Briefly: Apple prepping new Snow Leopard, iWeb, ARD updates

***AppleInsider*** · 03-05-2009, 07:09 PM

The news vacuum that's followed Apple's Mac desktop refresh offers space for some updates on the company's software-related efforts, which should soon produce new builds of Snow Leopard. Meanwhile, minor updates to iWeb, Remote Desktop, and other OS X components are also reportedly in the works.

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

People familiar with the ongoing development of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard say Apple is gearing up to provide some developers with a new build of the next-gen OS in the near term.

The target build is said to be 10A286, which could change at any time. Regardless of the build, an identically numbered beta of Snow Leopard Server should arrive in tandum.

Apple last equipped Apple Developer Connection members with build 10A261 in early February. Around that time it was reported that Snow Leopard would include Core Location and Multi-Touch frameworks for third-party developers, and also deliver more intuitive printer driver delivery.

Specific to the 10A261 build were a handful of visual tweaks, such as a Put Back option in the Finder and the ability to drill down into stacks via a new grid-view interface, each of which were documented in a series of screenshots.

While calls from Apple legal have marred various reports on those features, including AppleInsider's, readers point out that several videos covering the design tweaks live on over at YouTube, like the one below.

iWeb

Also in the works, and reportedly undergoing internal testing, is iWeb 3.0.1. The update is believed to address issues with publishing iWeb pages to MobileMe and FTP, which has been one of the largest sources of complaints about the new Web editor that shipped last month as part of iLife '09.

One thread running since late January concerns FTP publishing errors where a test worked properly but the publish failed. Others have reported issues with pictures not appearing correctly while still others have struggled with uploading for a month only to discover their sleep settings were putting the computer to sleep before it could finish the upload.

Apple Remote Desktop & VoiceOver

Meanwhile, two other software updates growing closer to release, though very little information is know about them at this time. The first is Apple Remote Desktop 3.3, which is reportedly code-named Hook. Somewhat further behind is said to be a significant update to VoiceOver.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

Ireland · 03-05-2009, 07:23 PM

What I really want is the ability to right click stack items, without the need to install anything on top of SL. That feature is a no-brainer.

MacTel · 03-05-2009, 07:36 PM

I'm interested in Snow Leopard for sure and will buy it on day one, but I suspect Snow Leopard OSX Server will be feature rich enough to take another slice out of the Windows server market.

wizard69 · 03-05-2009, 07:41 PM

It should be noted that the latest Wifi update for Intel has helped somewhat but there are still significant issues depending on the network you reside on. I still get the intermittent scanning for network problem on certain WiFi access points. It it better but still not 100%.

As to Snow Leopard all I can say is that I hope it comes quickly. The number one thing I'm hoping for is GPU acceleration of video play back. That should make a huge difference on my early 2008 MBP. If they don't implement I will be very disappointed with Apple. Not that Apple is in my good graces right now but I suspect that I will get over it.

Even if the iMac update was lackluster I'm starting to warm up to one of their new networking appliances. It is good to see that Apple has been steadily updating all their software even on embedded devices. Software is one of the good things to look at this year as Apple has been doing well here. Everything I have, my MBP, MobileMe and Iphone, are all working better than when I started out with the stuff in 2008.

Dave

macxpress · 03-05-2009, 08:18 PM

It seems like the Snow Leopard builds are slowly starting to pick up the pace. Maybe I'm wrong???

christopher126 · 03-05-2009, 09:13 PM

Me too, from what I'm reading about Snow Leopard I like. A smaller footprint, more stable and faster, I will be buying it day one.

I want to upgrade my iWeb '08 (Real Estate website) to '09 just for the FTP capability. A simple click rather than opening Fetch and dragging and dropping, but Apple's iWeb '09 support forums are awash with supposed problems using this feature.

I'll wait till I see a fix. I bet we see an iWeb '09 FTP fix before the SL release.

Thanks for the info AI, saves a lot of unnecessary headaches!

Chris

abrli · 03-05-2009, 09:50 PM

major update to voiceover, iphone... oh... yes!!!!

SpamSandwich · 03-06-2009, 12:38 AM

Yech... Stacks. Not a fan.

John French · 03-06-2009, 01:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Yech... Stacks. Not a fan.

Stack's isn't useful for much, but it is useful for accessing small folders of apps without having the Dock take up an insane amount of space on the screen. Especially if you aren't running on a high resolution like 1680x1580 or 1920x1200.

dacloo · 03-06-2009, 02:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Yech... Stacks. Not a fan.

