Panther 7B39

[MacRumors]

Panther 7B39 has been released to developers.

The latest seed brings further bug-fixes and stability to the upcoming version of Mac OS X. Visual changes are few... with a revised About box, as well as the public inclusion of the Bluetooth options for the Mouse and Keyboard.

The Bluetooth Keyboard/Mouse control panel had been inactive but present in previous English versions of Panther. While many speculate on Apple's launch of such a product, it could simply provide support for 3rd party Bluietooth devices, such as the new Belkin Bluetooth mouse mentioned last week on MacBytes.com.

MacNews.net.tc provides a list of changed components.

 

[AppleMatt]

Hooray! As soon as I get home I'll be downloading...

AppleMatt

 

[CmdrLaForge]

A simple question:

Can Panther 10.3 be installed as an update over a current 10.2 ?

Or is it necessary to format the drive and install the OS from scratch ?

Cheers
CmdrLaForge

 

[AppleMatt]

Yes it can, but when I did it (with the very first seed), I had numerous problems with certain applications getting the generic icon and crashing upon launch.

Also my benchmarks were slower for an update over a clean install.

We're a number of builds along now though, perhaps Apple have sorted these problems.

AppleMatt

 

[themadchemist]

You know what guys? I'm still using 10.1.5.

And the computer with that is packed away in a storage facility waiting for me to get back to school.

Right now, I'm on WINDOWS 98SE! R0X0RZ!

 

[etoiles]

Originally posted by themadchemist
You know what guys? I'm still using 10.1.5.

And the computer with that is packed away in a storage facility waiting for me to get back to school.

Right now, I'm on WINDOWS 98SE! R0X0RZ!

aaah, nothing like a little bit of self inflicted pain from time to time...

 

[bennetsaysargh]

i need CDRs
i had 7A202 and labeled the 7B28 disc the wrong thing, so it wouldn't boot
keep the CD's name in tact or it won't boot to install!

 

[daveL]

Both US sites are full. At least now the ADC download site is setting a threshold for max number of users; you get a "maximum connections reached, try again later message". I'm currently getting good rates from Japan.

 

[vrapan]

hope they fixed the address book bluetooth problem and safari became more stable.... but i dont complain i maxed out the mem of the pb and it is now flying my apple switching experience gets better. i love XCode!!!! hope they fixed it a bit too... can't wait to install that little kitty

 

[AppleMatt]

All I want is Graphics and OpenGl performance above and beyond Jaguar, currently both are below.

I really hope there are major improvments by GM.

AppleMatt

 

[AhmedFaisal]

How about Bluetooth PC-Card Support in Panther?

Is Apple finally getting the hint that just supporting USB Dongles is quite rude to all Pre-Aluminum Powerbook owners who DO have PC-Card slots? I seriously hate the Dongles and and finally want to be able to use the 3com Bluetooth PC-Card (with retractable antenna) from my PC Notebook in my Powerbook. That is the one thing I think PCs have in advantage to Apples right now.
Cheers,

Ahmed

 

[Pale Rider]

I just want SMB support to be restored.

 

[ryaxnb]

Originally posted by CmdrLaForge

Or is it necessary to format the drive and install the OS from scratch ?
Cheers, CmdrLaForge

I've heard bad things about upgrading, but I doubt you have to reinstall. With OS X v10.2 anyway you can do a 'clean install' which can store your prefs, files, etc. away, reinstall, and move most of 'em back.

 

[akac]

Originally posted by AppleMatt
All I want is Graphics and OpenGl performance above and beyond Jaguar, currently both are below.

I really hope there are major improvments by GM.

AppleMatt

Everything I've heard from people running Panther say that all games they've run on Panther run 10-20 fps faster than Jag on the same hardware. So it seems it IS way above Jag. Just perhaps not on your hardware.

I'd be interested in knowing what hardware you are using.

 

[vrapan]

I've heard bad things about upgrading, but I doubt you have to reinstall. With OS X v10.2 anyway you can do a 'clean install' which can store your prefs, files, etc. away, reinstall, and move most of 'em back.

