Upgrading from version 7 to 8?

Question

I currently have iTunes 7.7 installed.
I don't use it much - just to copy my CDs to G4 HD and then transfer the music to my iPod Classic. That job is now complete and I don't anticipate having to add much in the future.
Should I update to 8.0.2 - which update I have previously downloaded from Apple and saved in my download folder? OR go directly to 8.1? OR not bother with either?
Will there come a time when I will not be able to upgrade to a newer version because I've left the old version un-updated?
Thanks,
Mrs H
Message was edited by: Mrs H - typo

Answer 1

I get it, but do you mean the determining factor is the hardware or the OS? Sorry to be so stupid about this, my confusion lies in the fact that I got my G4 Dual 450 literally the day that OS X was introduced, but I got it with OS 9 installed and stayed with that til 2007 - I'm a bit slow to move into the 21st century! So, is my G4 originally supposed to be an OS 9 or OS X machine - who knows?
You are looking at the interplay of multiple factors. There is no single right answer, though there may be an answer for any one given configuration. If you run software designed to run comfortably on a 2GHz machine, the general rule is your 0.45Ghz machine is going to breathe pretty hard running it. However, just today I saw an Apple employee post on the itunes forums that somebody should run the newer version of itunes (8.1 vs. 8.0) because certain features had been introduced to make it run faster. I'm just guessing here, but would 8.1 run faster on your computer than 8.0? Possibly, because of the modifications. Would 8.1 run faster than 6? Unlikely, because 8.1 (and 8.0) probably has a larger number of features over 6 (this may be more applicable in some other programs than iTunes)
Your G4 was intended to run OSX but included OS9 because at that time there were few people running OSX and many running OS9 and you needed the compatibility during the transition. At one stage they had OSX on computers but no software actually ran under OSX!
Your computer wasn't designed for Tiger but it can run it, although Tiger was really introduced with late model G5s and early generation Intel Macs. Fortunately Tiger is pretty friendly on old model G4s but they all had to undergo some hardware upgrades in order to meet the minimum specifications.
Get the release information for the software. What was the current OS when it was released? Most versions say what OS is required and/or compatible.
I am running Tiger - but by current OS do you mean Tiger vs Leopard, or all the interim updates to Tiger? And the question about what my G4 is supposed to be still remains...
Well, I have Tiger which is ca. year 2005. I have Word 2004 which runs well under Tiger. I have itunes 7.5 which came out in 2007 when Tiger was the "current" OS version. Lots of my other software was written back when Tiger was the "current" version. That's what I mean by the "current" at the time. I can run a lot of software designed during the Leopard era but some of it (e.g. Leopard itself) cannot run on my computer either due to hardware or operating system restrictions.
So, it can be the hardware or the OS. Newer software is optimized for newer hardware. You can get it to run on old hardware but that old hardware is having to work harder, and sometimes simply won't be adequate. There's people who like nothing more than to get Tiger to run on the oldest computer possible just to meet a challenge, but that doesn't mean they can actually do anything with it other than take a photo of their screen saying they have such-and-such a model running Tiger.
Think of our computers as senior citizens. Yes, you can put a granny in an apartment three stories up, but it will take her a while to climb those stairs each day, and some grannies might not even be able to do that. My approach is to be nice to my granny computer and not make those requirements. Even if granny can make it, you might not have the patience if visiting granny and have to wait for her all the time. However, it is possible that moving to an apartment three stories up might be better if when designing the building the builders also put in an elevator. So you have to take it on a case-by-case basis although you can make some general assumptions.
I also suppose that if I go up to a newer iTunes on the MBP I'll need to on the G4 if I want to transfer a piece of music from one to the other.
If just transferring music files you won't need to update the G4. It's only if you wish to share the libraries (vs. the music files themselves) that you would have to have the same version.