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More…Now that Apple's Tiger--Mac OS X 10.4--has pounced, there is one question on everyone's mind: Is this latest release of Mac OS X worth 129 bucks? The answer is yes. The improvements are not just cosmetic, as Mac skeptics are likely to snicker. Rather, new features such as Tiger's desktop search tool are powerful enough to change the way you use your Mac.
Apple Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger (Full Product)
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| Interface | Excellent |
| - | Interface is uncluttered, efficient, and logical, though some applications break its legendary consistency. |
| - | Subtle transparency and 3D effects aid with navigating dialog boxes and program windows. |
| - | Expose lets you see and choose among all of your open windows or the desktop with the press of a key. The forthcoming Spaces feature adds virtual desktops. |
| - | Dashboard desktop widgets are built-in. |
| - | Spotlight searches file metadata, and will expand to the Internet in OS X 10.5. |
| Security | Very Good |
| - | Supports strict separation of user and system files for maximum security against malware. |
| - | Default settings aren't secure. |
| - | Target disk boot mode can turn your Mac into an external hard drive for another machine. It's useful for system recovery, but it bypasses user file passwords. |
| - | Includes disk encryption. |
| Software | Very Good |
| - | The iLife suite's slick iPhoto digital photography tool lets you edit, print, and share photos. iWeb builds sites, and iMovie and iDVD offer lightweight digital video production. |
| - | A dearth of available game titles compared with Windows, but Photoshop and Microsoft Office are both here to stay. |
| - | Gorgeous design all around. |
| - | Budget Windows PCs are less expensive than even Mac Minis. |
| - | Low-end MacBook laptops don't cost much more than similar Windows models do. |
| - | Attractive but pricey Mac Pro and MacBook Pros compare well with high-end PCs from Lenovo and Sony. |
| Virtualization | Excellent |
| - | Boot Camp allows you to install Windows or Linux as a dual-boot option on Intel-based Macs. |
| - | Parallels and VMWare utilities permit Mac OS to run virtual versions of Windows and Linux. |
| - | Apple prevents OS X from running on non-Mac hardware, so a Mac is the only way to run all three OSs on the same machine. |
| Bottom line | Excellent |
| - | If Apple's hardware fits your price range, you'll get a nicely designed machine running a beautiful OS, plus you'll be able to switch to any other environment at the drop of a hat. While early versions of OS X were buggy and incomplete, Mac OS X 10.4 is much more solid. Version 10.5 promises additional polish and a few yet-to-be-announced features. All current Mac models run Windows and Linux, too, something no other platform can boast. Plus, as long as malware authors continue to focus on Windows, it's likely to remain relatively virus- and spyware-free. |
4.5
5 User Reviews Add your own »
$189.99
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Pros
Good desktop search tool
Useful mini-applications called Widgets
Cons
Cannot run on non-Mac systems
Costs $129
Apple Mac OS X 10.4
Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger (Full Product) Review, by Narasu Rebbapragada, PC World April 1, 2007
According to Apple, Tiger should work on any G3, G4, and G5 Mac with a built-in FireWire port. The installer comes on a DVD (although Apple will let you swap for a set of CDs). I installed a shipping version of the OS and found the upgrade to be quite easy, taking about an hour on both an aging 867-MHz, 12-inch PowerBook and a newer 1.67-GHz PowerBook.
Spotlight on Spotlight
The breakthrough feature in OS X version 10.4--the reason to get Tiger at all--is Spotlight. This whip-smart desktop search tool rummages through your files, folders, e-mail, and certain applications, and then displays results neatly by category.
Just like the search box in previous versions of the OS, Spotlight's search window dresses the top-right corner of any Finder window. Alternatively, pressing Command-Space summons a search field that drops down from the upper-right menu bar. The first time you use Spotlight, your Mac needs 15 to 30 minutes to index its contents. After that, the OS constantly indexes files in the background. As you would in the ITunes search window, keep typing to constantly refine your search results on the fly.
Spotlight is fast, and its searches can run deep, making it superior to previous Finder-based searches and Windows searches. Spotlight can search by the usual criteria (file name, kind, keywords) but also by a dizzying variety of deeper parameters such as audio bit-rate, codecs, color label, photo aperture, and type of encryption. It searches through files and folders, all Apple applications, and major third-party applications like Microsoft Word and Excel. Spotlight does not search through Microsoft Entourage, however, which is a bummer since not everyone uses Apple Mail.
Using my 867-MHz PowerBook, I performed a generic search for the term "PC World," which quickly produced a results list of just about every related e-mail, document, and graphic containing those words. I was even able to save my Spotlight search as a Smart Folder that continually updates and adds further PC World-related files. That means you can create a Smart Folder for each project you're working on, though you might also lose all incentive to organize your hard drive.
