OS X Tiger Help

[Simplistic]

Hey, new to the forums, new to Macs/Apple. I just bought an iBook from eBay. It's an iBook G3 800. Here is what the guy said about what it comes installed with:

"Unit will arrive to you with a clean OS X.4 (Tiger) installed. When you boot the machine you will be able to enter all your personal information. An Airport card IS installed so you can get on your wireless network at home, work, airports, coffee shops, etc. You will need to run all the Software Updates. I am also including a full set of OS 9.2.2, OS 10.2 (Jaguar). It will be the Buyer’s responsibility to obtain the necessary licensed disks for OS 10.4(Tiger) The disks are NOT included. OS9 IS NOT installed so if you want to boot in OS9 or need to run classic apps you will have to erase the drive and install OS9 and then OS X."

I have bolded what confuses me. If Tiger is installed, why do I need to obtain licensed disks? What disks does he mean and where do I get them from? Oh, and how much would they be?

 

[mad jew]

Each version of Tiger comes with a licence that generally only covers one Mac which is why you'll have to buy a licence (box with disks) for it to legally run. Pragmatically speaking, the computer will still run irrespective of whether you have a licence for it.

The OS9 bit is confusing. OSX has Classic mode which is a reasonably lame attempt at OS9. Assuming it's not installed, you should be able to get it from the supplied Jaguar (10.2) disks. I recommend doing a fresh install of Jaguar by inserting the disks and starting up holding C. From there you can reformat (erase) the hard drive and start afresh. From memory, Classic (or effectively OS9) will be installed by default.

 

[Simplistic]

Hmm... so you're saying I can still use my iBook without the licence? I'm not trying to be cheap or anything, but if I don't have to buy the disks, than I don't want to...

And you're recommending me to downgrade to Jaguar? I wanted the latest OS X. Is there a big difference?

 

[eva01]

Hmm... so you're saying I can still use my iBook without the licence? I'm not trying to be cheap or anything, but if I don't have to buy the disks, than I don't want to...

And you're recommending me to downgrade to Jaguar? I wanted the latest OS X. Is there a big difference?

You don't have any discs you can't reinstall and you can't fix any other problems you can run into, and can't repair disk either i believe.

 

[Simplistic]

I didn't want to resort to this, but... could I download these disks from somewhere? Like, for free? I'm probably getting my iBook tomorrow and I want to have everything ready. If I order the disks they'll arrive maybe mid next week. I have no patience/conscious.

 

[eva01]

I didn't want to resort to this, but... could I download these disks from somewhere? Like, for free? I'm probably getting my iBook tomorrow and I want to have everything ready. If I order the disks they'll arrive maybe mid next week. I have no patience/conscious.

You can buy them at your local apple store or i believe compusa also has OS X.

Stealing is heavily frowned upon.

 

[mad jew]

I don't know that Classic will work in Tiger (probably wasn't installed) and I don't know how well it'll come off of the Jaguar disks onto Tiger. Not to mention that it'd be illegal to continue using Tiger.

 

[Simplistic]

Man, this sucks. Why can't I just use it like I would a Windows operated laptop? And why can't this guy just have sent it with the discs he got? Are they disks or discs? Disks are like the floppys.

How much is Tiger, $100? I'm running low on chump change.

 

[mkrishnan]

I guess a buyer could legally re-install Jaguar on it. Or else illegally make a backup of the disk as it stands when it's received, and use that as a "system restore."

But I think you should report the seller to eBay for selling pirated software. That's what's happening in essence. Either she/he transfers the license to you along with the software, or should transfer neither. Sellers who play tricks like that cheapen eBay's image....

 

[mad jew]

I'm guessing he bought one copy of Tiger and upgraded your machine but is now using that licence (and disks) with a different machine. Disk can be spelt either way AFAIK. Check out your local Apple online store for more accurate and relevant prices of Tiger.

 

[Simplistic]

I'm going to email him demanding those discs! Seriously, I have to say something. I guess using Jaguar wouldn't be so bad. After all, I know little to nothing about this whole Apple/Mac thing. I'll just have to wait and see.

 

[dmetzcher]

Man, this sucks. Why can't I just use it like I would a Windows operated laptop? And why can't this guy just have sent it with the discs he got? Are they disks or discs? Disks are like the floppys.

How much is Tiger, $100? I'm running low on chump change.

Tiger is $130, I believe, but look on eBay for a lower price.

You can use it like you would use a Windows laptop. With Windows, you may, from time to time, require the installation CD as well, especially if you have to do a reinstall of the Windows OS.

Second, he probably didn't send it with the discs that he got because this probably isn't his only Mac and he wants to keep all the installation discs. If this is a G3, and it's running Tiger, he probably used his Tiger installation disc that he got with a new G4 or G5 machine to install it on the machine he sold you. He can't very well send you his disc if he needs a copy for himself. He can't send you a copy of the disc because that would be illegal. Technically, running an installation of Tiger (or any commercial software, for that matter), without owning a copy (which means you would have gotten the disc, in Tiger's case), is also illegal, though you will see many Mac and Windows PCs on eBay that have a TON of software installed on them but come with no discs.

Buyer beware. Never buy a computer without the installation discs, whether it be Mac or Windows (or any other OS that is sold commercially). Doing so means that, eventually, you will have to buy the licenses (discs) for the software on the machine when something goes wrong and you need to do a fresh install. Frankly, this is even more critical with a Windows PC, because that operating system get so mucked up with spyware, malware, and viruses that you need to do a fresh install every six to twelve months.

 

[mkrishnan]

I'm going to email him demanding those discs! Seriously, I have to say something. I guess using Jaguar wouldn't be so bad. After all, I know little to nothing about this whole Apple/Mac thing. I'll just have to wait and see.

Jaguar isn't so bad, but you would probably want to try and buy a set of Panther discs off of eBay separately... Panther at least is really worth it, because you'll get things like Exposé. Plus the last version or so of Panther was very, very stable -- I think. Like a rock.

Anyway, good luck with your purchase. I'm sorry eBay buying is so frustrating.