“Wired News has obtained a preview copy of the new Mac OS X 10.5 operating system. We installed Leopard on our test machine (a quad-core Xeon Mac Pro), and the installation was accomplished very quickly with zero difficulty. We checked the option to keep all of our personal settings and preferences, and those were preserved when Leopard booted,” Michael Calore blogs for Wired.
“First impressions: Even though the code isn’t final, Leopard already looks very sleek — the reflective dock, translucent menu bar and deeper drop shadows behind active windows give the desktop more space-aged gloss. Animated behaviors like Stacks, Spaces and Cover Flow in the Finder rendered super-smoothly on our fast test system. There are new screen savers, updated remote desktop management settings and some of the core applications (Mail, Safari, iCal, etc.) have been redesigned. Firefox 2 and Photoshop CS3 both booted up just fine. We mounted a 3G iPod via Firewire with no problems. Spaces is controlled by the F8 key, so if you’ve been using the F-keys for Expose, the workspace manager is easy to add to your muscle memory. Spaces can also be assigned to a button on the Mighty Mouse — super handy,” Calore reports.
Full article, with some screenshots (including Safari 3 Public Beta passing the Acid 2 test), here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Harrison” for the heads up.]
I must to wander iPhone get to operate g3 on fig newton. Clamshell ok whether but me and like to get OSX on windows . Just must say windows 3.1 live forever on desktop. OSX ok just give to me windows. ok
note: this missive while confusing to those familiar with English, is well understood by those who aren’t but give it a try anyway.
Apple Developer Connection members that have paid for Developer support from Apple that did not attend WWDC have not seen this release of Leopard seeded to the ADC download website. It’s a shame that Wired Magazine get’s to see this release of Leopard before people that pay for this privilege get to see it. Apple needs to take action to correct this issue. ASAP.
One would suspect that ADC members would have had access to this release just shortly after it’s announcement and being handed out at WWDC, but this is not the case!!! What a shame. Boo hiss!
Woweee
I believe that with Leopard, Apple inc. are gearing to shift to an era where the operating system exists in a number of appliances in decremental forms.
Which makes obvious sense. Why reinvent the basics for every device? When you can pack a functional Mac into a handheld, there is no longer a need for lightweight “consumer electronic” systems.
Let MS continue to drown in their OS morass. Having a single, well-built OS and app base for everything will be huge for Apple.
wired took down some of the images at apple’s request. they are still available at the google cache for now, here:
http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/06/screenshots_mac.html
Even my iBook – 900mhz 14 inch which usually works on everything looks likes its going to be left out.
That sucks, but it could be worse. Try installing Vista onto a comparable Dell laptop of the same vintage.
I wonder how long before the PowerPC machines are no longer supported. 10.6?
MW: last.
progress,
Nah! I think 10.7, if there is one, or OS XI, will leave out the G4 class. Not the next OS release.
leopard looks like a vista rip off
tiger?
your living in the past baby
I had to write something inconsequential once.
Its strange, they call us whingers because we accuse vista of copying mac os x.
And when leopard looks neat with a transparent menu-bar, which has existed in linux for years… they say leopard copied vista?
If anything leopard copied linux in the menu-bar.
But clearly not the reflective dock.
But my thoughts on the finder is that it looks too much like itunes
, it’s too confusing
I like how for each active app in the dock, it now shows a “glowing dot” in the reflection. Nice touch.
“And when leopard looks neat with a transparent menu-bar, which has existed in linux for years… they say leopard copied vista?
“If anything leopard copied linux in the menu-bar.”
****************
Eh? I should stop smoking that stuff.
In the first place, transparency has been in the OS since forever–it’s just not overused, unlike with Vista.
In the second place, Linux is an operating system kernel not a desktop environment.
In the third place, while some Linux desktops have “panels”, used for this or that, neither GNOME nor KDE is advanced enough to even have separate (and application-centered) menus. (They copied what Windows did and made them window-centric.) The GNUstep desktop, which could run on Linux or could run on *BSD or other OSes has true application-centered menuing, but that’s because it is based on NeXT, which was OS X’s predecessor. But almost no-one uses GNUstep.
