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mauimac · Jun 29, 2003, 05:44 PM

Hey there everyone, I've had my G4 867 for nearly 2 years now, and haven't gone to OSX yet, but I am READY NOW! (about time!)
I've been reading some threads on Panther, checked out the "sneak peak" at apple.com...and am wondering if I should hold out for it, or get the Jaguar upgrade now (I think it's got a rebate in some places?) and learn it, then maybe later go to Panther. I have a lot of work to do this summer and want to get going with OSX. Apple says "later this year" for panther and I've seen the speculation here on when it might be released, but it's still a dilemma! Also, won't there be special offers for the new 10.3 for those that recently purchased the last upgrade? How long does it go back for?
I'm worried I'll get all up on Jaguar with my Missing Manual book, then Panther will come out and be real different and a "must-have," that will require training all over again. Or perhaps it will be similar enough so that if I learn OSX via Jaguar I'll be fine.
Anyway, any advice would, as always, be appreciated!
Mahalo!

DrSpookles · Jun 29, 2003, 05:58 PM

If you are a power user or what not in OS9, installing jaguar on your mac might slow you down frustratingly. Panther is MUCH faster I've heard, so you might want to wait.

waffffffle · Jun 29, 2003, 05:59 PM

I wouldn't worry about training. If you're a Mac user and understand how the Mac OS X interface works you really won't have any trouble adapting to Panther coming from Jaguar.

However if money is an issue then I would advise waiting for 10.3 to be released. Both 10.2 and 10.3 cost $129, but buying 10.2 now will most likely not give you any sort of discount on 10.3. Only if you buy 10.2 AFTER the Panther release date is announced will there be some sort of upgrade price (probably $20).

It is also possible that 10.3 will only install on top of 10.2, but I don't think that's very likely.

If you need to get work done then stick with what you have (unless you need OS X to be more efficient). Then move to OS Xwhen you have some time to get adapted. It shouldn't take too long but if your work is important it is always good to leave some extra time to get adapted.

mauimac · Jun 29, 2003, 06:03 PM

interesting..thanks!!
I'm also wondering...software such as the Adobe line that's been developed for jaguar will be fine in Panther, right?
I need to get the Design Collection and I think it requires Jaguar and therefore an upgrade regardless...is this right?
...and how much faster are we talking?

mauimac · Jun 29, 2003, 06:07 PM

Hi again, thanks for the clarification about the prices and upgrade timeline...
...so what's the latest speculation on the release date?

Lordx_ · Jun 29, 2003, 06:14 PM

Panther is supposed to ship by the end of this year. The Adobe Design Collection comes with the current versions of the bundled applications which run on OS X and OS 9.

I also suggest that you wait for panther. No point in spending $129 now, and then another $129 when panther is released.

mauimac · Jun 29, 2003, 06:25 PM

thank you, posting this has really helped, and I suppose a lot of other people might have come across the same dilemma as well!
Aloha!

The Placid Casual · Jun 29, 2003, 07:22 PM

Originally posted by Lordx_:
Panther is supposed to ship by the end of this year. The Adobe Design Collection comes with the current versions of the bundled applications which run on OS X and OS 9.

I also suggest that you wait for panther. No point in spending $129 now, and then another $129 when panther is released.

I agree, wait until 10.3 hits the streets... it looks like it will be worth the wait too, especially if you haven't used OS X yet!

Busemann · Jun 29, 2003, 07:41 PM

Originally posted by DrSpookles:
If you are a power user or what not in OS9, installing jaguar on your mac might slow you down frustratingly.

Not on a 867Mhz G4.

I'd call around checking for a reduced cost 10.2. (You could get as much as 50% off some places now i believe). If not, wait until the Macworld creative pro (or whats it called) where a release date for Panther might be set.
I'd be surprised if they wont have it ready before September, but thats just me

Appleman · Jun 29, 2003, 07:56 PM

Buy Jaguar now, get used to the interface and buy Panther within some months and, thus, making Apple happy

mauimac · Jun 29, 2003, 08:16 PM

Thanks for all the advice!
I think given the circumstances and my machine, I can probably swing the $70 (for education pricing) and will train on Jaguar, then later upgrade to panther.
Now, is the G4 867 not powerful enough to get the best out of Panther? the plot thickens...

