[allantheoldos]

I just started my DSL experience. I haven't used this ole iMac for 7 years. Apparently things have changed in the last decade.
I can't seem to find QuickTime, Windows Media Player, Flash or other applications that can be used (for free) with my operating system. I do, however, seem to find tons of bogus sites that want to give me a FREE IPOD!
I'm not even sure this Netscape browser is right. It's just the only thing that seemed to work, kinda.
I've been searching for days, and I figure this is my first sign of intelligent on air life.
Any help would be much appreciated!!!
Allantheoldos /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

[mdawson]

Yes, much has changed in the past decade and if you are still running Mac OS 8.6, you are going to quickly find that you are way behind the curve. At this point in time the chances of you finding versions of Quicktime, Windows Media Player and Flash that work in an obsolete OS are highly unlikely for a number of reasons.
Firstly, if you have been out of the game for a long time, much has happened in the Mac world since Mac OS 8.6 was introduced in 1999. The last major upgrade of what is now know as the Classic Mac OS, Mac OS 9, was introduced in late 1999 and its final update was released in late 2001. Just before that in March of 2001, Apple released its new operating system.
Mac OS 7, Mac OS 8 and Mac OS 9 were all built upon the same OS kernel developed by Apple in the early-1980s, so some software developed during the Mac OS 9 era could run in Mac OS versions as far back as 7.. Mac OS X is a completely different operating system. As such, software written for OS X will not run in Mac OS 9 let alone System 7 or 8. Apple declared Mac OS 9 dead in 2002, so during the course of that year most if not all Mac developers ceased development of Mac OS 9 software. A few developers failed to migrate to or outright refused to support OS X; they are now dust in the wind as far as Mac users are concerned.
While OS X does have a Classic environment to allow Mac users to run older pre-OS X applications on their Mac, support for Classic is quickly waning. It has been nearly six years since OS X was introduced and last year Apple began and completed their transition to Intel processors. As none of the previous Mac OSes ran on Intel processors, the new Intel-based Macs do not support Classic.
So what does this mean for you? Well, as Apple declared Mac OS 9 dead five years ago, do not gets your hopes up about finding a version of Quicktime that will work in Mac OS 8.6. Microsoft, in typical fashion, ceased supporting Windows Media Player on the Mac about a year or so ago. There are plug-ins that will allow WMP content to be played in Quicktime, but all such options require OS X. Flash is much the same. Macromedia and Adobe, which acquired Macromedia last year, ceased Mac OS 9 development long ago. Everything is for OS X now.
For that reason, it may be in your best interest to upgrade you OS. You did not mention which version of the iMac you have, but those G3 systems can run at least earlier versions of OS X. In the long run, you may want to consider getting a Mac mini. It is small and unobtrusive and combined with an inexpensive display, will still cost less than any iMac that has ever been offered. Despite being an inexpensive entry-level system the Mac mini is substantially more powerful than your current iMac, it includes the latest version of OS X and a bundle of useful pre-installed applications. If your computer needs are very basic, what the Mac mini includes in the box may be all that you need.