Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

iOliverC · Jul 23, 2003, 06:02 AM

So, the questions in the title, are you going to buy it on launch date or soon after?

I will be, I always do.

Sharky K. · Jul 23, 2003, 06:32 AM

only if they get rid of the smooth scrolling UI with mouse scroll wheel like fast-slow-fast-slow-fast-slow. If this is not an option I may use 10.2 for ever. If this is going to change I will buy 10.3 right away... yes this scroll UI is irritating me so much.

blackbird_1.0 · Jul 23, 2003, 08:20 AM

anybody know if they gonna give away
t-shirts?

DoctorW · Jul 23, 2003, 09:17 AM

I'd like to have it on the release date (which, from what I've heard, will be the 37th of Julember) but if someone like Amazon has a discount or deal like they did with Jaguar, I'll go that route to save the $$$.

benb · Jul 23, 2003, 09:22 AM

Yes, and I'll throw caution into the wind and install it the same day as well.

MacGorilla · Jul 23, 2003, 09:47 AM

Originally posted by benb:
Yes, and I'll throw caution into the wind and install it the same day as well.

Same here.

mitchell_pgh · Jul 23, 2003, 10:37 AM

Yep, consider me an Apple drone. Although I (on occasion) use an "acquired" piece of software, the OS is always 100% legit. I don't budge on that.

My Jaguar T-shirt is starting to get a little long at the tooth...

Timo · Jul 23, 2003, 10:44 AM

I'm going to hold off and see if Panther breaks any of the programs I need for day-to-day. But of course as soon as I feel like playing "I.T." for a day, I'll buy and install it.

JLFanboy · Jul 23, 2003, 10:48 AM

The day it's announced for pre-order I will be there with my educational discount.

eevyl · Jul 23, 2003, 10:52 AM

Well, I expect to get it as a member of ADC (student)... I guess that is a yes

Mediaman_12 · Jul 23, 2003, 10:56 AM

I will probbaly be sucked in to it. I won't be ordering from Amazon no matter what rebate is being offered. I pre-ordered Jaguar (then canceled) and they where still saying there was a 'manurfacturers delay' even affter I recived my copy form Apple.

Ozmodiar · Jul 23, 2003, 12:18 PM

I tend to wait until the first x.x.1 release before I upgrade my OS. New software always has bugs and I like to take it safe.

wreising · Jul 23, 2003, 12:46 PM

Not only do I have a near terminal case of LAGS (latest and greatest syndrome) but from what I've seen during the brief moments when my developer buddy is too busy plaing NCAA 2004 (Go SC!!) to notice me rebooting his machine from his Panther dedicated firewire drive - Panther is going to be sweet.

It is already very very fast and polished. I happen to like brushed metal, so the new Finder is nothing but good. Plus all the little things like fast user switching-expose-lables-vastly imporved iDisk, are things that I will actually use and improve my user experience.

Fast user switching alone makes it worth 130 bucks. I have people over all the time who want to check their email or browse the Web or listen to music. I don't want them messing with my stuff because they always - always screw things up, and logging out and in and out and in is complete pain in the ass.

I understand the frustration people have with the paid upgrade. I thought 10.3 would be an update similar to 10.1 that would add a few things and polish others and be free - But Panther is so much more than that. Its a real honest to goodness pay-for upgrade that deserves our support.

That being said - I do think (and have suggested to Apple several times) that the yearly OS updates should be connected price-wise with .Mac - Especially for Panther since so much of the good stuff is tied to .Mac

I think that Apple would find much broader support for .Mac and OS updates if combined they were 150-180 per year. That is a lot of functionality and services for a very reasonable price.

Just my 2 cents

Bill Reising

DaGuy · Jul 23, 2003, 01:00 PM

I think that Apple would find much broader support for .Mac and OS updates if combined they were 150-180 per year. That is a lot of functionality and services for a very reasonable price.
[/B]

That makes so much sense. I can't believe they wouldn't jump on this strategy.

-Q- · Jul 23, 2003, 01:12 PM

Originally posted by DaGuy:
That makes so much sense. I can't believe they wouldn't jump on this strategy.

And how many people would bitch and moan that 'I don't need .Mac, I just want the OS!'?

A bundle for those that want it would be nice.

-Q- · Jul 23, 2003, 01:16 PM

Oh, forgot to reply to the original question:

I'll be there the minute it's available. Hopefully I'll have my G5 by then and be able to install it on that in addition to my iBook. But I'll install it as soon as I have it (after a good backup, of course).

mitchell_pgh · Jul 23, 2003, 01:16 PM

Originally posted by -Q-:
And how many people would bitch and moan that 'I don't need .Mac, I just want the OS!'?

