G4. running 10.3.11. I have enough RAM and hard drive space and speed. I still have some mission-critical apps that require Classic. I have the 10.4 to 10.5 update disc. If I install this, thus going to 10.5, will I be prevented from running my apps which need Classic any more?

Classic does not work under 10.5. Highest you can go is 10.4.

Thanks, Jack. That's what I thought.

I installed Panther on a partition of an external hard drive and made it bootable, just to able to utilize Classic for old key programs. Works great, but haven't had the need to use it lately. It's probably an option that you've considered, but I thought I'd pass it on.

I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the idea. I would need to make a duplicate of my eMac or Mac mini, including the programs, on an external. Right now I have all those programs on both machines (using a belt-and-suspenders approach.) Can I install Panther on an external, and then use Migration to basically make it a clone? Then would I select it as a startup disc, assuming I had it plugged into a computer? Would that computer have to be one that could run Classic (non-Intel)? I have 10 years of tax programs (Macintax and Turbotax) and I'm still dealing with back years, some of which only run in Classic.I can't afford to not have them runnable. I would want to still be able to run them after I am done with those years, in case I need to retrieve some info or regenerate something.

quote:

Originally posted by Donna:
Can I install Panther on an external, and then use Migration to basically make it a clone? Then would I select it as a startup disc, assuming I had it plugged into a computer? Would that computer have to be one that could run Classic (non-Intel)?

I've never used Migration before, but it sounds like your approach should work based on what little I read about it. Yes, once the Migration/Clone to the external is complete and the external partition is bootable, you would use it as the Startup Disc. I don't know for sure, but you could probably have the external plugged into an Intel Mac (it shouldn't make a difference, because you'd be booting from the external, and using the OS that is installed on it). I'd suggest that you move all of the old programs and related files to the external.

If I remember correctly, Jack answered my questions during the process. He'd know for sure.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mike Gawet,

Yes, you can install Panther to an external and use its Migration Assistant to pull in our programs. I don't think you can run Classic on an Intel machine (never tried).

You might consider printing the info from those tax programs to PDFs. You can have all the data without the baggage of the program - it's not like you will be re-filing those old returns at this point.

I'm still working on those years. But I will consider the pdf route when I'm done. Thanks.