Apple's Leopard has its eye on Redmond
For the second time in as many years, Apple Computer is looking to outshine rival Micrsoft Corp. in the inevitable battle between the two companies' software operating systems.
There's still over a month to go before Apple will take the wraps off Leopard, the next version of Mac OS X, but already the rumor mills are abuzz over a couple of purported screenshots that depict some long-rumored features of the software.
Leopard is due to hit the market about the same time as Microsoft's Vista, and sources say Apple has been keeping a close eye on the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant. They say the Mac maker has been developing a handful of features for Leopard that will specifically rival those available to Vista users -- some will make the cut for Leopard's release while others may not.
One of the rumored features is said to be OS-level integration of a geographical mapping technology, similar to Microsoft's Virtual Earth. In recent months, Microsoft has made several acquisitions aimed at bolstering its Virtual Earth division, including a buyout of Vexcel Corp.
According to sources, Apple has been working on a similar approach, but modeled after Google's Maps feature. The technology will presumably allow Leopard users to scour the globe through satellite imagery and whisk up driving directions on the drop of a dime.
Another rumored feature of Leopard -- one which appears to be shown in the unauthenticated Leopard screenshots -- is the unification of Apple's Address Book and iCal applications into a single app. Interestingly, the two screenshots making the rounds on the Web this week indeed show a revised Address Book icon that also displays a date. This is coupled with the absence of the traditional iCal icon in the Mac OS X Dock.
Still, the juiciest rumors surround Apple's Boot Camp and where the company may or may not take the technology. Although sources did not explicitly say that Boot Camp would be transformed into a complete virtualization solution, they did say the technology is being groomed as a rival to Microsoft's Virtual PC Express.
In March, Microsoft released an "Early Release" of Virtual PC Express, saying it would allow users "to run an operating system as a host (such as Windows XP Professional) and run another operating system as a guest in the virtual machine (such as Windows 2000)."
"This Early Release does not support Windows Vista since Windows Vista has not yet been released," Microsoft said. "When Windows Vista Enterprise ships in late 2006, it will include Virtual PC Express, which will support Windows Vista as a host operating system (as well as additional enhancements such as support for 64-bit)."
Feature specifics aside, there have been some other rumblings about Leopard. In very much the same way Microsoft decided to market its next-generation OS under the name Vista (rather than its code-name "Longhorn"), Apple is also rumored to be mulling a "more marketable" name for its next-generation OS. However, it's unclear if Apple will ultimately go through with the change.
Apple plans to unveil Leopard for the first time at its World Wide Developers Conference, which runs from Aug. 7 - 11 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Calif.
There's still over a month to go before Apple will take the wraps off Leopard, the next version of Mac OS X, but already the rumor mills are abuzz over a couple of purported screenshots that depict some long-rumored features of the software.
Leopard is due to hit the market about the same time as Microsoft's Vista, and sources say Apple has been keeping a close eye on the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant. They say the Mac maker has been developing a handful of features for Leopard that will specifically rival those available to Vista users -- some will make the cut for Leopard's release while others may not.
One of the rumored features is said to be OS-level integration of a geographical mapping technology, similar to Microsoft's Virtual Earth. In recent months, Microsoft has made several acquisitions aimed at bolstering its Virtual Earth division, including a buyout of Vexcel Corp.
According to sources, Apple has been working on a similar approach, but modeled after Google's Maps feature. The technology will presumably allow Leopard users to scour the globe through satellite imagery and whisk up driving directions on the drop of a dime.
Another rumored feature of Leopard -- one which appears to be shown in the unauthenticated Leopard screenshots -- is the unification of Apple's Address Book and iCal applications into a single app. Interestingly, the two screenshots making the rounds on the Web this week indeed show a revised Address Book icon that also displays a date. This is coupled with the absence of the traditional iCal icon in the Mac OS X Dock.
Still, the juiciest rumors surround Apple's Boot Camp and where the company may or may not take the technology. Although sources did not explicitly say that Boot Camp would be transformed into a complete virtualization solution, they did say the technology is being groomed as a rival to Microsoft's Virtual PC Express.
In March, Microsoft released an "Early Release" of Virtual PC Express, saying it would allow users "to run an operating system as a host (such as Windows XP Professional) and run another operating system as a guest in the virtual machine (such as Windows 2000)."
