What you think are/will be the compelling reasons to buy/upgrade to Leopard?
What you think are/will be the compelling reasons to buy/upgrade to Leopard?
*Time Machine is very cool, and useful, I would definitely use it, but really it's just an app. Apple could easily realese Time Machine as a free download now if it was finished with its development.
*As far as I can see Safari is the best thing (I will use it the most) coming in Leopard.
(i) web clip
(ii) a lot of new and very cool tab features
(iii) re-sizable text boxes
(iv) faster
(v) as far as I can see it doesn't require Adobe flash to be downloaded seperately.
*ZFS?? Yes, but will the filesystem in the shipped version of leaoprd be ZFS?
*Resolution Independence? But will the average person really make use of this feature in 2007?
*New UI? I'm hoping for this, we don't know for sure, and that hardly takes that long to develop. This can hardly be regarded as a reason to upgrade being that it's purely cosmetic?
*Next versions of iWork & iLife bundled into Leopard? More than anything this would not only make sense to me, but would be a very good reason to think about upgrading, it would also push a dramatic percentage upgrade to Leopard amounst Mac users.
*64bit? Real world testing gives the impression of only minor app speed gains.
*Mail? meh.
*Bootcamp 2.0? In what way will it differ from Bootcamp Beta? (besides possible Apple support)
*Front Row 2.0? Again probably mainly cosmetic.
*Spaces? Probably wont end up using it that much.
iChat 4.0? Yeah, if it ties in with the iPhone yes, but what about Windows users, will iChat go Windows?
I haven't seen too much radical rethinking of the way it all works? I have heard a snippet about a new Finder. I didn't see Apple try to merge Address Book and iCal. Nothing really that made me say "Wow" yet?
*Time Machine is very cool, and useful, I would definitely use it, but really it's just an app. Apple could easily realese Time Machine as a free download now if it was finished with its development.
*As far as I can see Safari is the best thing (I will use it the most) coming in Leopard.
(i) web clip
(ii) a lot of new and very cool tab features
(iii) re-sizable text boxes
(iv) faster
(v) as far as I can see it doesn't require Adobe flash to be downloaded seperately.
*ZFS?? Yes, but will the filesystem in the shipped version of leaoprd be ZFS?
*Resolution Independence? But will the average person really make use of this feature in 2007?
*New UI? I'm hoping for this, we don't know for sure, and that hardly takes that long to develop. This can hardly be regarded as a reason to upgrade being that it's purely cosmetic?
*Next versions of iWork & iLife bundled into Leopard? More than anything this would not only make sense to me, but would be a very good reason to think about upgrading, it would also push a dramatic percentage upgrade to Leopard amounst Mac users.
*64bit? Real world testing gives the impression of only minor app speed gains.
*Mail? meh.
*Bootcamp 2.0? In what way will it differ from Bootcamp Beta? (besides possible Apple support)
*Front Row 2.0? Again probably mainly cosmetic.
*Spaces? Probably wont end up using it that much.
iChat 4.0? Yeah, if it ties in with the iPhone yes, but what about Windows users, will iChat go Windows?
I haven't seen too much radical rethinking of the way it all works? I have heard a snippet about a new Finder. I didn't see Apple try to merge Address Book and iCal. Nothing really that made me say "Wow" yet?
Comments
What you think are/will be the compelling reasons to buy/upgrade to Leopard?
1. Time Machine is very cool, and useful, I would definitely use it, but really it's just an app. Apple could easily realese Time Machine as a free download now if it was finished with its development.
2. As far as I can see Safari is the best thing (I will use it the most) coming in Leopard.
(i) web clip
(ii) a lot of new and very cool tab features
(iii) re-sizable text boxes
(iv) faster
(v) as far as I can see it doesn't require Adobe flash to be downloaded seperately.
3. ZFS?? Yes, but will the filesystem in the shipped version of leaoprd be ZFS?
4. Resolution Independence? But will the average person really make use of this feature in 2007?
5.New UI? I hoping for this, we don't know for sure, and that hardly takes that long to develop. This can hardly be regarded as a reason to upgrade being that it's purely cosmetic?
6.Next versions of iWork & iLife bundles into Leopard? More than anything this would not only make sense to me, but would be a very good reason to think about upgrading, it would also push a dramatic percentage upgrade to Leopard amounst Mac users.
7.64bit? Real world testing gives the impression of only minor app speed gains.
8.Mail? meh.
9.Bootcamp 2.0? In what way will it differ from Bootcamp Beta? (besides possible Apple support)
10.Front Row 2.0? Again probably mainly cosmetic.
11.Spaces? Probably wont end up using it that much.
12.iChat 4.0? Yeah, if it ties in with the iPhone yes, but what about Windows users, will iChat go Windows?
I haven't seen too much radical rethinking of the way it all works? I have heard a snippet about a new Finder. I didn't see Apple try to merge Address Book and iCal. Nothing really that made me say "Wow" yet?
