Apple sets free new build of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
A new build of Mac OS X "Leopard" released by Apple this week carries with it a handful of visible improvements and a slightly longer laundry list of known issues, AppleInsider has learned.
Released Wednesday evening, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard build 9A343 is the first software build of the next-generation operating system to escape the company's Cupertino fortress since build 9A321 broke free in mid-December.
According to those people familiar with the latest seed, Apple continues to keep a close wrap on Leopard's "top secret" features and ongoing development efforts, setting forth only a modicum of changes.
Those improvements apparent in build 9A343 are reportedly less than appetizing and include updated QuickLook APIs and a new "HIRect/Point/Shape-based Window Manager API for resolution independence compatibility."
Of added significance, say those familiar with the software, are updates to the Mac OS X Terminal application which deliver tab support and the ability to save a multi-window configurations through workspaces.
"Settings are now stored in Terminal 'Profiles' rather than .term files," Apple is also reported to have told its developers in documentation accompanying the latest Leopard pre-release. The company said old default .term settings can be migrated automatically on first launch of the updated application or users can choose to import arbitrary settings files if they wish.
Apple has maintained that it does not plan to ship Leopard until sometime later this spring, and an ongoing list of known issues with the system would suggest that sounds about right.
Build 9A343 is reported to contain about twenty significant issues that will need to be ironed out in the coming weeks and months. Most critical are exploitable parental controls and system panics that occur with ATI cards while running QuickTime Player with iChat and Preview.
Leopard, in its current state, also forbids the installation of Adobe Creative Suite, experiences random Finder quits on invocation of Cmd-Tab, struggles with Network disconnects and may be unable to restore Time Machine backups created in MacBuddy.
Other known issues, those familiar with the software say, affect NFS mounted files, iCal synching, Windows sharing, 'Add Printer' dialogs, QuickLook's full screen mode, and localized language support.
For other Leopard news, please AppleInsider's recent report on the system's file recovery tools & Spotlight enhancements, Quicklook & Dashboard changes, new Safari tab & search features, resolution independence, OpenGL & QuickTime improvements, and Safari's anti-phishing measures.
Of course, the initial batch of publicly disclosed Leopard features is available as part of AppleInsider's WWDC Leopard coverage.
Released Wednesday evening, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard build 9A343 is the first software build of the next-generation operating system to escape the company's Cupertino fortress since build 9A321 broke free in mid-December.
According to those people familiar with the latest seed, Apple continues to keep a close wrap on Leopard's "top secret" features and ongoing development efforts, setting forth only a modicum of changes.
Those improvements apparent in build 9A343 are reportedly less than appetizing and include updated QuickLook APIs and a new "HIRect/Point/Shape-based Window Manager API for resolution independence compatibility."
Of added significance, say those familiar with the software, are updates to the Mac OS X Terminal application which deliver tab support and the ability to save a multi-window configurations through workspaces.
"Settings are now stored in Terminal 'Profiles' rather than .term files," Apple is also reported to have told its developers in documentation accompanying the latest Leopard pre-release. The company said old default .term settings can be migrated automatically on first launch of the updated application or users can choose to import arbitrary settings files if they wish.
Apple has maintained that it does not plan to ship Leopard until sometime later this spring, and an ongoing list of known issues with the system would suggest that sounds about right.
Build 9A343 is reported to contain about twenty significant issues that will need to be ironed out in the coming weeks and months. Most critical are exploitable parental controls and system panics that occur with ATI cards while running QuickTime Player with iChat and Preview.
Leopard, in its current state, also forbids the installation of Adobe Creative Suite, experiences random Finder quits on invocation of Cmd-Tab, struggles with Network disconnects and may be unable to restore Time Machine backups created in MacBuddy.
Other known issues, those familiar with the software say, affect NFS mounted files, iCal synching, Windows sharing, 'Add Printer' dialogs, QuickLook's full screen mode, and localized language support.
For other Leopard news, please AppleInsider's recent report on the system's file recovery tools & Spotlight enhancements, Quicklook & Dashboard changes, new Safari tab & search features, resolution independence, OpenGL & QuickTime improvements, and Safari's anti-phishing measures.
Of course, the initial batch of publicly disclosed Leopard features is available as part of AppleInsider's WWDC Leopard coverage.
Comments
Critical bugs with the public features...meanwhile, who's testing the top-secret features? Apple will unleash bug-ridden "top-secret features" because Steve decided to not let developers test them. Whom is Steve trying to hide these features from? Vista is shipping in a couple weeks. MS is not going to be adding anything new to Vista...the DVDs are being pressed right this instant. Steve must know something nobody else knows...or something.
I'm extremely disappointed at how this whole Leopard thing is turning out. People thought Tiger was buggy...wait 'till Leopard's released.
Apple's not gonna make it.
Critical bugs with the public features...meanwhile, who's testing the top-secret features? Apple will unleash bug-ridden "top-secret features" because Steve decided to not let developers test them. Whom is Steve trying to hide these features from? Vista is shipping in a couple weeks. MS is not going to be adding anything new to Vista...the DVDs are being pressed right this instant. Steve must know something nobody else knows...or something.
