Is Panther really worth it?

[beez7777]

With Panther being two days from release, i'm starting to wonder if I really need it. For weeks i've been really excited about the release, but now that i think about it, it's $130. right now i'm on an 800 mhz iMac with 512 mb of ram running jaguar. i really wouldn't mind a speed increase if it's significant. how big is the speed jump gonna be, and do the other new features justify the $130 price?

 

[Bear]

Re: Is Panther really worth it?

Originally posted by beez7777
With Panther being two days from release, i'm starting to wonder if I really need it. For weeks i've been really excited about the release, but now that i think about it, it's $130. right now i'm on an 800 mhz iMac with 512 mb of ram running jaguar. i really wouldn't mind a speed increase if it's significant. how big is the speed jump gonna be, and do the other new features justify the $130 price?

You're asking subjective questions. I feel that it is worth it.

For me, the speed increases and the new font font manager is a good start. Fast User Switching will be useful for one of my Macs. The finder and iDisk improvements look good also, as well as the new features for Mail.

As I said, it's only worth it if you feel it is worth it.

 

[howard]

i'm curious as to the speed increases too...i've only had jaguar so i don't know how big of jumps the os can make

but for me expose is one of the best features and the new finder...

 

[beez7777]

since i don't use mail nor do i use idisk, i dont know. i really want to justify this purchase, but the more i think about it, the less i really need it. sure the new finder is cool, and exposé looks pretty sweet, but how long is the novelty of these gonna last? the speed increase would help if anyone can confirm that it is quite noticable, and i also like the much improved preview. $130 is a lot though, especially for a student, and i really don't mind paying it, i just need help justifying it.

 

[Phatpat]

If you're a student you can get it for $70. I think it's worth it. 10.2 really solidified os x as a viable operating system. With Panther apple is making a lot of nice performance and functionality improvements. It's a huge update.

 

[Marble]

I'm in the same boat, and it's $110 CAD plus 15% tax even on Edu a la the Macintosh vendor on campus here at the University of British Columbia. Eh... I really want someone to prove to me I need this .

 

[alset]

I'd say yes, but just because I love the enhancements to the Finder (navigation is so much better, now!) and Expose. Not to mention that the Finder is multithreaded and the whole thing feels snappier. If it doesn't turn you on, don't get it.

Dan

edit: btw, do Apple Stores offer student discount, or is that only online and at universities?

 

[cb911]

i'd have to say that it is definitely worth it. when i went from 10 to 10.2 it was a huge difference and it was definitely money well spent.

the difference between Jaguar and Panther looks to be huge as well. i'm looking forward to the new font management application, i'll be so happy to never touch Suitcase again.

expose will be very good as well, then i might actually be able to do away with 'minimise in place'.

and as alset said, navigation within the Finder is much easier. even though i haven't used Panther, from reading about it and looking at pictures it sure looks alot better.

i'd say everyone just go for it!

 

[grapes911]

First off, I don't believe that you will notice a significat increase in speed. Maybe you will see slight improvements, but nothing major.

Second, did you look at the new features in panther? Do you need/want any of them? If so, it's worth it. If not, why are you spending money for an os that isn't going to be much better for you personally?

 

[bousozoku]

I believe that the speed enhancements will be solid but those with older machines will notice them more than those with newer machines, such as yours. That said, my dual G4/800 has gained in overall responsiveness from 10.2.8 in a way that I believe mimics 10.3.

There are a lot of little technical reasons to go with the upgrade, but you don't have to do it this week. It's not as if your world will come crashing down because you didn't spend money. Besides, you might want to just wait and see how many people with the same type of machine experience elation over the upgrade.

 

[VicMacs]

everything

everything runs faster here... dp 867 1.25 ram

 

[darobu]

Panther review

I've been using build 7b85 for several days now, and it's one cool cat.

Here's a review by David Pogue (you know him, right?) that basically says Panther has so many good ups that it shouldn't be just a +.1 version.

nytimes 10.3 review

 

[abacsalmasi]

Well I'm on a G4 500MHz and Panther makes it feel like a brand new machine. I can't even express the difference in speed that shows up in daily tasks. Expose has become so useful that I wonder how I lived without it. It really is that good. Font Book is another great feature, better than any other font app I've used on OS X. I reccomend Panther to anyone with an older machine who feels that X is still a little slow, because it won't after you install the new cat.

