burngreave.net

We run a 3 Mac network at home sharing our broadband connection (though I do have a line of site to Abbeyfield Park House...)

As our finances have meant our newest Mac is now nearing its 5th birthday (and unless an as yet undiscovered rich relative leaves me some money, this will remain the situation for some time), I've made it a project to keep our three Macs as up-to-date as possible.

The three are: PowerMac 5500/275, 7600/132 and 8200/100. They have all been running OS9.1 successfully (and in a very stable way). According to Apple this is the maximum OS that can be run on these machines.

If your machine can run OS X you can stop reading here as the following doesn't apply to you.

OS 9.2.2 is the most up-to-date version of the "Classic" OS. It offers real upgrades in speed (20-30% quicker for file copying for example) and stability (especially in networking and internet situations). There also a few pieces of software (eg FinalCut Pro) that will only run on 9.2.x, and if you're flash (and loaded) you can connect to an iPod.

I came across a fantastic piece of software called OS9 Helper which allows you to install these OS upgrades on machines where it shouldn't really be feasible. The guy who wrote the software gives timely advice and was really helpful about my questions.

The installation process worked flawlessly (and as stated in the Read Me file) and took about 45 minutes per machine. Another insanely great piece of software (and only $10 shareware).

If you run virtually any PowerMac or PowerBook and are running anything other than 9.2.2 (especially if you're running 9.0.x or 9.1), I'd strongly recommend you look at this utility.