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General discussion

What to do then.

Sep 9, 2007 7:18AM PDT

I hope to be getting an iBook soon. One of the Clamshell G3 ones - I believe the first series. I know it comes with OS X, but not OS 9 (the user lost the original CD).

So I am also going to get OS 9, but it says "upgrade CD" on it. Now, being more used to Windows, that to me means I would have to have, say, OS 8.6 for it to work, right? Or can I perform the installation from scratch?

Also, does the Hard Disk have to be partitioned for me to run both those OSes and if so, can this be done without wiping out it's existing installation of OS X?

Finally, does it matter what order those OSes are installed in, like Windows?

Thanks for any help.

Discussion is locked

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Just a question.
Sep 9, 2007 7:26AM PDT

Why bother at all with OS9? Isn't it dead yet?

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Well ...
Sep 9, 2007 8:00AM PDT

They even held a funeral for OS 9...

But I still like it very much so I don't see why I shouldn't run it.

Heck, I still gladly use 7.5.3 on my old Performa.

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System 9
Sep 9, 2007 11:27AM PDT

System 9 can be installed even if you have already installed OS X>
There is no need to partition the drive.
Both OS's will run on the single partition.
Don't go higher than 10.3.9 on the G3 iBook

Your "upgrade" disk may not work. The disk has to be bootable and you might find that it is looking for System 8.6 or, if it is an upgrade to 9.2, System 9.1

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Re: System 9
Sep 9, 2007 5:34PM PDT

Thank you, Mr Mac Fix It.

I have not yet bought the OS CD so I asked the seller whether it was bootable and hope to find out before long.

So in a situation where the two operating systems are installed (on the one disk) how would one go about choosing which OS to boot into?

(I have googled this and came up with few straight answers)

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How to choose
Sep 9, 2007 9:50PM PDT

You would always boot into OS X but if you launched an application that only ran in System 9, then that OS would automatically launch.
When System 9 runs in this way, it is referred to as Classic.

If you really wanted to boot into System 9, you would choose it in the "Startup Disk" control panel in System Preferences.

I get the impression that this will be your first Mac. One wonders why you are bothering with an obsolete Operating System, which bears no resemblance to OS X. As a learning tool it is pretty much useless, it has not been updated for the last 7 years and software writers ignore it. While there are still available applications for it, they do not leap off the internet like OS X applications.

What version of OS X is the iBook coming with?

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Another question
Sep 10, 2007 4:04AM PDT

How much RAM does that iBook have?

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Answers.
Sep 10, 2007 4:22AM PDT

Ok so the iBook comes with 320 Megabytes of RAM.

The version of OS X it has installed on it is Mac OS 10.3.9.

Also, I am aware of selecting what startup disk to choose depending on what OS (9 or X) you wish to boot, however, does this apply even when the disk is not partitioned?

You're right; this is my first Mac. As I said to the advisor in the Apple shop today, the reason I want Mac OS 9 is simply because I do! I like the way it works, looks, and it reminds me of my days back at school. He said to me that if the machine is native to OS 9 (which these Clamshells are) it should be fine.

Thanks for the advice.

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System 9
Sep 10, 2007 9:52AM PDT

There is no problem with running System 9, other than the age factor.

Selecting the which OS to boot from is still done with the Startup Disk Control panel, regardless of whether the drive is partitioned or not.

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Well thank you for the advice.
Sep 10, 2007 7:52PM PDT

I guess I will return when and if I get myself an iBook in the coming weeks.