Series of YouTube videos show off Apple's Snow Leopard

[AppleInsider]

A YouTube user going by the name 'LeopardOctober' has recently posted over a half dozen videos taken from recent pre-release builds of Apple's Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard operating system, showing off everything from QuickLook movie playback to the new QuickTime X interface.

All of the videos, as well as some screenshots, can be seen over at the user's YouTube page. Many of the videos must be accessed directly through the video file sharing site, as they cannot be embedded externally. For the most part, the videos highlight features and technologies that have been been disclosed and discussed.

For example, the first video provides an overview of advances to Snow Leopard's Finder, such as the "Put Back" option for returning items placed in the trash to their original location, high-resolution icons, nested folder navigation via a Stack's grid view, super-sized QuickLook movie previews, and the new universal keyboard shortcut preference pane.

Click to view this video at YouTube.

Another video shows how to assign applications to individual Spaces and also dives into demos of some of the more advanced text services that were detailed previously, such as text substitutions.



Also covered previously was the new interface for QuickTime X Player, which can be seen in the below video, complete with new trim controls and borderless playback. The player is also used to demonstrate Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard's startup video in the following clip.

Click to view this video at YouTube.

Click to view this video at YouTube.

A fifth video shows a PDF being viewed as jumbo-sized QuickLook icons while a sixth details some new search-related preferences.

Click to view this video at YouTube.



LeopardOctober's YouTube page was brought to our attention by the folks over at MacMagazine.com.br.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[digitalclips]

For me I am getting the video is denied messages on the actual YouTube pages although the first link from here worked.

[macxpress]

Hmmm...I was able to see all of them. I'm not sure I clicked on them all but the ones I did worked fine.

The Leopard intro movie Apple usually doesn't implement a new one until around the final build. If I remember correctly, all of the Leopard test builds had the Tiger intro movie up until nearly the GM build.

[hmurchison]

I've enjoyed these.

Yes ..it breaks a potential NDA but these are just small touches that won't even be covered at WWDC most likely.

[ivan.rnn01]

Besides, there's nothing useful or remarkable.

Controls in the new QuickTime window client area are really pitiable when watching small size clips.

The performance will hopefully impress me more than all that.

[digitalclips]

Originally Posted by macxpress

Hmmm...I was able to see all of them. I'm not sure I clicked on them all but the ones I did worked fine.

The Leopard intro movie Apple usually doesn't implement a new one until around the final build. If I remember correctly, all of the Leopard test builds had the Tiger intro movie up until nearly the GM build.

Just tried again, http://www.youtube.com/user/LeopardOctober only first one works for me, rest I get a denial. However they work on actual YouTube pages. Thanks for heads up to try again.

[hmurchison]

Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01

Besides, there's nothing useful or remarkable.

Controls in the new QuickTime window client area are really pitiable when watching small size clips.

The performance will hopefully impress me more than all that.

What's the point of watching small sized clips? If it's too dinky I don't want to watch it.

[ivan.rnn01]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

What's the point of watching small sized clips? If it's too dinky I don't want to watch it.

Khm... I don't know, why that guy did... Clips usually appear to be quite small in size, when you grab them from the web...

[hmurchison]

Hmmm i'll have to pull up a small clip and see how the controls are affected.

I like the simple substitutions and cleaned up services menu.
I'll probably use Spaces more in Snow Leopard especially now that I have a 28" LCD.

I think these videos are only scratching the surface but then again Snow Leopard just doesn't have any whizzbang features and I really think Apple should be targetting a $69 price point.

I hope they deliver a Mac Box Set with Snow Leopard for a great price.

[hillstones]

Wow. A video that shows the Put Back feature. Sorry, not impressed when that feature existed in System 7, 8, and 9, and should have been in 10.0.

So it shows off a pretty interface. The main point of Snow Leopard was to offer better optimization for Intel Macs. That is what people want to see. Since it is only a developer build, it is not yet fully optimized in itself.

[solipsism]

Breaking the NDA on a Google owned site. How long before the videos are taken down? I'm guessing 2PM EST.

[Shogun]

Uh, what's with the tampon icon (third down on left)? What does that do?

