Mac / Silverfast compatibility issues, help needed!

I've had a Howtek 4500 drum scanner sitting in my house for a month and I haven't been able to use it yet because of software / system issues on the computer that came with it.

The computer is a Mac G3 (the blue and white). It's running OS 10.39, and I've also installed OS 9.21 on it for a 'classic' environment (for some older software, including the installer for Silverfast).

They sent me Silverfast Ai 5.5 to run the scanner, but the damned program is a plug-in and there was no imaging program on the computer to run Silverfast.

And pretty much all of the current programs on the market, like Photoshop CS3 (and CS2), Elements 6.0, Lightroom 2.0 require a G4 or G5 and system 10.4 or 10.5.

But the older programs that would be compatible with the computer don't support 16-bit image files, and with a 12-bit drum scanner I'm not going to accept a program that only runs in 8-bit.

So now I've got no bloody clue what to do. I don't need a 'great' program, because I can take scanned files and edit them on my PC which is fast and runs PS CS2. But I DO need something that is compatible with my Mac, that can accept a Silverfast plug-in, and that can receive and store 16-bit files.

Thoughts?

Why did they send you 5.5? I have my D4000 running from my G3 laptop which has OS 10.4 on it and they sent me version 6.5 which works great and is a stand alone program. Is 6.5 not compatible with OS 10.3?

After doing a little research, Photoshop Elements 3-5 will work on your G3 machine and all support the plug-in and 16 bit image files. You may be able to find an old copy of any of these since most were supplied with Epson printers for free. Ebay may be a source as well. But I would still see if Silverfast would exchange the 5.5 for the 6.5.

They sent me 5.5 because that's what they were running.

I contacted Lasersoft, and the only thing they were willing to tell me was that I'd need to purchase the upgrade for 6.6, which would cost ~$400.

I was thinking about Elements, it's not a bad idea.