Mac OS 10.3!!!! [Archive] - toonzone forums

Speedy Boris

10-21-2003, 09:00 PM

As a Mac user, I definitely ordered mine a week ago. For you fellow Mac users out there, how many are planning on purchasing 10.3, Panther?

WingZombie38

10-21-2003, 09:15 PM

Hmm, is this out yet? Today I heard this girl in class talk about the newest Mac she bought. Unfortunately what she said about it was negative. :moon:

How different is this Mac from others?

Ed Liu

10-22-2003, 01:43 PM

Jaguar

10-22-2003, 05:58 PM

By looking at my username, you should already know my opinion.

sl4

10-22-2003, 08:12 PM

My dad ordered a copy in the mail and paid for overnight delivery; it should be here tomorrow. ^_^

I've talked to someone who I'll keep anonymous who's already used Panther. He says it's great. The speed decrease that came with OS X is either better or completely gone.

I can't wait. :D

Ooh, cool. New smiley. :sad: :sad: :sad:

Narfpinky

10-22-2003, 08:47 PM

I'll wait until I get another Mac to see how Panther is.
I'm one of those that's still running Mac OS 9. ;)

Bakasama

10-22-2003, 09:00 PM

Howdy,

I'm going to get it, but not immediately. I use my Mac to work at home, and if the VPN or Java compatibility breaks between versions, it's a pretty strong disincentive for me to get it. Also moving this weekend, so upgrading my machine and making sure it's happy isn't exactly a priority.

I have yet to be really disappointed by a MacOS upgrade since 7.6 or so. I find Apple has a funny way of introducing features that look kind of stupid or pointless on paper and end up being completely indispensable once I start using them. Happened with tabbed windows, spring-loaded folders, AppleGuide, OS X as a whole, column view, and iTunes.

-- Ed/Ace

You would think that the ability to burn CDs, while surfing the web, while listening to MP3s and having Force Quit function that doesn't crash the Mac is free bonus for using OS X.

I know my brother will get it. I hope it fixes that weird issue I get with putting my G4 to sleep.

I'll wait until I get another Mac to see how Panther is.
I'm one of those that's still running Mac OS 9. ;)

I use to be one of those people only because I couldn't use OS X. I'll say this about OS 9, it crashes a lot when compared to OS X.

William C. Maune

10-22-2003, 09:55 PM

I'll wait until 10.3.1 is available, but I'll definitely get it.

sl4

10-23-2003, 03:03 PM

By looking at my username, you should already know my opinion.

Actually, I'm completely confused. I'm pretty sure you're not a Mac user, so I'm guessing you don't know Jaguar is the name of OS 10.2...or you're a Mac user and you never told me. <_< *grumblegrumblecondimentking*

Brainatra

10-24-2003, 12:19 PM

Been a Mac user since 1995 (when I got my first computer), and currently run OS 9.1.

Admit, though, that I don't really like OS X at all, after having used it. Particularly, while I like the Unix aspects, I don't like the GUI at all--- it felt too sluggish on what was brand-new machines I was using (though I understand 10.3 is supposed to fix this), a lot of things felt pointlessly changed/dropped from pre-OS X interfaces, and I hate the Dock (the application switching menu was much more elegant). Overall, it felt like using a spruced-up version of Windows...

Thus, with all that and the extra costs of Mac hardware (I know, there's the $799 eMac with a CD burner now, but still...) I think my next computer might be a... PC. (Gasp!) Though I have been reading a lot about Linux lately, and though I've yet to actually use it (besides OpenOffice.org), strongly considering installing/using that (and keep Windows on the same machine as a "dual boot" sort of thing), since I still don't like Windows (even if the taskbar beats the Dock, IMO)...

-B.

Ed Liu

10-24-2003, 01:02 PM

Howdy,

Admit, though, that I don't really like OS X at all, after having used it. Particularly, while I like the Unix aspects, I don't like the GUI at all--- it felt too sluggish on what was brand-new machines I was using (though I understand 10.3 is supposed to fix this),

10.2 made my graphite G4/733 (vintage 2001) noticeably zippier vs. even 10.1. It seems that every iteration of OS X gets faster in terms of responsiveness. I'm contemplating a processor upgrade next year, but purely for games rather than because the normal stuff I do (web surfing, word processing, working from home, and light Photoshop) feels too slow.

In 10.2, having a Quartz Extreme-capable video card (32MB VRAM) boosts perceived performance a whole lot, too. My father-in-law's 500Mhz machine got a nice performance kick after I gave him my old GeForce2MX card.

I also felt that OS X traded off single-app speed for the ability to run lots of apps at consistent speeds concurrently. While it may be marginally slower to check individually check e-mail, surf the web, burn a CD, or run iTunes, it's unbearably cool to do all of those things at once without any slowdown in any one of them. Makes running backups a lot less painful, for a start.

Can't help much as far as the interface, though. The dock I can take or leave, though my advice is to put it on the right side of the screen, where it was on the NeXT and where it belongs, IMO. There are haxies that put the application menu back, too. Other graphical gewgaws (like anti-aliased fonts at the OS level and column view in the Finder) are visible improvements over OS 9, IMO.

Thus, with all that and the extra costs of Mac hardware (I know, there's the $799 eMac with a CD burner now, but still...) I think my next computer might be a... PC. (Gasp!)

While I'm all for Linux, I have to say it's not for the faint of heart. I'm a UNIX nerd by training, and I remember one time a few years ago when it took me 3 or 4 hours to change the resolution on my monitor correctly. Of course, they've improved a lot lately, but I think Linux is still for people who want to tinker as a choice, rather than for people who want a "plug-and-play" experience. If that is what you're willing to do, though, go for it -- there's lots of rewarding stuff for Linux out there (but if you think Mac users are marginalized...:)). I think MacOS X is still the best UNIX for the grandmas and non-technical in the world. Windows is best for the people who enjoy self-inflicted pain and suffering.

