Mac OS X Costs: Hardware Requirements | Special Edition Using Mac OS X Tiger

Mac OS X is a good thing, but as with all good things, it does come with a price. You must have a modern Mac to be able to use it.

Apple states that you must have a Mac with a G3, G4, or G5 processor, such as a Power Mac G5, Power Mac G4, or PowerBook G4. Apple also says your Mac must have at least 256MB of RAM, a DVD drive, and built-in FireWire. Also, your Mac needs to have a built-in display or one that is connected to an Apple-supplied video card. Finally, you need at least 2GB of disk space.

That's what Apple says and you probably can run OS X with a Mac that meets these minimum requirements. However, if you want to have a good experience with Mac OS X, I'd suggest the following two changes to Apple's minimum requirements:

A Mac with a G4 or G5 processor Macs with G3 processors just don't perform that well with Mac OS X. Fortunately, unless your Mac is more than a couple years old, it likely has one or more G4 processors or better (G5).
At least 512MB of RAM You can get by with only 256MB of RAM, but you will have better performance with more RAM. I recommend adding as much RAM as your Mac supports. For example, Power Mac G4s and G5s support multiple gigabytes of RAM. RAM is relatively inexpensive and easy to add, so maxing out your RAM is a good idea.

For help moving to Mac OS X version 10.4 from previous Mac OS X versions, p. 1079.

NOTE

Apple does not support Mac OS X running on older hardware, although you might be able to get it to run on a machine not on the support list. However, I don't recommend that because you'll miss out on the performance and features that modern Macs provide. You might also be able to get Mac OS X to run on a machine that has an upgrade card installed in it; however, support for specific upgrade cards is a hit-or-miss proposition.

As with any tool as sophisticated and powerful as Mac OS X, learning how to use it effectively can take some time. This learning curve can also be considered one of Mac OS X's costs. This cost is one that this book can lower for you. As you read through the rest of this book, you will quickly become comfortable with all aspects of Mac OS X. And as you explore more of the OS, you can always come back to specific parts of the book to guide you on your way.