A COMPUTER YOU CAN LOVE

Last night I upgraded my 2001 iMac to OS X Panther, which is Unix-based and has gotten good reviews. This figured to be an amusing exercise since this computer has the exact minimum requirements (G3 processor, 128 MB of RAM) to run the OS. I figured the most likely outcome was the computer refusing to boot and being hurled down the garbage chute with a satisfying crash.

But it actually installed with a minimum of fuss (well, my firmware needed updating and the manual referred me here to update it, but that's par for the course). Now that it's installed it works great. The Safari browser is faster than IE was on the old OS, and iTunes works better. Data was converted automatically. All my old apps work in the System 9 emulator, including WriteNow! which was last updated in the early 90's. System updates are user-initiated and easy to do. The machine has run over 24 hours without crashing, which may be a Macintosh record.

Kind of interesting that the Apple Marketing Department decided the best way to sell their OS was to put it in a big black box, call it "Panther" and label it with a giant X. Which demographic group were they aiming for, I wonder...