I numbered your list to make it easier to respond to
1. Time Machine probably had too much put into development to just allow it to be a Free Download. That's a waste, if it were to be a Free Download though, it would likely only be to .Mac members.
2. As long as Safari supports as much CSS as Firefox (which currently supports more CSS then any other browser) then OK. If not then I'm sticking with Mozilla and it's Camino browser.
3. ZFS is a big deal, it's fast, it can deal with HUGE amounts of data, and it would likely lead to a much more efficient Finder.
4. Resolution Independance is a big deal. I hate my images becoming little pieces of Pixelated Scum when I try to enlarge them. I'm sure others feel the same. It also keeps everything graphically cleaner.
5. A UI is the way you interact with a Computer. Any changes in the UI are indeed, a VERY BIG Deal. It's the little things like Text smoothing, and the complete lack of graniness. I have litterally refused to use Apps that are otherwise splendid simply because their Frontend was worse then a human Backend.
6. Only iLife would make sense in that bundle, and I doubt that will happen. iLife, iWork, and Mac OS X are all seperate products, but iLife has become and integral part of the OS in other Applications so that is the only reason iLife would make sense.
7. 64 Bit now is to future proof Mac OS X for other Applications. When everyone eventually moves onto 64 Bit Mac OS X will be ready and way ahead of the game. It's also much better then the way Vista does it, where they have several versions that also branch into 64 Bit or 32 Bit versions, where 64 bit has huge compatibility problems.
8. Haha, I agree with you on this one. Mail may be the best Email client I've used but I still have yet to find one I truly like.
9. Plenty of Rumors that are easily shot down about this one. I think it'll be called Boot Camp 1.5, I'm actually kind of hoping on April 1st, Leopard will launch and Boot Camp will not exist with Apple saying it was just a year long April Fools joke. Not likely to happen but one can hope
10. I'm hoping they create an Open API for this one. I'm rather a Fan of AOL Radio and having a Plugin in Frontrow would make it much better. Also expect Keynote presentation Integration and iTV support.
11. Again, I have to agree with you on this one, but I'm always looking for ways to keep my Windows organized so who knows, I might just get a lot of use out of it after all.
12. Macrumors reports Voice Mail was found in the latest Seed. I'm also hoping for Libjing and Speex support so it will integrate more into Google Talk. Skype support and calls to Landlines would also be a big +.
Sebastian
Core Text
Core Animation
ZFS
Objective-C 2.0
And if there isn't a brand-new Finder, all hell will break loose, because the one in the current builds is basically Tiger Finder.
Core Animation
Objective-C 2.0
Ruby and Python
Time Machine
iChat AV
ZFS
iCal
Dashboard
Spotlight
Frontrow
Sebastian
ZFS?? Yes, but will the filesystem in the shipped version of leaoprd be ZFS?
/I guess now that I think about it some more, the biggest things from the users point of view at first glance will be the new UI (no Aqua, if there is one), and the new Finder (which I suspect there will be, but as pointed out by Lundy not in the current build, which I'm using).
I hate to repeat this point, but,
ZFS?? Yes, but will the filesystem in the shipped version of leaoprd be ZFS?
/I guess now that I think about it some more, the biggest things from the users point of view at first glance will be the new UI (no Aqua, if there is one), and the new Finder (which I suspect there will be, but as pointed out by Lundy not in the current build, which I'm using).
Considering we are looking at an April release (April seems more likely then Late March or May
Sebastian
On topic, I'm not really looking forward to anything specific. I'm not completely sure I will upgrade. Just doesn't sound like there is much for me to use at the moment.
Sebastian
I am fairly certain that ZFS will not be in Leopard. A month or so ago I was reading about it and learned that you can't boot from ZFS.
Technically true. However, you can easily get around that.
I think that there won't be a "must have" feature. I think it will be a combination of features. I also think that by this time next year, half the Mac freeware apps will use Core Animation and/or Obj-C 2.0, meaning that people will have to run them in Leopard for full effect.
I numbered your list to make it easier to respond to
4. Resolution Independance is a big deal. I hate my images becoming little pieces of Pixelated Scum when I try to enlarge them. I'm sure others feel the same. It also keeps everything graphically cleaner.
Huh??? With resolution independence, your images will still be 'pixelated scumm' when you enlarge them. Resolution independence will not magically enhance your bitmaps.
What it does is provide a vector based GUI so that you can 'scale' the whole shebang to whatever DPI you want. This way Apple can install 12" 9000 x 8000 pixel displays and avoid a really, really tiny desktop.
Time Machine (I wonder if it will support backing up Bootcamp partitions)
Python and Ruby support for application scripting - bye bye Applescript
Core Animation
ZFS
new cleaner more customizable UI
heavy use of multi-threaded OpenGL - should give Core Animation a boost
XRay
new Finder
But I really just want it snappier. I don't want a delay when I change volume or when the Finder tries to render the icons in the utilities folder. I'm embarassed when I boot into Windows and I can zip through the interface. Sure it looks horrible but when I need to do something I don't care about how it looks.
