> You say "downgrade", do you refer to an older version of IRIX I could
> purchase, or are the Indy/Indigo/GR2 a "downgrade" in the hardware
> sense? :P

i meant a hardware downgrade, from o2 to something with supported graphics.
there is no real option to purchase IRIX, unless you're in the Greater Bay
Area, in which case you might find a copy at the special flea market:

if it's still being held: second saturday "when the weather is nice" (meaning
there's at most two more this season), foothill college parking lot. get there
at the crack of dawn; tourists show up around 10am, the entire thing packs up
by about noon-1pm. sometimes there's a guy with lots of SGI hardware, he may
have (or know where to get) some, ah, IRIX backup media.