iPod Nano and OS Compatibility
I just purchased a new iPod nano for a daughter who has an iMac G5 with 256Mb of RAM and the OS X 10.3.9 operating system. The new iPod isn't compatible and the only option offered by Apple support was to purchase a new OS.
While it pains me to have to purchase a whole new operating system to run a new device it pains me more to find out that I also have to add a minimum of 256M of RAM to get the new OS working, if I choose to go with Leopard, and, after more research, I find out that Leopard may not work on the iMac if it doesn't have an 867Mhz processor (I'm still checking to see if what is in the iMac that my daughter uses).
Any recommendations from the apple insider community? The new iPod is compatible with older Windows XP systems so its particularly frustrating that it isn't compatible with a slightly outdates iMac.
While it pains me to have to purchase a whole new operating system to run a new device it pains me more to find out that I also have to add a minimum of 256M of RAM to get the new OS working, if I choose to go with Leopard, and, after more research, I find out that Leopard may not work on the iMac if it doesn't have an 867Mhz processor (I'm still checking to see if what is in the iMac that my daughter uses).
Any recommendations from the apple insider community? The new iPod is compatible with older Windows XP systems so its particularly frustrating that it isn't compatible with a slightly outdates iMac.
Comments
Upgrading your memory is also a good idea - running any recent version of Mac OS X with only 256MB of RAM is not ideal.
Also, the reason Apple supports XP - a relatively "old" operating system, is that it is used by roughly 78% of all PC users. Over 50% of all Mac users are now on Intel Macs which means either Tiger or Leopard. Support for Mac OS X 10.3 is only going to get worse as time goes on I'm afraid...
http://apple20.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/category/leopard/
The current Leopard system requirements are for iMac G5's with 867Mhz processors or higher. If my daughter's iMac turns out to be an 800 Mhz version should she risk purchasing Leopard in the hope that it will be tolerable or stay with Tiger v10.4? Thanks
The current Leopard system requirements are for iMac G4's with 876Mhz processor or higher. All G5 processors are supported.
The iMac G5 started at 1.6Ghz, so if it is a G5 you are using then you'll be fine.