Is Panther more eye candy or substance?

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Okay this is a question coming from a non-techy so don't get offended.



Just picking up on what Jobs reiterated at Paris on how he wished the new friendlier Panther user interface was around four years ago.

So, is Panther more about streamlining the UI, perhaps toning down some of the aqua/metal finishes? In other words, the look?



Or is the focus on further improving the speed, reliability, functionality of the OS.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 17
    zozo Posts: 3,117member
    substance





    just by test running the very first WWDC Panther seed the G4 733MHz machine I'm on 'felt' almost twice as (sorry, but got to say it) snappy.



    I played with that for about 2hours and havent tested any of the more recent seeds.



    Am really looking forward to this update
  • Reply 2 of 17
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    Obviously, some refinements to the UI should be addressed too, but If Apple's looking to charge $129 for Panther, I'd hope it's more substance and really make the OS "fly".



    And these enhancements must warrant the cost of upgrading or else I'd suspect many might just stick with 10.2.6. for a while.
  • Reply 3 of 17
    torifiletorifile Posts: 4,024member
    Substance all the way. The UI enhancements aren't just about eye candy, they improve functionality immensely. From the new finder, to the open/save dialogs, to expose, they all help productivity. It's amazing. Then, if you get under the hood with all the unixy stuff they've worked on, you've got even more substance. Panther is an even better citizen on a network than Jaguar was, even though Jag was pretty good. All those "hidden" features that we had in printing via CUPS, for example, are now out in the open. And they work. Setting up printing through a shared Windows printer was as easy as connecting to a computer on the network. To be honest, I don't know how Apple keeps doing it. It's exciting to think what they'll come with next.



    edit: satchmo, you are now l33t. your post count is 1337.
  • Reply 4 of 17
    moogsmoogs Posts: 4,296member
    I would say the changes are a lot more substance than they are sparkle. While it's debatable whether the changes made to the Finder are mostly superficial or not - John Siracusa for example, thinks it's not much different from the old one functionally - overall there is much about Panther that will make working on a Mac more efficient and enjoyable.



    To name a few:



    Much more responsive to mouse and keyboard input, system-wide

    More refined versions of Mail, iCal and Address Book

    Re-designed Open/Save Dialogs

    Improved Networking Stability

    Fast User Switching

    Exposé



    All in all, I would say it's definitely worth the upgrade fee. Might even spare you from buying a new Mac for another year.
  • Reply 5 of 17
    I forgot to add mail.app's improvements. The way it handles threaded messages is absolutely slick. The best implementation I've ever seen. I hadn't even thought that mail should be handled in that way, but it's damn cool. That's a sign of a good development. And the way it handles email addresses as "objects" (as SJ put it), is cool. It makes adding email addresses to your address book a matter of clicking on a contextual menu. Very cool.
  • Reply 6 of 17
    Jeez, I also forgot about Textedit's .doc support. Yes, it's an application improvement, but it's way more than that. It's a system-wide framework that can be leveraged in any app that wants to use it. The lack of good word processors on OS X is about to be a non-issue. All cocoa apps will be able to do this. That's absolutely cool. And if you don't like any of the available applications, you can roll your own cocoa text editing application. With .doc support. Before, that would be next to impossible. Super cool. I need to learn to program cocoa....
  • Reply 7 of 17
    jwilljwill Posts: 209member
    I'm pretty willing now to buy Panther when it comes out and see all the new stuff in it. I have a feeling there's more substance than eye candy in it.



    I don't remember the new features I encountered from 10.1 to 10.2, but I know I wouldn't want to go back to 10.1. I bet I'll (and you'll) feel the same way with 10.3. Expose seems quite useful and there actually was a time before that I wish I had it! There's a lot of other good things to come as well, but I've never used it before.



    I hope they preview it before I buy it..that would be so cool.



    EDIT - I mean, preview it at the store I'll buy it at, which will probably be CompUSA.
  • Reply 8 of 17
    Trust me 10.3 is all about speed! Using n my G4/733 the OS feels much faster then 10.2 and all my apps run faster too!
  • Reply 9 of 17
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Thereubster

    Trust me 10.3 is all about speed! Using n my G4/733 the OS feels much faster then 10.2 and all my apps run faster too!



    I too have a G4/733 at work. While I'm not crazy running OS 9.2.2 on it, it's pretty quick and responsive. Would you say that Panther is comparable to that in speed?
  • Reply 10 of 17
    moogsmoogs Posts: 4,296member
    [Homer J.] Mmmmmm. Sppeeeeeed... *drools* [/Homer J.]



