Somebody gave me a free iMac computer (with all of the original software too). It has no mouse or keyboard, but it does work fine. I turned it on. No scratches, looks like new.
My best assumption is that the keyboard and mouse are connected together sharing a USB port.
So can I use any USB mouse and keyboard from the store, or does it have to be MAC compatible?
I looked online and the iMac is old, but good enough for my mother-in-law to use to get e-mail and check out the internet. It is probably a 333mHz (g3 it says), has a 40x CD burner, OSX 9, built-in speakers, Firewire ports, LAN and modem connections. Very portable for a home PC.
For keyboards & mice, you have to use USB. Yes, you can use any USB keyboard, and they will all be compatible. HOWEVER those models only have 2 (maybe 3) usb jacks, and so getting an Apple keyboard would be nice because they keyboard has a built-in USB hub.
So you should probably get either an apple keyboard, or any other keyboard plus a USB hub, and any kind of USB mouse. Don’t get an apple mouse, especially if you like Blender.
Also, for a G3, I’d rather have Ubuntu (or Xubuntu, for the speed) on there than OS 9 (yuck.)
I don’t think it will be easy to find Blender for OS 9.
Just play with it Spin. I was shocked first time I used a mac at work…
<me>Uh I need to remove an application
<workmate>Delete the folder. Job Done
<me>O_o really?
<me>Uh I think I broke the system
<workmate>Put in the macos cd restart holding “c” (or something) go have a tea
<me>O_o really? But my work will be lost!
<workmate>It’s a mac. Go enjoy your tea, it’ll be fine.
<me>O_o really?
…and so on, and so forth.
Mac’s a really fun to work on, the only problems I ever encountered were running MS apps on them (IE for Mac, Word for Mac). The Macos stuff was solid as a rock(ish).
most mice are mac compatable, I’ve been using a brand new microsoft laser mouse on a first generation iMac for a few months now, no drivers, works fine.
is it running mac os9?, if it is, dont bother installing osx, because it will be horrific to work with (it lags a lot on that old hardware)
i URGE you to buy an external hard drive, and download powerpc ubuntu (or gentoo if your good with linux) and then install it onto the external drive
im pretty sure to install it on the external drive, you will need to have the drive plugged in, and then pop in the install cd, restart the comp, and while restarting, hold the “c” key, and when choosing the install destination, choose the external drive
mac os 9 is really stable. but the look is a bit outdated. i am on a g3 imac right now. an indigo one. it has 400MHz, 768MB RAM, a macaly mouse, and an apple keyboard. I also have an external HD. My g3 works really well, considering how old it is. the only difference is, i have mac os x.
my other computer is an iMac G5 PPC (not the new one) it is awesome.
i would suggest just messing around with it. most file will be found in the “Macintosh HD” in the top right corner. from there, you can access anything that’s on that computer, basically. It’s pretty hard to mess the system up, or loose important data. One thing, though: if you upgrade to mac os x, DON’T put in the mac os 9 repair (or whatever) cd! it confuses the computer about which OS it’s running. it’s an easy fix, though: just take it to a repair shop.
P.S. If i’m blabbering, it’s because im up late, on the fourth (well, now it’s the 5th) of july.