Widgets, IChat AV, and Built-In RSS
Spotlight might be Tiger's biggest new feature, but you're likely to find plenty of other additions useful. I liked Apple's new Dashboard Widgets, which are attractive mini-applications that aggregate information like stock prices, weather reports, and flight times. Widgets themselves are not new. Mac enthusiasts have long been playing around with Pixoria's Konfabulator widgets, which Apple says are distinct from its own widgets.
I found Dashboard Widgets to be attractive and useful, although you can't work on your machine while a widget is active. Some widgets also occupy a lot of screen real estate. Four or five on a 12-inch PowerBook obscures what's behind them.
Apple improves the Mac's instant messaging chops with IChat AV. The app now supports the Jabber chat protocol and lets you conduct 10-way audio chats and slick-looking four-way video chats, although hardware requirements limit the number of people who can take advantage of this feature. For instance, you need at least a dual 1-GHz Power Mac G4 or G5 and a 384-kbps Internet connection to initiate a four-way video chat. You also need an Apple ISight or a FireWire-connected DV camcorder--IChat did not recognize my Logitech QuickCam Zoom.
Fans of Really Simple Syndication will also enjoy Apple's update to the Safari Web browser, which now supports RSS feeds for reading blogs and news feeds. Apple includes links to about 25 news sources, but it's easy to add your own (I quickly added PCWorld.com's RSS feeds) and to create a page that aggregates your favorite news sources.
Stricter Parental Controls and Easier Automation
Tiger's Parental Controls for Finder, Mail, IChat, Safari, and the new dictionary/thesaurus (a separate app that lets you look up words without an Internet connection) are strict, but there are some holes. For Mail and IChat, for example, you can add individuals with whom your child can communicate, but once people are white-listed, the OS stops monitoring the contents of the messages. That means they can include every profanity known to man and still make the cut.
For Internet surfing, the controls work only with Safari, and parents have to add every site a child is allowed to visit as a bookmark. I even had to add the highly benign PCWorld.com. This feature may work well for little children but is sure to become limiting for older kids.
Tiger makes makes it easier to deal with repetitive actions like batch-importing photos with its new Automator application. It is distinct from AppleScript and is meant to be far easier to use, although our short time with it didn't yield very fruitful results. It does have a learning curve. Apple includes 175 prebuilt actions, and more are available on its Downloads page as well as through third-party Web sites such as IThink Automator and Automated Workflows.
Finally, cross-platform folks will like the improved support for faster, more seamless networking between Mac and PCs. Apple loves slide shows and has added support for them to the Finder, Spotlight, and Mail, letting you, for instance, view a series of e-mail image attachments as a slide show. Apple has added a .Sync preference to the .Mac preference pane to let you easily sync contacts, calendars, keychains, bookmarks, and mail information to other devices through .Mac.
Bottom line: Mac OS X Tiger is a giant leap over its predecessor, Panther. In my tests the operating system seemed stable and relatively bug-free, and performance was excellent on both my new test system and my aging Powerbook. For me, the Spotlight search and Smart Folders features are worth the purchase price. That said, if they don't wow you, RSS readers and widgets are available elsewhere, and there's always AppleScript as a more technical alternative to Automator.
Narasu Rebbapragada
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User Reviews
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User Reviews From Around the Web
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Reviewed by: joshuakeurentjes
Strengths: dashboard, spotlight booth are easy to use and helpful
Weaknesses: have not found one yet
Overall: after using OX 10.2.8 i find that Tiger is a joy to work with. the improvements such as spotlight and dashboard are nice and useful but the thing that i use and enjoy most of the improvements is automater it just simply makes the repetitive task so much easier and faster so that i can do what i need and want to do
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Reviewed by: swissms46
Strengths: Used this to repair a damaged Hard Disk & was without an ability to back-up files, yet this worked like a breeze for the purpose, and renewed my entire system. Great features for anyone upgrading!
Weaknesses: Only weakness is that Mac is updating so quickly it's OS X's that I'm afraid that this update will become an old one before long.
Overall: I purchased a Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger CD package, having already been using the Tiger system on my Power Mac G4, but was without the installation disk (had received this computer from a relative, after they had purchased a new one with the OS already installed). I had come upon an emergency, where apparently had crashed entire system and could no longer access my hard disk. I was unable to startup at all, although the machinery was working. Upon further research & testing, I discovered that the disk was ok, but the operating system wouldn't start because I had deleted necessary files.I tried a repair utility, Disk Warrior, as I was able to boot up onto another CD, but it didn't replace what was needed.After purchasing the Tiger CD, I chose "Archive & Install" as my customized installation choice, and also checked "Preserve Users And Network Settings", unsure what all would be saved, but thinking that I would retain ability to access previous files, from old system, and copy them to new system.Surprisingly, after installing the new CD system, nearly everything of old system (personal files, music, photos, settings, bookmarks, most of the applications that I had installed) were readmitted as part of the new system automatically! In conclusion, this worked like a breeze to bring my computer back with everything intact, and, in addition, it appears to have re-enlivened lagging applications that had become defective, but now have been reinstalled as new. Everythings working much smoother & quicker. Only regret is that I purchased the Disk Warrior Repair disk, initially, to fix this breakdown. I am sure the Tiger OS X installation disk, however, will come in handy in future.The Tiger OS is bright & colorful, and has so many software applications & abilities that formerly were incompatible with old versions of Mac, and had only been compatible with Windows, such as ability to upload digital pics, play DVD's and Microsoft's Office group of software.The package comes with coupons for free Tiger download updates of the OS system. There is a greatly helpful accompanying booklet that showcases many of the Tiger features with tips on how to use, many of I'd never taken time to put into use, even with having used Tiger system for monthsVery pleased, on the whole.
