# Should I upgrade to OSX Panther? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 19, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034 "2004-05-19T20:48:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/1 "2004-05-19T20:48:15Z")
I wondering what everyone thinks about OSX… I’m running 9.2.2 on my G4 now, but I’m coveting the pretty of OSX. What should I know before I decide to upgrade? My main apps are Final Cut Pro 1.2 (hopefully to be upgraded to 4 when I get the money), web browsing, photoshop and illustrator. ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/2 "2004-05-19T21:10:51Z")
It’s time to upgrade, my friend. I can understand your hesistation, but OS X has been what I would consider a “mature operating system” since Jaguar came out. Your computer can obviously handle it well, since I run Panther on a 600 mHz G3 and it gives me no problems whatsoever. I assume you have a tower, so you might want to make sure your video card is good enough to use the Quartz Extreme GUI engine, and if it isn’t, upgrade (I doubt a bare minimum QE-compatible video card costs much these days). The benefits of upgrading are many. Panther is solid as a rock. It just won’t crash, even if you try. Really hard. You’ll obviously get to use many of the updated versions of the programs you now run, and you’ll get to use Apple’s Safari web browser, which is the best I’ve used on either platform (though Mozilla Firefox is a close second). You’ll also get to use Apple’s superb Mail program, which has a scary-good spam filter. And there’s all sorts of cool integrations between iChat (Apple’s AIM client), Mail and Address Book, as well as between the “iLife” apps that just make for a super-smooth experience. On thing: If you have less than 256 MB ram, get more. As much as you can reasonably afford, in fact. It makes a world of difference. ---
**Author:** ![SpartanDC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@SpartanDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpartanDC)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/3 "2004-05-19T21:14:55Z")
Another caveat: Apple is going to preview the next iteration of OS X, called “Tiger”, at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June, I believe. If they follow the pattern of previous upgrades, this will be released in late October. If you can hold off until then, you might want to do so. If you’re torn between your desire to start using OS X and not wanting to upgrade your OS twice in six months, I should remind you of the fact that OS X has virtually no protection against one copy being installed on multiple computers. Do with that information what you will. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/4 "2004-05-19T21:15:32Z")
I’m still using Jaguar (OS 10.2.8) but it’s still OS X so I guess I can offer some opinions . . . It’s great. When something crashes, the whole OS doesn’t go down with it. Running several apps at once is no problem (as long as your Mac can handle it). For instance, running Toast in OS 9 meant that the whole Mac was tied up until the CD finished burning. Running Toast in OS X means that I keep on working on something else, and Toast makes that chime sounds when it’s done so I can pop out the CD. Big difference. There are tons of other improvements but I’ve gotten so used to OS X and rarely ever “visit” OS 9 (I do have it on this Mac, though) so I just can’t remember right now. All I know is that I initially resisted upgrading to OS X because I was so used to OS 9, but after I had a week or so with it, I adored it. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/5 "2004-05-19T21:52:21Z")
Nitpick: Actually, as of Toast Titanium, Toast observes multitasking under MacOS 9 and will burn CDs while letting you do other things. (Toast in its modern incarnation is a true Carbon app and runs natively under either OS). Be that as it may, yeah, upgrade to OS X. Keep 9, you can boot back into 9 whenever you feel like it, but OS X is a truly nice OS. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/6 "2004-05-19T21:55:28Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Nitpick: Actually, as of Toast Titanium, Toast observes multitasking under MacOS 9 and will burn CDs while letting you do other things. Ooh! It does? I used Toast 4 and the Mac was stuck for about half an hour (or longer) while my 4x USB burner did its thing. Not fun . . . ---
**Author:** ![modro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@modro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/modro)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/7 "2004-05-19T22:44:44Z")
Definitely time to upgrade. I have Panther running on both of my macs (700mhz iBook, and 400mhz iMac DV) and it runs awesome on both. As far as speed goes, it feels about the same as OS 9 on my iMac, but factor in the much better multitasking and the crash resistance and I can effectively get more done on my iMac than I could under 9. Factor in the fact that developers have essentially abandoned OS 9, and the choice pretty much makes itself. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/8 "2004-05-20T00:04:21Z")
Sigh. I hope I qualify for student prices. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/9 "2004-05-20T07:13:27Z")
**yosemite** , who must’ve done a name change when I wasn’t paying attention, wasn’t there a “babe” in there last time I perused?: > [@](#): > > Ooh! It does? I used Toast 4 and the Mac was stuck for about half an hour (or longer) while my 4x USB burner did its thing. Not fun . . . Heh. Mine’s SCSI, and 2x. (OK, I have an expansion bay burner but it’s sick and unhappy so I’m back to using the SCSI burner until I can affortd a fix and/or upgrade) Seriously, as long as you’ve got modern CarbonLib in your OS9, you can run the very same Toast as you run in OS X. And not only does it not monopolize your CPU, it’s a pretty reliable player in cooperative multitasking, as long as you don’t launch anything that’s CPU-intensive or cycle-selfish you really can do other things while your CD burns. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/10 "2004-05-20T10:39:26Z")
According to [dealmac.com](http://dealmac.com)’s deals listed for yesterday, you can get Panther for $99.00 or get Jaguar (the previous version) for $35.00. Given that you’re not using OS X at all and that the new version of the operating system is very likely to come out in just a couple of months, I’d suggest springing for Jaguar. That’s what I’m using, and while there are some features in Panther that I’d like, I can’t convince myself that they’re worth the extra $100.00 or so. Note that unless you have the carbonized or OS X versions of your software, you’re going to be running them in OS 9 emulation mode anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/11 "2004-05-20T10:59:28Z")
> [@SNenc](#): > > Another caveat: Apple is going to preview the next iteration of OS X, called “Tiger” First Jaguar. Then Panther. Now Tiger. Me, I’m holding out for the absolute ultimate final release. Word around Cupertino is that they’re going to call it D.S.H. for broader appeal. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/12 "2004-05-20T18:16:39Z")
You can probably get Panther on Ebay for ~$60. Jaguar for maybe half that. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/13 "2004-05-20T19:05:06Z")
> [@](#): > > First Jaguar. Then Panther. Now Tiger. First Cheetah. Then Puma. _Then_ Jaguar. Panther. And now Tiger. I guess the Public Beta even before Cheetah had a codename, too, but I’m under the impression it wasn’t feline in nature. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2004, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/14 "2004-05-20T20:59:41Z")
I can’t think of a rational reason _not_ to upgrade to MacOS X. _Everything_ works so much better here. And after a while, it gets to be a game to see how long you can keep your Mac up and running without a reboot, restart, or crash (my best time has been around 29 days). ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-upgrade-to-osx-panther/246034/15 "2004-05-22T04:55:39Z")
AHunter: Yes, there used to be a “babe” there. I thought I’d streamline my username to just “yosemite.” I like it! And thanks for the info about running Toast Titanium in OS 9. Good to know. Just thought I’d bump this thread and mention that you can get Jaguar for [$37.50](http://eshop.macsales.com/Item_MailList.cfm?ID=5439&Item=APLOSX102CD), or even a lot less if you want to go with OS 10.1. (Which I don’t recommend.) Check it out! If you wait until after Tiger comes out, you probably could pick up Panther for about what Jaguar is going for now. I think that’s what I might do. (I’m still using Jaguar.) But actually, I’d recommend you get Jaguar now, if you can. It’s really quite good and the price is great.