Can I put an internal Pioneer AO5 DVD-R drive in my Macintosh G4/466
and have it work with all the iApps from Apple?  (For example, Backup,
iDVD, iTunes, iMovie3, etc.)  My friend says you have to have an
"Apple-ROM" DVD-R (same drive but supposedly Apple puts some chip in
there)  but other people say Yes it works.  I don't want to buy one
until I know it will be 100% compatible.

Thanks for your question weegee!

Since I'm in the process of building a G4 based machine at the moment,
your question was one I had as well!  Thanks for giving me the
opportunity to research it.

The short answer is that yes, an internal Pioneer A05 DVD-R drive will
work with the iApps from Apple, as long as you're using OS X version
10.2.2.

In my search I uncovered the following tidbits of information that may
be of interest to you:

Over at CNET, you'll find a comment from a satisifed A05 user who saw
the drive work on his machine with iDVD and other iApps:

http://computers.cnet.com/hardware/0-1095-418-20582521.html

One of the best Mac 'Tweak' sites, xlr8yourmac.com, has a few
discussions in their forums regarding the Pioneer drives.  Each of
these threads refers to the Pioneer A05/105 drive working with iDVD:

http://bbs.xlr8yourmac.com/ubb/Forum12/HTML/000666.html
http://bbs.xlr8yourmac.com/ubb/Forum23/HTML/001405.html

Finally, I came across a German thread on Google groups
(groups.google.com).  I translated the thread and was able to get this
english translation in regards to the A05 drive:

"Yes, since Mac OS X 10,2,2 it fully supported. With iDVD functions
all internal DVD burner, which is built by Apple in the appropriate
models. Possibly also different models (however in each case Dvd r,
with iDVD 3 one is Dvd rw without also cheats to burn to be able). To
this topic always http://www.xlr8yourmac.com is/very recommendable"

You can find the German version of the thread here:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&selm=b428l8%24e9%2402%241%40news.t-online.com

So, with reaction from literally across the globe, the answer to your
question is: yes.  It appears that if you're running OS X 10.2.2 you
should be able to use the A05 drive with your G4 and have full access
to the iApps.

Thanks!
-nishka