Mac OS X 10.1

Rating:
Summary: Great update to the Mac OS line
Review: I found 10.1 very stable and secure. Installation was a snap. Having worked with both mac and windows computers, I have to say this installation is the most easy of any OS upgrade I've done. My g3 400mhz iMac runs the OS very smoothly. Native applications load quickly, and classic apps load only marginally slower than they did in 9.1. Speech recognition software was a nice surprise, and seem sto work about 70% of the time (though I haven't finished practicing it). The interface is much different from 9, and the learning curve is slight, but the voyage is fun. A good upgrade.

Rating:
Summary: Yes, its time to upgrade, it will be worth it.
Review: I have been a Mac user since 1985 and love Macs, so there is my caveat :).

I was not planning to upgrade to OSX till late this year when I planned to get a new Titanium powerbook, but my partner bought me OSX for Christmas knowing that I was interested. I was at first reluctant to install it on my G3 powerbook, but when ahead and did it. I'm sold.

If you are thinking of upgrading to OSX from 9, here are some of the reasons I think it is worth doing so (with some caveats).
1. I've been using it on my G3 powerbook now for 4 months and the system has yet to crash, freeze or hiccup. The stability is amazing and has made my computer use so much more pleasant! Even the fact that I don't have to restart my computer after a application unexpectedly quits (rare, but it happens still) is a major blessing.
2. I find the interface beautiful and though it is different in several major ways from the old OS (1-9), it is still very user friendly and relatively intuitive (always a step ahead). I love the Dock.
3. Most of the major applications have now come out with OSX versions, MS Office, Explorer, Netscape, Palm Desktop, Photoshop, Adobe applications, etc. So there won't be much missing. There are still a few applications I am waiting for the upgrades to OSX, but for now I can use the 'classic' versions (see caveat below). There seem to be dozens of OSX applications both large and small coming out daily ....
4. Though most users will never need or want to use the Unix core of the system or ever open the terminal application, it has been a godsend for me. About 4 years ago I starting using unix/Linux to do programming, web site management and database interfaces in my new research job. I would switch from my Linux box to my Powerbook all the time (depending if I was writing a perl script or surfing the net/writing email, etc). Now I have the power of Unix with the ease of use of a Mac. It's heaven for me.

Caveats:
1. If you have a G3 (especially a powerbook), the interface will be slow. The graphics capabilities of these machines is not meant to handle the graphics intensive OSX. Mine runs slow (window resizing, etc), but I've lived with it since so much is good about it and I'll be upgrading to new hardware later in the year.
2. Realize that there will be upgrade costs. The upgrade from Office 2001 to Office X ...(I LOVE entourage though :), and of course there are a lot of other applications that you'll need to upgrade to get the full use of OSX.
3. There are still some applications that are not OSX compatible. I find using the classic environment (to run old programs) somewhat annoying and time consuming (to start it up), but doable. ...(you'll be surprised though how many applications you probably already have bought in the last couple years that can run in both systems :)

I now don't understand why anyone really would use wintel. If they are a poweruser, MacOSX or Linux/Unix are for them, if they want ease of use, MacOSX. But that is coming from a user of Macs for 17 years :).

Rating:
Summary: A powerful stable OS that is the way of the future
Review: I have been running OS X for about 3 months now on my 400 MHz G3 (blue and white) server with 256 MB RAM.

When I first openened the box I noticed there was almost nothing in the way of instructions on how to install the OS. This had me skeptical at first. But my doubts were quickly washed away when I inserted the CD, told it to install, rebooted my computer, and was ready to go in about 10-20 mins. It worked on the first time with no troubles (something I cant say about certain PC OS software).

Once the software was installed I was able to get on the internet in a few short minutes with their Internet setup utility. I also imediately started to change settings and found that not all settings listed in the book are available to my older computer. Nothing too important, just auto start up features and some other minor things that are only available on G4 Macs. I then set up my computer to be a Web Server (I have a T1 connection) in about 30 seconds, and an FTP server as well. So I transferred all my webpages off of my University account and had them up and running in about 5 minutes. I can also remotely log into my computer using any SSH software anywhere in the world and have full control over it. It is a full blown UNIX machine. It even comes with developement software, like objective C++, etc, so you can do your own programs right out of the box.

