Is it really necessary to upgrade to OSX 10.4

[MG315]

I bought a powerbook about 6 months ago and I have OSX 10.3. I've considered getting 10.4 but i don't really see a reason to. I don't need the dashboard because I have konfabulator (which will have even more widgets now that yahoo owns it), and i don't think i need a desktop search. I know, i know, "once you use it you'll never go back." I just don't think its worth $129 to search my desktop. i'll save the money and put stuff in folders where i'll remember to look for em.


anyway, the only reason i would upgrade to tiger is if the major applications started to be "tiger only". will this happen, or will pretty much every program work in all the OSX's? because if i'll need to upgrade later down the line i might as well do it now. i just don't want to if its not necessary


thanks

[templates911]

Its not 100% necessary to upgrade but all the features are extremly nice, Safari 2 is better than ever, Automator is a great tool, and Mail 2 is Improved! Also Spotlight does more than search your desktop it searches everything. I thought the same thing as you and I hesitated to upgrade and finally one day I said what the heck and upgraded and im glad I did.

[LiquidReflex]

It has its ups and downs. Some of the functionality is improved, however I do notice the spinning beach ball more often in Tiger when using memory-intensive apps like Photoshop. It's not sluggish all around, but I do notice it more than before. The only reason I am on it is because I was recently upgraded to a new G5 iMac at work with Tiger on it. If you aren't experiencing any issues with Panther, I would wait on Tiger. It has some neat little features, but to me, it's not a necessity.

[MG315]

i think i might wait for the next cat

[mark_W]

It has its ups and downs. Some of the functionality is improved, however I do notice the spinning beach ball more often in Tiger when using memory-intensive apps like Photoshop. It's not sluggish all around, but I do notice it more than before. The only reason I am on it is because I was recently upgraded to a new G5 iMac at work with Tiger on it. If you aren't experiencing any issues with Panther, I would wait on Tiger. It has some neat little features, but to me, it's not a necessity.

Yep, noticed the beach ball here to. Just ordered gig of memory. Hoping that might make some difference.

[MG315]

how difficult is it to add more ram to a powerbook? i know its pretty easy on a powermac but i've never opened up a laptop

[LiquidReflex]

how difficult is it to add more ram to a powerbook? i know its pretty easy on a powermac but i've never opened up a laptop

Not hard at all. I've done it and it's just as easy as a tower. The RAM slot and airport slot are both easily accessible and are basically ready for you to pop it in. Just be sure to ground yourself before handling the RAM and touching your Powerbook ... definitely don't need any static shocks getting in there. Other than that, it is about a 30 second process.

[LiquidReflex]

Yep, noticed the beach ball here to. Just ordered gig of memory. Hoping that might make some difference.

It should. My work computer (1.8gHz G5 iMac) has 512MB in it and I see it more often here than my home computer (dual 867mHz G4 tower) which has 1.5GB or RAM. I think it's definitely a memory issue over a processor issue ... though I'm sure that depends on the process running. Either way, you can never have too much RAM.

[MG315]

well i just clicked the "about my mac" and it looks like i have 1gb ram (2 512's) so i guess i probably cant upgrade that any more without spending a lot of money (replacing a 512 with a 1gb).

thanks for the info on how to install it though. sure it will come in useful someday