847 Does anyone out there actually still use Mac OS 10.0 or 10.1? A fair few of the shareware and freeware applications I list in Shareware Beat still include OS 10.1 as their minimum system requirement, but I have to wonder why anyone would have not upgraded to at least OS 10.2 Jaguar now.

Up until OS 10.2, OS X was a pretty raggedy and buggy operating system -- really a public beta all but name. In my estimation, OS X only pulled ahead of Classic OS 9 in terms of functional efficiency overall with Jaguar, and still lagged behind OS 9 in several critical areas, such as speed. With Panther the balance is now weighted decisively on favor of OS X if you have a Mac that will run it.

However, I suppose there must be quite a few consumer Mac users out there whose computers came with OS 10.1 installed, who are still struggling along with that system, although they are more likely still using OS 9.2.2, which was the default boot system on Macs sold in the 10.1 era. Some people just don't upgrade. I read somewhere this week that that 80 percent of Mac buyers never upgrade their machines beyond adding memory, which is a shame.

For example, the customer I sold a new WallStreet PowerBook to back in 1998 is still happily running OS 8.6, and the only reason she's not using OS 8.1, which is what shipped with her Mac, is that we upgraded her at a routine six-month checkup, which to the best of my knowledge is the last time her PowerBook was serviced.

A friend of mind phoned last week for advice about replacing his computer mouse. The computer is a 1997 vintage UMAX C-500 Mac clone, and one of the ball rollers in the original mouse has disintegrated with age. I suggested that he buy a USB PCI card adapter to put in one of the C-500's two PCI expansion slots, and get a USB mouse, since sources of replacement ADB mice are a bit thin on the ground here in the Nova Scotian hinterlands. Out of curiosity, I asked him what version of the Mac OS he is running. He didn't have a clue, but it's whatever came installed in the UMAX in '97, probably OS 8 or 8.1, and he claims that the computer still works well and does everything he needs it too, the mouse issue aside.

Not that I think there's any compelling necessity to obsessively upgrade to the latest OS version. I think there's a legitimate case to be made for sticking with OS 9 if you like it and it's giving you good service, and evidently about half of the installed Mac user base agrees with me.

On the other hand, if you're still using OS 10.1, you really owe to yourself to consider upgrading to at least OS 10.2 Jaguar. There's really little hardship in doing so. Remaindered Jaguar install CDs are not hard to find at twenty dollars or less, and will install on all officially OS X-supported Macs. The fractional OS 10.2 version upgrades and security patches are free downloads from Apple.

Note that if you have an older Mac without built-in USB ports, OS 10.2.8 is the last officially supported system for your computer, although it may be possible to install OS 10.3 Panther using Ryan Rempel's free XPostFacto installer hack.


***



Charles W. Moore


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