iMac 2009 vintage

Walowiz

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There are some serious Mac experts on ukgser, much more knowledgeable than I on all things Macintosh.

I’ve got a 2009 iMac that has been in the loft for a few years, got it down recently to grab all the files etc off it and it still runs all ok. Daughter #1 asks if she can have it, yep no problem I think.

I immediately think replace the hard disk with an SSD and she’s good to go.

But the last official os version that this supports is snow leopard - but apparently it is compatible with El Capitan, it won’t get safari updates on snow leopard etc or crucially any vulnerability patches from apple anymore. Which you always hope won’t be a problem, but could be.

It’s currently running leopard and dual boot to windows 7.

Is there a way to set this up safely for my daughter, would an anti virus (mostly) do the job and is it even worth doing ? It’s a lovely bit of kit and we’re loathe to dump it because Apple no longer really support it.
 
I'm guessing the only limiting factors would be memory & programs

I have an 2013 mac, all in one thing

2GB ram,

Dual boot max ( i think its el capitain) and win 7

runs hot all the time ;)

Ok for surfing netflix and the odd emulation game

but thats as far as it goes .


Were back in the bloatware ram hungry phase of programs, so most games will no longer run and that pushes everything toward cloud base or freemium which i personally

destest


Run it till it dies then destroy it, that way you wont hang onto it ;)
 
would an anti virus (mostly) do the job and is it even worth doing

No need.
Install the last available version of Chrome for that machine. I think it would be a bit better than Safari at that stage.


You can force more recent versions of the OS on older Macs, but I wouldn't suggest that (unless you really know what you are doing).


One more thing: I do hold on my macs a lot. My working Macs will last between 5 to 7 years.
I do keep all my old machines and they are in working conditions. Some of them still in use.

BUT, it would be way easier (and way more of an enjoyable experience for your daughter) to use a more recent Mac. Something from 2015/16 on.
In my family old Macs are passed around, usually my mum gets the oldest ones, and trust me it is a pain on the long run :D
 
I'm thinking of doing the exact same thing with a 2010 iMac I3 and fit a SSD and use El Capitan (the software on it when it crashed).

For security probably the only thing you can do is instal some third party anti virus.

Got to admit I miss my iMac. The built in SD card drive and CD/DVD drive made all the difference.

If you do update it keep us posted.

tom
 
For security probably the only thing you can do is instal some third party anti virus.

There is no need to install antivirus on Macs.
 
One more thing: I do hold on my macs a lot. My working Macs will last between 5 to 7 years.
I do keep all my old machines and they are in working conditions. Some of them still in use.

BUT, it would be way easier (and way more of an enjoyable experience for your daughter) to use a more recent Mac. Something from 2015/16 on.
In my family old Macs are passed around, usually my mum gets the oldest ones, and trust me it is a pain on the long run :D

Good advice. My experience also. My desktop iMac is seven years old now and for the first time won't upgrade to latest MacOS. I expect to get another year out of it but after that, its junk to me - life's too short.

Rather than invest in an SSD and messing around ti takes, better to buy a secondhand five year old machine for your daughter - I see good deals coming up on here occasionally.

Agree also - I have several older machines that still run and I keep. Why? I must get rid as i don't need them.
 
what harm will it do?

Most of the "antivirus" software I see people use is actually bloatware.
On older machines especially, the less you have running, the better – as processing power & memory are limited. But this is true on all computers.

On more recent machines/OS versions, app store (that I hate, but hey) and notarization keeps a lot in check nowadays.


Actual malware installed on Mac is in risible quantities.


Also, side note: most (not all) of antivirus software for Mac and those "clean my Mac" thingies came to market after the massive "switch" campaign Apple did many years ago.
Lots of people switching from Windows from Mac. And as Windows users they all had the habit of running an antivirus software. Habits are habits. Guess what: antivirus software started popping up for Macs too.



I have several older machines that still run and I keep. Why? I must get rid as i don't need them.

My older (2012) Mac mini was "discontinued" by me last year. It doesn't update to the last OS, but I keep it running on the network as some sort of drop box for video conversion (I do a lot of screen capture these days of remote work). So it can compress massive (2/5Gb) videos on its own without me having to run this on my main Mac. :) I just "drop" them on it via file sharing, and some time (hours) later it beeps when the file is processed.
 
Installed some more ram and an SSD on a 2010 MacBook Pro. Then did this: https://youtu.be/wxFzZWqoCng

thanks, thats really interesting - being able to go to macOS 10.15 Catalina, will look into that - this iMac looks compatible - thankfully I didn't upgrade the graphics card when I bought this.

Had a closer look at the iMacs spec - its a 2.8ghz iMac from 2008/9, max RAM is 6gb, can install 2 SSD's in it and dual boot to windows. Printing drivers within osx will be a complete pita - chances are it won't work whatsoever, which is no change from when I last used this with our now binned Cannon printer, much like modern macs :)

Quick price up - two SSD's £80 (240gb and 500gb), W10 license - £20 (student, might even be free), £4gb RAM £40 - Total = £140.

Cheaper than buying a more modern macbook pro up to 2015 ? that can still be repaired at home and a bit of fun, whilst I'm stuck at home with a buggered back and hip.

I'm sure there's lots to potentially go wrong, but the whole point is to not bin it and get a few more years use out of it.
 
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Cheaper than buying a more modern macbook pro up to 2015 ?

For a reason.
You want to install Catalina on a machine that is capable of 6GB of RAM max?

You guys are concerned, rightly so, about security in this thread and then want to give someone a Mac to use with an unsupported OS? I assume security includes data security (as in: "I don't want to lose it") and reliability.
I don't want to force anyone, but I grew up messing with Macs in almost any possible way, use them for work everyday.
There is a difference between a computer you actually use productively and the one you cobbled back together but cannot do much because it "gives" you a few kernel panics a day ;)

Remember (this is a constant in geek world :D ) "the fact I can do something doesn't mean I should" :D :D :D

You can get more recent desktop machines or laptops for 4/500 quid and will save you a lot of grief.

In any case: good luck.
 
I'm not overly bothered about catalina. It was only a thought inspired from the previous post.

I recall the imac being fairly stable - not perfect as the Mac community would have the windows community believe - damn thing would lock up, GPF etc and the printer support was woeful. If I buy a new-ish anything - it'll be a windoze thinkpad. This is more about giving her a mac we already have, that I know and whether I can give it a new lease of life, rather than junk it.

nothing - even where I work is 100% secure. So I'm not looking for that particular nirvana.

I'm not overly concerned re security - I just wondered what the options would be to improve it on an unsupported, but still pretty secure and reliable os.
 
I'm not overly bothered about catalina.

Good. I hated it (and I wasn't the only one). :D
To be fair the previous versions of the OS were slightly better (from a day to day user perspective).
 
+1 for the Dosdude1 hack in "the Director"'s link.

My 2008 MacBook Pro (8GB RAM and an SSD) runs Catalina well - yes there are some glitches but liveable-with (e.g. I can only open Word or Excel if I am not connected to the Internet - so I open them offline, connect and just leave the open).

Dosdude's website details exactly what works on which model, so even if you can only load Mojave it will be better than Leopard etc.

Technical stuff means that you will not be able to load Big Sur on older Macs so limits the benefit a bit (e.g. some software like Office is only supported for the last 3 versions of MacOS, so Catalina will be obsolete in 1-2 years.)

Better than hardware going to landfill.

My 2p.

A
 


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