I am newish to linux, i have used mint as my daily driver, is budgie good on a 2009 imac?
We saw this on our FB page today
"
Installed on imac 2007 perfect thanks for the job "
So I would hope the 2009 would be OK as well.
Suggest boot into the live session and have a look around.
Okay, Cool 
How did it turn out, CoolRock?