[Feynman]

Originally Posted by Shogun

Uh, what's with the tampon icon (third down on left)? What does that do?

http://www.omnigroup.com/applications/omnidazzle/

[psychodoughboy]

Stack navigation is wonderful.

[Virgil-TB2]

If only people who post stuff like this could still be publicly horsewhipped.

I guess this guy really needed to be taught something about right and wrong as a child though and it's probably far too late now.

Edit: at least they appear to have been taken down already.

[Bageljoey]

Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01

Besides, there's nothing useful or remarkable.

I thought that video clip of George Michael dancing and singing in Hindi(?) was remarkable...

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

What's the point of watching small sized clips? If it's too dinky I don't want to watch it.

There are those of us that like to watch a video in the highest *quality* available, not the biggest *size* available.

Personally, I hate it when YouTube (and others, since most video sites do this), re-size the video to some arbitrary square on the web-site and then only give you the option of making it even bigger (full-screen) and fuzzier.

I want to see the actual footage, not some re-processed, stretched and optimised form of it. If it's some crappy cell-phone video that's only a couple of hundred pixels on a side, there is no advantage to having it stretched and blurred into a larger format IMO.

[ivan.rnn01]

Originally Posted by Bageljoey

I thought that video clip of George Michael dancing and singing in Hindi(?) was remarkable...

Oh, I could not see him well because of those pitiable controls in client area...

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by iStink

Isn't anyone going to say the obvious? Most of these videos cover features that have been part of Windows / Office for an extremely long time.

Which features are those? The only one that sticks out me is Put Back, which was oddly left out of OS X, but present in the previous Mac OS. Most of the things in the videos have been around in all the OSes for decades in some form, this is just a more efficient and simpler alternative in many ways.

Originally Posted by hillstones

So it shows off a pretty interface. The main point of Snow Leopard was to offer better optimization for Intel Macs. That is what people want to see. Since it is only a developer build, it is not yet fully optimized in itself.

The interface is still Leopard at this point. A few extra controls and UI functions, but nothing special. The good stuff is pretty hard to put into a video. I could put up my benchmarking stats between Leopard and Snow Leopard, but I don't think it would make for a good YouTube video.

BTW, LeopardOctober is using an older version of SL. The current beta, 10a354, has added and refined many of the features shown, is much more stable and faster the the build he is using. Except for a few odd issues, the lack of a 64-bit kernel for any of the IGPs and a couple services still running in 32-bit mode, and lack of the new UI that to jazz it up, it's pretty complete.

[ivan.rnn01]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

If only people who post stuff like this could still be publicly horsewhipped.

I guess this guy really needed to be taught something about right and wrong as a child though and it's probably far too late now.

There's no huge reason to....

EDIT: Please don't post Torrent links.

Thank you.

[macxpress]

Originally Posted by iStink

Main things were the putback feature and text features. Things like turning tm and (c) into their proper symbols, or auto correct, or even the 1/2 thing. The date thing was really cool though and definitely not something found in ms office. The file search reminded me a lot of the built in file search field in windows folder dialogs. I guess I was hoping for something totally foreign to Windows.

Actually most of the features shown are features of MS Office, which isn't a free app. Apple is including these free in the OS. These really aren't features IMO, they're more like tweaks to the existing OS.

[ivan.rnn01]

I like numbered list items in small letters. MS Word doesn't allow this. If only Mac OS X would begin to do the same... What's the 4th platform to migrate to (no Linux, pls)?

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by iStink

Things like turning tm and (c) into their proper symbols, or auto correct, or even the 1/2 thing. The date thing was really cool though and definitely not something found in ms office. The file search reminded me a lot of the built in file search field in windows folder dialogs. I guess I was hoping for something totally foreign to Windows.

Word processing apps have had that for decades, but this is a system wide addition to the OS. If I’m using Google Docs or simply typing in this forum I can easily type ™, ©, ⅛, … and have it carry over outside of using Word or Pages. I haven’t seen this addition in Windows, but I’ll look for it later.

PS: This will really help AppleInsider staff write faster. They can now set up their own short cuts so typing ai with have it write the Cupertino-base company, typing ia will have it write out the Cupertino-based iPod maker, and ipa will have it write out the Cupertino-based iPhone maker, or whatever. On a serious note, I have just added some simple commands to that add the vBulletin markup commands that I use often. Namely, breaking out posting in forums with a closing [ /quote] followed by [ quote] so I can reply more effectively.