Desktop Mac hardware is definitely a higher up-front cost, but the laptop offerings kick seven shades of snot out of comparable Windows machines. Personally, I look at the extra cost as an up-front payment for all the time I'm NOT going to spend patching XP, upgrading my virus software, fixing the computer from the latest virus because I wasn't diligent in patching XP and updating my virus software, and re-installing Windows because all of the above still don't get me a working computer :).

-- Ed/Ace

Speedy Boris

10-24-2003, 02:24 PM

X is so much better than 9 simply for the fact that it's STABLE. I've had OS X (both 10.1 and Jaguar) only freeze on me only a couple of times since I've had it in April 2002; otherwise, the Force Quit works wonderfully and tons of programs can run at once. In fact, the only reason I go into OS 9 anymore is to play games that can't run in Classic mode (I'm slowly converting my OS 9 programs to X, thank goodness). And how can you not love the beautiful Quartz Extreme graphics? They make OS 9's icons and interface look like Mac OS 6. :p Unfortunately, I probably won't get 10.3 until next week- I ordered it thorugh my college's computer store, which won't be open tonight at 8 PM. :sad:

sl4

10-25-2003, 10:22 AM

I'm currently running 10.3. Not only is it better-looking than 10.2, but it's faster than OS 9. I'm really liking the 800-bajillion new features too.

Greg

10-26-2003, 12:48 AM

First, let me say that it's good to see that I'm not the only Mac user
here--for I while I thought I was the only one! :D

As for 10.3, it sounds great from what I've seen so far. But since my iMac
just barely meets the minumum requirements for OS-X (G3/400), I think
I'll be sticking with 9.2.1 for now. It's fairly stable for what I use it for-
mostly web-surfing. I have more trouble with the apps crashing than the
OS itself (especially Netscape--got so bad I quit using it!). IE seems
pretty stable (most of the time), as long as I give it plenty of memory.

Bakasama

10-26-2003, 01:18 AM

sandwichman

10-26-2003, 09:18 AM

Its out? Ah... I'll get it later. My wallet hurts. And now my shins hurt.

Psycho Fox

10-26-2003, 10:13 AM

As a non mac PPC Linux user (WE DO EXIST) I am planning on putting 10.3 on MacOnLinux (MOL) as soon as I get my hands on a new Pegasos and the current bugs with running MacOS10.x under MOL is solved a bit better.

sl4

10-26-2003, 12:00 PM

I'm surprised at how fast it runs on my 500mhz Powerbook G3 almost as much as I'm surprised how many Mac users are at Toonzone.

Greg

10-26-2003, 11:27 PM

You got to be kidding me. IE has some fatal bugs that will force to reboot the Mac. The only warning sign I remember when that happens is when the menu fonts go odd. Then the Mac freezes if you don't do anything about it.

The only browsers I use on OS 9 are iCab and Mozilla.

Strange, I've never encountered that particular problem before with IE. It does crash once in a while (afterall, it is a Microsoft product!) :rolleyes:
but on the whole it's pretty stable, and fairly easy to use. (The version I use
is 5.1.7)

I've never tried iCab ( It just doesn't have as many features as IE), but I
have tried Mozilla and I had the same bad results as I had with
Netscape: LOTS of crashes! I tried boosting the memory, but to no
avail, so I just gave up on it!

grendyl

10-27-2003, 11:36 AM

I wonder if it is much faster than 10.2, it seems kind of expensive.

sl4

10-27-2003, 04:03 PM

I wonder if it is much faster than 10.2
It is.

it seems kind of expensive.
It is.

Bakasama

10-27-2003, 10:08 PM

So does that mean Virtual PC runs a bit faster than before?

Speedy Boris

10-28-2003, 12:37 AM

Hooray! My copy of 10.3 arrived today! Here's the lowdown (I'm running an 800 mhz iMac with 512 MB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce 4 graphics card): It's definitely much faster than Jaguar in terms of system tasks and launching programs (as well as performing tasks within programs). The graphics are much more crisp than Jaguar and especially 10.1 (I didn't think it was possible, since Jaguar gave a major graphics boost with Quartz Extreme, but believe it!). The window views for the system are now in Brushed Metal, and all the window menu items like Favorites and Home are now in a side bar; I think they're much better over here. Whenever you open a file or application, the icon actually zooms towards you, creating a really cool special effect! And yes, Expose is really cool. With one touch of a button, all windows zoom out (and they do it SMOOTHLY, I might add!), giving you clear access to everything at once. Finally, it comes with the newest versions of all the Apple software, so now I can finally rid my back-up disks of some clutter! DVD Player 4.0 is especially revamped; there are more options for your viewing pleasure. The only downside I could find is that Classic support is noticeably worse in 10.3 than 10.2; you can definitely tell Apple is slowly shifting away from anything having to do with OS 9. Many OS 9 apps that once worked in Classic mode don't work anymore (the biggest example being games which require you to insert CDs- even when you DO insert a CD it doesn't recognize that it's there- weird...). Granted, everything still works just the same in OS 9, so if you need to use an OS 9 app, that's the best place to do it. Classic is effectively dead to me. Besides, I'm converting all the apps that I can to OS X! (You lollygaggers... I have your address! ;) ) Overall, though, 10.3 is worth the $129, even though I only paid $73 for mine. It really is faster, more compatible (OS X-wise, that is) and adds a whole bunch of new features. And no, I don't work for Apple!