Apple places full-screen QT, ZFS, more hidden features in Leopard

Posted:
in macOS edited January 2014
Although Apple touts several key features for its latest Mac OS, numerous minor but welcome changes have already been discovered, AppleInsider has learned.



People familiar with the current test version of Mac OS X Leopard report that, like earlier major upgrades to Apple's core software, a host of small but useful updates will accompany the final release.



The most apparent upgrades involve media playback tools, the sources say. A new version of QuickTime included with Leopard will reportedly allow full-screen mode without a QuickTime Pro key, echoing the feature added months before to iTunes. DVD Player will also see a major update with an HD options pane for Blu-Ray and HD DVD discs as well as the opportunity to add DVD cover art and change movie region support on the fly.



Sun's recent ZFS will also appear in a limited form as promised, those aware of its inner workings note. Despite Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz' protests to the contrary, the unique file system will appear as a non-default, read-only format out of the box with write support possibly arriving as a separate update in the future.



Regardless of access, however, ZFS in Leopard will support some of the trademark features, such as instant and low-storage "snapshots" of a disk volume, and cloned copies that can be modified with only a small penalty in terms of disk space.



iChat may also have received a substantial upgrade, according to the claims. Those contacts with mobile phone numbers can be sent an SMS text message -- spurred in part by a desire to integrate with the iPhone. Google's influence is also allegedly present in the instant messaging app and will let Google Talk accounts mix with today's AIM, Jabber, and .Mac users.



Lastly, this emphasis on expanded options may also filter its way into many of the smaller apps, based on the the new information. Users choose the default IM program, similar to the way Safari is used to choose the default browser, and will also be able to explicitly share more than the Public folder on a network. Even Dictionary will have the choice of switching from the Oxford dictionary to Wikipedia, the sources added.



And while it's clear from the impressions provided to AppleInsider that some polish is still needed to refine these features ahead of the October release, those that are reportedly present are comprehensive enough to indicate that Apple will focus many of its less conspicuous efforts on the user experience, rather than on background technology alone.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 47
    meelashmeelash Posts: 1,045member
    Google Talk already uses Jabber, no? I use my Google Talk account with iChat right now.
  • Reply 2 of 47
    vista 2.0 indeed.....
  • Reply 3 of 47
    jrollerjroller Posts: 80member
    Cool. Thanks for the INSIDE info....
  • Reply 4 of 47
    louzerlouzer Posts: 1,054member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    The most apparent upgrades involve media playback tools, the sources say. A new version of QuickTime included with Leopard will reportedly allow full-screen mode without a QuickTime Pro key, echoing the feature added months before to iTunes.



    What??? Full-screen video? That can't be possible? I was under the impression that this was such a hard and functioanlly challenging task to perform that ir required lots of development time and effort, and, thus, a small charge of $30 to purchase this. Does this mean that OS X is going to cost $30 more this year?



    Quote:

    Sun's recent ZFS will also appear in a limited form as promised, those aware of its inner workings note. Despite Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz' protests to the contrary, the unique file system will appear as a non-default, read-only format out of the box with write support possibly arriving as a separate update in the future.



    Regardless of access, however, ZFS in Leopard will support some of the trademark features, such as instant and low-storage "snapshots" of a disk volume, and cloned copies that can be modified with only a small penalty in terms of disk space.



    Call me stupid ("You're stupid!), but if you have read-only access, how can it then do snapshots and copies? And why would you need snapshots if you can't change it?



    Quote:

    iChat may also have received a substantial upgrade, according to the claims. Those contacts with mobile phone numbers can be sent an SMS text message



    I thought you could do this already.



    Quote:

    Lastly, this emphasis on expanded options may also filter its way into many of the smaller apps, based on the the new information. Users choose the default IM program, similar to the way Safari is used to choose the default browser, and will also be able to explicitly share more than the Public folder on a network. Even Dictionary will have the choice of switching from the Oxford dictionary to Wikipedia, the sources added.



    And that setting will be in...iChat, of course, because where else would such a setting belong but in the app you're trying NOT to use. And Apple does understand that Wikipedia isn't a dictionary, right?
  • Reply 5 of 47
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Louzer View Post


    What??? Full-screen video? That can't be possible? I was under the impression that this was such a hard and functioanlly challenging task to perform that ir required lots of development time and effort, and, thus, a small charge of $30 to purchase this. Does this mean that OS X is going to cost $30 more this year?



    It would definitely be a lame way to do it. A fix like that should be put into the Quicktime software download for all OSs.
  • Reply 6 of 47
    buckbuck Posts: 293member
    Fullscreen video? Nah. They'll remove it before the final version ships.
  • Reply 7 of 47
    zandroszandros Posts: 537member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Louzer View Post


    And that setting will be in...iChat, of course, because where else would such a setting belong but in the app you're trying NOT to use. And Apple does understand that Wikipedia isn't a dictionary, right?



    It isn't, but wiktionary is. That could be used. I'll probably use Oxford anyway.
  • Reply 8 of 47
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,310moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Louzer View Post


    What??? Full-screen video? That can't be possible? I was under the impression that this was such a hard and functioanlly challenging task to perform that ir required lots of development time and effort, and, thus, a small charge of $30 to purchase this. Does this mean that OS X is going to cost $30 more this year?



    No, all the other pro options are still locked. I'd prefer if Apple actually increased OS X by $1 with AC3 and mpeg-2 support but included QT Pro. I'm sure the number of people buying OS X paying $1 would be more than enough to cover the few people who pay $30 for Quicktime. Higher volume = lower cost.
  • Reply 9 of 47
    mr. hmr. h Posts: 4,870member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    DVD Player will also see a major update with an HD options pane for Blu-Ray and HD DVD discs



    I've seen this commented on around various places. A lot of mis-information is being spread here. DVD player on my MacBook running 10.4.9 already has an HD pane in preferences, and it's got nothing to do with blu-ray or HD-DVD discs. Both blu-ray and HD-DVD can use MPEG-2, H.264 (up to and including High-Profile) or VC-1 video codecs.



    10.4 does not play H.264 High-Profile or VC-1 (VC-1 is supported by the latest flip4mac plugin, I believe. But DVD player does not use QuickTime codecs for playback). