Rating: 
Summary: Stable but Often Slow
Review: Mac OS 10.1, the long-awaited gift from Apple, is impressively stable. The stability of this OS gives it an edge over the older build of Mac OS 9 (and older systems). Dynamic memory allocation and preemptive multitasking are positive aspects too.However, I would not suggest OS X on a G3 unless you are ready for slow resizing and tediously long launch times. Indeed, even though it is slower, I feel that I am obliged to use OS X on my 600 MHz iBook - not because Apple is phasing out "classic" support. The only thing that truly binds me to OS X is that it is much more stable than OS 9. However, seeing how good things are coming with the new ideas from Apple as they update the system, I would suggest keeping an eye open. Perhaps OS X will speed up soon.
Rating: 
Summary: Mac OS X: A truly amazing peice of software
Review: Mac OS X is a truly amazing piece of software. It's graphics are exceptional, it is much, much faster that Mac OS 9, even if it's running multiple programs. It comes with an arsenal of free software, and, once you get used to it, X is extremely easy to use. And that's only for starters; there's a lot more good things a. The only real downturns are that OS X can be hard to use at first, and you often need to download a "Carbon," or a OS X, version of a piece of software. When I have to switch back to Mac OS 9 for some bizarre reason, I realize what an eyesore it is compared to X. Probably my favorite graphical change is the menu bars at the top of a window. It looks so much better than the menu bars on 9. There are some very good Desktop pictures to choose from. Mac OS X features a lot of redesigned graphics, like the ? symbol in the upper left hand corner or the hard drive. Because people are often making their desktop a lot bigger, the wonderful people at Apple made icons larger, so you can actually see them. Oh, and someone at Apple really likes blue, not that that's a bad thing, though. It so nice that you don't have to wait for windows to open and applications to open. I don't know how much faster X is, but it's a lot. The nicest thing is that X has a new multitasking system- even if you have every application open, the computer's running as fast as ever (I've tried it). Right now I have AOL, TextEdit, Sherlock, System Preferences, and iTunes playing music,. along with several windows. Mac OS X probably comes with about 50 free shareware programs. The ones that stand out to me are iTunes (You better know what this is), TextEdit (A much better version of Simpletext- it about matches Appleworks), Chess (A chess program designed to show off the abilities of X: The graphics are great and on the lowest setting is nearly impossible to beat), A DVD player (I pity you if you don't know what a DVD is), Mail (A nice program that lets you take your e-mail on you computer: sadly it doesn't work with AOL), iMovie (Lets you make you own movies), and I think they've started shipping it with iPhoto, but I'm not positive. It also comes with a much improved Stickies, with different colored backgrounds, different fonts and styles. Sadly, the calculator is horrible by X standards. It's basically the same thing as in 9. At first X seems very foreign and different than 9, you get used to it pretty fast, especially with Mac OS X: The Missing Manual by David Pouge, which teaches you everything you need to know about OS X. X almost never crashes (the actual finder, not applications). Mac OS X gets rid of a lot of stuff you had to do manually in 9, like giving out RAM or dealing with extensions. Extensions and extension conflicts don't exist in X, instead programmers write startup application. (Don't ask me what those are- I got it from that wonderful book I mentioned above) Another nce program is Home, which replaces the folder each family member used to have in my family. Home holds things like your preferences, different folders (I have folders like writing, downloads, pictures, games, etc.), and your favorite applications. Also, the Dock is very useful. It holds applications, folders, your home, and trash- just about anything that is in you hard drive. System Preferences replaces Control Panels, and is much easier to use. Like I said above, Mac OS X hay seem a little foreign at first, but you get used to it quick. When you buy Mac OS X, get Mac OS X: A Missing Manual along with it. That should solve all your problems. If it doesn't, then go to the Apple website (the little @ sign on a spring in the dock, or http://www.apple.com/macosx). You often have to get Carbon versions of programs for Mac OS X. The are a lot of printer drives already on the computer, in the Printer folder that's in the Library folder. For everything else, try going to the downloads part of Apple.com, and if it's not their, go to the developer's site. It is very mportant to get internet up and running early, so you can do this. Mac Os X is a very good program, and if you need a new Operating System and you have a compatible computer (actually there's a way to get X onto older computer; it's in the Missing Manual). However, it might be a good idea to ait a little while so there's more compatible programs, but that shouldn't stop you.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Ideas, Apple... Keep Working On Them.
Review: Macintosh OS X is clearly designed for creative/design applications. Instead of placing icons on the desktop where they inevitably get covered up by various program windows, the icons are placed in a translucent "Dock" that is always visible and available. It is a great and uncluttered way to manage several applications at once. For example, people who are designing a web site and need an HTML editor, picture editor, etc. all open at once should find the dock to be a great help. It is similar to the way Microsoft Windows keeps minimized windows at the bottom of the screen, but Apple's way is much more organized. In addition, you no longer have to dedicate chunks of ram to specific applications. OS X automatically spreads ram where needed. You'll probably never see an "Error Type 2" message again! The Finder works more like an internet browser, now. When you open a folder, the contents are revealed on a new page of the same window. This beats the old Finder that would leave a messy trail of windows behind every search. Mac OS X is quite stable, too. Keep in mind, however, that just because the OS is said to be "Crash-Proof", that doesn't mean applications can't crash--Indeed they do. The advantage OS X gives you is that now you don't have to reboot the entire system when only one application has gone bad. Just force quit the bad app and everything else still works. On the downside, this newer os doesn't feel as "slick" as the older OS9 did. Scroll bars lag behind the mouse, and windows resize in a choppy manner. And can somebody please tell me why I have to wait over 10 seconds between the time I choose to connect to the internet and the time the computer decides to start dialing? Some of the included applications are buggy, too. Although the OS is stable, I've had to force quit applications that went astray more often than I'd like. The included Microsoft Internet Explorer is terrible--Redraw errors all over the place, and the first URL is never found (I believe this is because the program is directly translated from the Mac OS9 version where the computer held off all operations until the dial-up connection was completed). Apple is on to something great with OS X. I would, however, like to see it run a little slicker. I trust that bugs will be worked out of third party applications as the designers become more aware of OS X's inner workings.
