Leopard preview: What's new in OS X 10.5

Macworld ^ | 06/19/2007 | By Macworld Staff

[Swordmaker]

What you need to know about the changes to Apple's next OS

More details have emerged about Mac OS X 10.5, the next major update to the Mac operating system that Apple has dubbed “Leopard.” While Leopard won’t be let out of its cage until October, two Steve Jobs keynote addresses and Apple's Leopard web site have given us some idea of how this latest cat will behave.

In the following pages, we’ll describe what's publicly known about Leopard’s new features—and the lingering questions that we’re still trying to answer. We’ll also take a look at the OS X 10.5 features Apple first unveiled in August 2006, paying special attention to what’s changed since then. We’ll continue to update this collection of Leopard features as more information becomes publicly available.

• Finder
• Time Machine
• Quick Look
• Spaces
• Safari 3iChat
• Automator, Mail, iCal, and Dashboard
• Boot Camp, Front Row, and Photo Booth
• Accessibility, DVD Player, and Parental Controls

[Swordmaker]

What are the changes in OSX.5 Leopard.... PING!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[IslandJeff]

Newbie FUD moment: live partitioning? Legacy Winblows apps and all...

[Swordmaker]

live partitioning?

If I understand your question... Boot Camp will allow you to partition your Mac OSX Hard Drive to create a Windows partition without disrupting your Mac's Boot drive. Then you install a modified version of WindowsXP SP2 or Vista (the software creates the modified boot CD/DVD for you from your original Windows disk) You can then run all your legacy Windows applications on the Windows partition.

You can also use that partition with Parallels to access your Windows apps in Coherence mode inside OSX.

[George W. Bush]

I found a 500MB torrent and downloaded Jobs' WWDC 2007 keynote.

I like the new Finder, cool Dock, Cover Flow might be nice. The easy networking and global integration of all your Macs via your .Mac account looks very good. I like the way Time Machine and Cover Flow and Spotlight work seamlessly across all your Macs on local network and via Internet.

The Quick Look and the way it is integrated is nice too. Stacks looks handy for a convenient quick dump location. Spaces looks very cool, maybe the best virtual desktop implementation I've seen.

Time Machine looks like they finally made backups easy enough for even Grandma. Just plug in a USB 2.0 or Firewire drive, available everywhere, click once or twice, everything backed up on schedule. I also like that you can have one large attacted drive on an Airport or a NAS on the LAN and back up to it and even back up multiple machines to a single drive. Also, the Spotlight searching across the network to your Time Machine drive is handy.

The 64-bit demo with the monster photo processing app compared to the 32-bit version was very impressive.

I wish they would have shown more on CoreAnimation. The demo app they showed with massive amounts of video integrated with Spotlight and displayed in a Cover Flow format was very very compelling.

Anyone with a teenager who lives on MySpace and IM will go insane over iChat Theater. The ability to share videos and slideshows and do keygened backgrounds easily and other video tricks is an ultimate teen chat client.

[George W. Bush]

VMware is now supporting BootCamp too. I’m running DirectX 7 and 8.1 on it.

[RachelFaith]

The iPhone begins the Revolution in just Days...

In the Fall, Leopard will begin the ROUTE of the PC market.

By ChristMass, Mac will be in double digits for market share.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

The iPhone begins the Revolution in just Days...

In the Fall, Leopard will begin the ROUTE of the PC market.

By ChristMass, Mac will be in double digits for market share.

Bought your AAPL stock? I bought some at 90 or so; if your prediction holds I didn't get enough of it. AAPL might only maintain its current valuation if the iPhone is a qualified success, taking Leopard's success as a given. You are more bullish than I, even on Leopard - but I'm certainly hopeful that you're right. My take being that Leopard will be well received enough to bump the Mac's market share as a solid percentage of its low present level.

You are more bullish than I - assuming that you have invested the way you are talking. As Thomas Sowell put it, you don't know something unless you have bet every dime you own or can borrow on it. If you haven't done that, you only think that it is true.

[tubebender]

I bought 200 shares of APPL way back in the 20th century for $21. It split and I had 400 share at $10.50. That $4000 investment is now worth $49,000!!!. Oh, did I tell you I sold it at a little over $30... :(

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Great post! Makes me really eager for the launch of Leopard!

Seems to me it arouses an eager want because it significantly addresses the tendency toward clutter - even better than Tiger, which I have been too cheap to upgrade to. Stacks and Spaces should really help.

And Time Machine should (given an external hard drive) pretty well obviate the fear of loss of digital photos &c. And the future of digital photography is now.

[RachelFaith]

Ouch....

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

I did worse than that; I bought some of it when Jobs first came back on board, got impatient, and sold it for a small loss!! Aaakk!

Finally got back on board a couple of months back. Maybe we can sell high this time!