Mac OS X 10.3

Mac OS X Panther (version 10.3), is the fourth major release of Apple Computer's operating system Mac OS X. It was announced on October 8, 2003 and shipped on October 24th. Apple charged 129.00 for a single-user license and $199.00 for a Family Pack (5 user, 1 household) license. It was preceded by Mac OS X 10.2 "Jaguar", and was succeeded by Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" in April 2005.

New features
Apple released Panther on October 24, 2003. Apple claimed that Panther had at least 150 new features, including:
 * Finder updated interface
 * Brushed-metal interface
 * Real-time searching (like iTunes)
 * Customisable sidebar (like iTunes)
 * Fast user switching, that allows a user to remain logged in while another user logs in, featuring the desktop on an animated cube (the effect is only seen on systems with Quartz Extreme). Windows XP has a similar feature without an animated cube.
 * Exposé, a program to help the user manage windows, especially large numbers of them.
 * Fax support built-in.
 * X11 support built-in.
 * TextEdit support for Microsoft Word (*.doc) documents.
 * Microsoft Windows interoperability improvements, including support for SecurlD-based VPNs.
 * Security
 * FileVault: on the fly encription and decryption of a user's home folder
 * Secure deletion
 * Xcode Developer Tools, which speed compile times significantly with GCC 3.3.
 * iChat AV video-conferencing software
 * PDF rendering speed increases
 * File labels are back!
 * Pixlet high definition video codec (for digital animation, of Pixar fame) included
 * Safari was introduced in this version and replaced with the older internet system.

Version history

 * Mac OS X 10.3.0 (build 7B85), released October 24, 2003
 * Mac OS X 10.3.1 (build 7C107), released November 10, 2003
 * Apple Download Page
 * VersionTracker
 * Macworld: Mac OS X 10.3.1 improves FileVault, FireWire 800, more
 * Mac OS X 10.3.2 (build 7D24), released December 17, 2003
 * Apple Download Page
 * VersionTracker
 * Mac OS X 10.3.3 (build 7F44), released March 15, 2004
 * Mac OS X 10.3.4 (build 7H63), released May 26, 2004
 * Apple KnowledgeBase Page
 * MacUpdate Page
 * Mac OS X 10.3.5 (build 7M34), released August 8, 2004
 * Mac OS X 10.3.6 (build 7R28), released November 5, 2004
 * Mac OS X 10.3.7 (build 7S215), released December 15, 2004
 * Apple KnowledgeBase Page
 * Mac OS X 10.3.8 (build 7U16), released February 9, 2005
 * Mac OS X 10.3.9 released April 15, 2005
 * MacUpdate Page

System requirements
The system requirements are:
 * Models with a PowerPC G3, G4, or G5 processor (233 MHz minimum)
 * Integrated USB (indicative of New World ROM)
 * 128 MB RAM minimum (512 MB recommended)
 * Minimum of 1.5 GB of free disk space.
 * CD ROM.
 * Internet access requires a compatible provider.

Articles

 * Mac OS X 10.3 Panther (review) by John Siracusa at Ars Technica (2003/11)