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Panther Strikes at Georgetown
The feature-rich new operating system arrives just in time for enhanced Mac support
Robert Boyajian
Macintosh’s latest operating system, OS X (10.3) Panther, offers a variety of new features and some notable improvements over its predecessors.
- The built-in e-mail program sports improved junk mail filters and better address management.
- Pop-up blocking and Google searching are built in to the Web browser.
- The new Exposé utility allows you view all your open windows as thumbnails and lets you organize them with a keystroke.
- A new videoconferencing application, iChat AV, works seamlessly with the iSight camera included with new Macs.
- And you can switch from one user account to another without quitting all your applications and logging out!
Like its OS X predecessors, Panther is built on FreeBSD UNIX and supports a wide variety of processing-heavy applications. For researchers, scientists, and creative professionals in particular, Mac continues to be desktop computing leader.
Panther comes installed on all new Macs, and the operating systems on G3, G4, and G5 Macs can be upgraded to Panther. Hoya Computing offers Georgetown University faculty, staff, and students academic discounts on Mac computers and applications. You can purchase Panther at an academic discount of $69 per individual license; volume pricing is also available.
If you would like to upgrade a University-issued Mac, take the following steps to ensure that your upgrade goes quickly and smoothly:
- Order Panther through Hoya Computing’s Apple Store.
- Run the Software Update tool on your Mac (your current software should be fully up-to-date before you install Panther).
- Put all your important files in one place and back them up!
- Back up any non-standard software for which you don't have original media, such as shareware downloaded from the Internet
- Call the Help Desk when your copy of Panther arrives. A technician will come out to your desk and install Panther along with you. Make sure that the technician knows if you are upgrading from OS 9 or if you have installed non-standard software, and please set aside enough time. The installation can take an hour or more and you can’t stop in the middle.
Another interesting development is the recent release of Microsoft Office 2004, available at academic discount from Hoya Computing in June. You can preview Office 2004's new features at http://www.microsoft.com/mac/.
It has never been a better time to be a Mac user, especially at Georgetown. Apple representatives have begun holding events for the university Mac community; a seminar on Panther was held in February and followed up by a discussion on scientific computing in April. In addition, UIS has been authorized to use Apple's GSE repair tracking system, so technicians can keep tabs on your Mac if it is being repaired.
Join the community of Georgetown Mac users and stay informed by subscribing to the GUMac Listserv. To subscribe, send an e-mail to listproc@georgetown.edu that says "subscribe MACTECH-L <your NetID>".
For more information about the many benefits of upgrading, see http://www.apple.com/macos/.
Robert Boyajian is Technical Editor for UIS. | 
