Sort of a poll: Is Jaguar really worth it?
I recently got Jaguar and installed it on my PowerBook G3. It's a bit of a disappointment. Sherlock 3 has a terrible image search feature (which is all I've used it for so far). I searched "iBook," and it gave me three results. Yes, three. And two were the same picture at different sizes. A Google image search turned up 12,000 images.
iCal is kinda cool but not very useful. There's no iSync yet, so it doesn't have a lot of functionality yet. And it's very much a 1.0 release. It's missing a lot of options that many would like to have. I would like it to be faster and allow different grid increments when dragging a new event. Also, iCal wasn't even part of OS X 10.2 when I got it, it wasn't out until a couple days ago.
The centralized Address Book is probably one of the best features. Extremely handy. The Address Book used to be one of my most rarely used applications. Apple has followed suit in upgrading their previous less-than-spectacular apps, like Text Edit (which now includes some extra standard word processing tools like alignment) and Preview (which is now actually usable; the previous version was absolutely terrible).
iChat is pretty nice, and I especially like the intuitive interface. There's zero learning curve. If you want to do something, do whatever seems most intuitive and 9 times out of 10 it'll work. Add a buddy from a chat? Just drag them to your buddy list. Want to make a new icon? Drag a picture into the well. Override your buddy's icon and put one of your own? Click a check box.
I used the rotating desktops for a while but they got boring a bit quick. Other little features, such as the new window opening/closing animations, are kinda cool but slow me down even more. I rarely use spring loaded folders, but they're there.
Anyway, I don't think this upgrade was worth $130. Sure, as a first purchase of OS X, it's definitely worth it, but if you already own OS X, I think it's a bit too similar to really be worth $130. About half that would be a fair upgrade price. Also, my computer is no faster now than it was before (though this may be because I upgraded it instead of using a clean install).
So, sound off! What are your opinions of 10.2? Is it good? Bad? Worth the $130 upgrade price?
iCal is kinda cool but not very useful. There's no iSync yet, so it doesn't have a lot of functionality yet. And it's very much a 1.0 release. It's missing a lot of options that many would like to have. I would like it to be faster and allow different grid increments when dragging a new event. Also, iCal wasn't even part of OS X 10.2 when I got it, it wasn't out until a couple days ago.
The centralized Address Book is probably one of the best features. Extremely handy. The Address Book used to be one of my most rarely used applications. Apple has followed suit in upgrading their previous less-than-spectacular apps, like Text Edit (which now includes some extra standard word processing tools like alignment) and Preview (which is now actually usable; the previous version was absolutely terrible).
iChat is pretty nice, and I especially like the intuitive interface. There's zero learning curve. If you want to do something, do whatever seems most intuitive and 9 times out of 10 it'll work. Add a buddy from a chat? Just drag them to your buddy list. Want to make a new icon? Drag a picture into the well. Override your buddy's icon and put one of your own? Click a check box.
I used the rotating desktops for a while but they got boring a bit quick. Other little features, such as the new window opening/closing animations, are kinda cool but slow me down even more. I rarely use spring loaded folders, but they're there.
Anyway, I don't think this upgrade was worth $130. Sure, as a first purchase of OS X, it's definitely worth it, but if you already own OS X, I think it's a bit too similar to really be worth $130. About half that would be a fair upgrade price. Also, my computer is no faster now than it was before (though this may be because I upgraded it instead of using a clean install).
So, sound off! What are your opinions of 10.2? Is it good? Bad? Worth the $130 upgrade price?
Comments
Jaguar: worth it.
For all the same reasons that everyone else has outlined. New features, major optimizations, Quartz Extreme, compatibility with future apps.
- plink plink -
It's a huge disappointment. There are still lots of very annoying bugs, the Finder sucks fudgcicles, the new apps aren't new - we already have AIM, Eudora, Watson, etc. (In most cases these apps are better than Jaguar's offerings, and many are free), Quartz Extreme doesn't make an awful lot of difference in day to day use.
Mac OS X still feels flaky.
I perhaps wouldn't expect to get Jaguar for less, but I'd certainly rather have waited and got more for my $130.
I would say that it is a little dissapointing! Well I have benifitted from it but some things really shit me with it
<img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
iDisk access is way faster.
Windows open and load a heckuvalot faster.
Networking is way faster. i don;t know how much faster in reality, but it feels around 10x faster. When you use "Connect to Server" dialogue box the next windows asking username/volumes to mount pop up instantly where they used to take a few seconds.
The Dock isn't ugly anymore.
Apps launch and load faster, as well as feel more responsive when being switched between.
If only for the nextworking and UI enhancements Shaguar is most definately worth it.
--PB
DB
The finder is much faster in that it loads large folders really quickly. But it is more unstable, in my experience, than 10.1's Finder. I'm hoping a lot of that will be fixed in 10.2.1.
I think that as time goes on, Jag will seem more and more worth it.. especially when they release a point update for it.
The iApps like iCal have feedback items in their menus. If people use these, I'm sure we'll see iCal develop into something more than a novelty app.
That said, there have been several instances in the use of Jaguar where I just suddenly blurted out, "Good!!" because of some of the changes that Apple made. So altogether, I'm very happy with it.
It's just so damn cool.
As far as 10.2 yes, more polished. Faster and better features. As has been said before a big step in the right direction.
