About upgrading to 10.4

[mooshoo]

Newbie here.

I've been hearing about the new Mac OS 10.4 coming out soon. My question is:

Is this a situation like a PC user when you buy, say, Windows 2000, and wannt to upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional? I mean do you have to actually pay for the upgrade?

The reason I'm asking is because I just bought my PBG4 about 2 months ago, and although everything's updated to the current version of the OS, do you think it's neccesary to upgrade to 10.4, whenever it comes out? What are the benefits of the new system? Again, I'm still pretty new to the mac world, so please go easy on the technical terms! ;)

[szark]

Actually, the 10.x upgrades are usually more comparable to a NT4 --> 2000, or 2000 --> XP upgrade. While we won't know for certain until Steve announces it, most likely it will be a $129 cost to upgrade.

It's never necessary to upgrade your operating system, unless the new OS has features that you feel you absolutely need.

As far as new features of 10.4, none of us will know until the WWDC (WorldWide Developer's Conference) Keynote on June 28th.

[JOD8FY]

Unlike Microsoft, Apple usually updates their operating system annually. Usually there are significant improvements, so it would be more like uprading from Windows 2000 to Windows XP. Apple creates new OS's in tenths (10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4...) and updates each OS in hundreths (10.3.1, 10.3.2, 10.3.3...). Like I said, there are usually significant updates, so it would, in my eyes, be worth it to update, but you can decide for yourself. I think Panther costed $130 to upgrade, so that'll probably be the price of Tiger. Hope this helps.

JOD8FY

[titaniumducky]

Newbie here.

I've been hearing about the new Mac OS 10.4 coming out soon. My question is:

Is this a situation like a PC user when you buy, say, Windows 2000, and wannt to upgrade to Windows 2000 Professional? I mean do you have to actually pay for the upgrade?

The reason I'm asking is because I just bought my PBG4 about 2 months ago, and although everything's updated to the current version of the OS, do you think it's neccesary to upgrade to 10.4, whenever it comes out? What are the benefits of the new system? Again, I'm still pretty new to the mac world, so please go easy on the technical terms! ;)

You don't HAVE to. However, these are major upgrades. "OS X 10." is like "Windows." "3" or "4" is like "2000" or "XP." I know that can be confusing. However, it's up to you. Look at the new features when they tell us more about it. If you want the new features, buy it. If not, don't. You won't be at a disadvantage if you don't buy the new version. There are plenty of happy mac users still using Jaguar.

[7on]

There are plenty of happy mac users still using OS9!

[mooshoo]

Thanks for the replies. So what have I been doing when I click on the Apple icon, Update Software? Some times I get free updates. Will this feature go away when the new OS comes out?

[flyfish29]

[QUOTE=JOD8FY Apple creates new OS's in tenths (10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4...) and updates each OS in hundreths (10.3.1, 10.3.2, 10.3.3...). JOD8FY[/QUOTE]

Also, the "updates" are free as they often fix compatibility and speed issues that were not uncovered in beta testing before the public release of the new operating system. For instance it was free to upgrade from 10.2.6 to 10.2.8 which is what I have now. I have to pay to get on 10.3._ if I so decide...

10.2._ is also known as Jaguar (might be easier to see it as OSX version 2- although it is not usually referred to it by this in the fourms,etc., but might help you keep them straight.) (I am still running Jaguar, but plan on upgrading to Panther this month- I usually wait a few months before updating to be sure all the bugs are worked out. I don't want to risk losing data, having to deal with compatibility issues, etc as I have no extra time to troubleshoot and stuff...but usually there are no major issues unless you do lots of tweaking to your system or install lots of add on software programs to the basic OS.

10.3._ is also known as Panther (or OSX version 3)

10.4._ will be known as Tiger I don't think it is due until the end of the year at the earliest so no worries now except look forward to the upcoming announcements of the capabilities of it and see if they are necessary for you. You can easily get by updating every couple of years if you don't care about every little tweak, etc. as almost all software will work for two current versions at least.

Good luck and let us know if you have any other questions about your mac experience.

Johnny

[szark]

Thanks for the replies. So what have I been doing when I click on the Apple icon, Update Software? Some times I get free updates. Will this feature go away when the new OS comes out?