Me neither. First thing that I turn off after a re-install.
They have added stuff like scrollbars and folder navigation.
You just as well can open a Finder window when clicking the dock icon,
it offers more control too. Stacks are different, I know, but do we really need it?

enzomedici · 03-06-2009, 02:13 AM

With all of the fancy graphics and animations, why does the Activity Monitor still suck ass? The graphics look like they are from 1984.

aToMac · 03-06-2009, 02:19 AM

I am not impressed by SL build numbers. Maybe Apple has less builds in its development methods now. Tiger had GM build 8A425 or so and Leopard had 9A581, before that they were working into B and C, like Panther 7B85 and Jaguar 6C115 or so.

Leopard was released on October 26th. Now it is about 16 months later. With a daily build we would be around 480. I expected to see a build number like 10A4xx.

Could it be that Snow Leopard will not be that big an upgrade. We know they are hitting the Pause button on features, but maybe they are also hitting the pause button on OSX work?

Prince (Daniel) McClean, do you have an explanation, or anyone else for that matter??

ivan.rnn01 · 03-06-2009, 02:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Around that time it was reported that Snow Leopard would include Core Location and Multi-Touch frameworks for third-party developers, and also deliver more intuitive printer driver delivery.

Pray, Apple, enlighten me on when capable TimeMachine framework is gonna meet developers... Didn't I miss something?
My home-brewed dual pane file manager can't wait anymore...

inkswamp · 03-06-2009, 04:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Yech... Stacks. Not a fan.

I love them. It reminds me of the tabbed windows in OS 9, only much less intrusive (no more oddball tabs positioned around the edges of the screens) and easier to use. If you have a lot of locations with lots of files in each that you have to access frequently, then they are perfect and much more convenient than having to dig around in the Finder or leave your desktop cluttered with windows. Guess it depends on the kind of work you do.

Shookster · 03-06-2009, 05:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enzomedici

With all of the fancy graphics and animations, why does the Activity Monitor still suck ass? The graphics look like they are from 1984.

The whole point of Activity Monitor is to monitor your system - you don't want it screwing up the figures by taking up a whole load of CPU time.

Messiah · 03-06-2009, 05:34 AM

Isn't that 'new' stacks method just the Finder, but with windows that have a black background and background windows that have some perspective?

With regards to stacks, all I want is the implementation that Apple originally showed with the Leopard preview, where the files themselves reside in the stack, rather than the stack simply being a front end for a folder residing elsewhere.

I want to be able to grab a bunch of icons and drop them into a stack, without necessarily having to create an enclosing folder and file it away.

Quadra 610 · 03-06-2009, 06:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpamSandwich

Yech... Stacks. Not a fan.

I rely on it every day.

Stacks + Expose + Spaces is an important part of my workflow.

Quadra 610 · 03-06-2009, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Messiah

Isn't that 'new' stacks method just the Finder, but with windows that have a black background and background windows that have some perspective?

With regards to stacks, all I want is the implementation that Apple originally showed with the Leopard preview, where the files themselves reside in the stack, rather than the stack simply being a front end for a folder residing elsewhere.

I want to be able to grab a bunch of icons and drop them into a stack, without necessarily having to create an enclosing folder and file it away.

Autostacks.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/26206

dacloo · 03-06-2009, 07:13 AM

Amen!

If Apple wants "Stacks" to be an easy way to select stuff from the Dock, they should NOT implement this folder navigation / scroll bar thingie, because you will invite your audience to use it for something different than its original purpose.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Messiah

Isn't that 'new' stacks method just the Finder, but with windows that have a black background and background windows that have some perspective?

With regards to stacks, all I want is the implementation that Apple originally showed with the Leopard preview, where the files themselves reside in the stack, rather than the stack simply being a front end for a folder residing elsewhere.

I want to be able to grab a bunch of icons and drop them into a stack, without necessarily having to create an enclosing folder and file it away.

johninokinawa · 03-06-2009, 08:47 AM

Ooops!

an identically numbered beta of Snow Leopard Server should arrive in tandum

This must be TANDEM, I have no idea what TANDUM is

John Davis

solipsism · 03-06-2009, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by johninokinawa

This must be TANDEM, I have no idea what TANDUM is

But you are well versed in sardonicism.

