Apple demonstrated Panther for the first time today.
Jobs touched upon a number of new features in Panther:
- Finder - Now metal with a "user-centric" model. Screenshots depiced a new area for volumes/iDisks/folders on the left hand side. The action menu gives you access to labels and other contextual comamnds.
Expos provides an easy way for users to find windows in their clutered screens. The demo of Expos drew oohs and aahs from the crowd as the windows move out of the way in a fluid motion.
Fast User Switching - lets you switch between accounts without quitting running applications. It also adds a bit of Apple Flare - with your old screen rotating out on a 3d cube.
Mail - the new version can organize by "threads" rather then individual emails. Performance is also improved.
FileVault - offers security for your home directory.
Preview - is noted to be the fastested PDF viewer around - which would be a significant improvement over the current incarnation. Fast text searching also included.
Font Book - the new Foot Book lets you install, preview, search, activate and deactivate fonts you need.
Faxing support throughout Panther.
Xcode - for developers - faster build times, predictive compile, distributed building, and more...
