Mac OS X 10.3 Panther
$68.00
- “eMac install” on them, but will install any Panther Compatible Mac
- FileVault for keeping your valuable documents safe with powerful AES-128 bit encryption
- Super-modern operating system combining the strength of UNIX with the elegance of Macintosh
- Expose for instant access to any window; displays all open or current-application windows
- iChat AV for personal video conferencing in high-quality, full-screen video over the Internet
Personally, I found that this was a trying experience from the beginning. First off, few stores even carry Mac software, so that even locating the package is difficult. Thankfully there are on-line opportunities like Amazon to fulfill the dream.
Physically installing this product was an even greater difficulty. I could not find this in a 3.5″ format and had to upgrade my PC in order to be able to run the CD. After re-booting, I found that the CD was not mounted and that the software could not be recognized. I spent numerous hours on the phone with Apple Tech support, only to determine that the system requirements were not fully explained in the promotional literature. This upgrade requires an extremely fast processor, at least 512 Mb memory, minimum 40 Gb hard drive. In fact, the system architecture and operating system are completely different! Who knew? I can tell you it is not recommended for the typical Win 98 or Win 2000 customer.
This is probably much better suited to the owner of a new XP machine with the latest in video & IO features.
Rating: 3 / 5
This is the worst os ive ever used you can’t hold down the button like windows and its exteremly hard to use you also cant get games for it
Rating: 1 / 5
There was a time long, long ago when I enjoy using my Macintosh. Pleased with so fine a product, I bought many over the years. Certainly OS X (Panther) has thrown a couple gigabytes of ice water on that romance. But Panther has made one thing clear that never was before. Previously I never could quite express what I enjoyed about the older Mac operating systems. I can now. Before, I could find things. And I always knew where I was in the hierarchy of folders. If I had a document in a folder, stored in a second folder that ordering was always transparent. I could see the folders open, one inside the other. And when I closed up, they slipped inside one another quite intuitively. No more. In OS X, I haven’t a clue. I do have a 750-page manual that I keep in my lap when working in Panther. With a trembling finger on the step-by-step instructions and my other hand on the mouse, I can empty the trash successfully. I know the red buttons close something-sometimes something I wanted closed, but more often my home window. (Which I’ve learned to find after a brief but infuriating search.) There are candy colored yellow and green buttons too though I can’t say what they do just now. It’s all there somewhere in the manual, but before reaching for help try a little reason. If the red pill closes a window, what would logic suggest about the functions of the yellow and green? Don’t bother; logic is no guide in Panther. And that encapsulates the problem. In OS X nothing makes much sense, intuition is of no value, everything must be memorized. The claim is that OS X is bedrock stable. Try to console yourself with that tradeoff the next time you face the spinning beach ball of death. Hint: Erase your hard-drive and re-install everything. A rock after all is a rock.
And don’t get me started on the Dock. I’ve read (several times) the twenty-page introduction that explains just how easy the Dock is to use. I condensed all that to a half page of notes, which I’ve misplaced. But the little icons do look nifty. And they do bounce happily-like little corpses on deliberators. In fact OS X has all the chrome gleam and high-tech awe of a modern hospital. Yes it is wonderful how technology can keep a body alive on antibiotics, feeding tubes, and assisted breathing. But remember how wonderful it once was to run free? Effortlessly if memory serves, and without much pain.
Rating: 1 / 5
Do not buy. There are soooo many hardware issues with this upgrade that unless you have a brand new machine with Panther installed or have no peripherals and do not depend on your computer to work, avoid this like the plague. It is certainly more of a dog than a cat.
I have reverted to 10.2 which is still very slow, and although I am a loyal Mac fan, I will use XP if I need to be productive in spite of security issues.
Rating: 1 / 5
$129 every year for something that has a 20-day upgrade policy? What a JOKE! QUITE obviously, Apple marketing and I do NOT earn our monies in the same company.
On top of that rip-off, it obviously has bugs, as I have learned to expect from the company that somehow every year manages to churn out half-beaten butter for our Macintosh ego-bread. Well, don’t know about you, I feel that one predator is quite enough in my household for at least two to three years.
Good luck, and buye buye (not misspelled).
Rating: 2 / 5