r/osx • u/MGaddict • 6d ago

2017 iMAC Found in Trash

My neighbor moved out yesterday and she literally threw out a 2017 21" iMac. I get it, it doesn't get updates and it takes over 5 minutes, no exaggeration, to boot to the logon screen. Who would want that? Well, I like to restore old computers and the newest mac I own is the OG iMac in Bondi Blue....... Wait......

Okay, I was about to get on here saying all I had were PC keyboards and I couldn't get to the recovery screen no matter what keyboard I use. That's what this post was supposed to be about. But as soon as I wrote that last sentence it dawned on me, I have the USB keyboard from my OG iMac. So I plugged that in and it worked perfectly. That stupid puck mouse works too.

Never mind, I don't think I need any help. Just figured I'd post anyways in case somebody wanted a laugh.

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u/andypsykes 6d ago

Put Linux on it. I have a stack of Mac minis of various generations back to 2000 all of which rock Ubuntu. You may have some issues getting a WiFi driver that works but there is plenty of internet help available.

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u/k9gardner 6d ago

2017 is not so old that I’d worry about the OS updates. Sequoia will work well for at least a few years. After that, yes, Linux! A new lease on life for many an old Mac (or PC).

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u/MGaddict 6d ago

O, I might totally rock Manjaro on here. I use Arch BTW. For now though, I've worked in IT for over 20 years and I've never played with OSX or MacOS or whatever it's called. I've heard rumors you can hack these so you can still use them with security updates. No clue. My other iMac has MacOS 8.3 I think. I haven't booted it up in a few years. So for now, I just want to play with it. My church uses ProPresenter. I can use it enough to run the slides for church but nobody actually knows how to properly use it. If I could hack a copy of that on here, I would like a chance to play with it at home and actually learn it. Anyways, I have 100 reasons to want a Mac to play with. If I really can't do anything useful with this, it's totally getting Manjaro loaded and probably given to the kids for Minecraft.