Huh??? With resolution independence, your images will still be 'pixelated scumm' when you enlarge them. Resolution independence will not magically enhance your bitmaps.
What it does is provide a vector based GUI so that you can 'scale' the whole shebang to whatever DPI you want. This way Apple can install 12" 9000 x 8000 pixel displays and avoid a really, really tiny desktop.
Problem with vector-based GUIs is that they're so effin' ugly. There are no details...everything looks flat...icons too would look very plain (especially considering the difficulties in producing anything with vectors that looks realistic.) Of course, it's possible to have a decent amount of detail with vector artwork but even a Quad-core Mac Pro wouldn't be able to handle a GUI with that much vector detail.
I think the aqua scrollbar would be harder to vectorise, as well as the "iron look".
But hey, its about time Apple leaves the "kiddie look" behind, isn´t?
ps: Marvin, I agree, the Finder absolutely sucks. I want a snappier OS, and better usability/features (e.g the load/save dialogues in MacOS suck compared to Windows)
Bootcamp - it's time-limited in Tiger so I think it will be used as a selling point
Can we go back a second - how has Apple made Boot Camp time limited? Generally speaking, partitioning your drive is something you do when you get your computer. So people use the partition tool part of it, and then install Windows and then install the drivers.
Are you implying that the drivers are time-limited, or just the partitioning tool? Because the partitioning tool could expire tomorrow, and I'll still be able to boot Windows (if I was on my Mac Pro). Anyone who buys before Leopard comes out will use the tool without issue, and anyone who buys after Leopard comes out will get Leopard. It'll be a switch incentive only to the people who buy between when Leopard's release date is announced and when it comes out.
Can we go back a second - how has Apple made Boot Camp time limited? Generally speaking, partitioning your drive is something you do when you get your computer. So people use the partition tool part of it, and then install Windows and then install the drivers.
Yup, the trouble is that Disk Utility can't make the required MBR? style partitions so you need to use Bootcamp. When you use Bootcamp, it says:
"Boot Camp Beta is preview software licensed for use on a trial basis for a limited time."
But you should still be able to use Windows unless as you pointed out the drivers could be time-limited but I doubt it.
On a side-note, I opened the .nib in Bootcamp to find the message above and I came across another one of those hidden Apple gems. They've called the window that starts the Windows installation "Good Luck" and the window about deleting the Windows partition "Welcome Back". I love these guys.
It'll be a switch incentive only to the people who buy between when Leopard's release date is announced and when it comes out.
Exactly but I think it's quite bad taste if they disable a feature that works fine just to sell their new system. That's Microsoft's tactics there - Halo 2&3 are Vista-only.
I would hope they make the final Bootcamp a download for Tiger.
Isn't that compelling enough?
Huh??? With resolution independence, your images will still be 'pixelated scumm' when you enlarge them. Resolution independence will not magically enhance your bitmaps.
What it does is provide a vector based GUI so that you can 'scale' the whole shebang to whatever DPI you want. This way Apple can install 12" 9000 x 8000 pixel displays and avoid a really, really tiny desktop.
Excuse me for my ignorance on the Subject then. When I first found out about Resolution Independance in Leopard and immediatly tried to find out what it was in Wikipedia. Their explanation sucked at the time, but when I took a look at the Screens I saw some UI features looked Pixelated while others looked completely smooth. I looked around a bit more and found on a Forum (I think here on AI before I registered) and saw something about Resolution Independance measuring everything in Metrics instead of Pixels.
So yeah, I don't have a complete explanation on it.
Sebastian
Problem with vector-based GUIs is that they're so effin' ugly. There are no details...everything looks flat...icons too would look very plain (especially considering the difficulties in producing anything with vectors that looks realistic.) Of course, it's possible to have a decent amount of detail with vector artwork but even a Quad-core Mac Pro wouldn't be able to handle a GUI with that much vector detail.
Well, PDF is at the core of the Mac, and there is an awful lot of cool stuff you can do in Adobe Illustrator, which is a vector art based program. I'm actually pretty good at Illustrator, so I can imagine some really neat UI enhancements.
Well, PDF is at the core of the Mac, and there is an awful lot of cool stuff you can do in Adobe Illustrator, which is a vector art based program. I'm actually pretty good at Illustrator, so I can imagine some really neat UI enhancements.
A full (and graphically-detailed) vector GUI would be a huge performance hit to a Mac Pro. I cringe to think of such a GUI would run on a G3s or even G4s.
Migrating to a fully vector GUI is no small feat either. It won't happen overnight. Just like the Web won't suddenly start abiding to resolution independent guidelines or Windows users migrate to Mac overnight. In fact, it could take years since a lot of developers will take their sweet time to create their vector icons and UI elements.
A full (and graphically-detailed) vector GUI would be a huge performance hit to a Mac Pro. I cringe to think of such a GUI would run on a G3s or even G4s.
Since G3s won't run Leopard, that point at least is somewhat moot.
Of course, a vector GUI isn't coming anyway.
whats this about?