Mac OS X Panther explained

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, with the retail price of US$129^[3] for a single user and US$199 for a five user, family license.

The main features of Panther included a refined Aqua theme, Exposé, Fast user switching, and a new Finder. Panther also included Safari as its default browser, as a change from Internet Explorer in Jaguar.

System requirements

Panther's system requirements are:^[4]

• 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

Because 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^[5]) 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.^[6]

• 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

Compatibility for applications based on the X Window System, commonly used for UNIX applications, is available through an optional install, found in the install disk. Mac OS X Panther is the first macOS version to officially support X11. It utilizes Quartz to provide hardware accelerated graphics^[7] and is based on the XFree86 implementation^[8] of X Window System.

• 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, with Address Book integration.^[9] Sending a fax can be done using the native Print dialog. To receive faxes, users must pre-configure in System Preferences on how the system should handle an incoming fax, with options including selecting a folder to save the incoming faxes, to automatically email to an address or to print via a selected printer, upon receiving of the fax.
• Secure Empty Trash, was a feature added in Mac OS X Panther^[10] to ensure files that are deleted cannot be recovered, through the use of data erasure techniques.^[11]

Additional

Panther was Apple's earliest version of Mac OS X that supported WPA and WPA2 security for wireless networks (with the AirPort 4.2 software update).

Release history

Version	Build	style=width:124px	Date	style=width:68px	Darwin version	Notes
style=text-align:center rowspan=2	10.3	7B85	October 24, 2003	7.0	Original retail release set
7B86	Server Edition
style=text-align:center	10.3.1	7C107	November 10, 2003	7.1	Mac OS X Update 10.3.1: Information and Download
style=text-align:center rowspan=2	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
style=text-align:center	10.3.3	7F44	March 15, 2004	7.3	Added network volumes available on the finder sidebar and the desktop; updated applications.[12]
style=text-align:center	10.3.4	7H63	May 26, 2004	7.4	About the Mac OS X 10.3.4 Update
style=text-align:center	10.3.5	7M34	August 9, 2004	7.5	About the Mac OS X 10.3.5 Update (Delta); Updated retail release set
style=text-align:center	10.3.6	7R28	November 5, 2004	7.6	About the Mac OS X 10.3.6 Update (Delta)
style=text-align:center	10.3.7	7S215	December 15, 2004	7.7	About the Mac OS X 10.3.7 Update (Delta)
style=text-align:center	10.3.8	7U16	February 9, 2005	7.8	About the Mac OS X 10.3.8 Update (Delta)
style=text-align:center	10.3.9	7W98	April 15, 2005	7.9	About the Mac OS X 10.3.9 Update (Delta)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Mac OS X Combined Update 10.3.9. Apple Inc.. https://web.archive.org/web/20050419024153/https://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosxcombinedupdate1039.html. April 19, 2005.
2. "Night of the Panther" Kicks Off at 8:00 p.m. Tomorrow. October 23, 2003. Apple Inc.. December 4, 2019. December 4, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191204072832/https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/10/23-Night-of-the-Panther-Kicks-Off-at-8-00-p-m-Tomorrow/. live.
3. Apple Announces Mac OS X "Panther" . 2023-01-10 . Apple Newsroom . en-US . October 8, 2003 . May 4, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210504012916/https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/10/08Apple-Announces-Mac-OS-X-Panther/ . live .
4. Web site: Mac OS X Panther: System requirements. Apple. February 22, 2010. April 22, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140422185415/http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2176. live.
5. News: One more cool cat. October 30, 2003. The Baltimore Sun. Those nostalgic for Mac OS 9 will celebrate the return of colored file labels in this menu.. October 8, 2021. October 8, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211008040422/https://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-mac103003-column.html. live.
6. Apple Previews Mac OS X "Panther" . 2023-01-09 . Apple . en-US . June 23, 2003 . January 3, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180103072818/https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Previews-Mac-OS-X-Panther/ . live .
7. Web site: Sellers . Dennis . X11 for Panther available . Macworld . en . Oct 27, 2003 . January 10, 2023 . January 10, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230110102105/https://www.macworld.com/article/168570/x11-4.html . live .
8. Web site: X11 for Mac OS X 1.0 . Apple . Oct 28, 2003 . Based on the open source XFree86 project — the most common implementation of X11... . January 10, 2023 . January 10, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230110103216/https://support.apple.com/kb/dl641?locale=en_US . live .
9. Web site: Faxing with Mac OS X Panther . Peachpit . 24 November 2004 . January 10, 2023 . January 10, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230110091926/https://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=352321 . live .
10. Web site: Latour . Frédéric . Panther : Finder . Frédéric Latour's web site . 2003 . January 10, 2023 . July 20, 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080720072712/http://latourfl.com/panther/finder.html . live .
11. Web site: Tognazzini . Bruce . Panther: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly . AskTog . January 2004 . ...overwrites the sectors on the disk seven times... . January 10, 2023 . August 14, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220814223949/https://www.asktog.com/columns/061PantherReview.html . live .
12. Web site: Mac OS X (10.3.3) Combined Update 10.3.3 .