OK… I have one of the first-generation PowerMac G4s… can I write to CD-Rs using the DVD-RAM drive? I e-mailed Apple, but I know it’ll take days to get a form reply. Can any of my fellow Dopers help me out here? I’m trying to burn some music CDs by converting my MP3s
Oh, yeah, I forgot… do I need special writing software, or can I just drag-n-drop audio files onto the disc?
Short answer: Nope
Long answer: DVD-RAM drives will write DVD, but not CDR, as the writing laser is vastly different for some reason. This is, of course, entirely based on heresay; I actually have no clue, since I am stuck with my own G4 that does NOT have a DVD-RAM drive 
the DVD-RAM drive can only write to DVD-RAM disks, not CD-R or CD-RW. With the proper disk, it sounds as though you don’t need any special software (just drag and drop); the help menu should walk you through the process of initializing the disk.
Here’s all the info in a nutshell: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n60235