Hi. I have just got iMac late 2009 Yosemite 10.10.5 with 2.66 Ghz Intel Core i5 and 8 Gb ram. I have been a pc user all my life so I don’t know much about Apple. Can I install Windows alongside OSX? Can I uninstall OSX and then reinstall it again in the future? Can I update system to eg Catalina for free? Can I install “the sister site’s” software like in PC Windows? Thanks for the tips.

 

Using the Bootcamp option might be the best solution.
I don't know if its supported on 10.10.5 though.

 

i wouldnt go higher than high sierra.
bootcamp will allow u to install a dual boot to windows 10

 

Ask your friend if he would take it back off your hands if you throw in an extra tenner?

In all seriousness though around that same time I got an iMac too, but it only collected dust. My only regret is I didn't sell that old piece of stepped-in cow shit.

 

Get given a mac, want to install Windows. Why? Enjoy the OS for what it is.

Play with the mac, enjoy the mac, realise modern software is no longer compatible, give mac away.

One day, windows will base its UI on a Linux O/S and all will be well. I love the Linux kernel, I love Windows UI. I dont like a franken environment

 

Last edited by a moderator: Feb 19, 2021

don't do it
the performances of a 2009 mac in today world are mediocre, plus these apps like bootcamp / parallel desktop will overload the machine even more. The only good thing about the Mac is its operating system, but you don't want to use it: better sell it and get a new PC, you'll be much happier

 

Did that years ago.
As a relief school caretaker I went all through the schools to replace deadheads booking off sick.
Principals would have rooms full of old computers and monitors and would beg me to throw them in the dumpster after dark so parents wouldn't see and get angry.
I asked if I could take them home and did. This is how I got started on Mac and PC. I called them my doorstops.
Which is what they were. Even with boosted memory they weren't really useful audio-wise.
On the other hand, I sold old 15" monitors by the dozen for big bucks back then

 

I start dealing with Logic. Can I upgrade the system just to High Sierra as suggested and not to Catalina? Unlike Windows that only the latest version is available. Can I install then the latest version of Logic?

 

Bootcamp doesnt overload whatsoever since it runs Windows natively with correct drivers so works EXACTLY like a Windows PC on the same hardware. Maybe don't comment if you don't know about how stuff works.

Repeat after me - BOOTCAMP IS NOT A VM. Its an additional partition running native Windows.

 

The hardware will probably be too old to run Catalina anyway without a load of hacking mate. Plus if you wanna use cracked software Catalina isnt for the Apple newbie.

 

i know parallel desktop very well and it is heavy, I barely used bootcamp (surely it will be as you say). In any case to use windows os into a mac you’ll have the worst of both world: a crappy os into a not upgradeable machine, I wouldnt recommend it.

You can probably sell an imac 21 late 2009 for $ 300: adding $ 300 more you can get a modern entry level pc. I think this is the best solution.

@ArticStorm why we cant run OSX on windows pc?
Yes, it is possible, google for Hackintosh

 

if you are going to keep it just use it as a mac don't dual boot, just decide what you want to use it for and you'll avoid any problems, it isn't the same as Windows if you never used one before.

 

You can - thats EXACTLY what a Hackintosh is. You just have to pick the components very carefully so that there are drivers in OSX for it.

 

Well PC user all my life here, but I know Mac OS very deep as well.

I got the golden jewel of Imacs running here the 2009 Intel Duo Core. This is the Mac with the OSX Snow Leopard 10.6.8 that has the Rosetta for PPC applications. Yes I am the one who posted the PPC Native Instruments Fm7!!

Almost all new Plugins still work with Reaper running in it. Some new Daws will not run in it but Reaper runs on all the OSX versions.

Sadly newer Mac OS versions will not work on these older machines.

59$ bought at a liquidation store!!

I made a video showing the internals of the Mac.

 

Last edited: Feb 21, 2021

I have a 2009 iMac you can have mine if you want isn't worth the hassle cant do anything with it, I don't think you will be able to run windows on the one you got, but I guess you can run an old logic on it and even if you do get to run windows on it it will be like a snail. Stick with windows forget Mac there built well so you end up with a working mac that you cant update the shit bags.