Although I came from 9, having been merely an interested spectator from 10.0 through 10.1...
EVERYTHING was overhauled in 10.2. You hear somebody complaining and mentioning 8 things they don't like. BFD! There's 150 new features, and "new features" don't include the hundreds of drastically improved features OS X already had!
People get too hung up on the fact that 10.2 is "only" a minor point upgrade. Like Leo on The Screensavers, who snottily looks at the camera and says "$130? Come on, Apple." It's NOT ABOUT THE NUMBERING SCHEME, and apparently Leo didn't understand that either.
ANY WAY YOU LOOK AT IT, 10.2 is worth the money. Speed increases, bug fixes, new features, improved features, everything is overhauled. I can't sympathize with anybody complaning about OS X just because they don't understand the work that went into it and think it's priced too high. Apple put a crapload of work into it, and that's why it costs $130. If you don't use half the features in Jaguar, that's not Apple's fault.
<strong>Totally worth it. it comes on two CDs for crap's sake. Two! What was the last Mac OS that came on two CDs, regardless of whether it was an upgrade or a full version? That's right, this is a first. That means there's actually more stuff that was changed between 10.1.5 and 10.2 than there was in any previous version of the operating system, total!
EVERYTHING was overhauled in 10.2. You hear somebody complaining and mentioning 8 things they don't like. BFD! There's 150 new features, and "new features" don't include the hundreds of drastically improved features OS X already had!</strong><hr></blockquote>
Size isn't everything, love. It would appear that Jaguar is on two CDs because it makes sense to separate the OS install from the iApps install because one or other will be updated out of synch with the other. If iMovie 3 appears, only the second CD press needs to be modified. Likewise when 10.2.1 appears.
And as for those 150 new features, have you seen the list? Oh sure, iCal is great, and Rendevous is a nice name new name for pre-existing technology, but when you get a bit further down the list, things are a little less impressive. New background pictures? Terrific "feature".
I remember a while ago (before the release), one person went to far as to say that 10.1 to 10.2 would be a bigger change than OS 9 to OS X. No way. It's a nice overhaul, and probably worthy of a 10.5 designation if Apple still used that naming scheme (I don't want to get into 10.2 vs. 10.5!), but I don't think it's really worth $130 more if you already bought 10.1. But thanks to everyone for the good discussion!
P.S. To the mods: I realize that this topic is probably being discussed elsewhere but I did look around the OS X forum for topics that looked related to this, and I didn't find anything. Otherwise I would have had to open every single post, read it, and determine if my subject was within the range of that topic. I just thought it would be easier to start my own topic.
Just because an OS takes up a huge amount of space and needs two CDs doesn't mean it's going to be the next best thing since sliced bread.
As for the finder. I agree with Siracusa...it's lack of large progress may mean that Apple plans to revamp the Finder/File System within the next two years.
Dominic Giampaolo and Pavel Cisler are both at Apple. Both seem to be instrumental with BeOS Filesystem and Tracker.I think Apple finally has OSX to the point where it's suitable for the general user.
Look, if you used that attitude with everything else in life, you would demand price cuts on cars because they have some features you'll never use. Stupid, isn't it? "My pants have pockets I'll never use, therefore you're charging me too much for them".
It's a fundamental flaw in your reasoning. If Apple were in the business of custom-designing operating systems specifically for YOU, then maybe you would have a valid point. But they don't, and you don't.
You're paying Apple for the work they put into Jaguar, which is a tremendous amount of work. Far more than they put into most upgrades. Whether you use all the features or not is 100% irrelevant.
And Belle, I think you're deluding yourself on the specific value of certain things in Jaguar such as Rendezvous. "Pre-existing technology with a new name", huh? Does that mean you are of the opinion that Apple did nothing to make it work on the Mac platform other than rename it? And furthermore, does the fact that it's based on Zeroconf mean that it has less worth to you than if it had been developed by Apple?
Ridiculous. You seem to be of the overall opinion that Jaguar isn't worth the money simply because YOU aren't going to use all its features, or that YOU don't believe they're worth anything. Hate to break it to you, but YOU are not the only person that matters, and I think Apple knows that. If you want an operating system built to your specifications, build it yourself. But don't blame Apple for not living up to your lofty expectations, or for including features that other people might actually enjoy.
<strong>I agree with Belle. I don't think it's bad, I think it's very good. But it's definitely underwhelming. I was expecting a major overhaul of the OS, making it almost as fast as OS 9, and with a polished, completed feel. Although it feels much more complete, it still lacks polish (which will probably come in 10.2.1 and later anyway). As for speed, I didn't notice any improvement at all except for boot speed (which doesn't matter since I almost never boot up my computer).
I remember a while ago (before the release), one person went to far as to say that 10.1 to 10.2 would be a bigger change than OS 9 to OS X. No way. It's a nice overhaul, and probably worthy of a 10.5 designation if Apple still used that naming scheme (I don't want to get into 10.2 vs. 10.5!), but I don't think it's really worth $130 more if you already bought 10.1. But thanks to everyone for the good discussion!
P.S. To the mods: I realize that this topic is probably being discussed elsewhere but I did look around the OS X forum for topics that looked related to this, and I didn't find anything. Otherwise I would have had to open every single post, read it, and determine if my subject was within the range of that topic. I just thought it would be easier to start my own topic.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Belle and Luca Rescigno really sum up what I was thinking!
Well said!