Mac OS X Panther
Mac OS X Panther (version 10.3) is the fourth major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system. It followed Mac OS X Jaguar and preceded Mac OS X Tiger. It was released on October 24, 2003.
Version of the macOS operating system | |
Developer | Apple Computer, Inc. |
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OS family |
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Source model | Closed, with open source components |
Released to manufacturing | October 24, 2003[1] |
Latest release | 10.3.9 / April 15, 2005[2] |
Platforms | PowerPC |
Kernel type | Hybrid (XNU) |
License | Apple Public Source License (APSL) and Apple end-user license agreement (EULA) |
Preceded by | Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar |
Succeeded by | Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger |
Official website | Apple - Mac OS X at the Wayback Machine (archived January 11, 2005) |
Tagline | The evolution of the species. |
Support status | |
Historical, Unsupported as of March 4, 2007 |
Part of a series on |
macOS |
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System requirements
Panther's system requirements are:[3]
- PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor (at least 233 MHz)
- Built-in USB
- At least 128 MB of RAM (256 MB recommended, minimum of 96 MB supported unofficially)
- At least 1.5 GB of available hard disk space
- CD drive
- Internet access requires a compatible service provider; iDisk requires a .Mac account
Video conferencing requires:
- 333 MHz or faster PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor
- Broadband internet access (100 kbit/s or faster)
- Compatible FireWire DV camera or web camera
Since a New World ROM was required for Mac OS X Panther, certain older computers (such as beige Power Mac G3s and 'Wall Street' PowerBook G3s) were unable to run Panther by default. Third-party software (such as XPostFacto) can, however, override checks made during the install process; otherwise, installation or upgrades from Jaguar fails on these older machines.
Panther still fully supported the Classic environment for running older Mac OS 9 applications, but made Classic application windows double-buffered, interfering with some applications written to draw directly to screen.
New and changed features
End-user features
Apple advertised that Mac OS X Panther had over 150 new features, including:
- Finder: Updated with a brushed-metal interface, a new live search engine, customizable Sidebar, secure deletion, colored labels (resurrected from classic Mac OS[4]) in the filesystem and Zip support built in. The Finder icon was also changed.
- Fast user switching: Allows a user to remain logged in while another user logs in, and quickly switch among several sessions.
- Exposé: Helps the user manage windows by showing them all as thumbnails.
- TextEdit: TextEdit now is also compatible with Microsoft Word (.doc) documents.
- Xcode developer tools: Faster compile times with gcc 3.3.
- Preview: Increased speed of PDF rendering.
- QuickTime: Now supports the Pixlet high-definition video codec.
New applications in Panther
- Font Book: A font manager which simplifies viewing character maps, and adding new fonts that can be used systemwide. The app also allows the user to organize fonts into collections.
- FileVault: On-the-fly encryption and decryption of a user's home folder.
- iChat AV: The new version of iChat. Now with built-in audio- and video conferencing.
- X11: X11 is built into Panther.
- Safari: A new web browser that was developed to replace Internet Explorer for Mac when the contract between Apple and Microsoft ended, although Internet Explorer for Mac was still available. Safari 1.0 was included in an update in Jaguar but was used as the default browser in Panther.
Other
- Microsoft Windows interoperability improvements, including out-of-the-box support for Active Directory and SecurID-based VPNs.
- Built-in fax support.
Release history
Version | Build | Date | Darwin version | Notes |
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10.3 | 7B85 | October 24, 2003 | 7.0 | Original retail release set |
7B86 | Server Edition | |||
10.3.1 | 7C107 | November 10, 2003 | 7.1 | Mac OS X Update 10.3.1: Information and Download |
10.3.2 | 7D24 | December 17, 2003 | 7.2 | Mac OS X: About the Mac OS X 10.3.2 Update |
7D28 | Updated retail release | |||
10.3.3 | 7F44 | March 15, 2004 | 7.3 | Mac OS X: About the Mac OS X 10.3.3 Update (Combo) |
10.3.4 | 7H63 | May 26, 2004 | 7.4 | About the Mac OS X 10.3.4 Update |
10.3.5 | 7M34 | August 9, 2004 | 7.5 | About the Mac OS X 10.3.5 Update (Delta); Updated retail release set |
10.3.6 | 7R28 | November 5, 2004 | 7.6 | About the Mac OS X 10.3.6 Update (Delta) |
10.3.7 | 7S215 | December 15, 2004 | 7.7 | About the Mac OS X 10.3.7 Update (Delta) |
10.3.8 | 7U16 | February 9, 2005 | 7.8 | About the Mac OS X 10.3.8 Update (Delta) |
10.3.9 | 7W98 | April 15, 2005 | 7.9 | About the Mac OS X 10.3.9 Update (Delta) |
Timeline
Timeline of Mac operating systems |
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References
- ""Night of the Panther" Kicks Off at 8:00 p.m. Tomorrow" (Press release). Apple Inc. October 23, 2003. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
- "Mac OS X Combined Update 10.3.9". Apple Inc. Archived from the original on April 19, 2005.
- "Mac OS X Panther: System requirements". Apple. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2010.
- "One more cool cat". The Baltimore Sun. October 30, 2003. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
Those nostalgic for Mac OS 9 will celebrate the return of colored file labels in this menu.