Panther on G5 in August?

coscos
Posted:
in Future Apple Hardware edited January 2014
At the company where I work, we had a Mac contract-support rep come in to service our Macs today. He was talking about what's coming with Panther and mentioned that it will be coming in August.



Having read otherwise, I assumed that he was thinking that Panther would come in August because the G5s were scheduled to arive in August.



So I chimed in, "I believe that Apple said that 10.3 would be out sometime in December" He said, "no, you will see it shipping with the G5."



I didn't want to get into a rumor debating match in front of all my fellow co-workers so I let it go.



Based on what we know now, am I right? Is this guy talking out his ass, or is there something to what he's saying?
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 33
    zapchudzapchud Posts: 844member
    We don't really 'know' anything, except for the fact that OS 10.2 Jaguar is the OS specified to ship with the G5. Also, when a company says the product will be finished within the end of the year, it usually is not very far from the end, which August is.



    So basically, your opinion is based on official facts, which are right, unless plans are changed.
  • Reply 2 of 33
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Panther has a good amount of stability and polish right now. I believe Apple can hit an August Shipdate. Unless they're hiding features from us.
  • Reply 3 of 33
    onlookeronlooker Posts: 5,252member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by hmurchison

    Panther has a good amount of stability and polish right now.





    What ever gave you that idea?
  • Reply 4 of 33
    dcqdcq Posts: 349member
    At the keynote-fest in Atlanta, an Apple Store employee said that Panther and the new G5s would ship in August. When I asked him to clarify, he repeated what he said.



    He could have been confused, or misinformed, or over-enthusiastic...but take it for what it's worth. Panther in August is a definite possibility.



    -DCQ
  • Reply 5 of 33
    moogsmoogs Posts: 4,296member
    I kinda hope it doesn't ship in August. That would mean what we see now is pretty much a feature-frozen release and what remains is stability work. If on the other hand, the release is slated for say November, there is plenty of time to work in other notable features.



    Also, I sort of doubt that Apple would release something to developers that lacked major features that will be in the final release, should that final release only be a couple months away.....
  • Reply 6 of 33
    kidredkidred Posts: 2,402member
    It's possible, they have some work to do, but overall it's looking quite nice and noticeably faster.
  • Reply 7 of 33
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Quote:

    What ever gave you that idea?



    oh...the reports seemed fairly positive.
  • Reply 8 of 33
    jaredjared Posts: 639member
    Unless they have shipped the GM and the boxs and manuals to the press I do not think it would be out in August.



    I am not sure about Jaguar but I remember for Puma they had a PR stating that the GM was going to the pressing plants...
  • Reply 9 of 33
    macsrgood4umacsrgood4u Posts: 3,007member
    As discussed elsewhere and on the Apple site the G5's will ship "on or beforer September 2nd". Also Apple says Jaguar will the be the OS (a special optimized version). We'll just have to wait and see.
  • Reply 10 of 33
    brunobruinbrunobruin Posts: 552member
    The time between the Jaguar developer release and public release was more than three months. I doubt it will be much less this time around. Panther isn't even officially beta, is it? Officially it's a developer's preview.



    Steve said "before the end of the year." I think if they had an earlier date planned he would have said "this fall." If Panther were far enough along, they would not have done a special build of 10.2 just for the two months when no G5s are shipping anyway.



    Panther will ship late enough that Apple will feel justified in charging all of you who are now preordering G5s another $129 to upgrade. When Apple announces a ship date for Panther, they will also announce that anyone ordering a Mac as of that date will get it for $19 or whatever.
  • Reply 11 of 33
    coscos Posts: 99member
    What if what we're seeing now IS the Panther preview, a preview with only limited functionality than what it will be in November?



    Essentially, what the developers got would be what will ship in August with the G5. Come November, it will be the full panther release.



    I would feel kindof disapointed if my G5 didn't come with at least some of the features that WWDC demonstrated.
  • Reply 12 of 33
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    First, a general word of warning: Retail people, generally, know nothing. It's not a criticism, it's just a fact. They're at the bottom of the food chain, so to speak. The employees in question might have stated their firm, common-sensical belief that Panther would ship with the G5, but indications from the Mothership are that it won't. I'm sure Apple would like to ship Panther in August, but it'll be done when it's done, and not beforehand. It's an incredibly ambitious release, from the looks of it.



    As for the "expectations," Steve was as clear as he could have been that the features demo'd would ship with Panther, not the G5, and that people who purchased a G5 would get a coupon good for an upgrade to Panther - which wouldn't be necessary if the G5 shipped with it! Along those lines, and in lockstep with every other Apple system release, I expect that Panther will enjoy exactly one feature-complete general release. There won't be an "80%" version for G5 owners. There will be Sméagol.
  • Reply 13 of 33
    davegeedavegee Posts: 2,765member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by BrunoBruin

    Steve said "before the end of the year." I think if they had an earlier date planned he would have said "this fall."



