Mac OS X Tiger or Leopard? 2

[thenewa2x]

I am a confessed hardcore noob when it comes to Mac. I've just recently started researching Macs when I saw what the iMac was capable with a fresh install. Now here's my question:

Should I wait for Leopard before I purchase an iMac?
Anybody know of any backward compatibility issues with Tiger and Leopard software? (Except for the PowerPC and Intel issues, I'll be using universal binaries on Intel Macs)

My friend told me that when some upgrades of major software like Macromedia products are released, I will need the latest operating system to apply the patch or to even install their trials. Is this design because of the company who made the software, legitimate reasons behind the required upgrade, or something with Apple?

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TINSTAAFL, which is why I contribute.

 

[jmgalvin]

Since 10.3 OSX uprades are only incremental, giving you some extras but nothing that is earth shattering.

You'll be fine with 10.4.

One thing to keep in mind with Adobe (macromedia): They have not yet upgraded their apps to run natively on Intel macs. The updates are scheduled to arrive this spring. So for now, they run in the Rosetta emulation scheme. When they come out they'll most likely run in 10.3 and higher. If a tweek is necessary to run in the upcoming 10.5 a free update will be provided, just like all major software makers.

Using OSX 10.3.9 on a G4

 

[thenewa2x]

Have you used Rosetta on an Intel? I would like to know how slow it is to emulate PowerPC Macs. Down to what version of OS can Rosetta emulate? 10.0?

Thanks for your previous post.

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TINSTAAFL, which is why I contribute.

 

[jimoblak]

I believe Rosetta is designed for and only runs in 10.4 so it would only emulate down to 10.4. Rosetta emulates PPC processors, not operating systems.

 

[thenewa2x]

Thanks.

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TINSTAAFL, which is why I contribute.

 

[Circle9]

Wait for Leopard - it is well worth the wait. Check it out at

http://www.apple.com/macosx.

 

[thenewa2x]

Is there any technical reason I should wait for Leopard? It isn't going to be released until around October if the release isn't pushed back further.

 

[georgewel]

Don't ever wait for the next operating system because most companies won't know what the final product will look like and I have never bet on the day it will come out. After all operating systems are compromises and don't always end up in the driection they were headed.