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Storyboy · 04:45 PM

I'm still running Jaguar. My DVSE is nearly 7 years old and, though I've encountered few problems, I think I'm ready for a new 20" Core 2 Duo.

Surely, the improvements I saw with Jag over OS9 will dwarf those of Leopard over Tiger but, if I were to buy now, do you think I'd be able to resist the upgrade to 10.5 as long as I've resisted any upgrade from 10.2? It's not so much the $129 (or whatever I'd end up paying for Leopard), but more the time I would spend migrating everything to Tiger when perhaps it would be better to wait and spend that time on Leopard, eliminating yet another Middlecat.

Apple is usually pretty good at meeting or beating its projected release dates, aren't they? Is there any chance at all that we'd see Leopard before 2007?

I realize that this may be nothing more than the same tired old "Should I buy now"-type post but, I'm interested in your thoughts. Do you think I'd be so enamored of Tiger that I should just go for it now?

Thanks.

Philip J. Fry · Sep 16, 2006, 07:03 PM

I say go for it now.

plastiqueusa · Sep 16, 2006, 07:35 PM

I say wait. Leopard will have enhancements to Tiger, and new features to boot. Why not wait a few months and get an OS thrown in that will be in active development? You might feel left out next year if you're committed to Tiger when Leopard is released. I think it's worth the wait.

imitchellg5 · Sep 16, 2006, 08:09 PM

Go for it. Tiger runs nicely on old Macs, and Leopard is just more eye candy. I love Tiger personally, I thought Jaguar was crap on my PowerBook.

Catfish_Man · Sep 16, 2006, 08:53 PM

I vote for waiting for leopard, purely from the rather selfish perspective of not wanting to be held back in software development by people using old systems.

milhous · Sep 17, 2006, 01:39 AM

Originally Posted by Storyboy

I'm still running Jaguar. My DVSE is nearly 7 years old and, though I've encountered few problems, I think I'm ready for a new 20" Core 2 Duo.

Surely, the improvements of Leopard over Tiger will dwarf those I saw in Jag over OS9 but, if I were to buy now, do you think I'd be able to resist the upgrade to 10.5 as long as I've resisted any upgrade from 10.2? It's not so much the $129 (or whatever I'd end up paying for Leopard), but more the time I would spend migrating everything to Tiger when perhaps it would be better to wait and spend that time on Leopard, eliminating yet another Middlecat.

Apple is usually pretty good at meeting or beating its projected release dates, aren't they? Is there any chance at all that we'd see Leopard before 2007?

I realize that this may be nothing more than the same tired old "Should I buy now"-type post but, I'm interested in your thoughts. Do you think I'd be so enamored of Tiger that I should just go for it now?

Thanks.

good for you! you'll probably love using your new computer so much more than some of us who upgrade and buy systems more frequently.

just wait it out, if you can, for another 6 months. you'll get a new system, the imac could be revved again at this point, and it'll come with leopard pre-loaded so you don't have to buy it standalone.

but buy if you must.

mitchell_pgh · Sep 17, 2006, 12:35 PM

I'm in a similar boat and I've decided to wait.

I'm going to wait for:
- Leopard
- A Mac Pro Update
- iTV (or whatever it's called upon release)

I'm willing to wait...

TheSpaz · Sep 17, 2006, 01:41 PM

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh

I'm in a similar boat and I've decided to wait.

I'm going to wait for:
- Leopard
- A Mac Pro Update
- iTV (or whatever it's called upon release)

I'm willing to wait...

I want a MacBook Pro and I at least want to wait until they put the Merom processor in it. What if you happen to not like Leopard for some reason... you can't downgrade once your computer comes preloaded with an OS. Just remember that fact. Whatever it comes on... that's what you're stuck with until Apple upgrades the OS.

kcmac · Sep 17, 2006, 03:08 PM

We've got a DVSE that is running Tiger. However, we are not updated with the latest iLife apps. Luckily we do have a G5 iMac that is all updated.

I would wait for a new machine and Leopard just because the experience will be so awesome. All new. You could probably find a cheap version of Tiger out there just to give you a little something that is new if you really need it.

But it is very easy to imagine that the Mac lineup will be even more incredible when Leopard comes out. I'd really wait if it was me. We will most likely be dropping our old DVSE about that time as well.

Chuckit · Sep 17, 2006, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by Storyboy

Apple is usually pretty good at meeting or beating its projected release dates, aren't they? Is there any chance at all that we'd see Leopard before 2007?

Apple is usually pretty dead-on with its projected release dates. Judging by the state of the Tiger developer preview, I wouldn't expect it out this year.

TheSpaz · Sep 17, 2006, 03:52 PM

Originally Posted by Chuckit

Apple is usually pretty dead-on with its projected release dates. Judging by the state of the Tiger developer preview, I wouldn't expect it out this year.

Don't you mean Leopard?

mitchell_pgh · Sep 17, 2006, 04:01 PM

Originally Posted by TheSpaz

What if you happen to not like Leopard for some reason... you can't downgrade once your computer comes preloaded with an OS. Just remember that fact. Whatever it comes on... that's what you're stuck with until Apple upgrades the OS.

I have yet to look back after an OS release and say "Gee, I miss [current OS -.1]" I see nothing different with Leopard.

I'm picky enough to complain about GUI elements, but no so picky that I wouldn't upgrade. The features usually warrant the upgrade regardless of little bugs. That being said, I'm not dumb enough to jump on a .1 upgrade on my work computer until the reports are in.

CharlesS · Sep 17, 2006, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by imitchellg5

Go for it. Tiger runs nicely on old Macs, and Leopard is just more eye candy.

I'm not sure how you can say that, given that we don't even know Leopard's complete feature set yet.