Why point out the misspelled datum if you know perfectly well what it means?

mdriftmeyer · 03-06-2009, 09:12 AM

Could they can the rap music or the creepy keyboard music? Just present the changes. The music is like being forced to hear big bass while waking up and brushing your teeth.

randfee · 03-06-2009, 09:14 AM

I just don't see how Apple plans to sell Snow Leopard to the masses. For the ordinary folks out there, there is just nothing to lure them into buying it.

don't get me wrong, I'll get my copy (still hoping for ZFS support), but compared to Leopard and Tiger, I don't see other people being attracted by it. So I guess they'll just introduce it along with the new hardware that sells, I'm really looking forward to see how fast it is being adopted.

what do you think?

webhead · 03-06-2009, 09:20 AM

I used iweb 09 to upload my website to an FTP last week and it worked fine, no problems. It's a nice feature, now I don't have to use fetch to upload my site.

mdriftmeyer · 03-06-2009, 09:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by randfee

I just don't see how Apple plans to sell Snow Leopard to the masses. For the ordinary folks out there, there is just nothing to lure them into buying it.

don't get me wrong, I'll get my copy (still hoping for ZFS support), but compared to Leopard and Tiger, I don't see other people being attracted by it. So I guess they'll just introduce along with the new hardware that sells...

what do you think?

What are you talking about? Besides the entire platform moving to Cocoa, a new kernel, completely updated Printing System, Email, Finder, and every other application space getting streamlined and updated, you're worried that because it looks very similar to 10.5 people will pass on it?

That's ludicrous.

Who would pass on improved Samba? Improved NFS? Improved File system support? Added security? New versions of Apple applications leveraging more services to one another?

There are hundreds of changes that will have people smiling when they upgrade.

For a Developer the options are obviously more obvious. For consumers they will see the changes in 3rd party applications, new applications across the board.

I passed on Leopard knowing that Snow Leopard is the first version I've been waiting on for 10 years. That's just the ex-NeXT snob in me.

randfee · 03-06-2009, 09:35 AM

jeez... I'm not talking about you and me, I'm talking about the broad mass of users, that looks for the next exposé, spotlight or time-machine.

I know very well what I can get out of 10.6, as I said, I'll definitely get it. I don't know if my favorite feature (ZFS) will be in yet, but hell yeah, lots of stuff that is gonna keep me smiling.

BUT, I was talking about the average guy/gal, that can't care less about all the stuff that interests us. Those are the masses, they don't see a new shiny feature, they'll complain and/or not buy it. As easy as that!

SpamSandwich · 03-06-2009, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Quadra 610

Autostacks.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/26206

Isn't this basically the same as the "Recent Items" found under the upper-left Apple icon?

**hmurchison** · 03-06-2009, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by randfee

jeez... I'm not talking about you and me, I'm talking about the broad mass of users, that looks for the next exposé, spotlight or time-machine.

I know very well what I can get out of 10.6, as I said, I'll definitely get it. I don't know if my favorite feature (ZFS) will be in yet, but hell yeah, lots of stuff that is gonna keep me smiling.

BUT, I was talking about the average guy/gal, that can't care less about all the stuff that interests us. Those are the masses, they don't see a new shiny feature, they'll complain and/or not buy it. As easy as that!

I'm not buying Apple's "featureless" crap.

Hell the plethora of little tweaks i'm seeing leak are really getting me pumped for this OS. Initially I was a bit like "well I only have a Core Duo so the Grandcentral OpenCL thing really isn't going to benefit me"

But now I'm seeing the polish I've longed for. A cleaner Services Menu so I actually want to use it.

Smaller apps for a faster install. Better printing and I think the final thing Apple adds is a cohesive and unified UI.

I'm sold. I'm hoping Apple is kind and delivers it for say half price but if we continue to see improvements I'll pay full pop for it.

I keep hearing developers dropping hints about features they can't wait to tap in SL. I think there is going to be a lot of "I don't see anything I'd use" coming from people but human nature, it appears, mandates its easy to talk yourself out of spend money.

NYCMacFan · 03-06-2009, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shookster

The whole point of Activity Monitor is to monitor your system - you don't want it screwing up the figures by taking up a whole load of CPU time.

I agree. One thing I'd love is for common apps to have an option to click on a process for a quick explanation for apple for what they are so that you know what is up. Obviously this is for the apps/processes that are common and almost always running on all systems.

I have an (dual core) MBA and for the first six months, I'd find one core stop working (go to 100% with no apps opens) and find some random routine that was using all of 1 core and 60% of another. I hate having to google each one to find out.

Appeltje · 03-07-2009, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

iWeb
Also in the works, and reportedly undergoing internal testing, is iWeb 3.0.1. The update is believed to address issues with publishing iWeb pages to MobileMe and FTP, which has been one of the largest sources of complaints about the new Web editor that shipped last month as part of iLife '09.

