[nnager]

Background: So that I may assure that a new version of OS X plays nice with all my software and hardware, I always have installed the new release on a different hard drive than the older version that it will eventually replace. But it would be more convenient to have both on the same drive as a third partition that houses my documents, music, and photos.
If one already uses more than one partition on each hard drive and has ample space for each volume to expand, what would be the downside of having two bootable Panther versions on the same hard drive (eventually, Panther in one partition and Tiger in another)?
Respectfully, Norm

[DPG4450Guy]

None that I know of.
I partition my bud's iMacs and eMacs that way - a main partition / data partition / clone partition.
Never any issues.

[nnager]

Thanks, DPG4450Guy. From all your posts, I've gained a great deal of respect for your technical knowhow and thoughtful forum participation. Norm

[DPG4450Guy]

I don't have much in the way of tech know-how.
I'm a monkey see (from our IT), monkey do dude.

[Grant_G]

Yeah, maybe, but you do help out a lot around here.
G /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[DPG4450Guy]

Eek eek! /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

[Nobody]

Fundamentally, there is never any serious problem in using multiple supported versions of OS, each on its own partition. However, it seems that the permission to write to the volume containing Tiger can change such that even when booted from 10.3 or 10.2, if you wish to copy something to the partition containing Tiger, you would be required to enter administrative password.
I have not had the time to explore the situation in depth and it is entirely possible that all one needs to do to remedy this apparent inconvenience is to reset the accounts and permissions suitably.
The other thing I would be caution against is to repair permissions or the disk on one volume when booted from another, especially when the version of Disk Utility on two volumes in question are fairly different. I would hope that the DU is endowed with sufficient intelligence to decipher this difference on its own and not proceed with the repairs but better to not assume and risk damaging the volume.

[nnager]

Thanks, Alam. I appreciate your cautions as well as assurance of no harm. Respectfully, Norm

[DPG4450Guy]

Tiger's not out yet.
Let's wait and see if/how Apple cleans this up before they turn loose 10.4 - premature, otherwise.

[Nobody]

Quite true!
But no harm in an early warning... if the problem is remedied (assuming it is not something that is eminently user correctable already), even better.
Generally speaking, some things need not be learned the hard way when a few simple precautionary measures can potentially save one a considerable headache. Hyperventiallation that starts after virtually every security update and fractional upgrade of OS is a good example; majority, if not all of the so-called problems and failures can be minimized or even eliminated by a few simple well-known steps. /forums/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif