Timing and OS Purchase....Jaguar Vs. Panther and another software question

[niter]

Today, I purchased my first PowerMac. It comes with the olderOS 9 on it, and I really do not like it at all. I am most looking forward for Panther, but I was wondering should I purchase Jaguar in the meantime? I have read about all sorts of dates being tossed around for the release of Panther, and I am curious about what sort of wait I am looking at if I decided to stick it out until Panther's release.

Also, I was wondering if I hold out for Panther what sort of iApps should I expect to get ? I saw in my school's bookstore a program bundle called iLife. It is a good start towards why I decided to get a Mac. If I get Panther, will I still have to get iLife seperately? Should I wait to get it after Panther comes out in case there is an updated version, or should I just get it now while I can grab it on sale?

thanks!

 

[iJon]

panther really doesnt add any new iapp's to the scene besides the new ichat av (which you will have to pay for with jaguar). panther will have some nice system features as well as updated unix cores and more. now i will tell you this but some people throw a hissy fit and say apple may not do this and crap like that, but i will say how apple did things last year. apple has announced panther will come out, but they have not said precisly when it will ship. when apple announces the official release date apple usually does this. anyone who buys the current operating sytem or a mac without the newly announced operating system will get the new system for 20 dollars covering shipping and handling. get jaguar now if you just cant wait. if you can wait for panther to come out or just wait till panther release date is announced then you can go pick up jaguar and pay 20 more dollars and have panther come to your door when it is announced. and by the way, ilife comes with jaguar and new macs.

iJon

 

[caveman_uk]

You can get most of the stuff in iLife for free from software update in OS X. The only 'paid-for' bit is iDVD. If your Powermac doesn't have a superdrive then that's probably not much good to you. I'm guessing you got you're powermac off ebay or similar as having OS9 only dates it a bit.

My personal opinion on OS9 is that it is bloody awful but there's people around here that will swear blind it's fantastic. My own guess for Panther is that it'll be out in time for Christmas. I'm a bit wary of new OS's and would probably wait until the .1 release before jumping. It's a tough call. Buy Jaguar now and blow $130 or suffer OS9 for a few months

I know which I'd choose

 

[niter]

Thanks for all the responses. I have decided that I am getting Jaguar this afternoon at my campus bookstore....it is a steal at $70. I love everything about my "new" mac (BTW, I got it at a school auction) except the OS is driving me batty.

 

[caveman_uk]

I doubt you'll regret it..especially not for $70

 

[Kwyjibo]

yeah worse comes to worse you'll pay for the $70 again for panther at the edu price

 

[niter]

a well spent $70

Jaguar is incredible and a world of difference. My fiance is constantly peeking over at my desk now to marvel at the operating system!

It is amazing...all the little hangups that pushed me away from Macs are addressed! And now I have a really stylish OS to boot.