 

[khollister]

I have a 1.25DP MDD with maxed out RAM. Even on current machines, the speed improvements with 7B85 are NOT subtle! App launch times are less, finder performance is a lot quicker, Preferences comes up almost instantly, etc.

It made even my relatively new machine feel like I had a hardware upgrade. I can't begin to imagine what Panther will be like on a G5DP.

I have my copy on order - I'd pay the money just for the performance improvement. The extra features are gravy.

 

[XnavxeMiyyep]

The speed alone would be worth spending $130. It's snappier on a G3 iMac 350 w/ 320MB of RAM than 10.2 on my Dual 867 w/ 768 MB of RAM, or OS9 on a G3 iMac 400 w/ 384 MB more RAM.

And while Exposé will not always be "cool", it will always be useful.

 

[j33pd0g]

I don't know now.... you mean I can't have my text only along the top any more? That just plan hurts. This is going to bug me to. Forget it then. I'll give my copy of Panther to my brother for Christmas!

Please tell me I'm wrong. This is how I like my Finder windows:

 

[khollister]

Your wrong I just tried it - Customize Toolbar lets you select Text Only just like it always did.

Where is everybody getting these crazy notions?

 

[j33pd0g]

Originally posted by khollister
Your wrong I just tried it - Customize Toolbar lets you select Text Only just like it always did.

Where is everybody getting these crazy notions?

Good I'm glad I'm wrong. As far as crazy notions go, I heard the finder was all metal. And there was no way around that nav bar. Like I said, I am sooooo glad I was wrong. Thank you. My brother's probably mad though!

 

[khollister]

Yes, the Finder is Metal unless you click the oval button in the top right to hide the Toolbar & Sidebar - it then changes to Aqua.

 

[Abstract]

I'm pissing myself to see this new "dramatic speed improvement." Maybe my rev B. 12" Powerbook G4 will feel faster despite being plenty fast already!!

It probably only feels faster, right? I mean, if you do work in iPhoto, iMovie, Photoshop, etc, its not actually going to "do" anything faster. Panther may be snappier than Jaguar, but your computer processing speed is still limited by your cpu.....

 

[khollister]

I do not have any CPU-bound benchmarks to compare Jag with Panther. I do know it is not just the UI snapiness - iMovie starts quicker & loads a project quicker. On the other hand, building one of my Java projects in Eclipse via Ant seems about the same as with 10.2.

I thought I had seen a post from somebody who claimed an increase in Cinebench with Panther on a G5.

 

[elgruga]

pamther IS worth it

faster by about 10 - 15% on my 667 dvi PBook, 1 gig ram.
All apps open a bit quicker.
Expose is useful when many windows are open.
labelling on the text under the icon is very good - helps me to organize.
networking seems better, easier.
fast user switch is a great tool for just keeping work and play stuff separate - even use it for a new work project and then dump it later.

many things i havent tried yet.

running it for a week - its very very good, maybe its great......!

 

[Phil Of Mac]

Originally posted by Abstract
I'm pissing myself to see this new "dramatic speed improvement." Maybe my rev B. 12" Powerbook G4 will feel faster despite being plenty fast already!!

It probably only feels faster, right? I mean, if you do work in iPhoto, iMovie, Photoshop, etc, its not actually going to "do" anything faster. Panther may be snappier than Jaguar, but your computer processing speed is still limited by your cpu.....

If you optimize the underlying OS, everything is faster.

And the new UI features are more than just novelties, they have the potential to change the way you use a computer, forever. Or not. I'm looking forward to having eject buttons by all mounted removable volumes, personally.

But who am I to say, I just paid $20 for it

 

[sethypoo]

It's worth it!

Reading David Pogue's article (he emailed me! Wow!) solidifies this. Just the security measures along are impressive: File Vault encrypts your system so if your precious 12" PowerBook G4 every gets stolen, BAM! at least no one can get into your stuff.

I also really like the fact that you can set your Mac to wake up at a certain time. I know that that is an old feature Apple just brought back, but it's just plain cool!

My 2 cents.