Poll: Are you waiting for Panther's release before you buy your next Mac?

[MacRumors]

Vote: Poll: Are you waiting for Panther's release before you buy your next Mac? (http://www.macpolls.com/?poll_id=284)

[stefman]

Unfortunately, no time to wait for Panther.

I was way overdue for a laptop, waited ages for the new 15". It's on order. Unless Steve announces Panther by next week, my new PB will arrive with Jaguar.

[theipodgod16]

Eh, i'm just waiting to find out if panther can run on my g3 imac.

[Nermal]

I'm waiting until 3/10. I'm buying a new Mac this weekend, Panther or not. Unless I haven't managed to sell my iBook (http://www.trademe.co.nz/structure/auction_detail.asp?id=6066130) by then.

[neutrino23]

a 15" Al PB. Should ship this week.

We have a number of Macs in the house. When Panther is released I'll get a family license for five.

By the way, haven't we a better name for this PB? Simply describing its features like this is so boring.

[weev]

Will recent buyers of Powerbooks, etc. get a discount for Panther?

anyone know

[Macette]

when i got my ibook a few years ago, it shipped with 10.0 and i got an upgrade to 10.1 with my included software voucher... i'm hoping that this will happen with my dual G5 that i've just got. I'm assuming it will...?

[ckwm]

Waiting for Panther AND a new iBook.

*sighs*

[Viv]

Waiting for a new 15" to ship this week, hopefully we will get a discount on Panther when it ships but what the hell OS X is cheap as chips for how good it is.

I wonder are all the people who voted "recently got a mac" the ones who ordered Powerbooks like me after the expo?

Thanks to Apple my sig is out of date ':confused:' Hope I don't have to keep updating it ':mad:'

[punter]

i'm also waiting for a PB, but 12" for me. I had to buy it before an australian education promotion ended. Otherwise I would have waited for panther.

I sure do hope i get it free.

[robbieduncan]

Waiting for Panther before buys a 1.2gGhz PowerBook. I did exactly the wrong thing with Jaguar: bought the OS then bought a new iBook about 2 months later!

[wrldwzrd89]

I wish to buy a dual processor PowerMac G5 with Panther preinstalled. I currently have a PowerBook that works fine, but stays plugged in constantly.

[NicoMan]

Originally posted by Viv
OS X is cheap as chips
That's how you recognize a true Brit.

Cuppa tea, love?

[Centris 650]

I'm actually waiting for the new year (and MWSF) to buy a 17" AlPB. I think Panther should be out by then....I hope.

[iPC]

Originally posted by Macette
when i got my ibook a few years ago, it shipped with 10.0 and i got an upgrade to 10.1 with my included software voucher... i'm hoping that this will happen with my dual G5 that i've just got. I'm assuming it will...?
Last week I got a iBook refurb, and it came with vouchers.

[robbieduncan]

Originally posted by iPC
Last week I got a iBook refurb, and it came with vouchers.

The vouchers do not guarantee an upgrade. The 10.0 to 10.1 situation was unique (everyone got this). Normal Apple practise is to give free (well $20 for shipping) upgrades to those who buy a new Mac 1 month or less before the introduction of a payed for OS upgrade. For eveyone else it's full price.

[fixyourthinking]

Originally posted by weev
Will recent buyers of Powerbooks, etc. get a discount for Panther?

anyone know

You'll have a coupon in your box to get it for $15 (covers shipping and handling - or so Apple says)

And to answer another forum question - panther will run on a G3 iMac, but truthfully OSX already isn't suitable for MOST G3 processors. It runs great on a Pismo, but I think so only because of the 1MB of cache - it also runs really well on a 700Mhz G3 or faster iBook/iMac, but anything else you start to notice stutter and longer beach ball times.

To me, this is what has made the Pismo the best purchase I've ever made. It can go up to 900Mhz, now get a 32MB video card with the VillageTRonic VTBook, and take a G4 processor if I need one, AND do internal DVD-R/RW. I have heard the new 1.1Ghz processors will make it to the Pismo, it'll be nice to return to 1MB of cache.

[robbieduncan]

Originally posted by adzoox
You'll have a coupon in your box to get it for $15 (covers shipping and handling - or so Apple says)

If the release is delayed till December this is unlikly and would not match Apples previous behaviour. If the release date is the 24th October as it is currently looking like then anyone who bought a new mac on or after the 24th September is probably OK, but before the 24th September will probably have to pay full retail!