    Face it Satch, Panther already OwnZ yeR SOLE. You will buy it; resistance is futile!



  • Reply 11 of 17
    satchmosatchmo Posts: 2,699member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Moogs

    [Homer J.] Mmmmmm. Sppeeeeeed... *drools* [/Homer J.]



    Face it Satch, Panther already OwnZ yeR SOLE. You will buy it; resistance is futile!







    Yeah...I will.

    But hopefully it'll come free with a Powerbook attached to it.
  • Reply 12 of 17
    moogsmoogs Posts: 4,296member
    I was originally hoping my Panther would come with a nice G5 dual, but alas, not until next year it seems. Bohhgus, dude!



    \
  • Reply 13 of 17
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Moogs

    I was originally hoping my Panther would come with a nice G5 dual, but alas, not until next year it seems. Bohhgus, dude!



    \




    I expect Panther to be standard with G5s from the date Apple decides to ship Panther, which is this year.
  • Reply 14 of 17
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    I recently played with my friends who installed the latest build of panther on his 733 QS. Comparing speed in both was just as noticeable as 10.1->10.2 I think. I didn't get to use it much but I'll tell you what I didn't like...



    The new window title bars with the gray gradient...they look ugly and unfinished.



    The way things look when selected and the labeling is ugly and I think looks horrible.



    Fast user switching should be able to be done by using just icons instead of the person's whole name. I don't like my time being pushed to the left on the menu bar, it should be at the far right no matter what. Also I don't like you have to enter a password every time you switch from one account to another, though I guess this is to be expected.



    All in all though, it is very fast and paging through a PDF in reader was amazing. I think macs are finally faster at it then PCs! Font Manager or whatever it is called seemed kinda slow and laggy to me though, anyone else think so?



    Definitely worth the money though because the speed increase is worth using the uglier GUI.





    Oh yeah one more problem...the bar separators in menu's stand out too much. I doubt it will but would be nice for them to lighten them up as I think it looks unfinished.
  • Reply 15 of 17
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ast3r3x

    I recently played with my friends who installed the latest build of panther on his 733 QS. Comparing speed in both was just as noticeable as 10.1->10.2 I think. I didn't get to use it much but I'll tell you what I didn't like...



    The new window title bars with the gray gradient...they look ugly and unfinished.



    The way things look when selected and the labeling is ugly and I think looks horrible.



    Fast user switching should be able to be done by using just icons instead of the person's whole name. I don't like my time being pushed to the left on the menu bar, it should be at the far right no matter what. Also I don't like you have to enter a password every time you switch from one account to another, though I guess this is to be expected.



    All in all though, it is very fast and paging through a PDF in reader was amazing. I think macs are finally faster at it then PCs! Font Manager or whatever it is called seemed kinda slow and laggy to me though, anyone else think so?



    Definitely worth the money though because the speed increase is worth using the uglier GUI.





    Oh yeah one more problem...the bar separators in menu's stand out too much. I doubt it will but would be nice for them to lighten them up as I think it looks unfinished.




    In my opinion, the interface for 10.3 is actually better. New "tabs" (the 'pill' - that's what I like to call it), and the overall interface (gray titlebar, subtle stripes) is now easier on the eyes. The aqua interface in 10.2 is seeming to become blinding for some reason.



    The way things look selected is something I'd be able to deal with. It actually moves away from the darkening of the icon itself, and darkens the area around it. Looks better to me. I've heard that there were other things, smooth scrolling and the like, but I can't say too much until it's released and I get to try it!
  • Reply 16 of 17
    ast3r3xast3r3x Posts: 5,012member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jwill

    In my opinion, the interface for 10.3 is actually better. New "tabs" (the 'pill' - that's what I like to call it), and the overall interface (gray titlebar, subtle stripes) is now easier on the eyes. The aqua interface in 10.2 is seeming to become blinding for some reason.



    The way things look selected is something I'd be able to deal with. It actually moves away from the darkening of the icon itself, and darkens the area around it. Looks better to me. I've heard that there were other things, smooth scrolling and the like, but I can't say too much until it's released and I get to try it!




    I could live with the way things are selected and I kinda do like the new tabs too..definitely cool. My biggest problem is with the title bars. They just seem boring and ugly. 2nd biggest is labels, but I don't use them so it's not a big problem. Everything else is livable, those are not. I may have to ask brad to help me change them as he is THE original OS X UI moder it seems. Though that is self proclaimed
  • Reply 17 of 17
    jwilljwill Posts: 209member
    At first I thought the title bar was almost flat! lol...but then I came to like it (even though it's still not released yet! )



    What's smooth scrolling like?
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