Busemann · Jun 30, 2003, 07:55 AM

Originally posted by mauimac:
Now, is the G4 867 not powerful enough to get the best out of Panther? the plot thickens...

If anything it will run faster

malvolio · Jun 30, 2003, 08:11 AM

Originally posted by mauimac:
Now, is the G4 867 not powerful enough to get the best out of Panther? the plot thickens...

LOL! I was just reading about someone who put Panther on a 400 MHz slot-loading G3 iMac. I'm sure they aren't getting "the best" out of Panther, but they sure were thrilled about its performance.

JKT · Jun 30, 2003, 08:57 AM

Originally posted by malvolio:
LOL! I was just reading about someone who put Panther on a 400 MHz slot-loading G3 iMac. I'm sure they aren't getting "the best" out of Panther, but they sure were thrilled about its performance.

Considering that Jaguar is more than fine on the same machine, why wouldn't they be?

OwlBoy · Jun 30, 2003, 03:21 PM

yeah, $260+ is a lot to just move to OS X.

-Owl

lookmark · Jun 30, 2003, 04:17 PM

Pro:

It's good to get up to speed on OS X, and Panther won't be different enough from Jaguar to mess up what you learn -- it'll just be a bit better in a hundred or so little ways.

Plus, OS X will take much better advantage of your dual processors than OS 9.

If you can get that education pricing, I'd say go for it.

Con:

Jaguar will run pretty well on your machine, but you should be prepared for reduced GUI performance in the Adobe apps, especially Illustrator. The next version of Illustrator is said to address this (and perhaps all Adobe design apps, as they're going OS X native-only), but you'll definitely want to budget for this...

bradoesch · Jul 1, 2003, 11:51 AM

I'd wait until Apple gives a release date for Panther, or whenever else you can get the $20 Panther upgrade. Unless you wanna spend the $$$.

waffffffle · Jul 1, 2003, 05:19 PM

I've heard of panther on some older machines. I think it is marginally faster than 10.2 Supposedly the real speed increases are seen in Mail.app since Apple did a good job speeding up the annoying delays in that program. Also I hear that expose works without quartz extreme, but its not all that fast.

cpac · Jul 1, 2003, 05:29 PM

something to think about:

the next release of Adobe software is in the loop (and will be Panther optimized) so it might be worth holding off on that purchase as well - Adobe upgrades are faily expensive...

[anybody have any inkling on release dates for Photoshop 8 etc.?]

Miniryu · Jul 2, 2003, 02:05 AM

Originally posted by Busemann:
wait until the Macworld creative pro (or whats it called) where a release date for Panther might be set.
I'd be surprised if they wont have it ready before September, but thats just me

When is this "Macworld creative pro" event you speak of? I need to buy a new Mac by the 1st of September for school. If Panther comes out like in the middle of September I can wait a few weeks to buy it- but if it's a December release- forget it! I'll get my G5 now and pay the upgrade price.

lookmark · Jul 2, 2003, 09:15 AM

I don't think the Panther release date is going to be announced at MW Creative Expo. And it doesn't sound like Panther is going to be finished until at least early October or November.

11011001 · Jul 2, 2003, 10:31 PM

And don't worry about the transition from Jaguar to Panther. It's the same thing but with new features, and a new look, and a whole wack of under the hood stuff.

Within a day I was comfortable with it, but I went back to Jaguar for everyday use, it was too buggy at this point. I do however miss the Panther finder (not the brushed metal though), and Expose.

coolmacdude · Jul 3, 2003, 06:29 PM

NOW! Anyone who is not already on X should not be waiting any longer IMO. Panther might not come out till December. That's 6 months. You would be surprised how much you can learn using OS X for 6 months. While it is easy to learn and use, it is a big difference from 9 and there are definitely some new things that take time to get used to. Get Jag now.

teknologika · Jul 3, 2003, 11:43 PM

Personally, if I was still using OS 9, and Jaguar was available, I would race to the nearest shop as soon as possible, 'cause OS X just kicks ass and I couldn't wait another second to use it.

However, I do agree that it makes sense financially to wait until Panther is released.