favorite new Finder features...

[serpicolugnut]

Have you seen the new Open/Save dialog windows? Yes! Finally, Apple improves upon the OS 9 method. Use either column or list view, and the sidebar gives you a great list of frequently visited places easily accessed....

Also, Font Book looks like a great solution for font management. On the down side, three developers today (Extensis, insider software, and DiamondSoft) who make Mac font managers have been put on notice that their products better get some innovative new features in the next 6 months or they will be rendered useless....

Same goes for SmithMicro and FaxSTF. I'm not sure how good the OS X built in faxing will be, but it can't be any worse than FaxSTF under OS X. And since it's free... Well, bye bye Smith Micro. Better improve your product fast.

Expose is a really cool innovation. I'm constanly Apple/Option clicking on a dock icon to move other apps Windows out of the way. It'll be neat to see if I use Expose more to accomplish when it arrives...

The new Preview looks to do for PDF viewing what Safari did for web browsing on OS X - make it rock!

And finally, Fast User Switching will be a big boon for most users. I love how Apple one-upped MS by adding the slick transition. Very cool...

So, what's your fave new feature?

[hulkaros]

Nothing really... I would say iChat but that is for Jaguar too! I hope they will improve Panther A LOT before it will be released...

[LordOphidian]

Originally posted by serpicolugnut

On the down side, three developers today (Extensis, insider software, and DiamondSoft) who make Mac font managers have been put on notice that their products better get some innovative new features in the next 6 months or they will be rendered useless....

Down side? That is the point of competition. These companies had better make their products competitive or they will die off. Right now there are not too many people who are happy with the pro level font management solutions available on OS X, if Panther's native font manager can give these companies a kick in the pants, then by all means kick away.

Personally I am looking forward to Exposé the most, as it looks like something I could really use.

My only real gripe is that they made the finder brushed metal, which doesn't really fit with the rest of the system IMHO.

[arun]

Any way, what i think is that, you need atleast a 64MB video card to enjoy the visual effects in panther.

The powerbooks with 32MB video memory will not suffice

Need to buy a bigger better hardware before panther is released

[uoba]

Fav features... pretty much everything announced for Panther.

I don't mind the brushed finder, but would probably change back to the normal UI if the option was available as a pref.

Biggest relief was announcment of the Fast Switching... even though it isn't clear at present if you can relog-in as the same user, I am looking forward to having different development areas (and, my fiancée being able to log-out blah blah blah.)

At last, an Open and Save dialog box that'll stop me from tutting every time I open or save! (always, wanted a haxie to allow the addition of a audio 'tut' everytime I clicked Open or Save.

Expose looks nice, but does this replace Minimise in Place facility that necer made Jaguar? I would like this as an option as well (unless Expose proves it to be useless).

Mail, i am really looking forward to this, checkout the lowdown on Apple's site, you can print labels off as well.

[lnoelstorr]

Fast user switching looks prety neat, i'd like to see a video of it really.

I don't however really have much of a use for it in it's intended manner though, but I'm hoping it will also be able to provide a very sleak multiple workspace solution if used not quite as intended.

[powermac]

Did they mention the GUI speed, or are they relaying on the speed of the system? I like what I seen.

[serpicolugnut]

Down side? That is the point of competition. These companies had better make their products competitive or they will die off. Right now there are not too many people who are happy with the pro level font management solutions available on OS X, if Panther's native font manager can give these companies a kick in the pants, then by all means kick away.

I agree. All three companies have had almost two years to get it together and only Diamondsoft and Suitcase have gotten in the ballpark, and even then, their product isn't quite as good as it was under OS 9.

But there is a downside. When Apple adds a feature to OS X that was provided by a third party, that developer may bolt the platform. And the fewer developers, the bigger the perception that the Mac has no software.

Extensis will probably weather the change. They have some great products in Mask Pro, Intellihance and Photoframe. Diamondsoft will take a bigger hit since Font Reserve is their main product. Insider Software is in deep trouble. Their product was the shoddiest of the bunch, and it was their bread and butter...