PPS: It doesn’t care about capitalization. Not that needs to, but having the option would be nice for fine tuning commands.

[macxpress]

Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01

I like numbered list items in small letters. MS Word doesn't allow this. If only Mac OS X would begin to do the same... What's the 4th platform to migrate to (no Linux, pls)?

I guess its too bad nobody can make a "special" OS just for you. Suck it up and make your own if you think you can do better!

[Guartho]

Originally Posted by Shogun

Uh, what's with the tampon icon (third down on left)? What does that do?

Now, I was going to ask about that, but I was going to call it a rocket-powered Mighty Mouse.

[addicted44]

Originally Posted by iStink

Main things were the putback feature and text features. Things like turning tm and (c) into their proper symbols, or auto correct, or even the 1/2 thing. The date thing was really cool though and definitely not something found in ms office. The file search reminded me a lot of the built in file search field in windows folder dialogs. I guess I was hoping for something totally foreign to Windows.

The part that you are missing is that those text features you talk about (Substitutions) are NOT part of Windows. They are part of MS Office, and a few other MS apps.

Apple has truly made it part of the OS (and the Cocoa API's) so it will be automatically (or extremely easily) implemented in all text fields created by any 3rd party application developer too. If I am theorizing its architecture right, you will also be able to control system-wide substitutions and settings on an OS basis, rather than a per-app basis.

Adding it to the API's makes it far bigger, and more useful than having it in a few Office ($100+) apps.

[ivan.rnn01]

Originally Posted by macxpress

I guess its too bad nobody can make a "special" OS just for you. Suck it up and make your own if you think you can do better!

If I happen to succeed, what will be Apple's vanity then?

[macxpress]

Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01

If I happen to succeed, what will be Apple's vanity then?

Apple won't have to worry about you succeeding...nothing else to discuss!

[ivan.rnn01]

Originally Posted by macxpress

Apple won't have to worry about you succeeding...nothing else to discuss!

Oh, we can't know that.

[wobegon]

You have to wonder if white text on black will become Snow Leopard's theme, but I'm still unsure of that happening. Can't wait for the stoplight window controls to be replaced with something less garish; they have to.

The new Stacks are interesting, but what really caught my eye was the iPhone/iPod touch-style disappearing scroll bar. I think that could be what replaces all scroll bars in SL, rather than the alternative looks introduced in iTunes 7 (i.e., the matte style, though that's nice too), iMovie '09, etc.

All the buttons are more rectangular in Snow Leopard where they were more squarish in Leopard.

The new playback buttons built into the icons for audio and video files are interesting too, but I don't see much of a point where videos are concerned. I don't blow icons up to massive proportions. Audio files, though, will be nice to preview in place. Sure, there's QuickLook, but for audio, it's overkill most of the time. I just want to check out the song before importing it into iTunes.

Overall, these videos just make the wait for the unveiling of Snow Leopard's new UI (whatever it is) that much harder.

If there's one thing I would like Apple to at least consider, it's the removal of the happy Finder face icon with something new and more visually descriptive or something recognizable (perhaps the iPhone's minimalist Home button symbol?). I know, it's sacrilegious and I'll miss the little guy too, but it's time for the Finder icon to grow up IMO.

[Virgil-TB2]

Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01

There's no huge reason to....

I know that you are a really smart and knowledgeable guy, but I don't get why you are also okay with promoting this kind of thing. You can be both smart and good person you know.

As you note, anyone who really wants to know this stuff can get a hold of it themselves quite easily.

My point therefore, is that the only reason this d*ck-head did this is to drive his own sense of self-importance to make a big splash, to be "first" etc. Historically, this egoism (cred), is a key driver behind most hacking.

I know this is old-fashioned thinking nowadays and that no one much agrees with me right now, but IMO the more d*ck-heads there are in the world, the worse off we all are.

Also, moral structures are a logical necessity so it's likely the worm will eventually turn and society will again put a value on "doing the right thing" someday as opposed to teaching a self-centred, emotionally based value system as is generally done today.

