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Anyone Using Panther?

AmazingHenry

AmazingHenry

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jul 6, 2015
1,285
534
Central Michigan
So you may have read my thread about a web browser I'm working on that's specifically for G3 systems on OS X Tiger. At first, it will be Tiger only. It will be finished very soon (still don't have a good name, any ideas? :D), and now I'm wondering if I should make a Panther version. If I made this run on Panther, pages would render the same as Safari 1. That is obviously out of the question. You're way better off using iCab or Camino or something like that. But if there are a lot of Panther users out there, I might try to figure something out. Is anyone out there using OS X Panther?
 
HFTaylor12 said:
So you may have read my thread about a web browser I'm working on that's specifically for G3 systems on OS X Tiger. At first, it will be Tiger only. It will be finished very soon (still don't have a good name, any ideas? :D), and now I'm wondering if I should make a Panther version. If I made this run on Panther, pages would render the same as Safari 1. That is obviously out of the question. You're way better off using iCab or Camino or something like that. But if there are a lot of Panther users out there, I might try to figure something out. Is anyone out there using OS X Panther?
Click to expand...

1. Panthera (if it comes out for Panther)
2. Tigris ( If its Tiger only)
3. Nimr (If its ever released for Leopard)
4. Napov (short for: Not Another Piece of Vaporware)
 
Imixmuan said:
1. Panthera (if it comes out for Panther)
2. Tigris ( If its Tiger only)
3. Nimr (If its ever released for Leopard)
4. Napov (short for: Not Another Piece of Vaporware)
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll consider those names! :) It probably will not come out for Panther, just because of the way it works and how old the Panther Safari version is. But we'll see! ;)
 
I have Panther installed on a couple of computers, but mostly because I haven't gotten around to upgrading them to something else. The only one that I intend to keep it installed on is my "OS X Anthology" computer. I have found Tiger to-in virtually all cases-be faster and more stable than Panther.

The only other computer that MIGHT get it is my Kanga, but even at that it would likely be on an experimental basis. My Kanga is maxed at 160mb of RAM, and I think that Panther might do better than Tiger. If-for the heck of it-I wanted to use it at work for a day I'd need a version of OS X with Airport Extreme support.
 
HFTaylor12 said:
Thanks, I'll consider those names! :) It probably will not come out for Panther, just because of the way it works and how old the Panther Safari version is. But we'll see! ;)
Click to expand...
By browser, you certainly just mean a WebKit wrapper in a window, right? Not a whole engine or anything.
 
I have a copy of it but not running anything at the moment. Tiger has been my PPC default to date.

I'd be a lawsuit waiting to happen and name it Thundercat web browser or some other shameless vintage cat cartoon reference ie: Voltron, Battlecat etc.
 
I run 10.3.9 on some low-end G3 systems like the 400 MHz PowerBook Pismo. It'd be nice to have a working lightweight browser on that Mac, but the rendering engine for the Panther version of Safari is absolutely ancient for modern websites. Using Classilla on Mac OS 9 would probably be a better option.

Needless to say if I actually wanted to use it more, it'd have been updated to 10.4.11 with optimizations for low-end G3s by now. The early/non-FireWire iMac G3s and iBook Clamshells are a bit more tricky to update from Panther, as they don't support Target Disk Mode, don't have DVD read support, don't have official support in the Tiger installer, and the hard drive is very difficult to physically remove and install that way (at least on the iBooks). I'm sure many of those are running Mac OS 8/9 or Panther/Jaguar/Puma, in fact none of mine have been updated past those versions either.
 
redheeler said:
Needless to say if I actually wanted to use it more, it'd have been updated to 10.4.11 with optimizations for low-end G3s by now. The early/non-FireWire iMac G3s and iBook Clamshells are a bit more tricky to update from Panther, as they don't support Target Disk Mode, don't have DVD read support, don't have official support in the Tiger installer, and the hard drive is very difficult to physically remove and install that way (at least on the iBooks). I'm sure many of those are running Mac OS 8/9 or Panther/Jaguar/Puma, in fact none of mine have been updated past those versions either.
Click to expand...