"This Early Release does not support Windows Vista since Windows Vista has not yet been released," Microsoft said. "When Windows Vista Enterprise ships in late 2006, it will include Virtual PC Express, which will support Windows Vista as a host operating system (as well as additional enhancements such as support for 64-bit)."
Feature specifics aside, there have been some other rumblings about Leopard. In very much the same way Microsoft decided to market its next-generation OS under the name Vista (rather than its code-name "Longhorn"), Apple is also rumored to be mulling a "more marketable" name for its next-generation OS. However, it's unclear if Apple will ultimately go through with the change.
Apple plans to unveil Leopard for the first time at its World Wide Developers Conference, which runs from Aug. 7 - 11 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Calif.
Comments
In very much the same way Microsoft decided to change the name of Vista (originally the code-name was "Longhorn")
No, they didn't.
Longhorn was the codename, Vista the product name. It's that simple. Longhorn was never meant to be the final public product name on a box that gets put out in retail.
I really, really don't understand why people keep rehashing this nonsense.
Originally posted by Chucker
No, they didn't.
Longhorn was the codename, Vista the product name. It's that simple. Longhorn was never meant to be the final public product name on a box that gets put out in retail.
I really, really don't understand why people keep rehashing this nonsense.
Yeah. That is exactly right, Longhorn was the codename, not the release name. Similarly XP was called Whittaker in development.
I'm not sure that Apple will rebrand 10.5 Leopard as something else. All the OS Xs have been cat named, and it would seem strange to deviate from this before XI (or whatever comes next?).
This could in fact be real.
A) Screenshots are a total fake
Originally posted by Craigb6
Similarly XP was called Whittaker in development.
"Whistler", actually. It refers to a ski resort in Canada, not very far north of Microsoft's Redmond/Bellevue campus. "Longhorn" is a pub there; "Blackcomb", which refers to another future Windows version, is a sister mountain.
Originally posted by Mr. Dirk
WTF is wrong with that Internet Explorer in the screenshot? I'm talking specifically about the UI--look at the scroll bar. That looks just like Vista's IE, which means:
[..]
Yes, that's the point. Hence the Boot Camp menu extra and the Windows version displayed in the About box.
Originally posted by Mr. Dirk
WTF is wrong with that Internet Explorer in the screenshot? I'm talking specifically about the UI--look at the scroll bar. That looks just like Vista's IE [...]
It's not using the Vista Aero theme, but XP's "Silver" theme. As far as the IE chrome goes, yes, that is IE 7. (The Vista edition will be called IE7+.)
As far as the screenies go, I call fake. No doubt in my mind. Apple would never use a tacky-ass transition effect like that; I don't see them doing virtual desktops (not when 3rd parties like VirtueDesktop have implemented it rather well already); and I don't see the drop-down menus from Safari making their way to the Finder.
However, as far as the DarkBrush(tm) theme from the iLife apps making its way to the Finder goes, that's pretty obvious (unless Apple does something even newer).
Also take a look at the spacing of the items in the Finder sidebar -- it's off.
Integrating Address Book and iCal (please be called Calendar in Leopard, please!!) also makes no sense to me. Whatever happened to small apps doing one thing, and doing it well?
For the second time in as many years, Apple Computer is looking to outshine rival Micrsoft Corp. in the inevitable battle between the two companies' software operating systems.
And when was the first time, exactly?
Originally posted by Chucker
I think it's far too late to rename iCal to Calendar, as much as I wished for that to happen.
Nonsense. It's never too late.
Question is, will they do it?
Originally posted by AppleInsider
For the second time in as many years, Apple Computer is looking to outshine rival Micrsoft Corp.[/c]
I can't recall a time when Apple didn't outshine that OS called Windows. But never mind that...
Fake!! Tabs in a finder Window?! I don't think so.
Originally posted by furious_
The Apple fan club will need to accept people need windows so smooth the transition in Mac. That is all.
I need AutoCad so I need it permantly...
I checked and all Intel Mac's use DDR2 Ram.
Originally posted by furious_
The Apple fan club will need to accept people need windows so smooth the transition in Mac. That is all.
That's funny. I used a Windows PC my whole life and switched to Mac in December. I never needed Windows to smooth my transition. In fact, I threw my old PC out around a month ago because it was taking up space in the corner and I wanted to put a cat bed there instead.