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Based around a new iTunes-style Finder, Panther includes several new features as well as enhancements to existing applications such as Mail and Preview.

The new Finder is, said Apple CEO Steve Jobs, user-centric rather than its computer-centric predecessor. The traditional Finder window, which has remained almost unchanged since the early days of the Macintosh operating system, is replaced with a panel-based layout resembling iTunes and iPhoto. On the left hand side of the window one pane displays all the disks and servers currently connected to your machine whilst below it the second pane displays your 'Places' - the equivalent to the icons currently lined-up across the top of OS X Finder windows. The right-hand side of the Finder window is a the navigation area, which can be displayed in icon, list or column view. Colour labelling of files and folder, last seen in OS 9, has been restored and the Finder interface has been extended to save and open dialogues.

Perhaps the most striking new features in Panther are Exposï and Fast User Switching. Exposï allows you to display all your open windows at once by simply hitting a key. It automatically shrinks and tiles all open windows and displays them on the screen. You simply click the one you want to work in and the others return whence

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they came. Exposï can also be used within applications to select the document you want from any number of open files and or to hide everything giving instant access to the desktop.

Fast User Switching allows you to switch between Users without logging out and without quitting applications. Accessed from the new Switch User command in the Apple menu, Fast User Switching puts the current desktop on a 3D cube that rotates revealing the new desktop on the next side of the cube.

Panther also introduces a new security feature called FileVault. This allows you to secure your entire home folder by encrypting its contents with 128-bit keys. Encryption and decryption are performed on the fly, so if your Mac's fast enough you shouldn't even notice that it's happening. FileVault also enables the permanent erasing of files and the provides ability to set a password when your Mac wakes from sleep.

Other new features include FontBook - an integrated font management tool - and built-in fax send and receive capability, allowing you to send faxes from any application via the print dialogue.

Mail 2.0 will be included with Panther with major performance improvements, including the use of Safari's rendering engine to display HTML emails. Mail messages can now de displayed as threads so you can track a conversation from the original message through all the replies. Address Book is also improved with the ability to print both labels address or phone books from your contact list.

Apple has also improved its Preview application, most notably by making it much quicker. It can also search for and copy text in PDFs, convert EPS and PostScript files to PDF and view faxes.

Mac OS X 10.3 is out later this year and will cost around ï99. Further information is available at www.apple.com/uk/macosx/panther.