I have a customer - a small business where IT is a cost center, not a profit driver - with six high-end PowerPC machines (dual-CPU Power Mac G5, 2G RAM, the works...).

These machines will shortly be obsolete because Snow Leo won't support them:

Performance-wise, those boxen would be enough for them pretty much until heck freezes over[a] but since Apple seems to EOL everything older than the previous release even for security fixes, the machines will be obsolete within about 1.5y.

Few major upgrades for third-party software come out for old Mac OS releases, degrading their value even before that.

Age-wise, they are in the awkward spot where they're pretty much written off, but still in very good shape.

Austrian law for companies (not incorporated) applies to this, just in case that is important for your ideas.

So, finally, the question: What to do? I have thought of the following things:

* Trying to go for a good buy-back offer and upgrade?
* Same, but with leasing the new kit (the owner doesn't like leasing too much, but in this situation there might be an exception)?
* For the versions above: ASAP, ALAP, something in between?
* Giving them to a school (charitable institution, etc) right now and take a tax credit for the remaining value on the books?

What do you think of those? Other ideas are welcome, too, of course.

---

[a] One of those ethics cases where their previous IT contractor was also their hardware supplier...