Now that they are getting the FireWire issue straightened out, a new little feature in Panther is coming in handy. I keep my "Home" on an external FireWire drive so I can have all of my files at home or work. In Jaguar, getting a FireWire drive unmounted after logout required either logging in as another user with a local "Home" and unmounting or shutting down the computer. If you just logged out and unplugged the drive, you'd get the usual scolding (not to mention possible directory and/or data damage).
Previous reports indicated that Apple was planning a "Home on iPod" feature in Panther, but it was pulled before the final release. Apparently in implementing this feature, they have handled the drive unmounting on logout. In Panther, you can logout of your "Home" on an external FireWire drive and just unplug. When you logout, the drive is automatically unmounted . No more scolding, logging in as another user, or shutting down!