Rating:
Summary: Finally - a useable operating system!
Review: MacOS X 10.1 vastly improved the speed of my PowerBook G3 (400) computer. Log in times, program launch times, window redrawing times, etc. are all improved signifigantly. One of the best improvements is in the Finder which is now much faster (list view actually works properly now!). Other benefits:
-File names now appear in their full length instead of being cut off
-Monitors, battery life, clock, sound volume are all settable from the menu bar instead of the dock
-Much improved System Settings window with organization and many added options
-DVD Playback! Overall, a great upgrade - and for those of you who haven't gotten around to buying MacOS X yet, this new version makes it worth your money.
Rating: 
Summary: Watch out for USB driver problems and kernel panics
Review: my advice is to make sure you need it before you buy it, but if you know you need it, then buy it. How will you know? If you need it, you would already know that you do. If you don't know that you need server version, then you probably don't need it. Most day to day tasks are done by the normal version of the os in ways that are much simpler than the server tools. Now you do get a variety of nice things with the unlimited client, such as server managment systems, monitoring systems, etc., but if you are just doing a basic install without a complex networking or users/groups system, then you probably should try to do what you need to do with a 10.1 or 10.2 and see if you actually have to own the server. I would say the ideal application of a server install is for a medium to large lab install using netboot, where the actual cost of doing it via server will lower the TCO significantly.
Rating:
Summary: I love OS X, but be wary of the server version
Review: my advice is to make sure you need it before you buy it, but if you know you need it, then buy it. How will you know? If you need it, you would already know that you do. If you don't know that you need server version, then you probably don't need it. Most day to day tasks are done by the normal version of the os in ways that are much simpler than the server tools. Now you do get a variety of nice things with the unlimited client, such as server managment systems, monitoring systems, etc., but if you are just doing a basic install without a complex networking or users/groups system, then you probably should try to do what you need to do with a 10.1 or 10.2 and see if you actually have to own the server. I would say the ideal application of a server install is for a medium to large lab install using netboot, where the actual cost of doing it via server will lower the TCO significantly.
Rating:
Summary: X marks the spot!!
Review: OS 10.1 is a vast improvement over OS 10.0 and the subsequent updates which eventually will have you at 10.1.5 are worth the investment. It does take some adjustments due to the changes in permissions allowed as opposed to those in OS 9 and lower. Once you have made the transiton, I doubt OS 9 will be on your mind except to run those programs not yet carbonized for the new UNIX innerface. Once you've been hooked, try OS 10.2, which is known as Jaguar. Too many great advancements to list, but you won't be sorry!
Rating:
Summary: X Rocks!
Review: OS X is a very fun system! Aqua makes for a wonderful desktop and a very modern look. It's rather handy, also, the way that the user can easily get into Classic mode if necessary. The best OS I've ever used!
Rating:
Summary: Now Ready for Prime Time
Review: OS X is has been neat, it's been out for about 7 months now, but it has been slow and did not really have any software that was compatible with it. Now Apple has released 10.1 and man is it a workover!!! Speed has been greatly increased, even on older macs, like the original G3s (I have a Blue & White G3/450). There are many new user-friendly enhancements like a more-configurable control-panel area, and new menu-bar controls for airport wireless networking, audio level and more.
The Dock is much better now that it can be positioned on the sides as well as the bottom - and the new "less-animated" dock effects allow your computer to use less processing cycles (if you choose). My only gripe (and for me, this is small) is that the DVD player for OSX will only work with the newest AGP Macs - this leaves my G3 in the dust for a while longer... but I don't need to watch movies on my mac nearly as much as i need to have it crash-free and compatible with great software programs. ...now if Adobe would just get an OS X version of Photoshop out everything would be great!
Rating:
Summary: Ready for prime time.
Review: OS X.1.3, the latest version of Apple's new operating system, is ready for mainstream use. It is fast, elegant, and easy to use. Best of all, in six months of using it on six different Macs, it only crashed once--and that was when I intentionally tried to make it crash (launching twenty applications, pulling USB and firewire cables in and out, and then sending a massive print job to my Epson printer). Am I a glutton for punishment, or what? Turns out that the Epson driver was the problem. Not exactly four-star programming there. Anyway, all the applications you need are good to go and better than anything comparable on Windows: iPhoto for handling your digital pictures from camera to instant prints, linen-bound book, or an easy-as-pie website (at no charge); iMovie, for turning your digital camcorder footage into watchable stuff (you still probably won't watch it, but putting these movies together and going through you old tapes is half the fun!); iDVD to put your fancy movies easily onto wonderfully glitzy DVDs that can be read by most DVD players; and iTunes to manage your music (and the awesome iPod) and burn CDs. It's all free of charge. Plus, Office for Mac X is better than its Windows counterpart, although it is pricey. If you don't need Word or PowerPoint, stick with the included AppleWorks 6. A beautiful writing, drawing, painting, spreadsheet, etc., program that covers all of your bases. Quick on the Internet, stable as all get out, and just what you need to experience the best home computer out there: the iMac G4. A few more tweaks and it'll be a five.
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