2003 iMacs apparently do not natively boot Mac OS 9

Last week we first reported that Apple's newly introduced 2003 iMacs did not appear in a Knowledge Base article listing Macs that are restricted to Mac OS X-booting.

This raised suspicion that the new models may actually be capable of booting Mac OS 9, even though the systems are not stock configured to do so. We have since received confirmation from an employee at one of Apple's retail stores, stating that the iMacs do not (natively) have the capability to boot Mac OS 9 from the main volume. Nor can they be booted from Mac OS 9 CDs.

"The 2003 iMacs that we have setup as floor models fail to boot into Mac OS 9: they do not show 9 as a bootable volume in the Startup Disk Preferences Pane, and they fail to boot from an OS 9 CD--specifically a December 2002 Mac Test Pro. So it appears that 2003 iMacs will not boot into OS 9."

Additionally, an Apple support representative offered the following statement in an Apple Discussion thread:

"The new iMac (17-inch 1 GHz) and iMac (Flat Panel) start up in Mac OS X only. If you have Mac OS 9 software that you have to install, you'll have to install through Classic."

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