I will say that this software hasn't been 100% trouble free. I did have to restart once, I had my computer on for 2 weeks and for some reason I couldn't change any of my internet settings one day, restarted and it was just fine. Not entirely certain why. Also Sherlock acts up on my computer ocasionally, where it will just stop searching or crash. Restarting fixes the problem. And the final thing is, I wouldn't install it on any slower of a computer than what I am using. G3 400/256 MB of RAM. Games are slow and window resizing and dragging has minor delay. Otherwise it is a wonderful OS. If I had a G4 I would probably rate it 5 stars. Also if you are in education, student/faculty of any level, check out Apples website, they offer HUGE discounts on their software.

For the price this is an extremely powerful OS. Also if you dont like UNIX, you don't even notice its there. If you like UNIX, you can have a terminal open in a jiffy, typing in commands.

Rating:
Summary: Rock Solid
Review: I have been using Mac OS X for almost one year. As soon as a started using it I realized that this was truly a step forward. I have daily experience using several operating systems. At work several editions of Windows but not X P and at home I use Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X 10.1. I have never had a crash with Mac OS X except for once when I disconnected A CDRW while it was writing. But even if I don't consider the stability of the operating system Mac OS X offers the best graphics and the ease-of-use on any computer system today. But wait, there's more. One can return to the command line interface and then run programs a la Unix. So far every device that I have attached, plugged in or installed has worked flawlessly. No problems with drivers. I can't imagine even comparing it with any Windows product. I am dictating this review directly using IBM ViaVoice for Mac OS 10. Another product which works very well with Mac.

Rating:
Summary: Your future is here
Review: I jumped on the OS X bandwagon early with the public beta. I had my reservations then as there were several clunky bits. The 10.0 commercial release, however, addressed most of those. I was quite happy with the system and simply waiting for the industry to catch up with drivers and new software releases.

This update is the first that I can recommend without reservation to Mac users everywhere. I think I'm about the last person to get a printer driver native to OS X (the HP OfficeJet G85 all-in-one) so my last quibble with OS X is gone. Native versions of MS Office products, great new products (like iPhoto), and a solid Classic base for anything that's lagging a bit behind (like some Adobe products) mean that there is no longer any reason to wait.

The transition to OS X is simpler than it sounds. All the UNIX talk tends to scare folks, but the good old Apple user interface folks make it easy to operate. If you love your Mac, you'll love OS X.

Rating:
Summary: Mac Keeps Getting Better
Review: I just bought a new iBook with OS X 10.1. At the same time my brother bought a new desktop with Windows XP. First I have to say that I've always had a Mac so I'm a little baised. I also haven't spent a lot of time on my brother's computer. I have spent enough time though to compare the two. The Mac operating system is an elegant work of art compared to the Windows system. Where the XP is busy and confusing the Mac is elegant and understated. I like the way the icons on the dock are magnified when the cursor is rolled over them. I also like the classic feature which allows you to continue using the old noncompatible programs. It seems to be pretty stable but I have had some crashes.

OS X retains the ease of use of the previous systems and improves on them. With the growing support for the Apple and more cross platform compatibility I can't see any appeal in a computer with menu bars and pull down menus everywhere. I don't play a lot of computer games and at this time that's the only thing I see that Windows has over Mac.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent OS
Review: I just recently bought a new Power Mac G4 desktop (466 Mhz, 384 MB RAM) that came with Mac OS X 10.1, and I have to say it's a wonderful operating system. All of the drawbacks that the earlier Mac OS had have pretty much been taken care of. The pre-emptive multitasking ensures that if one application crashes, it won't bring down the whole system. I haven't used Windows XP, but in my opinion this is more stable than any previous Windows OS. In fact, in the last 6 weeks (which is when I installed OS X), my machine hasn't crashed once (and I've tried, just to see if I could). The Aqua interface looks really cool too, very colorful and makes it fun to use. Highly recommended if you already own a Mac, and if you're on the fence about buying a Mac (like I was before taking the plunge), rest assured that the problems and drawbacks of previous Mac OS's have been taken care of.