I just find it depressing, and also so unnecessary to release this now, given that it's likely there are more UI changes (the elimination of aqua) to come; we won't see until the developer preview anyway; these particular changes are minimal and not that interesting; and it's only a damn month or so to wait anyway.

[themoonisdown09]

I love how QuickTime 10 won't have the 2 "trim scrubbers" visible. You only get those if you go to the menu and click the Trim option.

This is one of the little things that annoy me about QuickTime. When I try and move the playback scrubber, it triggers the trim scrubber to move and pause video playback. I think this happens when you click a little too high on the playback line.

[ivan.rnn01]

Originally Posted by Virgil-TB2

I know that you are a really smart and knowledgeable guy, but I don't get why you are also okay with promoting this kind of thing. You can be both smart and good person you know.

As you note, anyone who really wants to know this stuff can get a hold of it themselves quite easily.

My point therefore, is that the only reason this d*ck-head did this is to drive his own sense of self-importance to make a big splash, to be "first" etc. Historically, this egoism (cred), is a key driver behind most hacking.

I know this is old-fashioned thinking nowadays and that no one much agrees with me right now, but IMO the more d*ck-heads there are in the world, the worse off we all are.

Also, moral structures are a logical necessity so it's likely the worm will eventually turn and society will again put a value on "doing the right thing" someday as opposed to teaching a self-centred, emotionally based value system as is generally done today.

I just find it depressing, and also so unnecessary to release this now, given that it's likely there are more UI changes (the elimination of aqua) to come; we won't see until the developer preview anyway; these particular changes are minimal and not that interesting; and it's only a damn month or so to wait anyway.

After having thought all that over again, I have to admit your judgement may have been quite reasonable. And, in any case, I should not have promoted torrent links, I just did not think it good (apologies, Mel)... The only thing I wanted to say the guy might happen to be not under NDA, which surely didn't excuse him completely...

[Ireland]

I just want to see the real-world speed improvements in the finished product. Grand-Central this, multi-core that. It's all bullshit as far as I'm concerned, until I actually see the thing working faster. I'm not falling for the marketing crap this time. It's all just fancy trimmings, we'll see. I doubt I'll be buying for a while...

And please, let's not make this into a Windows 7 thread, there are Windows forums for that. Enough with the needless comparisons already. Let's take Snow Leopard on its own merits. All this stuff in these videos I won't use, quick-look on the icons is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. Why would I need it when I can Quicklook the actual video by pressing spacebar. Me thinks they are running out of ideas to wow people with. We all know they are working on this tablet anyway, that's where the real innovation is going these days. That and those phones I heard they are working on

[addabox]

Originally Posted by ivan.rnn01

Oh, I could not see him well because of those pitiable controls in client area...

When I try to look at the videos on the You Tube page I only get the Finder search refinement one no matter which I click on, so I'm not seeing what you're seeing, but:

I thought the heads up transport controls on QT X did the DVD player thing-- that is, fade from view after a few seconds of inactivity?

[marzetta7]

Sweet videos! Can't wait for next month.

[wobegon]

Originally Posted by addabox

I thought the heads up transport controls on QT X did the DVD player thing-- that is, fade from view after a few seconds of inactivity?

You are correct. In addition to the playback controls, which closely resemble those of DVD Player, the title bar (with window controls) is translucent; it too fades away when the mouse is not over the video window.

[ivan.rnn01]

Originally Posted by addabox

When I try to look at the videos on the You Tube page I only get the Finder search refinement one no matter which I click on, so I'm not seeing what you're seeing, but:

I thought the heads up transport controls on QT X did the DVD player thing-- that is, fade from view after a few seconds of inactivity?

In the vid the guy watches the clip of the size 420 by something... The controls overlap a good half of the view and don't fade out, he probably keeps the mouse pointer over them...

They might have found better solution. Why to throw drawers away, for example?

[SoZo]

I must really be out of the information loop here but I just installed 10.7 but we are supposed to be awaiting the release of 10.6? What am I missing here?

Ok just ignore me I AM AN IDIOT!!! Just went back and realized I installed 10.5.7 DOH!!!!! I really need to pay more attention.

[ZenTigerpaw]

I really like where Snow Leopard is going. The new substitutions is very pleasing.