Xpostfacto along with a set of Tiger CDs makes this a quick job.

Xpostfacto is still available as a free download, and the Tiger CD images are available for download on The Garden.

BTW, what part of the Pismo makes it a "low end" G3?

Try Tiger-you'll like it. Plus, it's a plug and play install since your Pismo SHOULD have a DVD drive and natively supports Tiger.
 
Last edited:
bunnspecial said:
Xpostfacto along with a set of Tiger CDs makes this a quick job.

Xpostfacto is still available as a free download, and the Tiger CD images are available for download on The Garden.

BTW, what part of the Pismo makes it a "low end" G3?

Try Tiger-you'll like it. Plus, it's a plug and play install since your Pismo SHOULD have a DVD drive and natively supports Tiger.
Click to expand...
Pismo + Tiger is an AWESOME combo. It is really snappy!
 
Thanks for your input, everybody who replied! It sounds like people are either on Tiger, or they want to upgrade but haven't gotten to it yet. But I did see one or 2 people who wanted this for Panther. I'm going to first make the Tiger version, and if that goes well I'll start experimenting with a Panther browser.
 
In my "I'll upgrade one of these days" pile I actually have more running Jaguar than Panther :) .

Among other things, I have a 1.6ghz Quicksilver that has a dead ODD that I've never gotten around to changing. I went through my box and had issues finding a good DVD drive(since I want to install Leopard) so put it on the back burner.

I also have a Sawtooth with a nice Gigadesigns 7455b and Radeon 9800 that's running Jaguar-that one really deserves a more up OS.
 
Having a somewhat decent Panther browser would be awesome, since I like Panther especially on older PPCs, like the original set of iMacs.
 
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I see there are some people who want a Panther browser. I've been thinking about it and it's not going to happen anytime soon, at least not from me. The point of this browser is to make a very fast one. The way I'd do that is by making a browser that uses the built-in Safari version (put in simple terms) to display webpages, but with almost all the features gone to make it faster. If I made a Panther browser, it could not work the same way because no one wants webpages to render the same as they would in Safari 1. So the browser would have to use something different, which would be slower. And that brings back the same problem that this web browser is trying to solve.
As I said above, I will try it, but you won't see it anytime soon, if at all.

P.S.
I've decided on a name: Tigris. Thanks to @Imixmuan! He suggested that in post 2 on this thread.
 
I think that it will be a good idea to use a newer webkit version... Maybe from leopard-webkit? And then cut all additional featurs off. This will be the best alternative for TFF browser on Mac Os X Tiger...
 
redheeler said:
I run 10.3.9 on some low-end G3 systems like the 400 MHz PowerBook Pismo. It'd be nice to have a working lightweight browser on that Mac, but the rendering engine for the Panther version of Safari is absolutely ancient for modern websites. Using Classilla on Mac OS 9 would probably be a better option.
Click to expand...

BTW, if you want to see Tiger running slow try it on a 200mhz 604e.

I'm still scratching my head as to what makes a Pismo a "low end" G3 system. It's tied with the B&W and slot load iMacs for most RAM in a G3 system(1gb), has the fastest system bus(100mhz) and has the fastest processors of any pro-level G3 system. It also has AGP-based graphics. The only thing that can really best it-at least in stock form-is a later slot load iMac. Later iBooks had faster clock speeds, but were held up by their lower memory ceilings. Also, provided that you have the processor(easier said than done) G4 upgrades are basically drop-in and can run Leopard by doing nothing but bypassing the processor speed check.

None the less, I still have a 900mhz iBook G3 running Leopard :)
 
bunnspecial said:
<snip>

None the less, I still have a 900mhz iBook G3 running Leopard :)
Click to expand...

I've been wanting to attempt this myself, if nothing but to satisfy my curiosity about how (if?) it would run. I have a similar machine (mine's 800mhz) and just need to track down the needed files.
 
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