Angus_D · Sep 17, 2006, 06:14 PM

The difference between Jaguar and Panther is like night and day.

mitchell_pgh · Sep 17, 2006, 06:49 PM

Originally Posted by Angus_D

The difference between Jaguar and Panther is like night and day.

I feel the same way about all of the updates to date. Some say there isn't much from 10.3 to 10.4, but I've gone back to a few 10.3 systems and I feel like it's very dated... I'm guessing I'll have the same feeling a few months into 10.5

kcmac · Sep 17, 2006, 07:55 PM

The other day I had to help my mom with something on her ancient iMac. It is running 10.2.9. Wow. For a while, I was fumbling around trying to figure it out. Felt really foreign. And I bet back then, I thought it was really simple and good.

Storyboy · Sep 17, 2006, 10:24 PM

Wow! Thanks for all the input. For a while there, it looked like my indecision was not to be aided. Go for it. Wait. Go for it. Wait. But, as of now, I think waiting has won the day. After all, I've waited this long.

Now, suppose I were to come across a refurb before March? I might need to take the plunge, using the money I'd save to buy a retail Leopard and a bigger External HD to back it all up!

Thanks again, I wasn't expecting 15 replies on a Sunday.

By the way, Kcmac, what's 10.2.9? I thought it stopped at 10.2.8.

mitchell_pgh · Sep 17, 2006, 10:56 PM

Originally Posted by Storyboy

Wow! Thanks for all the input. For a while there, it looked like my indecision was not to be aided. Go for it. Wait. Go for it. Wait. But, as of now, I think waiting has won the day. After all, I've waited this long.

Now, suppose I were to come across a refurb before March? I might need to take the plunge, using the money I'd save to buy a retail Leopard and a bigger External HD to back it all up!

Thanks again, I wasn't expecting 15 replies on a Sunday.

By the way, Kcmac, what's 10.2.9? I thought it stopped at 10.2.8.

If you aren't a regular updater... I would hold off. That $129 will come in handy.

That being said, there will always be something "just around the corner." My advice... wait for an update (may it be to the hardware or the new free OS) and jump on it. After you do that... don't look back and enjoy your new purchase.

I'm guessing about the time Leopard comes out... there will be a major iMac update 3-5 months away... and you will feel like you are in the same boat... oh well.

Big Mac · Sep 17, 2006, 11:26 PM

I agree with mitchell's assessment.

Pierre B. · Sep 18, 2006, 09:21 AM

Originally Posted by Storyboy

Surely, the improvements of Leopard over Tiger will dwarf those I saw in Jag over OS9...

I think you got things the other way around. There is no way to see between major OS X updates the kind of leap we saw when the Macintosh moved from the ancient MacOS code to the Unix-based OS X. But it depends also on what you do expect form an update.

mpancha · Sep 18, 2006, 10:03 AM

I say wait it out, not just for Leopard, but for incremental updates on 20" Core Duo. Also, there's a minor chance that for the price of a 20" Core Duo today, you might get a bit better of a system in 6 months.

Looking just at the Leopard/Tiger side of things, if you wait 6 months, you get the newer OS with whatever Mac you buy, but if you purchase now, then you pay again for the newer OS. ANd like you said, rather than upgrade twice, upgrading once is just so much easier.

Leopard also has plenty of features which are nice, other than eye candy. The most important one in my opinion, Time Machine, the automatic backup system Apple has added into OS X. Just for peace of mind it would be worth waiting the 6 months in my opinion.

Good luck with your new Apple!

Eug · 10:13 AM

I went for the 24" Core 2 Duo now. I'd suggest the same for the 20". It will get incremental upgrades in 2007 yes, but do you really care? The key word is "incremental".

Also, Jaguar sucks. Panther is OK, and Tiger rocks. Leopard will likely rock even more, but for someone who is conservative it's not really a good idea to upgrade right away anyway. Upgrade to Leopard 13 months from now, which means you've amortized the cost of Leopard to only $9.92 per month.

I personally will upgrade at least one of my machines to Leopard shortly after it's released, but I'm not as conservative as you seem to be. Also, despite that, I do think that Tiger has a pretty good shelf life. I would expect most major apps will continue to support it until at least 2010. You won't be able to make use of some features that require Core Animation, but that may not be that important to you, especially considering your past upgrade history. And even if it does become the 'must have' feature, like I said you can just upgrade a year from now. In the meantime, you'll have had the use of an excellent super-fast iMac.

Adam Betts · Sep 18, 2006, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by mitchell_pgh

I'm in a similar boat and I've decided to wait.

I'm going to wait for:
- Leopard
- A Mac Pro Update
- iTV (or whatever it's called upon release)

I'm willing to wait...

Don't forget Photoshop UB

mitchell_pgh · Sep 18, 2006, 12:00 PM

Originally Posted by Adam Betts

Don't forget Photoshop UB

Actually CS3 will be the gotcha. I may even switch to InDesign... which I'm not (well, maybe a little) looking forward to.

kamina · Sep 18, 2006, 01:04 PM

I'll get Leopard, but only after it has been updated a few times

Storyboy · Sep 18, 2006, 02:54 PM

[QUOTE=Pierre B.]I think you got things the other way around. There is no way to see between major OS X updates the kind of leap we saw when the Macintosh moved from the ancient MacOS code to the Unix-based OS X.[QUOTE]

Thanks, Pierre. I did have that bass ackwards.

And thank you, Eug. I was really beginning to think I'd wait. But, now you got me thinking again. Your insight is dead on.

And, while I'm at it, Thanks to all!

kcmac · Sep 18, 2006, 06:23 PM

You are right StoryBoy. Fat fingers strike again. 10.2.8 was the last Jag update.