One thread running since late January concerns FTP publishing errors where a test worked properly but the publish failed. Others have reported issues with pictures not appearing correctly while still others have struggled with uploading for a month only to discover their sleep settings were putting the computer to sleep before it could finish the upload.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

It may interest you to know that the above quote sent to the Apple discussion forum about the many problems people are having with iWeb3, was removed by the staff on account of being speculation and rumor.
I don't know whether this means that Apple is NOT going to fix the iWeb3 bugs.
You can see for yourself how images are misplaced on many iWeb blogs:
http://web.me.com/fabrice.baudon/My_...l/Journal.html
The rss feed iWeb produces is faulty as well.
It seems that not many magazines dare to publish about these problems. They certainly have not tested the blog.

I do hope they will fix the bugs though.

03-05-2009, 07:09 PM	#1
*AppleInsider* Kasper's Automated Slave Join Date: Nov 1997 Posts: 6,151	Briefly: Apple prepping new Snow Leopard, iWeb, ARD updates The news vacuum that's followed Apple's Mac desktop refresh offers space for some updates on the company's software-related efforts, which should soon produce new builds of Snow Leopard. Meanwhile, minor updates to iWeb, Remote Desktop, and other OS X components are also reportedly in the works. Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard People familiar with the ongoing development of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard say Apple is gearing up to provide some developers with a new build of the next-gen OS in the near term. The target build is said to be 10A286, which could change at any time. Regardless of the build, an identically numbered beta of Snow Leopard Server should arrive in tandum. Apple last equipped Apple Developer Connection members with build 10A261 in early February. Around that time it was reported that Snow Leopard would include Core Location and Multi-Touch frameworks for third-party developers, and also deliver more intuitive printer driver delivery. Specific to the 10A261 build were a handful of visual tweaks, such as a Put Back option in the Finder and the ability to drill down into stacks via a new grid-view interface, each of which were documented in a series of screenshots. While calls from Apple legal have marred various reports on those features, including AppleInsider's, readers point out that several videos covering the design tweaks live on over at YouTube, like the one below. iWeb Also in the works, and reportedly undergoing internal testing, is iWeb 3.0.1. The update is believed to address issues with publishing iWeb pages to MobileMe and FTP, which has been one of the largest sources of complaints about the new Web editor that shipped last month as part of iLife '09. One thread running since late January concerns FTP publishing errors where a test worked properly but the publish failed. Others have reported issues with pictures not appearing correctly while still others have struggled with uploading for a month only to discover their sleep settings were putting the computer to sleep before it could finish the upload. Apple Remote Desktop & VoiceOver Meanwhile, two other software updates growing closer to release, though very little information is know about them at this time. The first is Apple Remote Desktop 3.3, which is reportedly code-named Hook. Somewhat further behind is said to be a significant update to VoiceOver. [ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

03-05-2009, 07:23 PM	#2
Ireland Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Ireland Posts: 8,559	What I really want is the ability to right click stack items, without the need to install anything on top of SL. That feature is a no-brainer. Collecting my SSD iMac Fry-die. :D

03-05-2009, 07:36 PM	#3
MacTel Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 634	I'm interested in Snow Leopard for sure and will buy it on day one, but I suspect Snow Leopard OSX Server will be feature rich enough to take another slice out of the Windows server market. Tory Hagen Break the Wedge!

03-05-2009, 07:41 PM	#4
wizard69 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 2,481	Nice to hear about software fixes & Snow Leopard! It should be noted that the latest Wifi update for Intel has helped somewhat but there are still significant issues depending on the network you reside on. I still get the intermittent scanning for network problem on certain WiFi access points. It it better but still not 100%. As to Snow Leopard all I can say is that I hope it comes quickly. The number one thing I'm hoping for is GPU acceleration of video play back. That should make a huge difference on my early 2008 MBP. If they don't implement I will be very disappointed with Apple. Not that Apple is in my good graces right now but I suspect that I will get over it. Even if the iMac update was lackluster I'm starting to warm up to one of their new networking appliances. It is good to see that Apple has been steadily updating all their software even on embedded devices. Software is one of the good things to look at this year as Apple has been doing well here. Everything I have, my MBP, MobileMe and Iphone, are all working better than when I started out with the stuff in 2008. Dave

