[Markk9]

I'm a new Mac user, I just got a G3/300/Rev2/6gHD/640mg/zip/cd from a friend. It came with os 9.2.2 and os x 3.4 on the harddrive. I plan to purchase a legal copy of OS X Panther. My question is, do I need os9.2.2 to run panther? What do I need to reformat the harddrive and just load and run panther?

Thanks,
Mark

[Brass]

No you do not need OS 9 to run Panther. However, if you ever run any old programs for which there is no Mac OS X equivalent (these are very rare these days), then it may be worth keeping OS 9 on the HD as well as OS X.

[Turnpike]

I'm assuming since it has Panther installed you have messed with and are accepting of the performance. It runs well enough on my G4 400, but I think it is only fair to warn you that you will most definitely not be getting the best performance Panther is capable of... and overall, OS 9 will be faster. OS X will have the edge in multitasking still, but it IS quite a resource hog compared to 9.

I would keep 9 around if I were you. Even if you don't need classic, you may decide to give it a try to compare the performance (and software availability, et cetera). If you wanted a copy of which you could be sure of the legality, I'm sure OS 9 isn't too expensive. I know 10.1 (which may be less valuable than 9) can be found for ~$5... Jaguar, which is quite solid, can be found for around ~$25. (note, I'm not saying go for Jaguar over Panther! I think Panther performs better for me on my 400 than Jag did)

[msuper69]

Welcome to the Mac community!

I must say that your Mac is really underpowered to fully benefit from Mac OS X, either Jaguar or Panther. The RAM is ok but a 6gb HD is pretty much the bare minimum. It is very important to not let free space fall below ~10% of the disk capacity. If you decide to upgrade OS X, go with Panther as it will squeeze out the most from that setup.

Good Luck!

[Markk9]

Soon I plan to upgrade to a 40G hardrive, and if I like Mac I plan to upgrade to a G4-800 by Dec this year.

Mark