Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Mac OS X Panther
open-in-new
<h2 id="system-requirements">System requirements</h2> <p>Panther's system requirements are:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/PowerPC_G3/SfPRudfh">PowerPC G3</a>, <a href="/facts/PowerPC_G4/llrBTyVn">G4</a>, or <a href="/facts/PowerPC_G5/nRyX1JxX">G5</a> processor (at least 233 <a href="/facts/MHz/6Wshj5qm">MHz</a>)</li> <li>Built-in <a href="/facts/USB/XcIKWLyg">USB</a></li> <li>At least 128 <a href="/facts/Megabyte/RBF4XpWb">MB</a> of <a href="/facts/RAM/DuD4bxh6">RAM</a> (256 MB recommended, minimum of 96 MB supported unofficially)</li> <li>At least 1.5 <a href="/facts/Gigabyte/s2hb2SEg">GB</a> of available hard disk space</li> <li><a href="/facts/CD_drive/IM9ugGbU">CD drive</a></li> <li>Internet access requires a compatible service provider; iDisk requires a <a href="/facts/.Mac/esHrHHIS">.Mac</a> account</li></ul> <p>Video conferencing requires: </p> <ul><li>333 MHz or faster PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor</li> <li>Broadband internet access (100 <a href="/facts/Kbit%2fs/Nv9VoT7T">kbit/s</a> or faster)</li> <li>Compatible <a href="/facts/FireWire/XYdQlxfy">FireWire</a> <a href="/facts/DVD/7fJsHJrN">DV</a> camera or <a href="/facts/Web_camera/1vTYrHWw">web camera</a></li></ul> <p>Because a <a href="/facts/New_World_ROM/dmIdWeVW">New World ROM</a> was required for Mac OS X Panther, certain older computers (such as <a href="/facts/Power_Macintosh_G3/3bTpQqMn">beige Power Mac G3s</a> and 'Wall Street' PowerBook G3s) were unable to run Panther by default. Third-party software (such as <a href="/facts/XPostFacto/fuQRJz3V">XPostFacto</a>) can, however, override checks made during the install process; otherwise, installation or upgrades from Jaguar fails on these older machines. </p><p>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. </p> <h2 id="new-and-changed-features">New and changed features</h2> <p>Apple advertised that Mac OS X Panther had over 150 new features, including: </p> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Macintosh_Finder/LD3gHLDo">Finder</a> was updated with a brushed-metal interface, and given a new live search engine, a customizable Sidebar, secure deletion, <a href="/facts/Label_(Mac_OS)/7SuAFzNg">colored labels</a> (resurrected from <a href="/facts/Classic_Mac_OS/I5fQq44K">classic Mac OS</a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a>) in the filesystem and <a href="/facts/Zip_(file_format)/qDrrYIB9">Zip</a> support built in. The Finder icon was also changed.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Fast_user_switching/oQY8eh6k">Fast user switching</a> was introduced; it allows a user to remain logged in while another user logs in, and supports quickly switching among several sessions.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Expos%25C3%25A9_(Mac_OS_X)/HPGkGUmx">Exposé</a> is a new feature that helps the user manage windows by showing them all as thumbnails.</li> <li><a href="/facts/TextEdit/x3nW9TDD">TextEdit</a> is now compatible with <a href="/facts/Microsoft_Word/HPSu5W4j">Microsoft Word</a> (.doc) documents.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Xcode/glURdIVT">Xcode</a> developer tools have faster <a href="/facts/Compiler/WNfCDFJe">compile</a> times with <a href="/facts/GNU_Compiler_Collection/t07jh01k">gcc</a> 3.3.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Preview_(Mac_OS)/YxbMjLvd">Preview</a> has increased speed of <a href="/facts/Portable_Document_Format/C9Mn1vYL">PDF</a> rendering.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/QuickTime/rA3GQp2j">QuickTime</a> now supports the <a href="/facts/Pixlet/fADLMdqC">Pixlet</a> high-definition <a href="/facts/Video_codec/psfSuqg7">video codec</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Font_Book/dk2Mdm0N">Font Book</a> is a font manager which simplifies viewing character maps, and adding new fonts that can be used systemwide.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> The app also allows the user to organize fonts into collections.</li> <li><a href="/facts/FileVault/1szS20zz">FileVault</a> is a new app that has on-the-fly <a href="/facts/Encryption/16q29Fdv">encryption</a> and decryption of a user's <a href="/facts/Home_folder/cQpQ4nvp">home folder</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/IChat_AV/5Itu8APp">iChat AV</a> now has built-in audio- and <a href="/facts/Video_teleconference/Ya9TMFQD">video conferencing</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/X11.app/aHPpkvQA">X11</a>: Compatibility<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> for applications based on the <a href="/facts/X_Window_System/ac2vRIQL">X Window System</a>, commonly used for UNIX applications, is available through an optional install, found in the install disk. Mac OS X Panther is the first <a href="/facts/MacOS/Y93vVpTm">macOS</a> version to officially support <a href="/facts/X11.app/aHPpkvQA">X11</a>. It utilizes <a href="/facts/Quartz_(graphics_layer)/FLvFwpYt">Quartz</a> to provide hardware accelerated graphics<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> and is based on the <a href="/facts/XFree86/Lq8SYGCF">XFree86</a> implementation<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> of X Window System.