Jaguar (OS X.2) --> Panther (OS X.3)

I absolutely cannot wait for the upgrade. There are a zillion new features in Panther, but if I had to choose just one to keep, it would be Exposé:

Exposé offers three jaw-dropping new ways to work: instantly see all open windows, instantly see all open windows within a single application and instantly see all things on the desktop. With a quick flick of the mouse or a press of a key, Exposé zippily animates window scaling, while preserving the contents, including transparency. Oh, and one more thing. Exposé refreshes windows while they’re moving or small, so you can keep an eye on long tasks.

You have to see this thing in action; it is truly brilliant and something I’m going to use to death. A lot of you that read this site have seen my computer in person and know that I always have countless programs open — this is a godsend. To check it out, start the keynote stream and skip ahead to 17:35. You can also view a demo on the Exposé website (click the try it out picture on the left), though I recommend watching it on the keynote as it gives you a better sense of what’s going on.

All of this says nothing about the other new features in Panther that I particularly care about, including:

• Upgraded Mail.app (threaded messages!)
• All-new Finder
• FileVault (auto-encryption of user directories)

The list goes on and on. I can’t wait.