Forums | MacLife

stevec · 2005-05-03 1:00 pm

I'm new to the Mac world having just bought an iMac G3 on eBay. My question is, why is OS 9 such a dinosaur? On the other side of the fence there are still plenty of people using Win 98, 2000 or ME and at four years old XP is still Micro$oft's flagshp OS. Why does Apple change operating systems so frequently and, more importantly, why are they so quick to drop support for OS's that are only a few years old and still used by large numbers of people?

D'Eyncourt · 2005-05-03 2:18 pm

Unlike Microsoft, Apple primarily is a hardware company. While they can make a nice chunk of change in selling Mac OS and other software, their primary source of income is the hardware (even if it is from iPods right now). Can you really blame them for wanting folks to upgrade their machines?

Also: while there are many folks using Windows 9X, ME, and NT4, and other companies may continue to provide support, these are all but unsupported by Microsoft. Windows 2000 was going to be added to this list in mid-2004 if it weren't for a number of companies complaining about this.

dv · 2005-05-03 7:15 pm

And, let's face it; OS 9 was a lot more comparable to Win98 than to Windows 2000.

In fact, sometimes, OS 9 was even less stable than Win98.

Sure, it was faster, and it looked less ridiculous than OS X. But overall, I think Apple is right to sweep it under the rug, at least in terms of their support for it.

And for the diehards here, we have this forum!

iZoe · 2005-05-03 10:59 pm

dvpierce wrote:
And, let's face it; OS 9 was a lot more comparable to Win98:

It Was Not!!! Windows 98 was/is worse. That's my experience... I still struggle with my mom's PC

cyberia · 2005-05-04 8:28 pm

OS 9 is still very usable. One of my computers runs it all the time and it is fine. There are lots of programs for it which are still available and there are lots of people who can give great advice on using it. What's the silly comparison to windows? If you like windows ... go use it!

Watauga_River · 2005-05-09 7:24 am

classic
It has been my experience with running both Mac OS 8.6 and Mac OS 9 (and 9.04), that I encountered significantly fewer problems while running Mac OS 8.6...

dv · 2005-05-09 8:22 am

Well, cyberia, Windows 95 is still very usable. One of my computers runs it all the time and it is fine. There are lots of programs for it which are still available and there are lots of people who can give great advice on using it.

OS 9 and Windows 98 do not have the memory protection or multitasking capabilities built into XP or OS X. In that way, they are comparable. 98 did have more stability problems, but OS 9 had its share, too.

And yes, I would rather use OS 9 than Win98, but Win2k or OS X are preferable toeither of the older OSes.

Egress · 2005-05-12 8:37 pm

I prefer 8.6 over 9, too.

dv · 2005-05-13 1:00 am

USB and Firewire support in 8.6 suck. At least in 9, my USB drivers never crashed and froze my keyboard while I was playing StarCraft.

Ra · 2005-05-15 12:27 pm

I have an old Mac 7300. The OS I liked the most was version 9.1, which was the latest I could use on the 7300. However, a great software developer (I apologize for not remembering his name), created a program called "Mac OS9 Helper," and I used this program to update my 7300 to Mac OS 9.2.2. That was two years ago, and the 7300 has been flawless under 9.2.2.

Mac OS Helper is needed for updating older than G3 Macs.
--------
Other than that, your G3 can be upgraded with a Sonnet CPU, and RAM for it should not cost very much at www.datamem.com

Last edited by Ra (2005-05-15 12:29 pm)

MacAddict2000 · 2005-05-15 12:46 pm

As a matter of fact, I just downgraded my iMac DV from Tiger to OS 9 using the orignal system disks that came with it. I have no need for Tiger on here because OS 9 handles AIM and internet browsing just fine. Tiger also has issues with window dragging. It was very shifty and not smooth like it was in Panther.

You can get buy just fine in OS 9. The latest Mozilla build on it is not the greatest, but it works.

Mac users are generally more tech-savy than the average person. So that contributes to why people tend to upgrade. Phil Shiller said himself on the CNBC video on Apple's site that the Mac users were really good about upgrading and the majority tend to upgrade to the latest version. Maybe that's just because Apple actually puts $130 worth into an upgrade, I don't know.

And after experience, I'd say that Windows 98 is far less stable than Mac OS 9. But It also depends on what's on the comptuer and what you're doing, how much free HD space, etc. But I would say that Mac OS 9.2.2 is more stable than 9.0.4, which is what Im running now.

akally · 2005-05-17 1:45 am

I'm using OS9.2.2 and have very little problems with it. If you upgrade go to 9.1 or 9.2.2. There are plenty of websites that offer downloads for older OS's. You just have to do a little research.

I am a firm believer in macs. I have had my share of nightmares with windoz 3.1 through XP. Every time I have to use windoz I declare my loathing and swear to myself I won't touch another one. Unfortunately most people and systems doze on windoz.

Forums | MacLife

#1 2005-05-03 1:00 pm

Mac newbie question--What's up with OS 9?

#2 2005-05-03 2:18 pm

Re: Mac newbie question--What's up with OS 9?

#3 2005-05-03 7:15 pm

Re: Mac newbie question--What's up with OS 9?

#4 2005-05-03 10:59 pm

Re: Mac newbie question--What's up with OS 9?

dvpierce wrote:

#5 2005-05-04 8:28 pm

Re: Mac newbie question--What's up with OS 9?

#6 2005-05-09 7:24 am

Re: Mac newbie question--What's up with OS 9?

#7 2005-05-09 8:22 am

Re: Mac newbie question--What's up with OS 9?

#8 2005-05-12 8:37 pm

Re: Mac newbie question--What's up with OS 9?

#9 2005-05-13 1:00 am

Re: Mac newbie question--What's up with OS 9?

#10 2005-05-15 12:27 pm

Re: Mac newbie question--What's up with OS 9?

#11 2005-05-15 12:46 pm

Re: Mac newbie question--What's up with OS 9?

#12 2005-05-17 1:45 am

Re: Mac newbie question--What's up with OS 9?

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