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Safari_(web_browser)/9R8v7tNl">Safari</a> is a new <a href="/facts/Web_browser/2pfyymLs">web browser</a> that was developed to replace <a href="/facts/Internet_Explorer_for_Mac/5UFTCbja">Internet Explorer for Mac</a> when the contract between Apple and <a href="/facts/Microsoft/nGIDDXdx">Microsoft</a> 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<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> in Panther.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Microsoft_Windows/bwhAhuSL">Microsoft Windows</a> interoperability improvements were made, including out-of-the-box support for <a href="/facts/Active_Directory/VWd9HhjU">Active Directory</a> and <a href="/facts/SecurID/L0y2vTcH">SecurID</a>-based <a href="/facts/VPN/HX1WUQ3E">VPNs</a>.</li> <li>Built-in <a href="/facts/Fax/EBvf1cHA">fax</a> support.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a>: 1 Sending a fax can be done using the native Print dialog.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a>: 2 To receive faxes, users must pre-configure in <a href="/facts/System_Settings/2r9WjVjw">System Preferences</a> on how the system should handle an incoming fax, with options<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:16" href="#fn:16"><sup>16</sup></a>: 4 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.</li> <li>Secure Empty Trash is a feature added in Mac OS X Panther<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:17" href="#fn:17"><sup>17</sup></a> to ensure, through the use of <a href="/facts/Data_erasure/3XagLr8M">data erasure</a> techniques, that deleted files cannot be recovered.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:18" href="#fn:18"><sup>18</sup></a></li> <li>Panther added support for <a href="/facts/Wi-Fi_Protected_Access/a6XvwpFK">WPA and WPA2</a> level security on wireless networks (with the <a href="/facts/AirPort/VUh6tv45">AirPort</a> 4.2 software update).</li></ul> <h2 id="release-history">Release history</h2> <table><tbody><tr><th>Version</th><th>Build</th><th>Date</th><th><a href="/facts/Darwin_(operating_system)/DogI3ptd">Darwin</a> version</th><th>Notes</th></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">10.3</td><td>7B85</td><td rowspan="2">October 24, 2003</td><td rowspan="2">7.0</td><td>Original <i>retail</i> release set</td></tr><tr><td>7B86</td><td>Server Edition</td></tr><tr><td>10.3.1</td><td>7C107</td><td>November 10, 2003</td><td>7.1</td><td>Mac OS X Update 10.3.1: Information and Download</td></tr><tr><td rowspan="2">10.3.2</td><td>7D24</td><td>December 17, 2003</td><td rowspan="2">7.2</td><td>Mac OS X: About the Mac OS X 10.3.2 Update</td></tr><tr><td>7D28</td><td></td><td>Updated <i>retail</i> release</td></tr><tr><td>10.3.3</td><td>7F44</td><td>March 15, 2004</td><td>7.3</td><td>Added network volumes available on the finder sidebar and the desktop; updated applications.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:19" href="#fn:19"><sup>19</sup></a></td></tr><tr><td>10.3.4</td><td>7H63</td><td>May 26, 2004</td><td>7.4</td><td>About the Mac OS X 10.3.4 Update</td></tr><tr><td>10.3.5</td><td>7M34</td><td>August 9, 2004</td><td>7.5</td><td>About the Mac OS X 10.3.5 Update (Delta); Updated <i>retail</i> release set</td></tr><tr><td>10.3.6</td><td>7R28</td><td>November 5, 2004</td><td>7.6</td><td>About the Mac OS X 10.3.6 Update (Delta)</td></tr><tr><td>10.3.7</td><td>7S215</td><td>December 15, 2004</td><td>7.7</td><td>About the Mac OS X 10.3.7 Update (Delta)</td></tr><tr><td>10.3.8</td><td>7U16</td><td>February 9, 2005</td><td>7.8</td><td>About the Mac OS X 10.3.8 Update (Delta)</td></tr><tr><td>10.3.9</td><td>7W98</td><td>April 15, 2005</td><td>7.9</td><td>About the Mac OS X 10.3.9 Update (Delta)</td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="timeline">Timeline</h2> <table><tbody><tr><th>Timeline of Mac operating systems <ul><li>v</li><li>t</li><li>e</li></ul></th></tr><tr><td></td></tr></tbody></table> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Apple Announces Mac OS X "Panther"". Apple Newsroom (Press release). October 8, 2003. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2023. <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/10/08Apple-Announces-Mac-OS-X-Panther/" target="_blank">https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/10/08Apple-Announces-Mac-OS-X-Panther/</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Apple Announces Mac OS X "Panther"". Apple Newsroom (Press release). October 8, 2003. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2023. <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/10/08Apple-Announces-Mac-OS-X-Panther/" target="_blank">https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/10/08Apple-Announces-Mac-OS-X-Panther/</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"Mac OS X Panther: System requirements". Apple. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014. Retrieved February 22, 2010. <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2176" target="_blank">http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2176</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"One more cool cat". The Baltimore Sun. October 30, 2003. Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2021. Those nostalgic for Mac OS 9 will celebrate the return of colored file labels in this menu. <a href="https://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-mac103003-column.html" target="_blank">https://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-mac103003-column.html</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>"Apple Previews Mac OS X "Panther"" (Press release). Apple. June 23, 2003. