Member Avatar for mary m

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, and I am going to get all the technical terms wrong, but please bear with me.
I am looking to buy a iBook soley for running Pagemaker 6.5 and associated programs (word processing, mail, photos, etc.) I have read that the newer mac OS do not support PM 6.5. Upgrading from 6.5 is not an option. I run PM 6.5 now on OS 9.2 on my desktop ( I know that is not the correct Mac term, but it's late and my brain is fried) but I need it to be portable. Do I look for a used ibook with 9.2? What do I need to look for or watch out for? I've been looking on Ebay - not sure where else to look.
I am more of a buy it, turn it on, it better work type of person, than actually knowing how it all works together. Any advice would be appreciated!

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Short guide for (and building on ’s experience) — practical checks and the easiest routes to keep PageMaker 6.5 portable.

Buy these models if you want the simplest, most reliable setup: look for an iBook G3 (the clamshell / early G3 and the later 12" models). iBook G4 machines cannot boot Mac OS 9 natively (they only run newer Mac OS X releases), so they add extra complexity. (everymac.com)

What to ask the seller (quick checklist you can copy into an eBay message):

  • Exact model name/serial or a photo of About This Mac / System Profiler.
  • Does it include the original restore/OS discs (some Macs need model‑specific restore discs to install/boot OS 9)?
  • Is the optical drive working (you’ll likely need it to install PageMaker from CD)?
  • Does the seller agree to boot to the OS they claim (ask for a short video or photos showing the boot screen)?
  • Is the PageMaker CD (Mac version) and serial included?
  • Return policy if it doesn’t run PageMaker.
    Model-specific restore discs are often required for booting older Macs into OS 9 — check that before buying. (discussions.apple.com)

Options if you can’t find a good iBook:

  • Convert files: modern InDesign (CS6 or earlier) can open PageMaker 6.x/7.x files and convert them to InDesign. That’s a migration path if keeping PM itself isn’t mandatory. ()
  • Emulation: tools such as SheepShaver can run Classic-era Mac OS in a window, but SheepShaver is limited (it generally supports up to Mac OS 9.0.4), so it may not run every OS9 app without quirks. Treat emulation as a fallback, not a guaranteed fix. (en.wikipedia.org)

Practical tip: a working iBook G3 with its restore CDs and a functional optical drive (and the PM install CD) is the lowest‑friction, truly portable solution. Ask sellers to demonstrate OS 9 boot or accept returns — that saves time and headaches.

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Member Avatar for John A

I doubt you'll run into any problems. I got PageMaker 6.5 running on my iMac which was running Mac OS X 10.4 (it was using the Classic OS 9 subsystem, granted). Any version of OS 9 will work great (and OS X should work fine as well, provided that it's a PowerPC Mac that has Classic installed).

Member Avatar for mary m

Thanks for the info..So what would you suggest I look for when I am shopping on ebay? Would the listings have to say "classic installed" or are all OS 9 "classic"? Sorry to be so clueless...

Member Avatar for John A

Thanks for the info..So what would you suggest I look for when I am shopping on ebay? Would the listings have to say "classic installed" or are all OS 9 "classic"? Sorry to be so clueless...

If you're buying OS 9, you don't need to worry about Classic. Classic is basically a backwards-compatibility layer that can be installed on Mac OS 10 systems. Any version of OS 9 should work. Sorry about the confusion.

(One thing I forgot to mention in my last post: when you run OS 9, you may have to set the number of colors in your display resolution to 'thousands'. When I set it any higher than that, all the PageMaker interfaces were white, in other words, I couldn't see anything.)

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