OK, since we all have opinions, I can't help but make this absolutely "muddy" thread even worse...
Late Walter Sear had something to say about it
It 2004, I would have agreed, but in 2023... Nope. He definitely sounded bitter about "shooting himself in the foot" with his music industry adopting newer technologies and he also sounded a little "pissed off" about project musicians owning a "project studio" His "Do brain surgery at home" yada yada yada was obviously a reference to "do recordings at home." He obviously thought of himself as a brain surgeon (the profession) and now mere mortals were recording at home, god forbid they were doing what he was trained to do, and not paying studio time for it.
I say fuck Walter Sear, I really don't care what or who he recorded. This new "virtual" audio recording world that he so "despised" was very exciting to me. Walter couldn't stop it and he focused on the negative. Did it mean that a lot of untalented people, now made "virtual music" that was pale in comparison to his "glory day" era ? Yeah, sure, whatever, but this put semi-pro recording studios in reach of many talented people also, not everyone was a hack... and what about "not so great" musicians having some inexpensive fun
In 2002, I had 2 fairly close friends in NYC that owned real studios that recorded Blondie, Joan Jett, and many more and at that time I could not afford recording in their studios, although I did get a few "free" or barter sessions for swapping PC consulting time. I remember a few dinner and lunch discussions were they they were "spooked" about where things were going... and that the days of making albums as they were accustomed to... were over... and yes, they were right. I helped run the Steinberg booth at the Mac Expo in 2000 in NYC so they would often ask me my opinion if they had anything to worry about and I would say, "There will always be a market that for a Pro studio that has masted the use of Telefunken Mics, a huge piano room, and a nice live Drum setup; but the clientele will be shrinking about 80 to 90 percent in the next 10 years" Don't know the real figures, but whatever.
I had a client, who was also a friend, Johnny Maestro,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brooklyn_Bridge_(band), and he was very excited about recording at home and using PCs with MIDI (Voyetra) and handing his label a finished song. Did Walter think Johnny was un-talented for using the new technology ? I mean this guy sang "16 Candles" for god sakes [youtube]NlXlZb18F20[/youtube]
Johnny was a monster on vocals and he was very excited about all the new technology. The point being, advances in technology did not kill the music, just the industry. Maybe it needed some changes anyway. I bet Walter made more money recording the sessions than many of the musicians he recorded.
Now fast forward to today, Roland cloud (virtual) sounds pretty damn close to the "real" thing. Walter's Tuba instrument has been sampled to the point that it probably sounds as good if not better than him playing it. If Walter was that mad in 2004, imagine when ChatGP writes the next #1 single in 2023, lol.
Lastly, back to the original topic. Think your buddy is still better off with a newer machine and newer OS than OS9 since he will not have to put as much more time in the learning aspect. Don't get me wrong, I love OS 9 and music, hell I started this site, but you have to weigh out how much time and effort he wants to put in on the technician side vs the musician side.