I think that would be Archive and Install. From 10.2.6 to WWDC it worked. but from WWDC to 7B21 nothing worked apart from Clean install ie wipe out HD and install but then from 7B21 to 7B28 it was flawless... I hope form 7B28 to 7B39 will be the same

 

[AppleMatt]

Originally posted by akac
I'd be interested in knowing what hardware you are using.

I've tried it on 12" PowerBook, Beige G3 (only WWDC build) and a DP 500MHz PowerMac G4.

Same results every time...consistently lower

AppleMatt

 

[akac]

Originally posted by AppleMatt
I've tried it on 12" PowerBook, Beige G3 (only WWDC build) and a DP 500MHz PowerMac G4.

Same results every time...consistently lower

AppleMatt

Hm. I know there are even threads about this on MacNN how games are running so much faster. Did you do an update? Clean Install? Archive install?

I guess the next question is - what graphics card? The PB 12'' sure - we know that one. But what about the other 2?

I know for myself on my Dual 1.25 with a 9000 I saw about 10fps extra in UT2003.

 

[vrapan]

Actually in my 12" PB Warcraft 3 seems a bit faster than it did with Jaguar... Haven't played anything else yet but with 7B28 warcraft runs better

 

[tizza]

One would expect that whatever h/w changes are coming in the new PB's they will be optimised for Panther too - but if they do come out this Tue, I'll be amazed if Panther is pre-loaded ...

 

[Powerbook G5]

Whether it is preloaded or not, I know for sure that the day Panther comes out, I'll be in line for my copy.

 

[AppleMatt]

Originally posted by akac
I guess the next question is - what graphics card? The PB 12'' sure - we know that one. But what about the other 2?

I know for myself on my Dual 1.25 with a 9000 I saw about 10fps extra in UT2003.

Various, we tried 3 I believe, but all ATi. Also clean installs (there's no point benching an upgrade). It's not just me saying this either, I've had loads of convos with people dissapointed with the graphics performance.

Did you record the increase? Type "stat fps" after typing tilde. Based on my experience so far, all I can say is that it's the same as the people who are saying the Virtual PC 6.1 update has given them a 15% speed boost.

AppleMatt

 

[Powerbook G5]

Keep in mind that this is the beta version of Panther, so it's hard to say what the final version will perform like compared to now.

 

[akac]

Originally posted by AppleMatt
Various, we tried 3 I believe, but all ATi. Also clean installs (there's no point benching an upgrade). It's not just me saying this either, I've had loads of convos with people dissapointed with the graphics performance.

Did you record the increase? Type "stat fps" after typing tilde. Based on my experience so far, all I can say is that it's the same as the people who are saying the Virtual PC 6.1 update has given them a 15% speed boost.

AppleMatt

ACtually yes. Running benchmarks on the same machine - show that Panther's graphics on my system are anywhere from 50% to 100% faster in some specific areas.

OpenGL shows to be much slower, but then running UT3 I get around 10 fps more. And yes, that's going by the UT FPS stats.

So...I guess my point is, it does seem to be a lot faster in many many areas. But there also seems to be some issues that obviously you are hitting. Its weird, but that's why this is not released - still beta.

 

[AppleMatt]

My UI scores are through the roof from Jaguar, 90-120% higher, which is very impressive. It's not all bad!

OpenGL and Quartz are the main offenders one my machines too. Anyway I'm sure Apple will get it sorted. Until then I've used the OpenAL update for UT2003.

AppleMatt

 

[gopher]

Originally posted by CmdrLaForge
A simple question:

Can Panther 10.3 be installed as an update over a current 10.2 ?

Or is it necessary to format the drive and install the OS from scratch ?

Cheers
CmdrLaForge

Because Apple recognized the success of Archive and Install (see kbase article 107120) I'm sure they will keep at least that option open when you upgrade. It is a boon to troubleshooting problems that happen when the system preferences get corrupted.