I'm running a G3 iBook on 10.2.6 and am wondering what readers' views are on advantages of upgrading to Panther. Is the increased functionality, etc., worth it? I ask because several apps I'm interested in using "suggest" 10.3. I know Tiger won't be out till next year, but the other question is whether upgrading to Panther sinks $129 in an OS that'll be revamped within six months. Any advice would be appreciated.
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Worth upgrading to Panther?
- Thread starter deeceemac
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I think the Expose features are priceless. It makes me want Expose for my physical desktop 
If you've done okay with 10.2 though, I don't see the harm in waiting a few months. You'll get Expose and everything else.
You could always try to buy Panther from someone, if you don't want to shell out the full $129.
If you've done okay with 10.2 though, I don't see the harm in waiting a few months. You'll get Expose and everything else.
You could always try to buy Panther from someone, if you don't want to shell out the full $129.
It's only $115 at Amazon, and, I'm sure, cheaper elsewhere. I use it all the time - Exposé, improvements in Safari and Mail, Fast User Switching. To me, it was worth it. Your mileage may vary.
Depending on your iBook model, it will be better to upgrade the computer than the OS. What iBook do you have? Is it white, or coloured? If coloured, the iBook will be better replaced, but if white, Panther will be a better Mac experience than you would get than with Jaguar. Panther is much faster than Jaguar, and with Expose, it will be well worth the upgrade.
From a recent PC to Mac convert
I found Panther to be VERY worthwhile over Jaguar. But I'm running on a dual processor G4 PowerMac so there was no problem of the system being fast enough to support it.
Anyway, Panther is what convinced me to buy a Mac in the first place, so Jaguar felt like a half-finished product to me (although I know many consider it was actually the first truly usable/stable/complete version of OSX). But I bought in for Expose more than anything, and I love it.
Lots of other "little things" are improved in Panther -- things that just look nicer and things I had gotten used to having on my PC which were oddly nonexistent in Jaguar -- but they exist in Panther so I'm hooked now.
I found Panther to be VERY worthwhile over Jaguar. But I'm running on a dual processor G4 PowerMac so there was no problem of the system being fast enough to support it.
Anyway, Panther is what convinced me to buy a Mac in the first place, so Jaguar felt like a half-finished product to me (although I know many consider it was actually the first truly usable/stable/complete version of OSX). But I bought in for Expose more than anything, and I love it.
Lots of other "little things" are improved in Panther -- things that just look nicer and things I had gotten used to having on my PC which were oddly nonexistent in Jaguar -- but they exist in Panther so I'm hooked now.
dotnina said:I think the Expose features are priceless. It makes me want Expose for my physical desktop
Isn't this called sweeping everything into the trash?!?!
Not quite as neat and functional, but does the same thing...initially at least.
flyfish29 said:Isn't this called sweeping everything into the trash?!?!
Not quite as neat and functional, but does the same thing...initially at least.
The problem with this is getting all the piles on the desk back in the same spot they left... (implied, i know). I sure like the concept though!
My advise: If you can afford two operating systems in 6-9 months, get Panther and then Tiger. If you can only afford one operating system, wait for 6-9 months and buy Tiger.
I am no expert, but I'd have concerns about running Tiger on a G3 iBook.
I think it will work, but it's going to be a slow deal -- a la 10.1 on a Pismo.
You're at a crossroads in my opinion. Either marry that iBook and get Panther off eBay. Or hold out until Tiger comes standard in new iBooks and make that happen. Tiger on your current machine doesn't seem like a useful situation.
I think it will work, but it's going to be a slow deal -- a la 10.1 on a Pismo.
You're at a crossroads in my opinion. Either marry that iBook and get Panther off eBay. Or hold out until Tiger comes standard in new iBooks and make that happen. Tiger on your current machine doesn't seem like a useful situation.
You certainly are no expert, Tiger beta runs just fine on G3 iBooks and I'm sure the speed will improve with each build up until the release.Cordless_Drill said:
deeceemac go for the Panther upgrade, I use it on a 700MHz iBook and it runs flawlessly Then look forward to the Tiger upgrade next year.
Define "runs just fine".
Like in a 1979-K-Car-with-345,000-miles-but-still moving way or in a Damn-it's-just-like-a-1.5-Powerbook way?
Like in a 1979-K-Car-with-345,000-miles-but-still moving way or in a Damn-it's-just-like-a-1.5-Powerbook way?
Panther will run Very well with that set up. I have it running on my G3 iMac, and it runs well. I said above that if you had a 'Coloured' iBook, then not to, but a White iBook will run very nicely. You have plenty of Ram, so there is really no dramas.deeceemac said:
Enjoy Panther, and keep us updated with how it is all going.
Worth upgrading to Panther?
In one word: Yes.
Much more pleasurable to use, snappier too.
Lots of different new features that are useful... Fontbook for those who don't use Suitcase, Expose, upgrades to Mail, Safari... etc.
I never upgrade my OS till it's at least X.X.4 so I won't be going near Tiger till they iron out the inevitable glitches -- perhaps 10.4.4 so that might be around August 2005, depending on original release date.
Just my two cents worth...