Those updates (generally 10.x.x updates) are like Windows service packs and security patches, and should always be free.

[RBMaraman]

Thanks for the replies. So what have I been doing when I click on the Apple icon, Update Software? Some times I get free updates. Will this feature go away when the new OS comes out?

When you run software update, you are downloading the free MINOR OS updates.

10.3 is the current OS. Any .number after 10.3 (ie 10.3.3 (notice the extra .3)) is a minor update. 10.4 "Tiger" will be a completely new OS. Once a new OS comes out, Apple stops updating old OS's. Software update will still grab new software for you, as long as it's compatible with 10.3. But, all new OS updates will require OS 10.4. You'll still get security updates if you don't upgrade (I believe anyway).

[cjc343]

software update also updates other Apple software and firmware. Updates include: iLife updates, Airport updates (for both the admin utility, the Base Station, and the card, if you have one), bluetooth updates (both software and firmware), battery updates for laptops, and other Apple related updates.


There have been rumors that Apple will allow other companies to provide updates through software update in future releases, and also rumors about buying things in digital format via software update.

[TEG]

Yes, you will have to pay for 10.4 (Tiger). Usually a Mac OS CD costs $129 and there are no upgrade cds, all cds sold are full versions. Also, if you are a student or teacher, you qualify for Apple discounts, between 3% and 15% of hardware and software, however, in the case of OS X they usually drop half the price (I paid $59.99 for Jag, and $64.99 for Panther). And in general it is a good idea to upgrade, as the new version will usually make your system faster and more reliable.

Welcome to the fold, and Hang on.

TEG

Real Computer Geeks use Macs

[cjc343]

TEG's comment about "welcome to the fold" made me think of something....


Mooshoo: If you want any help setting up F@H (Folding@Home) on your computer(s) the forum is happy to help... remember, by running F@H you are contributing to finding cures for various diseases.

[/shameless F@H promotion]

[aswitcher]

You may want to hold off a month when Tiger is released to make sure all the kinks are sorted out. Panther had a couple of nasty bugs in the first month and a few people lost work or were stuffed around.

[mooshoo]

:p
Ok thanks guys for all the help. I'm really enjoying my PB. Just wondering why I didn't make the switch earlier.

[tom.96]

There are plenty of happy mac users still using OS9!

I'm one of them! Although I know I would get a better experience with a more modern OS like panther, OS9 does everything I want well. I know people using much older versions of the Mac OS than 9 and they are quite happy. I suppose whether you upgrage depends on how up to date you like to be and what you want to do with the machine.

[benixau]

You may want to hold off a month when Tiger is released to make sure all the kinks are sorted out. Panther had a couple of nasty bugs in the first month and a few people lost work or were stuffed around.

he he he
guess the people decided to ban smoking eh? - he he he

[jeffy.dee-lux]

I'm one of them! Although I know I would get a better experience with a more modern OS like panther, OS9 does everything I want well. I know people using much older versions of the Mac OS than 9 and they are quite happy. I suppose whether you upgrage depends on how up to date you like to be and what you want to do with the machine.

yeah, i hear ya.... i always love seeing adds in magazines and on tv and stuff where they show you a web page or something like that, and you can tell its a mac. half the time though, it looks like all these graphic design people are still on os9 or maybe even worse... i just saw an add in a magazine where the web browser was internet explorer, pre version 5. that's old school.

Yeah, i'm on 10.2, plan on doing the every second upgrade thing, as in, i'm waiting for 10.4 instead of going for 10.3. This is probably partially out of spite or anger or frustration or something, as i bought 10.2 sometime around October 2nd, i believe panther was officially announced and offered the free upgrade to anyone who bought jaguar about a week later than that. And that's how Jeff became a member of macrumors. The end.

[BornAgainMac]

I used Mac OS X since 10.0 and upgraded with every point release. But you really can upgrade every 2 years if you want. I spend less overall on Mac software in general vs Windows so I don't mind the $129 a year. It does a lot right out of the box (C compiler, Java, developer tools, web server, perl, iApps, free commerical software pre-installed on new machines, etc...) and good commerical quality shareware is within reach from a pull down menu. I have purchased more shareware on the Mac than I ever did for Windows. Good products for a fraction of the price in a store. So I have more money left over for O/S upgrades.

I am happier in the Mac world.