I'm extremely disappointed at how this whole Leopard thing is turning out. People thought Tiger was buggy...wait 'till Leopard's released.
I think Apple will pull a MS move and push the release back to the summer. That would be the smart thing to do.
kim kap sol... go make some plastics homey.
They've got time.
Released Wednesday evening, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard build 9A343 is the first software build of the next-generation operating system to escape the company's Cupertino fortress since build 9A321 broke free in mid-December.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
Bit of a drama queen, don't ya think?
A new build of Mac OS X "Leopard" released by Apple this week carries with it a handful visible improvements and a slightly longer laundry list of known issues, AppleInsider has learned.
Keep in mind that a longer list of known issues doesn't mean that more and more bugs are being 'added' to the software, as it is that testing is actually finding more of the problems. You'd actually hope it had a long list. A short one might indicate that its not being tested very well.
Those improvements apparent in build 9A343 are reportedly less than appetizing and include updated QuickLook APIs and a new "HIRect/Point/Shape-based Window Manager API for resolution independence compatibility."
Can't please some people. If they were still adding big-time enhancements to the software, everyone would be up in arms about how the stuff is going to get finished in time. Maybe this is just a sign that the main coding is finished.
Of other significance, say those familiar with the software, are updates to the Mac OS X Terminal application which deliver tab support and the ability to save a multi-window configurations through workspaces.
I guess one person's "significance" is most user's "yawn".
meanwhile, who's testing the top-secret features? Apple will unleash bug-ridden "top-secret features" because Steve decided to not let developers test them. Whom is Steve trying to hide these features from?
Keep in mind that the "top secret" features have probably only been in development since August, when Steve said they existed. The OS developers were probably watching the WWDC keynote, saw Steve say this "top secret" line, and sh*t their pants, knowing they were now going to have to come up with something, and quick!
Apple has maintained that it does not plan to ship Leopard until sometime later this spring, and an ongoing list of known issues with the system would suggest that sounds about right.
Do I hear Vista delays?
Do I hear Vista delays?
not even close, Vista was due out in 2001 and has yet to be released to the general public. So I don't think we are looking at a similar delay of .... 6 years...otherwise you'd be saying "Leopard will be released in 2013!!!"
lol.
Apple's not gonna make it.
Critical bugs with the public features...meanwhile, who's testing the top-secret features? Apple will unleash bug-ridden "top-secret features" because Steve decided to not let developers test them. Whom is Steve trying to hide these features from? Vista is shipping in a couple weeks. MS is not going to be adding anything new to Vista...the DVDs are being pressed right this instant. Steve must know something nobody else knows...or something.
I'm extremely disappointed at how this whole Leopard thing is turning out. People thought Tiger was buggy...wait 'till Leopard's released.
It certainly looks pretty dismal. The secret features better not be crap either like announcing iphone integration. ZFS isn't exactly secret but it's probably the closest unofficially announced feature. Multi-touch support might be nice but again not really unexpected. I would expect that Apple will announce the features some time after Vista is in the stores but I still think that they are using it to buy some time to get some real bugs figured out in leopard. If things were going as planned, the current bugs would've been fixed.
not even close, Vista was due out in 2001 and has yet to be released to the general public. So I don't think we are looking at a similar delay of .... 6 years...otherwise you'd be saying "Leopard will be released in 2013!!!"
lol.
Ummm...Windows XP was released in October 2001. Are you saying they were going to release two OSes withing 3 months time? I think the original time frame for Vista was between 2004-2005. So they did slip by over a year, but pulling these phony numbers doesn't really help make your case.
Also, if I remember correctly, Apple was targeting a release around the same time as Longhorn (after they started delaying it...not the original dates). So Apple is already slipping. However, I don't care that it is delayed. I would rather have it well tested and polished for the release. I don't want something rushed to market that Microsoft could point to as poor quality from Apple.
Ummm...Windows XP was released in October 2001. Are you saying they were going to release two OSes withing 3 months time? I think the original time frame for Vista was between 2004-2005. So they did slip by over a year, but pulling these phony numbers doesn't really help make your case.
oops, i was off, thanks for the clarification.
It was originally expected to ship sometime late in 2003 as a minor step between Windows XP (codenamed "Whistler") and "Blackcomb" (now known as Windows "Vienna"). -- Wikipedia
Its still major late and many features short. but in a nutshell, after using it, I like it, its a good OS.
But, the HDCP /DRM issues that we are now finding out about might be the big issue of 2007 regarding Vista. HOpefully Apple doesn't do the same thing...
I don't think Leopard will disappoint in terms of speed (ie. usability) or features. It will be nice and snappy and will make Vista look like a POS!
You can't expect a perfect puzzle when a handful of the pieces are still in someone's pocket.
And OS X Guy, traditionally, the WWDC (and in fact, all dev versions) are not updatable to the retail version. Reformat time.
According to those people familiar with the latest seed, Apple continues to keep a close wrap on Leopard's "top secret" features and ongoing development efforts, setting forth only a modicum of changes.
Apple has maintained that it does not plan to ship Leopard until sometime later this spring, and an ongoing list of known issues with the system would suggest that sounds about right.
Vista is out. Cupertino, Start the photocopiers!!!