03-05-2009, 08:18 PM	#5
macxpress Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 551	It seems like the Snow Leopard builds are slowly starting to pick up the pace. Maybe I'm wrong??? Website: MacXpress 2.66 GHz Quadcore MacPro (Nehalem) 24" LED Apple Cinema Display 2.4 GHz 24" Aluminum iMac (Rev A) 867 MHz PowerMac G4 (Quicksilver) w/17" Apple Studio LCD 16GB iPhone 3G(S)

03-05-2009, 09:13 PM	#6
christopher126 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Arizona Posts: 367	Me too, from what I'm reading about Snow Leopard I like. A smaller footprint, more stable and faster, I will be buying it day one. I want to upgrade my iWeb '08 (Real Estate website) to '09 just for the FTP capability. A simple click rather than opening Fetch and dragging and dropping, but Apple's iWeb '09 support forums are awash with supposed problems using this feature. I'll wait till I see a fix. I bet we see an iWeb '09 FTP fix before the SL release. Thanks for the info AI, saves a lot of unnecessary headaches! Chris

03-05-2009, 09:50 PM	#7
abrli Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1	major update to voiceover, iphone... oh... yes!!!!

03-06-2009, 12:38 AM	#8
SpamSandwich Registered User Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 8,453	Yech... Stacks. Not a fan. "The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield, and government to gain ground." —Thomas Jefferson Proud AAPL stock owner.

03-06-2009, 02:13 AM	#11
enzomedici Registered User Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 11	Crappy Activity Monitor.... With all of the fancy graphics and animations, why does the Activity Monitor still suck ass? The graphics look like they are from 1984.

03-06-2009, 02:19 AM	#12
aToMac Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Netherlands Posts: 6	Build Numbers I am not impressed by SL build numbers. Maybe Apple has less builds in its development methods now. Tiger had GM build 8A425 or so and Leopard had 9A581, before that they were working into B and C, like Panther 7B85 and Jaguar 6C115 or so. Leopard was released on October 26th. Now it is about 16 months later. With a daily build we would be around 480. I expected to see a build number like 10A4xx. Could it be that Snow Leopard will not be that big an upgrade. We know they are hitting the Pause button on features, but maybe they are also hitting the pause button on OSX work? Prince (Daniel) McClean, do you have an explanation, or anyone else for that matter??

03-06-2009, 05:34 AM	#16
Messiah Registered User Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Treasure Island Posts: 1,605	Isn't that 'new' stacks method just the Finder, but with windows that have a black background and background windows that have some perspective? With regards to stacks, all I want is the implementation that Apple originally showed with the Leopard preview, where the files themselves reside in the stack, rather than the stack simply being a front end for a folder residing elsewhere. I want to be able to grab a bunch of icons and drop them into a stack, without necessarily having to create an enclosing folder and file it away. When Steve Jobs wants to hear your opinion - he'll give it to you...

03-06-2009, 08:47 AM	#20
johninokinawa Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 3	Ooops! Ooops! an identically numbered beta of Snow Leopard Server should arrive in tandum This must be TANDEM, I have no idea what TANDUM is John Davis

03-06-2009, 09:12 AM	#22
mdriftmeyer Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Northwest Posts: 2,695	YouTube videos Could they can the rap music or the creepy keyboard music? Just present the changes. The music is like being forced to hear big bass while waking up and brushing your teeth.

03-06-2009, 09:14 AM	#23
randfee Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 7	I just don't see how Apple plans to sell Snow Leopard to the masses. For the ordinary folks out there, there is just nothing to lure them into buying it. don't get me wrong, I'll get my copy (still hoping for ZFS support), but compared to Leopard and Tiger, I don't see other people being attracted by it. So I guess they'll just introduce it along with the new hardware that sells, I'm really looking forward to see how fast it is being adopted. what do you think? Last edited by randfee; 03-06-2009 at 09:25 AM..

03-06-2009, 09:20 AM	#24
webhead Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Edmonton, Alberta Canada Posts: 70	I used iweb 09 to upload my website to an FTP last week and it worked fine, no problems. It's a nice feature, now I don't have to use fetch to upload my site.

03-06-2009, 09:35 AM	#26
randfee Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 7	jeez... I'm not talking about you and me, I'm talking about the broad mass of users, that looks for the next exposé, spotlight or time-machine. I know very well what I can get out of 10.6, as I said, I'll definitely get it. I don't know if my favorite feature (ZFS) will be in yet, but hell yeah, lots of stuff that is gonna keep me smiling. BUT, I was talking about the average guy/gal, that can't care less about all the stuff that interests us. Those are the masses, they don't see a new shiny feature, they'll complain and/or not buy it. As easy as that!

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode