Mac question: Upgrade my OS?

Bill Llewellyn · Post by **Bill Llewellyn** » 17 Jun 2004 6:56 am

I've got Jaguar 10.2.8 and my package of Panther 10.3 *just* arrived this week in the mail from Amazon.com. They have a 30 day software (unopened) return policy, so I *could* return it and wait for Tiger, which I only just learned about while my new Panther was already on its way to me.

My concern is that Panther is pretty well debugged at 10.3.4, while Tiger would need a series of updates after its release (likely later this year) to get properly tweaked, so I'd probably wait on buying it until early 2005 anyway.

So, do I send Panther back and sit on 10.2.8 until next year, or keep it and "enjoy" Panther's improvements over 10.2.8?

Incidentally, my main uses for my G4 are audio recording (MOTU's Digital Performer), DVD authoring (iMovie, DVD Studio Pro) and the usual email/browsing/word processing stuff. All personal use, nothing pro.

Thanks for all comments!

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Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?

Kiyoshi Osawa · Post by **Kiyoshi Osawa** » 17 Jun 2004 7:15 am

Check with apple if they will be giving out a free upgrade for 10.4 for users who bought panther after a particular date.

This happened with Panther and Jaguar, and I got a free upgrade... Tiger hasn't "officially" been announced yet, at least not at the apple website, so it's probably a long time off anyway.

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Kiyoshi
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Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 17 Jun 2004 7:41 am

Apple's past history is:
<UL>
[*]They will not confirm any new release dates. They like to surprize you, and not have the bad press of delays..
[*]They tend to offer free upgrages within 30 days.
[*]They offer very low priced upgrades to users of their current OS, whe a new one is released.
[/list]

I'd install the Panther, and not consider Tiger until a few months after it's release.

Did it come with iLife 4?
If so, even more reason to break the shrink wrap.

Bill Llewellyn · Post by **Bill Llewellyn** » 17 Jun 2004 7:51 am

I've seen the 30 day post-release price break for users who just bought a prior version, but I've not seen a price break for anything past that. For example, I'm going from 10.2.x (Jaguar), which I've hadd since last year, to 10.3.x (Panther), a step of one major release. Does that mean Apple would even so have given me a discount? (Panther was already $40 off MSRP at Amazon.) [This message was edited by Bill Llewellyn on 17 June 2004 at 08:52 AM.]

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 17 Jun 2004 8:25 am

I don't know about now, but back in Nov '03, when Panther was just released, I upgraded from Jag to Panther for $30.

That $40 discount makes me think they're clearing stock, expecting a new release.

For the $100 risk, I'd install it.
But I admit I'm a Tech-Junkie.

Bill Llewellyn · Post by **Bill Llewellyn** » 17 Jun 2004 8:56 am

Joey,

I couldn't find anything on the Apple site about OS-X upgrade discounts. Just a flat $129 for a single installation of Panther....

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 17 Jun 2004 10:41 am

It must have been a limited time offer, with the new release of Panther. I suspect (hope) they'll do it again for Tiger.

Bob Hickish · Post by **Bob Hickish** » 17 Jun 2004 12:02 pm

Bill
I tried to up date to 10.3 but found that My G3 tower would not work with 10.3 - Point being !! make sure you Mac is compatible - There is a program thats called Xpost facto that debugs some systems so it will work - just make sure you have what it takes to use it ---Bob

Bill Llewellyn · Post by **Bill Llewellyn** » 17 Jun 2004 12:45 pm

Bob,

One important item to remember in "older" machines when upgrading to Panther is to make sure your firmware is up to date. That may have something to do with the troubles you saw.

Doug Brumley · Post by **Doug Brumley** » 17 Jun 2004 2:14 pm

At this point you may want to wait for Steve Jobs' keynote speech at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 28. According to Apple's site, he'll be previewing Tiger, and I think he'll probably make some announcement as to its availability.

Bob Hickish · Post by **Bob Hickish** » 17 Jun 2004 6:52 pm

Bill
There might be som info here for you ! http://eshop.macsales.com/OSXCenter/XPostFacto/Framework.cfm?page=XPostFacto.html

Ken Lang · Post by **Ken Lang** » 18 Jun 2004 6:29 pm

I'm totally uninformed about Mac, but I've got a question. Can a computer be converted to run a Mac OS by software only or does it take an apple motherboard and associated hardware?

What benefits might I get from apple as far as running mac for recording.

I have my old computer that could be used and stripped down so it might be mac capable. Is it worth it? And could it talk to my new one with windows XP?

Joey Ace · Post by **Joey Ace** » 18 Jun 2004 6:44 pm

Apple makes it's own hardware. The chips are very different from PCs.

The way only to run Mac software is on a Mac.

The reverse is not true. There is a Virtual PC program that allows Mac users to run PC software.

I run Widows XP in a virtual window on my Mac.[This message was edited by Joey Ace on 18 June 2004 at 07:50 PM.]

Bill Llewellyn · Post by **Bill Llewellyn** » 18 Jun 2004 8:01 pm

Hey, y'all. I took the plunge and upgraded from 10.2.8 to 10.3.4. Took much of a day because I followed some instructions on an Apple discussion forum that gave some pretty conservative advice (backing up {of course}, checking the hard disk with Disk Warrior, and doing a buncha other stuff that supposedly would help make the transition smoother). I've only been on 10.3.4 for a couple of hours now and things seem ok thus far. I'll report back in a while letting y'all know if it turned out to be for better or for worse.

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Bill, steelin' since '99 | Steel page | My music | Steelers' birthdays | Over 50?

Bill Llewellyn · Post by **Bill Llewellyn** » 18 Jun 2004 8:03 pm

Oops. Double post.[This message was edited by Bill Llewellyn on 18 June 2004 at 09:23 PM.]