Rating:
Summary: Very nearly there.
Review: I suspect the only thing better than the 10.1 revision to the long, long, long awaited next generation Mac OS, is what we'll see from Apple in the next 12 months. What they've done up until now has been remarkably bold: they have gambled their installed base for the sake of their future. OK, so they had no choice. After all, slowing market share hemorrage does little to guarantee the future of the company.

But truly, the creation of this operating system is beyond gutsy. After all, this isn't a company that initially dealt well with the open source culture, with troublesome software developers, with pissed off consumers.

I'd love for Apple to be free to innovate outside of the market, to be the XEROX PARC sort of techno-wizzes who so inspired Steve in the late 1970Õs. The creation of superior products does little to guarantee a profits, market share, or even the future of a corporation. With OS X Apple has struck a good balance: They released an amazingly stable, attractive, and powerful OS; they came in basically on schedule; they are developing a unified brand built around the possibilities of the Mac as the a part of our digital lifestyles. That sounds hokey. It sounds even more hokey when Steve stands there and talks about computers serving as tools that truly improve the way we live. With OS X they have married zealous techno-wizardry with the practical concerns of a profit driven company.

This is a fine product with a fantastically positive future. It's light years ahead of OS 9 (and I do like OS 9, despite my better judgment).

Yes, there are headaches here for some users. It's not an upgrade you can make without feeling it. But if youÕre comfortable with early adoption (and who are we kidding, this is still fairly early in the cycle for such a dramatically different operating system), the benefits far outweigh the pain.

Good luck.

Rating:
Summary: The best OS out there. Period.
Review: I used to hate Macs especially because of their OS. It was old, unstable and Mac users had to wait ages for updates which they had to pay to get.

Well, MacOS X, is by far the most complete and beautifully engineered OS out there (at least on a commercial basis). It is based on NeXT (using the Mach ker.nel) and BSD -- a feature which offers a lot to someone coming from a UNIX platform -- and clearly the best GUI out there.

Some may argue that it is not as polished as it could, but, hey, what is? Windows or Linux? Besides, Apple is releasing free *until now* revisions for download every couple of months and it has improved a lot since 10.0. (the current version at the time of writing is 10.1.2). Release 10.2 is rumoured to have great new features old Mac users requested as well as more language packs and a speedier Quartz. (the graphics engine)

I recommend this to anyone open-minded enough to leave windows behind him/her.

Rating:
Summary: Remarkably stable
Review: I was hesitant to take the plunge from OS 9 to OS X, but a series of crashes in December forced my hand. I've been running OS X nearly two months now and it hasn't crashed yet. Even the programs running on it, whether natively or in the classic environment, are more stable.

Yet this is not all. I have been able to free alternatives to most of the software I was running on OS 9. I found free updates for Appleworks, Scanwise, Netscape, AOL, BBeditLIte, and iCab on the web. And thanks to the Unix core of OS X, I was able to install an X11 GUI and run Opensource programs like Gimp, ImageMagick, & Dillo. There are several Unix experts working on making it easy for Mac users to install and use Opensource software on their computers. Some of these Unix programs (especially Gimp, the Unix alternative to Photoshop) are remarkable. And some of this Unix software is being "frontended" to run in the OS X Aqua GUI. This means the availability of a lot of free software for the Mac, including fax software (Cocoa eFax), language translation programs (WordLookup), and photo retouching software (PixelNhance). We can only imagine what things will be like a year from now, when many more programs have been written or compiled for OS X.

There are, to be sure, a few irritations that go along with upgrading to an operating system that is very much different to what had been run on the Mac before. You can't move files around as freely as they use to, and the OS tries to force users to conform to the Unix directory structure at the base of the computer. There's also no spring-loaded folders and it's a little slower than OS 9. The most serious flaw, however, has to do with support of 3rd party hardware. My printer, scanner, and even my floppy disk drive all worked fine, but OS X has not support (and may never have any support) for my Que USB CD-RW. I have to boot up in OS 9 if I want to use it. But, given all that I've gained from switching over to OS X, I can live with this particular shortcoming.