[gopher]

I didn't want to have to wait for Panther to be released, and then get only the upgrade CDs, when I could buy the full install CDs that include Archive and Install. Plus at least now I can assure compatibility with 10.2.7 when I couldn't necessarily with Panther right away. I ended up getting the 17" Powerbook.

[KevinHoctor]

Hey, I had to choose "Not in the market..." but I would be if I had the cashola! There should have been a "Waiting for money before I buy" option. :D

Unfortunately, I will be sticking with my 500 Mhz. TiPB. I'm certainly not suffering too badly with this box, but some of the new boxes look so much better. Also my wife is still on a 400 Mhz. G3 iMac. Now *THAT* needs updating badly!!!

Peace,

[macnews]

Am looking at a 15" PB but figure why by now when I know Panther is just around the corner. I may want it bad, right now - just don't need it right now. Plus, I just don't want to have to mess with install and everything when the release should be in the next few months. Hopefully sooner. If Apple waits too long, I may end up waiting for a G5 laptop with the news of the 90nm process.

[wdlove]

I voted, No - I just bought (in past few months) or am going to buy shortly. Figure that if a CPU is bought within 2 - months of the release there will be a discount on Pather or just the $19.95 to cover S&H. My main reason for purchasing soon it that I want to get the Apple Pro Card and 180 days same as cash!

[QCassidy352]

waiting on a 12" PB. Had to buy it before the "buy a bundle" promotion ended, or else I would have waited for panther...

[bankshot]

Originally posted by robbieduncan
If the release is delayed till December this is unlikly and would not match Apples previous behaviour. If the release date is the 24th October as it is currently looking like then anyone who bought a new mac on or after the 24th September is probably OK, but before the 24th September will probably have to pay full retail!

I'm not sure that this is completely true. If it were really true, I'd have already ordered the machines I need... :) I think there's a lot of optimistic but unsubstantiated information regarding this floating around in various forums. Last night I looked through the archives of a few sites to try to remember exactly what happened with Jaguar.

It was announced at MWNY on July 17, complete with a confirmed price of $129 and release date of August 24. Anyone who purchased a new Mac after the announcement got a free upgrade (but maybe had to pay shipping/handling??). I seem to also recall a story about some users not getting the free upgrade and complaining until Apple gave in, but I can't find it now, so maybe it was all a dream.

If anything, it looks like the policy was simply that anyone purchasing between the announcement and release would be entitled to a free upgrade on their new machine, regardless of the timing. Maybe it will be the same this year, maybe not. And regardless of what happened last year, we don't know anything until Apple makes an announcement. A few weeks ago I thought Paris would be the place they would do it -- that with an Oct 24th release would have made it exactly the same number of days between announcement and release as Jaguar had last year. But nope, no announcement yet this year -- no official release date or price. If the rumors of the 24th are indeed correct, that means a shorter time period between announcement and release. What then?

Bottom line, I wouldn't make any major purchasing decisions on this if you really care about getting Panther for free -- otherwise you may be disappointed if Apple asks you to pay full retail whenever it really does come out.

Oh, and those software vouchers that you get with any new Mac are pretty much useless. They are only for minor upgrades -- 10.2.x, etc, for people who have no other way of updating. It's fun to be hopeful and assume they will get you a free Panther, but it ain't gonna happen. :p

Personally, I'd like to wait until we have confirmation that new hardware purchases will get free upgrades to Panther, but I may not be able to. I have to order some PowerBooks for work and we MUST have them by October 15. Accounting for possible shipping lag, they probably should be ordered no later than this week, but I'd sure hate to miss the deadline for Panther upgrades! Otherwise it's another hassle to go and order that later on, let alone having to justify it to management (I already pulled off a miracle at getting these PowerBooks approved at a place with 1500 employees and probably less than 5 Macs in use anywhere).

[gopher]

It is more likely Apple will announce the release date of Panther on October 24th to be released Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S. which is the last Thursday of November. That would give it the month's time to have the up-to-date program.

[wdlove]

If you have bought a G5 at your local Apple Store, then you would have a Pro Card. Chances are you will get Panther free or at a reduced fee. Either way would not have to worry about it being pre-installed. A feature of the Apple Pro Card is that if you purchase software at the store, they will install the software.