Mac os 8.3 Upgrade to the latest posible HELP

Question

I was given a old Purple iMac OS 8.3 i believe and I would like to update it to the most possible recent OS. Can some one please help me and tell me how I would update to the most recent OS it's possible to.

Answer 1

I would recommend just upgrading the machine to 10.3.9 if you are only needing the machine for light internet browsing and perhaps email and light application use.
I say this as a copy of full retail install for 10.4.x Tiger whether cd or dvds will be quite expensive. Panther 10.3.x can be found very economically, perhaps as little as $20. One of the older G3 iMacs at this point is not really worth upgrading to such an expensive OS as Tiger. You might as well save up and purchase a good used machine that would run Leopard or better.
As stated before the G3 iMacs will not be much good for modern online videos and high cpu intensive applications. I use mine for mostly internet use and email and light applications and some light Photoshop work. It is even capable of audio chats using iChatAV (but not video) and even some compatible games. All that using OS 10.3.9/9.2.2 Classic. They are dual booting so you can boot into OS9 and OSX if desired.
That's just my opinion of these machines at this point. Much better to put the money into a more modern machine if you need the use of 10.4.11 or higher. That type of machine with higher MHz/GHz processor would be able to utilize it's features much better anyways.
I guess something to give thought too,
littleshoulders