"Are you going to get Tiger?" asks Mac-using workmate Thomas (of, to warn those who aren't interested, the latest computer operating system from Apple, out a while ago amid the usual hullabaloo).
"No. Maybe someday."
Here come some useful links for those planning on doing so if they haven't, like maybe over the weekend, along with my own reasons for staying out of the rush -- apart from the usual, frankly reasonable, price. You can enjoy two important benefits, briefly mentioned below, without upgrading.
If anybody's thinking of getting a new Mac, it's obvious: you get Mac OS X 10.4 with it, no messing. I've seen few bug reports, it's a better system even than 10.3 (Panther).
My main reason for indifference to the 200 or so improvements and new features is that ones I'd want have been swiped by Apple from smaller software developers, and incorporated into their own system. I've already paid for such programmes. Thus my Panther purrs beautifully and is hacked how I like it. Other improvements are outside my areas of interest.
If I eventually do move on and have the cash, I'd first re-read François Joseph de Kermadec's 'Everything You Need to Know to Install Tiger' (at the MacDev Center, strongly recommended) and Derrick Story's column there on 'Housecleaning Tips'. His way of upgrading makes sense:
"I remain addicted to clean installs on an annual basis. Since Apple has been releasing new versions of Mac OS X on a similar cycle, I've used the pending upgrade as an excuse to tidy up before installation. That will be my approach with Tiger, and that's what this article is about (MDC again)."
For a lot of multimedia work I use third-party programmes along with Apple's QuickTime player and editing application. It's now QuickTime 7, I installed it the day it was out and immediately coughed the 30 bucks or euros payable to stay Pro.
Since O'Reilly's got an eye on that, this week there's a piece on what's new in "Magnificent Seven" (QT7, MDC). If you don't know what codecs are and why a new one can be darned useful, Chris Adamson explains all.
The Safari net browser now features RSS; that's great, I've often gone on about it, newsreading and blogging, won't do so again, but don't need Safari to do it for me.
The latest version of iTunes has also just been released. It's free, works fine on Panther and older systems, and was installed without a glitch. Kindly it behaves itself and didn't mess up my music library or preferences (though I took the precaution of backing these up before sticking it on the Mac in case it did).
I think iTunes 8 now does some video stuff and even offers the like from the iTMS with that new codec, but have yet to check this out, so don't take my word for it.
The only thing to watch out for at such transitional times is to avoid downloading and installing an upgrade to third-party stuff that works only with Tiger, not previous versions of the OS. There are a few around, so stop to read the blurb before rushing in.
That's it. If I see a good reason to turn to Tiger, I'll let you know. The Kid's happy with Jaguar (10.2) and goes "Oh wow, that's cool" when she sees me using some of Panther's features, but "No thanks, Dad, I'm fine," if I say "Do you want it then?"
If she changes her mind ... well, it's Tiger for her, isn't it?
9:26:43 PM link 
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