A bundle for those that want it would be nice.

How about they tack on $5 and we can all get our free email back with 5MB of web space with iSynch???

That's all I need, I could care less about all the other junk (updates, software, etc.)

mitchell_pgh · Jul 23, 2003, 01:39 PM

An Interesting Idea:

When Panther hits, I would love to see Apple support the Open Source community by donating $1 (or $2) from each version of Panther sold.

Considering they sold around 100K copies of Jaguar in the first week or so last year... that would translate into a ton of computers for various open source projects.

I would love to see 30,000 G5 towers show up at thousands of different garage/basement type environment all around the world.

Apple would make out because:
- Free Advertising (well, it would cost a little)
- Potentially more coders considering the mac
- Potentially better OS X support
- Open Source community appreciates Apples gift
- More Computers with a Apple logo on the front (always a good thing)

Developers would make out because:
- FREE Computers!!!
- Finally, someone has recognized my 6000 hours of work and 900 gallons of Mt. Dew

We would make out because:
- Any enemy of my enemy is my friend... better they are making open source applications over Windows only applications.

Just an idea

malvolio · Jul 23, 2003, 01:58 PM

I'll be keeping an eye out for the $99 special at MacZone or MacMall. I won't wait for 10.3.1 or anything, since I've already had a chance to "test-drive" the WWDC beta.

DaGuy · Jul 23, 2003, 02:00 PM

Originally posted by -Q-:
And how many people would bitch and moan that 'I don't need .Mac, I just want the OS!'?

A bundle for those that want it would be nice.

If Apple can have people custom order computers over the store, then creating a bundling strategy (with various bundles) for Panther and .Mac should be a real no brainer.

It makes sense to create different bundles for different needs. Something like:

1. Panther + .Mac (one year) = $200

2. Panther + .Mac (two year) = $270

3. Panther + .Mac (just email, one year) = $160

Something like this can only be good, since unbudling would just end costing more and may discourage new .Mac subscribers.

Eriamjh · Jul 23, 2003, 03:45 PM

Only if Amazon has a $50 rebate that they remove after 1 day!

OpenStep · Jul 23, 2003, 05:15 PM

It would be sweet if they included QuickTime Pro with it. I remember a couple years ago I bought Mac OS 8.6 and one of the awesome bonuses was QT Pro came free/bundled with it. .mac isnt even a big thing for me, just give us the freaking bonus of QT Pro like the old days

dru · 05:56 PM

Originally posted by iOliverC:
So, the questions in the title, are you going to buy it on launch date or soon after?

I will be, I always do.

At this point I'm not sure I'll upgrade at all to X.3. Jaguar is doing quite well for me. There's nothing in the Panther update announced so far that's remotely compelling for me certainly when balanced against the seemingly innane Finder changes and a gawd-awful AQUA "update". The only thing I might use is Expose but that might be more spark and wow than significance. Why not wait for X.4 to be preinstalled? That is unless some compelling "killer app" comes along that requires Panther.

Last time around I got sucked into QT Pro ($30) + MPEG2 ($20!-and no better than VLC!!

), Jaguar ($129) & .Mac ($50). This time, with .Mac "full-price"? Hello! Give me something *worth* it, Apple, and I'll pay-up!

Instead of $230 for last year to keep everything I already have up-to-date it'd clip to $280. That's 1/3 (ok, 35%) the cost of the cheapest eMac available!

What other Panther bits are people excited about?

silverghost · Jul 23, 2003, 06:23 PM

from what i seen and heard im definitely going to get it as soon as its released.
i just hope they(apple) gives us more options than the metal interface, but then again theres some good interface(themes)people here so that might help.

aloha

bbales · Jul 23, 2003, 07:08 PM

Please refresh my memory -- when is Panther coming out? I updated to 10.2 pretty much right away -- and have not been sorry. I waited a bit to go up to OSX in the first place, though.

mike one · Jul 23, 2003, 07:53 PM

Originally posted by malvolio:
I'll be keeping an eye out for the $99 special at MacZone or MacMall. I won't wait for 10.3.1 or anything, since I've already had a chance to "test-drive" the WWDC beta.

i'll be keeping an eye out for my $70 student discount, and maybe i'll charge it to my research account

*ponders*

JHromadka · Jul 23, 2003, 10:20 PM

I will be buying it the day it comes out. I hope Apple Retail stores will have T-shirts on hand. I like the new "X" logo.

soul searching · Jul 24, 2003, 12:01 AM

I'll have a partition waiting for it when it comes out.