In one word: Yes.
Much more pleasurable to use, snappier too.
Lots of different new features that are useful... Fontbook for those who don't use Suitcase, Expose, upgrades to Mail, Safari... etc.
I never upgrade my OS till it's at least X.X.4 so I won't be going near Tiger till they iron out the inevitable glitches -- perhaps 10.4.4 so that might be around August 2005, depending on original release date.
Just my two cents worth...
Another vote for Panther -- if you can spare the cash now, don't wait for Tiger. The finder in Panther is a huge improvement, and I'm sure there must be plenty of more subtle improvements that I'm not actively aware of. What I am aware of is that the month or so since I went up to Panther (on an older iMac) has been the first time since I started using OS X that I've been able to use my computer without a constant low-level thrum of annoyance. And I haven't even really used Expose yet.
Looks like I'll be the first one in this thread to say something like:
Panther sucks. It gives me modem errors when trying to connect on dial-up sometimes (extremely annoying), the Finder windows have all my icons spread out way too far apart as opposed to Jaguar, the Finder windows are way too large especially with the Sidebar open, the Finder window toolbar customability has been reduced to "hold the icon over the top of the window for a second and only then can you add it...just without the name of the file/folder," and the Search toolbar in Finder windows doesn't work if you have to click the "chevron" ">>" symbol to access it. That's just from the Finder and menu bar, hence, the Finder is an aggrivating downgrade in usability.
Sometimes fully downloaded images won't open in Preview, Safari for Panther has always had more stability issues than 1.0 of Safari for Jaguar, simple machine to machine networks with a single reverse ethernet cable is much harder to set up with Panther, and trying to work in the Finder with column view is horrible, because the columns keep jumping back and forth. Additionally, sometimes if you want to open a file in a certain app. by using the "Open With" menu option, the menu to the choice of apps never shows up until you move the file around on the screen and try again. Also annoying. I never see how all the review sites give 10.3 the best OS of the year award, when it has so many more [annoying] problems than Jaguar.
These are the only reasons I see upgrading to Panther:
[1] You need to make PDFs for free
[2] Appleworks can't read .doc files
[3] You find yourself going to the desktop a lot for files (which you shouldn't be if you stay organized)
[4] You need to play music through your stereo from iTunes and AirTunes
By the way, the Chess program in Jaguar is funny as all hell, because it's so funny to play with its instability. Panther's version of Chess is stable, so no more comedy with Chess in Panther. (You should be using Sigma Chess 6 for chess, not Chess.)
Also, some people might say that Panther is faster than Jaguar. Well, [1] in terms of boot time, it's only no more than 10% faster, [2] Finder navigation and starting up applications are maybe a slight bit faster, but...with the many little/medium problems in Panther, overall, you'll probably waste more of your time than you would with Jaguar.
So if none of the above mentions get you motivated to upgrade to Panther, or if what I said is a turn off from Panther, then don't waste your cash, because it is not worth buying.
Definitely wait for Tiger to come out before spending the $129 (or the equivalent for other services).
Panther sucks. It gives me modem errors when trying to connect on dial-up sometimes (extremely annoying), the Finder windows have all my icons spread out way too far apart as opposed to Jaguar, the Finder windows are way too large especially with the Sidebar open, the Finder window toolbar customability has been reduced to "hold the icon over the top of the window for a second and only then can you add it...just without the name of the file/folder," and the Search toolbar in Finder windows doesn't work if you have to click the "chevron" ">>" symbol to access it. That's just from the Finder and menu bar, hence, the Finder is an aggrivating downgrade in usability.
Sometimes fully downloaded images won't open in Preview, Safari for Panther has always had more stability issues than 1.0 of Safari for Jaguar, simple machine to machine networks with a single reverse ethernet cable is much harder to set up with Panther, and trying to work in the Finder with column view is horrible, because the columns keep jumping back and forth. Additionally, sometimes if you want to open a file in a certain app. by using the "Open With" menu option, the menu to the choice of apps never shows up until you move the file around on the screen and try again. Also annoying. I never see how all the review sites give 10.3 the best OS of the year award, when it has so many more [annoying] problems than Jaguar.
These are the only reasons I see upgrading to Panther:
[1] You need to make PDFs for free
[2] Appleworks can't read .doc files
[3] You find yourself going to the desktop a lot for files (which you shouldn't be if you stay organized)
[4] You need to play music through your stereo from iTunes and AirTunes
By the way, the Chess program in Jaguar is funny as all hell, because it's so funny to play with its instability. Panther's version of Chess is stable, so no more comedy with Chess in Panther. (You should be using Sigma Chess 6 for chess, not Chess.)
Also, some people might say that Panther is faster than Jaguar. Well, [1] in terms of boot time, it's only no more than 10% faster, [2] Finder navigation and starting up applications are maybe a slight bit faster, but...with the many little/medium problems in Panther, overall, you'll probably waste more of your time than you would with Jaguar.
So if none of the above mentions get you motivated to upgrade to Panther, or if what I said is a turn off from Panther, then don't waste your cash, because it is not worth buying.
Definitely wait for Tiger to come out before spending the $129 (or the equivalent for other services).
