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shallowdeep -> RE: I need Mac help please (4/22/2015 8:17:41 PM)
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Glad the instructions were understandable. The good news is it looks like your machine is actually far more capable than I was assuming based on it still running 10.5. Your iMac looks like a Mid 2007 version, which supports the latest version of OS X (10.10 Yosemite). If you upgrade the OS you will get access to the most recent version of Safari (plus the ability to run the latest versions of alternatives like Chrome and Firefox).
The bad news is the OS on your machine is a bit of a weird one in terms of Apple’s support, in part because it was the last version of the OS prior to the creation of the Mac App Store. To upgrade the OS, you will need a physical 10.6 (Snow Leopard) disc. These somewhat archaic things are still sold by Apple for $20. If budget is an issue and you know a local Mac user, they may have an old copy lying around you could borrow. Once you install 10.6 from disc, you can update it via Software Update (under the Apple Menu) to 10.6.8, which gives you access to the App Store. From there, it’s a free upgrade to the most recent version of OS X.
If web browsing is your primary use of the machine, I would highly encourage the OS upgrade: it will give you the latest support for things like browsers and improve your system’s security. However, if you have other mission-critical uses for the machine, it’s worthwhile keeping in mind that OS updates can break support for older software (including drivers for attached physical devices like printers), so if you really depend on a particular piece of software, it would be a good idea to verify it will work under the new OS before upgrading.
One last thing to consider is that 1 GB is currently a very low amount of RAM for a computer and this limited amount of memory will act as a performance bottleneck on your otherwise relatively capable machine. It’s not free, and the cost should be weighed against how likely you are to acquire a new machine in the near future, but an upgrade like this one should make a significant difference in performance, especially if you do upgrade the OS. I know opening a computer’s innards may seem daunting if you don't feel technically inclined, but the RAM on your model is designed to be easily user serviceable. If you can use a screwdriver, upgrading it is pretty straightforward.
If, for whatever reason, you decide an OS upgrade is not the best option, downloading Firefox 17.0.5 from the link outlier provided is probably a decent bet; it’s a couple of years more recent than Safari 5.0.6 that you are currently using. The TenFourFox browser I linked earlier is, unfortunately, designed for older PowerPC machines and is not officially supported on Intel ones, but the G3 version may run (probably a bit slowly) on your iMac, although I can't personally vouch for it under that setup. The version of Firefox it is based on is significantly more recent than the last version of Firefox to directly support OS 10.5 so, if it does run and if you can live with slow performance due to TenFourFox not being optimized for the Intel architecture, it's another option that should be more secure and may be more compatible with modern sites.
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