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For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul

Saturday, October 18, 2003

Panther up close, part one: Installation

I've installed Panther on both Macs now--an upgrade on the iMac 17-inch 1 GHz, and a clean install on the iBook 12-inch 500 MHz--and the Setup routine is probably the first hint that this OS is a very much a minor upgrade to Jaguar. Setup is decidedly old school, with a bizarre sequence of useless notes (e.g. "Copying BSD subsystem") and two reboots, ala Windows. Panther comes on three CDs, which seems to broken down into core OS, applications and drivers, and X11, basically, so most people will only need the first two (the second CD is requested after the first reboot). Here's a tip: Be sure to choose "Customize" so you don't have to install a ton of international languages; I have no idea why they're included in the "easy" install. Installation took almost an hour in each case, not including the Software Update step, which installed newer versions of iSync and iTunes. Oddly, you can only set up your own user during Setup; other users have to be added manually later. The "Welcome to Panther" section of Setup, where you input your registration, .Mac, and Internet connection data, features dramatically faster-paced music than the New Age stuff used in previous OS X versions, but overall, it's very, very similar to previous versions. In fact, the whole Setup routine is so similar to previous versions, you'll barely notice a difference until the Welcome music kicks in (and that only happens on a clean install). In short, there's nothing dramatic in Panther's Setup

[ Posted at 12:42 AM | Permalink ]