Mac OS X Panther - October 24th

The Countdown Starts

[EliteWeb]

Apple.com's front page holds a countdown to the release of their next version of Mac OS X. Seems theyve added many new features and functionality to it. From the list what are your favorite features?

[dragonlady7]

I
AM
SO
PSYCHED
!
Haven't pre-ordered my copy because my boyfriend and I are arguing over who gets to buy it first.

Expose. That's my #1 source of excitement. I have enjoyed my switch to the Mac but I can never find my freaking windows; they get lost and I have trouble finishing tasks because I get lost in the middle. I hate that. I miss the taskbar, but Expose would be even BETTER than some stupid ugly gray bar. With the number of windows I have open at any given time, the little icons in the bar are too small to read anyway.
I watched the whatsit on Quicktime-- the convention where Steve Jobs demo'd Panther-- and when he showed Expose I just about fell off the couch. That's when I decided to buy a Mac. If the window thing is going to get better, I'm totally getting one. So, I did. And I love it to bits but it could be better.
Also, Mail. Mail beats the hell out of Outlook, but it could be WAY better.

One thing I haven't been able to find out-- did they manage to fix the one bug that really consistently pisses me off: When you're connected to a server by mounting the disk from your desktop, and someone turns the server off, the OS hangs and usually dies. Why can't they fix that? I'm forever mounting the disk of my boyfriend's laptop to nab the files I saved on it when I borrowed it last, and then he absentmindedly closes it so he can get up and go get a beer or something, and I lose everything I was working on because my computer goes down. It's a pain in the BUTT!
So if someone says they fixed that in Panther, I'll die of joy.

[timster]

My personal favorite is built-in Perl 5.8, which should make the life of Macintosh WebMasters who use Perl CGI's a little easier.

My other favorite is the quick user login. I've heard rumors this functionality to be leveraged to create a Terminal Server for Mac OS X. That would be pretty awesome too. (Terminal servers are great, but Windows Terminal Servers tend to be, IMHO, horrendously expensive.)

[Brad]

Yeah Expose sounds great.

I think Panther is coming equipped with the Unix X Windows emulator fully installed. I would really like to play with that and see what software is available.

[dragonlady7]

Just reserved my copy. Will be waiting for me the evening of Oct 24th.
I'm confused, though-- I thought they'd ship it to the nearest store and I'd pick it up there, but no... Looks like they're actually planning to deliver it to my mailing address. Suits me fine, I just don't really understand what's supposed to happen. Weird...
Anyhow, I'm psyched.

[garann]

So do you all think it's worth the upgrade price? I'm a little ticked, since I asked the Apple Store people when it was coming and they wouldn't tell/didn't know. Now I find out I could have gotten the upgrade free had I waited two weeks. Are there any really compelling reasons to trade up?

[dragonlady7]

>compelling reasons

If you ask them, 150.

A bunch of the features do look really good. And it's only $130, which is not bad as operating systems go.

[timster]

garann,

"Compelling" is in the eye of the beholder. You can read the posts of several people here (e.g., me) who feel pretty compelled.

Maybe if you describe the kinds of work you do, folks cite features you may find interesting.

Here's a few articles that detail some of the new features:

[news.zdnet.co.uk...]

[maccentral.macworld.com...]

[your_store]

I think Panther is coming equipped with the Unix X Windows emulator fully installed

Yes, this is why I'm going to have to upgrade to Panther. I believe X11 is going out of beta when Panther launches, and you will only be able to get X11 bundled with the OS.

[BwanaZulia]

I pre-ordered with FedEx. Luckily I have to go out on that Friday night so I won't be going crazy all night thinking I should head down to Apple SOHO and pick up a copy.

I am really looking forward to the new Mail, Expose, iDisk, Python 2.3, New Finder, Fast User Switching and new AddressBook.

Have the 25th all to Panther and myself. :)

BZ

[dragonlady7]

I pre-ordered and it didn't explain what shipping method they were using. So I have no idea when or how it's going to arrive... which is just as well, because the temptation to sit out by my mailbox would be rather hard to bear, but I can tell myself I just don't know when it will be there, and can get by that way.