What OS for my eMac?

[core2kid]

I just got an eMac from someone on Craigslist. It's a 1.25GHz Power PC with 256 RAM (I'll upgrade if needed) and 40GB HD. I want to know what's the latest version of Mac OSX I can run on the system. I don't care about formatting.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Nmascarenhas
I just got an eMac from someone on Craigslist. It's a 1.25GHz Power PC with 256 RAM (I'll upgrade if needed) and 40GB HD. I want to know what's the latest version of Mac OSX I can run on the system. I don't care about formatting.

10.5 Leopard. That is the second latest OS from Apple. 10.6 Snow Leopard is the latest, but it requires an intelMac.

You will absolutely want to upgrade the RAM.

 

[mmntech]

OS X 10.4 Tiger will run best on that system. I found Leopard didn't perform as well on my 1.33ghz G4 iMac. I'd max out the RAM to 1gb.

 

[core2kid]

yea, I'm gonna max out the RAM. I'm just a little scared because I don't want to get killed by CRT discharge when I reach inside the computer. For the RAM, Is any DDR ram compatible with the eMac?
Can I download (Legally) 10.5 Leopard update for my eMac or buy it somewhere? I don't care much about performance, I just wanted to learn the basics of Mac.

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Nmascarenhas
yea, I'm gonna max out the RAM. I'm just a little scared because I don't want to get killed by CRT discharge when I reach inside the computer. For the RAM, Is any DDR ram compatible with the eMac?
Can I download (Legally) 10.5 Leopard update for my eMac or buy it somewhere? I don't care much about performance, I just wanted to learn the basics of Mac.

You will need to purchase Leopard, you can probably find it for reasonably cheap on Amazon.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1319

 

[core2kid]

That's a whole lot easier than I thought. Thanks. I'll check on Amazon and eBay for leopard. Is it licensed with activation and all like XP/Vista/7 so I'll need a new copy?

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Nmascarenhas
That's a whole lot easier than I thought. Thanks. I'll check on Amazon and eBay for leopard. Is it licensed with activation and all like XP/Vista/7 so I'll need a new copy?

Well, there is no serial number so no way to track how many systems a given disk has been used on, so its all honor code stuff.

 

[core2kid]

I just realized that I'm runing 10.3.9. I'll upgrade to 10.4 before I upgrade to 10.5

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: Nmascarenhas
I just realized that I'm runing 10.3.9. I'll upgrade to 10.4 before I upgrade to 10.5

There is no need to do that, just a waste of money.

 

[core2kid]

I actually have 10.4 laying around somewhere which is why I'll do it. I picked it up at a garage sale.

 

[mmntech]

Originally posted by: Nmascarenhas
yea, I'm gonna max out the RAM. I'm just a little scared because I don't want to get killed by CRT discharge when I reach inside the computer. For the RAM, Is any DDR ram compatible with the eMac?

Any PC DDR1 will do. It uses PC2700. Just regular DIMMs I'm guessing.
The CRT is isolated from the mobo for obvious reasons. RAM slots should be on the bottom under a flap. At least that's how it was with the original iMacs, which the eMac was based off of.

 

[core2kid]

Yea, I found the RAM slots. It was a lot easier than I thought. I upgraded with a PC3200 400MHz stick I had from one of my older computers and it worked wonders. So much faster already. I'll try to find another 512 and put it in. If PC2700 and 1GB is the max it can go, I'll save some money and find 1 x 1GB or 2 x 512 or at PC2700. How do I check what RAM speed I'm running at? Is that possible?

 

[mmntech]

Originally posted by: Nmascarenhas
Yea, I found the RAM slots. It was a lot easier than I thought. I upgraded with a PC3200 400MHz stick I had from one of my older computers and it worked wonders. So much faster already. I'll try to find another 512 and put it in. If PC2700 and 1GB is the max it can go, I'll save some money and find 1 x 1GB or 2 x 512 or at PC2700. How do I check what RAM speed I'm running at? Is that possible?

Go to the Apple Menu and click "About this Mac". Sometimes it doesn't give RAM speed there, click "More Info". In the System Profiler, select "Memory".