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2023. <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Previews-Mac-OS-X-Panther/" target="_blank">https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Previews-Mac-OS-X-Panther/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Apple Previews Mac OS X "Panther"" (Press release). Apple. June 23, 2003. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2023. <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Previews-Mac-OS-X-Panther/" target="_blank">https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Previews-Mac-OS-X-Panther/</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Apple Previews Mac OS X "Panther"" (Press release). Apple. June 23, 2003. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2023. <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Previews-Mac-OS-X-Panther/" target="_blank">https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Previews-Mac-OS-X-Panther/</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Apple Previews Mac OS X "Panther"" (Press release). Apple. June 23, 2003. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2023. <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Previews-Mac-OS-X-Panther/" target="_blank">https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Previews-Mac-OS-X-Panther/</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"Apple Previews Mac OS X "Panther"" (Press release). Apple. June 23, 2003. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2023. <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Previews-Mac-OS-X-Panther/" target="_blank">https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Previews-Mac-OS-X-Panther/</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>"Apple Previews Mac OS X "Panther"" (Press release). Apple. June 23, 2003. Archived from the original on January 3, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2023. <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Previews-Mac-OS-X-Panther/" target="_blank">https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/06/23Apple-Previews-Mac-OS-X-Panther/</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Sellers, Dennis (October 27, 2003). "X11 for Panther available". Macworld. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023. <a href="https://www.macworld.com/article/168570/x11-4.html" target="_blank">https://www.macworld.com/article/168570/x11-4.html</a> <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>"X11 for Mac OS X 1.0". Apple. October 28, 2003. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023. Based on the open source XFree86 project — the most common implementation of X11... <a href="https://support.apple.com/kb/dl641?locale=en_US" target="_blank">https://support.apple.com/kb/dl641?locale=en_US</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>"Apple Announces Mac OS X "Panther"". Apple Newsroom (Press release). October 8, 2003. Archived from the original on May 4, 2021. Retrieved January 10, 2023. <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/10/08Apple-Announces-Mac-OS-X-Panther/" target="_blank">https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2003/10/08Apple-Announces-Mac-OS-X-Panther/</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>"Faxing with Mac OS X Panther". Peachpit. November 24, 2004. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023. <a href="https://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=352321" target="_blank">https://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=352321</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>"Faxing with Mac OS X Panther". Peachpit. November 24, 2004. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023. <a href="https://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=352321" target="_blank">https://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=352321</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:16"><p>"Faxing with Mac OS X Panther". Peachpit. November 24, 2004. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 10, 2023. <a href="https://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=352321" target="_blank">https://www.peachpit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=352321</a> <a href="#fnref:16" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:17"><p>Latour, Frédéric (2003). "Panther : Finder". Frédéric Latour's web site. Archived from the original on July 20, 2008. Retrieved January 10, 2023. <a href="http://latourfl.com/panther/finder.html" target="_blank">http://latourfl.com/panther/finder.html</a> <a href="#fnref:17" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:18"><p>Tognazzini, Bruce (January 2004). "Panther: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly". AskTog. Archived from the original on August 14, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2023. ...overwrites the sectors on the disk seven times... <a href="https://www.asktog.com/columns/061PantherReview.html" target="_blank">https://www.asktog.com/columns/061PantherReview.html</a> <a href="#fnref:18" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:19"><p>"Mac OS X (10.3.3) Combined Update 10.3.3". <a href="https://support.apple.com/kb/DL599?locale=en_US" target="_blank">https://support.apple.com/kb/DL599?locale=en_US</a> <a href="#fnref:19" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>