    Well take this for what it's worth...



    At the WWDC pre-intro of the G4 when asked when a G4 based PowerMac would be available Apple's reply was "The G4 will be shipping in Apple boxes this time next year - as in May 2000"... Now, after hearing that comment every mac user was pissed ... that is, until Aug of 1999 when Apple intro'd the PowerMac G4... Did Apple lie?



    Nope... WWDC 2000 the PowerMac G4 was indeed shipping...



    Sometimes Steve / Apple sandbag on shipping dates, sometimes they don't... Trying to guess the validity on a specific date is foolhardy without some form of insider insights.



    Dave
  • Reply 14 of 33
    johnsonwaxjohnsonwax Posts: 462member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Amorph

    There will be Sméagol.



    It's worth pointing out the the OS guys do their thing, and the hardware guys do their thing and the presence of a 10.2 build for the G5 suggests in no way that the G5 will ship before 10.3.



    Anyone care to check how many cars are in Apple's parking lot right now (8PM)?
  • Reply 15 of 33
    cowerdcowerd Posts: 579member
    Quote:

    ssentially, what the developers got would be what will ship in August with the G5. Come November, it will be the full panther release.



    I would feel kindof disapointed if my G5 didn't come with at least some of the features that WWDC demonstrated.



    Get over the disappoint early, cause Panther ain't gonna ship with the G5 as a partial release, if only to spare the tech support people the inevitable whining. Most of the G5s will ship to people who ostensibly work for a living using computers. Apple, wanting to stay in business, will not ship an OS that is not production ready with the pro machines.



    Panther is/ a developer preview. Barely a beta is you want ot think of it that way. There are too many bugs and missing pieces to be considered anything more than a test bed.
  • Reply 16 of 33
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Amorph



    As for the "expectations," Steve was as clear as he could have been that the features demo'd would ship with Panther, not the G5, and that people who purchased a G5 would get a coupon good for an upgrade to Panther - which wouldn't be necessary if the G5 shipped with it!




    i dotn remember/forgot he said this...i was hoping i wouldn't have to buy a copy of panther...thats awesome!
  • Reply 17 of 33
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Amorph, do you know if thats ALL G5's bought or just the ones bought from apple...because i'd liek to buy one from macwarehouse and get that nice free printer
  • Reply 18 of 33
    snowstersnowster Posts: 68member
    What if Panther will really be ready at the end of august? Do you think that Apple would postpone the production of the PowerMac G5 just to slip panther into the machines? I mean come on, they are producing loads of G5s as we speak and Panther isnt ready yet. So they cant include/preload Panther with the G5 and are using 10.2.7 for that matter. This also gives them breathing room in the case of Panther being delayed for some reason.



    I think this is brilliant. The G5 and Panther are not tied to each other, they both have their own manufacturing/shipping schedules, yet they could actually be delivered on the same day.



    -Snowster
  • Reply 19 of 33
    costiquecostique Posts: 1,084member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Moogs

    I kinda hope it doesn't ship in August. That would mean what we see now is pretty much a feature-frozen release and what remains is stability work.



    Panther was feature-frozen a couple of months ago. It is not an insider's knowledge; it's the way all large projects go. Firstly, planning. Then deciding on main features for a couple of future releases. Then coding. Then testing and debugging, possibly adding some quick enhancements. However, 95-100% of features are guaranteed at the second stage.

    Quote:

    Also, I sort of doubt that Apple would release something to developers that lacked major features that will be in the final release, should that final release only be a couple months away.....



    Why? A modern OS is divided into hundreds of small projects which separate groups of developers are busy with. So, for example, if they found that piles crash Finder too often right now and their new metadata-driven file system is too slow, they might take them from the developer preview. Easily. After all, it is a developer preview. In other words, it is intended for developers to test their apps with it because Apple believes that omitted features will not interfere with apps compatible with the DP, and that the OS in its DP form is indicative enough for developers as to what to expect from GM.
  • Reply 20 of 33
    michaelbmichaelb Posts: 242member
    Panther's official delivery time is "before the end of the year."



    Jaguar last year was "before the end of Summer." Jaguar shipped in August.



    Also, Panther is in about the same state or less complete than Jaguar was at its similar WWDC preview, which was later this year. That is, Panther is unstable, rough around the edges, missing libraries, and my app doesn't work on it .



    Conclusion: Panther will arrive November/December.



    The G5 will ship in August (we hope!) with 10.2.7 aka Sméagol.



    Then Panther will arrive a few months later and Sméagol will be cast screaming to his death into the fiery depths of Mount Doom. (Sorry if I spoilt Return of the King for you - now you don't have to see the movie. Use your Cheesegrater instead.)
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