the Imac?

[thatgothgirluknow]

so my computer went down and a friend gave me an Imac yesterday has anyone ever used one what did you think right now mine is driving me crazy because it's severally out of date and cost money to update in order to install things

[dxcxdzv]

Which model of iMac?

[thatgothgirluknow]

Which model of iMac?

mac os x version 10.5.8

[dxcxdzv]

mac os x version 10.5.8
That's the OS. xp
The model, which year, which size.

[thatgothgirluknow]

model A1224 20 inch wide screen

That's the OS. xp
The model, which year, which size. 20 inch wide screen
model number A1224

Merged double post

[dxcxdzv]

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac-core-2-duo-2.4-20-inch-aluminum-specs.html

Macs are good computers, as long as your current utilization doesn't require heavy tasks (games or high engineering).
But this one is a bit old, it's normal that it is slow. If you don't have any important files on it you should reset it by formating its hard drive.

[thatgothgirluknow]

http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/imac/specs/imac-core-2-duo-2.4-20-inch-aluminum-specs.html

Macs are good computers, as long as your current utilization doesn't require heavy tasks (games or high engineering).
But this one is a bit old, it's normal that it is slow. If you don't have any important files on it you should reset it by formating its hard drive.

i believe that was done before i got it mainly im having problems because the os x is 10.5 and everything needs 10.6 which i have to pay for

[dxcxdzv]

i believe that was done before i got it mainly im having problems because the os x is 10.5 and everything needs 10.6 which i have to pay for
Can't you directly update to Yosemite? The latest version, which is free.

[thatgothgirluknow]

Can't you directly update to Yosemite? The latest version, which is free.
not until i update to 10.6 mine version isn't compatible

[redrider12]

You're on 10.5 (Leopard) with that Mac. I suspect that's why it's so laggy/buggy. The current build is 10.11 (El Capitan). And I'm vaguely familiar with the model you have - it's out-of-date in terms of hardware as well. Past a certain point, technology seems to go obsolete. It will still work fine for basic stuff, but I wouldn't recommend paying for an update.
Apple was like that for quite a while. Every hardware progression generally came with a software progression as well, and each new software progression costed money and was only really a good idea to install on the previous years' machines. They did the same with iOS - I have had every iPhone as well as iPod Touch. There was a time where they'd limit the update to only the one previous iteration. There really wasn't much of a reason for it, other than to make money. Typical.
Anyway, I digress. Back to your question. There are ways to make it run faster. Reformat the hard drive for one (that gets rid of all the temporary files and crap that you don't need). You can (although on an iMac I wouldn't without experience) upgrade some stuff inside as well such as RAM and a bigger HDD. I have a friend who's an Apple Genius so I know a few tricks.

[northy]

Ugh. Install Linux mint and leave the mac os alone.

[YouTube]

From what I have discovered, since your iMac is on OS X 10.5.8 (Leopard) and to do the update to a more recent verison, you must first go to 10.6 (Snow Leopard) which requires the use of the disk which you should be able to borrow from a friend if they have it or you can by it online for around $20 (http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MC573Z/A/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard). Once on the latest Snow Leopard version, you will be able to update to the farthest allowed by Apple since your system hardware may not be compatible with the latest OS X version.

Hope this helps!

[Joseph69]

Macs are great machines, but the one you have is quite old so I wouldn't compare it to any computer you've seen in the past 7 or so years. You're running Leopard (10.5) which is around 8 years old if I'm not mistaken; that's why there won't be much software available to run.

Although you do have to pay for Snow Leopard (10.6), there's _a lot_ of those Snow Leopard disks around and I'm sure you'll probably be able to find a friend who has one. Once you have it installed, you'll be able to run a lot more software and maybe be able to upgrade to the latest OS via the App Store.

Snow Leopard should also be slightly faster than what you're currently running so it's definitely worth trying to find a friend who has a spare disk. If not, try looking online for a used disk; maybe you'll find a really cheap one. People are generally throwing away those disks now because they're pretty much obsolete at this point.

[Merk]

Ugh. Install Linux mint and leave the mac os alone.

LMAO. thats what how I solve all my probles ! On multiple machines I've had over the years I've left them with mint on them... hahaha