MAC OS X Panther?

[Charles Martin]

> From: Matthew Guemple <mo.og at verizon.net>
>
> I like the next best thing as well, I just don't want to be out a 
> bunch =20=
>
> of cash.

I got Jaguar for $69 by waiting a couple of weeks after release. 
Assuming (and it is *just* an assumption at this point) that Panther 
costs $129 as well, I'm sure discounts like the ones that accompanied 
Jag will be available, you might have to hunt around a bit though.

> Would it require a software upgrade as well... ie months of waiting or 
> =20=
>
> working around while software catches up?

Unlikely, though of course a few badly-programmed things always "break" 
when the software is revised. Wouldn't it be funny if Quark 6 came out 
in, say, June, only to "break" in the fall (assuming Panther is 
released then)?

No? It wouldn't be funny? ;)

>  Or will the old stuff run =20
> (and like the altivec thing) just require a patch to make use of the 
> =20
> 64bit aspect? Or do we know that yet?

No patch, rewritten software or anything like that is going to make 
YOUR machine run in 64-bit. That's a function of the processor. You'll 
need a new machine (or at the very least an upgrade card) to make apps 
run in 64-bit mode. It will be years before consumers are using true 
64-bit-capable software in any volume anyway. I imagine that in most 
cases, 64-bit compatibility will be "rolled into" major upgrades as 
they move forward (just as OS X compatibility was rolled into the next 
major release of Adobe apps).

_Chas_

Atheist having orgasm: "Ooo chemical chance! Chemical CHANCE!!"
- Bill Hicks