Getting OS X Upgrades on CD

Question

Don't know if this is correct area ...
Anyway - I plan to buy a dual core g5 Powermac by month's end.
As it will be used for vfx work, etc. it will not be allowed to connect to the internet or have access to files downloaded from the net.
But some of the apps I plan on using require 10.4.1 or higher.
If I can get OS X and Apple product updates on cd/dvd the deal is on.
If I can't then the deal is off and I'll continue using dual core AMD boxes and build some core duo boxes when they get faster.
Which will it be?
Mac OS X (10.4.5)
  Mac OS X (10.4.5)  

Answer 1

Since no OS is 100% safe the best way to prevent that
is to deny net access.
Along the same lines items downloaded from the net
could contain virii that could destry the work data
or slow the system down enough to make it unusable
from a production standpoint. Time is money.
FWIW, Apple updates delivered by Automatic Software Update over the internet are verified by a very secure checksum method (SHA-1 Digests); it is thus extremely unlikely one delivered that way could contain any malware other than what somehow had made it onto the source distribution at Apple & would also be on any CD they distributed.
Plus, as already mentioned, OS X is largely immune to traditional, net-based virus attacks, in large part because of its UNIX roots & the system of accounts, ownership, & permissions: if you run as a "regular" user, the frequency of infection from net sources will be in years instead of hours, as it is with Windows.
Basically, the "inbound" security issues are something you should not have to worry about with OS X, as long as you exercise reasonable prudence in what you download & keep the firewall turned on.
"Outbound" issues seem to be what your clients are worried about. One way to control outbound security on OS X is with a little shareware app called "Little Snitch," which allows you to deny behind-the-scenes attempts to "phone home" completely, grant them on a one-time basis, or allow only certain processes to do so without explicit permission from the user.
With this app in place, you could allow only Software Update to query Apple for updates. If you physically disconnect the Mac from internet access at other times, run all your projects with a regular user account, & possibly store them on external drives you disconnect during update times, the risk of project work "escaping" from your Mac is essentially zero.
You can also use some of OS X's other security features to ease these concerns, such as secure emptying of trash & encrypting your files, both of which meet very strict Federal security standards.
However, if only "clean room" security standards will meet your needs, obtain your updates from another source (which could be an Apple Store or another computer used to download & burn the updates to optical media) & manually run the SHA-1 checksum on them before installation as described here. This should meet even the most picky client's concerns.