Cipher13 · Jul 24, 2003, 04:38 AM

I'll pirate it and install it, while I wait for my legit copy to get here.

King Bob On The Cob · Jul 24, 2003, 01:17 PM

Nope. I'm going to pre-order it.

Socially Awkward Solo · Jul 24, 2003, 01:19 PM

I think the real question is "Are you going to download it the day it goes GM?"

Powaqqatsi · Jul 24, 2003, 02:31 PM

The freshly burned copy will be coming out of my CD-R drive a week after the release

. I have an agreement with a friend of mine, I buy an OS --> he copies. He buys the next OS and I copy. I buy, he copies. And so on...

jessejlt · 05:31 PM

I hear words like 30% faster, and my iBook 600 says "Gimme!" So yeah, I'll be upgrading.
jesse ;-)

ambush · Jul 24, 2003, 03:57 PM

I'm never going to shell out 200 CDN for an OS.

Never.

We bought like 12 macs in total. I'm not going to pay for this OS.

Severed Hand of Skywalker · Jul 24, 2003, 05:00 PM

Originally posted by ambush:
We bought like 12 macs in total. I'm not going to pay for this OS.

Partly true. But your computers did come with an OS and adding more features years down the road should not be free.

eyadams · Jul 24, 2003, 07:17 PM

I guess I'm one of the few who said no. Up until now I've kept right on the bleeding edge, from the Public Beta all the way to 10.2.6. But now it appears that my beloved "Beige" G3 is being left behind, so I won't be able to install 10.3, even if I wanted to.

Guess it's time for a shiny new G5 :-)

Sam Venning · Jul 24, 2003, 08:45 PM

Mac OS 10.3 can't come too soon for us. I am desperate to move our office staff off Mac OS 9... if just for the stability of Mac OS 10. It is much more affordable if we wait for 10.3 rather than buy 10.2 now and upgrade later. The user-interface changes will also freak-out our staff. Plus, 10.3 adds the final refinements to Mail that will stop staff from crying "Why are attachments done differently? I prefer Outlook Express".

I hope Mac OS 10.3 is released sooner than I expect (I'm expecting September 16, Paris).

intastella · Jul 24, 2003, 09:09 PM

" I hope Mac OS 10.3 is released sooner than I expect (I'm expecting September 16, Paris)"

I think that the fact that they haven't announced anything yet shows that Panther will come out in October or November.

I think Steve will show an almost final in Paris and then announce the release date. That will let them rack up some pre-order numbers and polish things up.

Don

macmike42 · Jul 24, 2003, 09:29 PM

Originally posted by eyadams:
I guess I'm one of the few who said no. Up until now I've kept right on the bleeding edge, from the Public Beta all the way to 10.2.6. But now it appears that my beloved "Beige" G3 is being left behind, so I won't be able to install 10.3, even if I wanted to.

Guess it's time for a shiny new G5 :-)

No worries. The XPostFacto guy has got our back. Provided the new version is out before Panther is, I'll be picking it up for my Beige G4 the moment it ships.

Superchicken · Jul 25, 2003, 10:52 PM

Deffinately, as soon as possible, I should have an iBook by then and am looking forward to buying panther partly becuase I've heard about the classic enhancements!
I need classic unfortunately because I don't have the cash to burn on new apps, I'm actually not even able to afford the iBook my dad is majorly helping me out since I need it for college.

But yeah... I'm gona get it as soon as possible... although if it comes out in like oct or nov it'll be a Christmas gift

Graymalkin · Jul 26, 2003, 02:21 AM

I'll be picking it up because terms like 30% faster make my Powerbook reach out its little brushed aluminum hands like a small child in a candy store. I'm looking forward to Xcode, Mail's chain feature, file vault, and Preview's enhancements.

Mail's chain feature will make following mailing list threads scores easier for me. File vault looks like it does what I already do with some creative scripting. I'm hoping it will allow you to encrypt any directory without making a disk image. Preview better allow me to turn off the cursed preview drawer and let me tell it NOT to rasterize a page in a PDF I'm not looking at. Opening a 70 or worse a 200 page developer document is an absolute chore with Preview. Acrobat isn't much better. It acts like a drunken ground sloth with an attitude problem and looks like the south end of a north facing donkey corpse. Printing to PDF with compressed images is something that should have been in OSX as long as Print to PDF has been a feature. Font Book is also a long overdue feature in the OS. I've never liked the idea of having to pay money for a third party product to manage fonts, especially for an OS so aimed at media production.