I am a new Mac user, having recently inherited a G3 that runs OS 9.2. Its current Internet browser is the now-obsolete Internet Explorer for Macintosh, which I find fewer and fewer websites support, leading to frequent crashes. (In fact, almost all its current applications are Microsoft products!) Friends have suggested I upgrade to OS 10.3 (the most recent OS that the G3 will run on its present memory) so that I could install Safari or another recent browser. However, I'm not sure where in the Ottawa area I should go to acquire 10.3. One catch is that this G3 does not have a DVD-ROM, and I gather that recent OSes come on DVD rather than CD.
The G3 currently has 320 MB of RAM. I get differing opinions as to whether this is enough for OS 10.3, or whether it would be better to install more memory.
I would welcome any comments on these points.
The official requirements for Tiger:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/requirements.html
Hi derekn,
Have you tried the iCab web browser under OS 9?: www.icab.de/dl.php (http://www.icab.de/dl.php) iCab v3 runs on OS 8.5 and later, as well as under OS X. iCab is likely more uptodate on modern browser standards than IE 5.x, and hence might save you from having to upgrade an OS 9 machine, that's otherwise running OK.
...b
PS. re: your question on whether 320MB of RAM is enough to run OS X 10.3, my 2000-vintage, G3-based iBook SE 466MHz has 320MB of RAM and runs OS X 10.3 without problem. But launching programs and tab-switching between programs is not speedy. And I don't keep more than a few programs running on it at a time. But if your OS 9 machine is otherwise running OK for your purposes, I'd advise waiting until you buy your next Mac with OS X already installed on it.