that.

 

[Eug]

That machine can be updated to 6 GB (4 + 2), unofficially at least. And officially, it will take 4 GB. Windows 10 should run OK on a 2.8 GHz C2D with 4 GB (2 + 2) as a basic surfing machine.

However, I am guessing the main problem will be to get Windows 10 installed on it.

You could sell it but you wouldn't get much for it. Just like I wouldn't get much for my 2006 Core Duo which can't even address 4 GB RAM. That thing is stuck with 2 GB.

 

[secretanchitman]

That machine can be updated to 6 GB (4 + 2), unofficially at least. And officially, it will take 4 GB. Windows 10 should run OK on a 2.8 GHz C2D with 4 GB (2 + 2) as a basic surfing machine.

However, I am guessing the main problem will be to get Windows 10 installed on it.

You could sell it but you wouldn't get much for it. Just like I wouldn't get much for my 2006 Core Duo which can't even address 4 GB RAM. That thing is stuck with 2 GB.

Yep I agree with Eug. Max out the RAM to 4GB, upgrade to 10.10.5 or 10.11.6, and install Windows 7 via Boot Camp. Officially, Apple only supports Windows 7 x86 via the Boot Camp drivers. There is a workaround to get most of the drivers installed for Windows 7 x64 but not entirely sure on that one.

Otherwise sell it for what you can. I had a 2007 iMac 20" (2.4Ghz/250GB/4GB/2400XT 128MB) model that I sold a few months ago for $250 on Amazon, which was better than nothing.

 

[Eug]

For my 2008 MacBook Pro I'm just running it with 10.11. It has an SSD and 4 GB though. Works fine for now, although I'll probably replace it with a 2017 12" MacBook. FWIW, 10.11 is still getting security updates.

 

[manly]

I recently retired an obsolete MacBook Pro, and will keep it around as my only working Mac (I have an original PPC Mac mini which hardly counts).

If you need another usable PC, Windows 7 will be fine on 10 year old hardware. But the problem is you really need 4 GB (2x 2GB) RAM and a budget SSD for decent performance. While these components are not expensive, they aren't inexpensive either. Personally I wouldn't bother investing the $100 to get the system up to spec if I didn't truly need to use it regularly.

Re-reading this thread, there is a little bit of confusion in the OP that has been implicitly corrected by the replies. You can upgrade to OS X 10.11, and it will run fine IF you upgrade the RAM and swap in an SSD.

Otherwise, sell it for whatever it's worth to someone who wants it.

 

[Eug]

I recently retired an obsolete MacBook Pro, and will keep it around as my only working Mac (I have an original PPC Mac mini which hardly counts).

If you need another usable PC, Windows 7 will be fine on 10 year old hardware. But the problem is you really need 4 GB (2x 2GB) RAM and a budget SSD for decent performance. While these components are not expensive, they aren't inexpensive either. Personally I wouldn't bother investing the $100 to get the system up to spec if I didn't truly need to use it regularly.

IMO, Win 10 runs better on old hardware (with 4 GB) than Win 7. But a 2.8 GHz Core 2 Duo is pretty damn decent (with 4 GB). Yes, SSD is much preferred, but it'd be an acceptable machine even without SSD.

BTW, strangely enough I'm running a 2010 iMac right now with a Firewire SSD Been running it this way for 2 years. Not ideal but works fine. It will stay this way until I upgrade in a couple of years. Too bad the machine didn't have Thunderbolt because if it did, I'd probably run the machine of external SSD for even longer. This one is running 10.12 though.

Re-reading this thread, there is a little bit of confusion in the OP that has been implicitly corrected by the replies. You can upgrade to OS X 10.11, and it will run fine IF you upgrade the RAM and swap in an SSD.

Otherwise, sell it for whatever it's worth to someone who wants it.

Yup, hence my last post. OS X 10.11 is just fine for now, with 4 GB RAM and SSD. That's exactly the configuration of my 2009 MacBook Pro.

 

[pychzloya]

2G memory is definitely not enough for a Windows machine. It will drive you crazy. Just sell it or keep it as gift.