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Reviewed by: rosetree
Strengths: Fewer crashes & freezes. Safari is great! Haven't learned all the tricks yet, but it seems to be doing everything I want it to.
Weaknesses: My printer manufacturers aren't yet posting drivers updated to 10.4. There seems to be a color shift in outputs from 10.2 to 10.4.
Overall: I upgraded from 10.2, and this is definitely an improvement. The system seems very stable, with fewer freezes. I tend to get too many windows and applications open at one time, and the system seems to work right along with me wihout slowing down until I've gotten REALLY carried away!
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Reviewed by: nancy26
Strengths: More features than Panther and worth the upgrade.
Weaknesses: None So Far.
Overall: I have been using my iMac G3 running OS 9 for five years and was pleased with this operating system. I decided to upgrade my computer and bought in April, 2005 a new iMac G5 with OS X 10 (Panther) and again was impressed with the performance of Panther. I was disappointed that two months later the new iMac?s came out with Tiger and a 250 hard drive at a cheaper price, my timing was off by two months. Since I have many applications still running in Classic, Panther was still much better than OS 9. While I was disappointed with Panther not being able to save web pages with the links and photos, I had only a few issues with Panther and continued to use it. I finally decided to purchased Tiger, and in 45 minutes it was installed. Before installing it, I called Apple techs and got some excellent information. One being that after Tiger is installed, and before starting any applications, go to the Software Updates and click on that to get the latest updates from Apple. Before installing Tiger, I backed up my important folders, address book and iPhoto Library and burned a CD. I then ran Disk Warrior to check my hard drive, closed all open applications and then installed Tiger OS X 10.4.3 version. I did not do a clean install because I did not want to put in all my other applications, and after running Disk Warrior, I felt that my hard drive was in good order. The install went great and after the Software Update that updated Java, iTunes and OS X to10.4.5, I opened up my mail program, Safari, AppleWorks, and other applications and they all worked well. While I have not explored all of the new features, in one day I have found that Dashboard, Spotlight, Mail and Safari are all excellent with better performance. In Safari, I can save web sites with links and photos and this makes the upgrade worth it. Since I like to view golf videos on the web, I can go to a page that uses Real Time Player, and now it automatically opens up the player to play the video that I want to see. In Panther, this did not work properly and I could not save the web page on my desktop with the video working. In Tiger, I went to my golf video site, played the video and it saved an archive of that page so that I can view it at a later date. From Safari?s RSS feature to secure Private Browsing and viewing PDF files, I can?t find anything bad to say. The mail program allows you to view emails with photos in them in a slide show and then save the photos to iPhoto, another plus. Spotlight is an excellent way to find files, documents or information created in any application, I found Panther?s search for files not to be as good as Spotlight. Dashboard with its Widgets is fun and it?s nice to have these at your fingertips to see your current weather, calculator, translation, unit convertor and others. I found that I would have to go to a web site to convert English to Spanish or look up a unit of measurement, and it?s all in Dashboard! Over all, I wish I had bought Tiger earlier, although Panther was much better than OS 9, Tiger is the Gold Standard.
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Reviewed by: leejr
Strengths: Easy to install and use, good parent control features for controlling email and website access. Most features are easy to pick-up when trying.
Weaknesses: I experienced one minor problems with the software as received in the box. After checking and installing the latest updates to version 10.4.4 things were fine.
Overall: I was using one of the first version of OS X 10.2. This version 10.4 seems much improved. Be sure after installing to check for and install the latest updates, currently version 10.4.4. The version that was shipping was 10.4.2. I did have some minor problems with the shipped version, but after updating with the latest updates I haven't had any problems. For my older Epson ink jet printer I didn't find a newer driver for 10.4, only the 10.3. Which seems to work except, it is having problems trying to print larger format paper. So it may be a problem updating your other hardware drivers for this latest operating system until everyone updates their software to support this 10.4 operating system. Being a parent I like the easy controls for limiting email and website access for my kids account. Seems to be a good, stable operating system. Using iLife Photo '06 with this operating system is also better and faster.
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