Upgrading to Panther?
 

Is it really worth upgrading to 10.3? I'm currently running 10.2.8. I've read a few things about applications not runnning or losing all files on the hard disk. Is it really worth the risk of installing - As I'm mainly just using Final Cut is running 10.3 really that much better than 10.2.8?

I use 10.2.8 at home and 10.3.2 at work, both with Final Cut Pro 4.x. 10.2.8 is hands down the better OS, especially when it comes to networking. 10.3.2 is sort of flakey. For some reason I also find it easier to do meaningless tasks in the Finder easier in 10.2.8, like select all the files in a folder in the multi-column view with my mouse. The Exposé thing in 10.3.2 is kind of cool, though. I'll post more examples if I run across them today (I am at home now), as I know there are more issues.

So, is the reason nobody has posted views on this due to the fact that everyone agrees with Ted that 10.3 is less a Panther and more a (overpriced) Lame Duck.

No, I didn't post because the merits of Panther have been discussed in the past. The biggest improvements from Panther are noticed on older Macs and the new G5's. Is it mandatory to upgrade? No, but there are many benefits, including improved FireWire drivers, that may benefit your editing.

Over the Christmas break, I upgraded one of my FCP workstations to Panther. First off, I'm amazed at how much more real-time I am getting. Everything from rendering times to MPEG2 encode times are faster.

The second major improvement is that I have completed 2 projects from capture all the way to DVD authoring. I have not had so much as a hickup. No crashes, no unexpected quits, no spinning beachballs of death. That right there is worth the price of admission.

Rick

I just bought an eMac with Panther. I transfered all my old stuff, it went flawlessly. iMovie runs real fast, I imported a bunch of clips and started chopping them up. I havend burned a DVD yet, but I will withhin the week, just to check it out. I'm thinking of upgrading my iMac DV+SE (500Mhz G3) from OS 9 to Panther and networking them together.

Dan, you'll see a big improvement in the iMac. I've upgraded several iMacs with Panther and the speed increases I've seen have been very noticeable. It is also easier to network under OS X than 9.

So y'all think that OS X (10.3) would run faster than OS 9 on any given G3? I've always found OS X slower on any Mac than OS 9 (overall OS responsiveness, not rendering and the like). It just seems to me like OS X needs more horsepower due to what it is. Kind of like Mac OS 9 needs more horsepower than the first incarnation of DOS.

Not the case for me, Ted. Panther and FCP4 blaze compared to previous setups. I'm amazed at the speed of rendering times now.

A few limited aspects of OS 9 and iMacs are faster. But for most users of G3 machines the few faster performance aspects aren't very important. For example reboot/start up times are usually faster with OS 9. My son and my dad (both on iMacs) don't care how fast their iMacs start. Windows open slightly faster and some applications launch faster under OS 9, again my dad and son really don't seem to notice and/or care. What they do notice is a much better, safer memory management system. Of course they don't realize it, but the better MMU allows them to have more window open and programs running without crashing. They both think printing is much faster. In OS 9 you would sometimes getting the spinning ball for minutes before it would print. Why? Probably all the memory was gone and it took forever to spool the document. They both notice that their computers don't crash any more. I haven't gotten one call from my dad on his machine locking up since installing Panther. On OS 9 it was a weekly event to have it freeze during his use. It was very annoying to lose documents etc.

So, for high performance users, don't use a G3. But the expectations of low end users (internet, word processing, printing, etc.) are generally exceeded with Panther and G3 machines.

That's really fascinating guys, I'm surprised to hear this about the G3 iMacs. We have a bunch of them at work, so maybe it's worth considering an upgrade? But machines of that vintage typically come up short on memory and hard drive as compared to newer models. For example, I think most of our vintage iMacs have 96 MB or 128 MB of RAM and hard drives in the 3 to 5 GB range with processors running at 233 or 333 mhz IIRC. Surely that isn't enough to support Panther, is it? And it would really be throwing money down a hole to start upgrading these antiques, although I can see that it might make sense if you just have one machine at home.

Minimum recommended ram for Jaguar was 256mb, Panther is 128mb. The 333MHz models used to have a very affordable upgrade to G4's, but NewTech went out of business. However, hard drives can be upgrade for very little. CompUSA and other discounters regularly have 40, 60 and 80 Gb drives for $40 to $50 after rebates.

Interesting. My dad has the first ever model iMac, and I don't think that can run OS X. I am trying to persuade him into buying a current model iMac like I was able to do with my mom. My mom's iMac ran a little bit slow until I tripled its memory this Christmas. It's like a whole new machine. Can never have enough RAM.

Question: If my dad got a new iMac, could 10.3 network to OS 9 to transfer all of his stuff via a cat-5e crossover cable?

Yes, your dad should have no problem using a crossover to network. Mixed platforms can be a problem, but he should be fine. Your dad's iMac will indeed run Panther as long as he has 128mb of ram and 2gb of disk space for the install.

Okay, I'm sold so far but just to clarify, I'm on a G4 i-mac with 10.2.8 - so I should notice significant improvement on rendering times in Final Cut etc. And when I (if) I install I should select 'Archive and Clean Install' to update the system and keep all my files, applications and preferences etc.

Cheers

Justin, I don't think you'll get significant improvement in rendering times just by going to Panther. A few things are noticeably faster, but rendering is processor intensive and a new OS will not help. My comments, as I stated, are for older iMacs (G3's) and G5's. You'll get the most improvement by maxing out your ram, and then moving to Panther. You will not notice a big improvement by going to Panther alone. I would guess that my wife's G4 iMac saw a 10% overall improvement by upgrading to Panther.

Well... I've done it. Upgraded to Panther 10.3.2 last night. And, I'm pleased to say that I encountered no problems at all and things seem to be running very smoothly. Thanks to everyone for their help and advice in persuading me to take the plunge.

One final LITTLE query (sorry Jeff). I did 'Archive and Install' which (as you know) backs up all the software and files etc in a 'Previous system' folder Does the NEW system actually refer to this folder at all. If I find that nothing seems to be missing from my new set-up can I delete this folder?

Thanks again!

No, the new system does not refer to files in your old system folder. I would leave it for a week or two and if nothing is missing go ahead and delete it. If you need the space sooner, just look at some of the files and compare the folder and files to your new system.

Cool, thanks.