Fourthly, choosing to apply transparency here or there in an interface is not a big deal and not a matter of “copying” people whose very mission in life is to clone (usually badly) what Apple and Microsoft do.
Fifthly and finally, lets hope there’s a way to turn that effect off.
Ahhh, anti-creative cretin! You are not on acid! You just don’t have English as your first language. The outcome apparently sounds the same. Sorry dude!
“Fifthly and finally, lets hope there’s a way to turn that effect off.”
I read somewhere that all transparency will be user adjustable but never fear. There’s already an easy hack.
Non-Transparent Menu Bar:
http://www.manytricks.com/blog/?id=10
Has the keynote been hacked?
http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/d7625zs/event/
I clicked Watch Now and got the comedy channel?
It looks like Apple has started thinking like a game developer as they mature the gui …but the dock …I’ve kept it on my screens left side for a couple of years because of regular interference with open windows and curser. I’m still annoyed with windows slipping under the dock ..but I’m patient ..not acid ravaged, Cubert …thanks, though. It’s hard to understand how you can devote resources to the gui when you have programs that require more cpu cycles with every version because of instructions they allow you to perform…like in Adobes CS3. Sooo.. users will need increasingly more power ..more and more ..as long as Apples developer-barons require it. Maybe, that’s a good thing because the human being can never have too much power ..as long as open application windows and the dock were more symbiotic and not interferic. ok, that’s not a word but I don’t think the Reverand Jim would mind.
@Hope it don’t look like vista,
You’ll be backing up your files before you upgrade, right? Then just back up your Desktop folder in the HD Library. Then you can have aqua blue forever!!
You’ll probably be able to find them online, as well. I have all the desktops back to Jaguar in my Desktops folder, though I haven’t tried to figure out how to change the default… which gets seen every time you go to the Log in Window. It’s probably a simple UNIX command I don’t know about.
I just hope they fix issues like 2038 time bug… Did anyone ever try changing the day above 01/19/2038 on OSX? Guess not…
I know. It causes no end of trouble when I want to date bill-payment checks Jan. 20, 2038.
Every time I date them Jan. 19, 2038, I get nasty phone calls.
The more I keep reading and paying attention to what’s been released about Leopard, the more I’m realizing how spoiled OS X users have been. Leopard is a strong release, even if it didn’t have the flux capacitor everyone was expecting.
I’d bet, though, that when the flux capacitor(s) ripens, a special event or two would be announced. This isn’t a sprint, but a long term haul. Apple is strong, more integrated than ever, and ultimately, pouncing.
But bring on the geek-wreak. It’s fun to hear the squealing that’ll conveniently be ignored when Apple’s larger plan(s) start to evolve.
MW “when,” as in “Exactly.”
And, people, you can turn off the transparency of the menu bar in Leopard.
Usually, new Apple operating systems run adequately on reasonably older computers. I am interested to see how Leopard runs for clients who have older computeres.
I care for many 400MHz G4’s built in 2000 running Tiger with reasonable speed and those machines were built to run OS9. I think that speaks well for Apple longevity.
I know of one G3 iBook running Tiger.
But nothing lasts forever. I would recommend the client upgrade for Leopard or keep running Tiger, still a decent system anyway.
The PC users I know don’t have as much luck with 7 year old computers running new operating systems.
Apple owners usually get their money’s worth out of their purchases.
I always tell clients to expect to upgrade every 4 years for maintaining optimal performance, and 5 to 7 for those that can tolerate adequate performance. Or if the previous OS does what you need, keep running that. I’ve seen 10 year old Macs working with that method.
Correction: When I said:
“But nothing lasts forever. I would recommend the client upgrade for Leopard or keep running Tiger, still a decent system anyway.”
I meant upgrade the COMPUTER at this point to a MacBook if she has the hots for Leopard.
Screeenshot?
for one, i’m happy about the consistent look that they’ve given leopard. second, i’m happy about the functionality they’ve given to the finder; vista on the other hand was more about looks and very little about functionality.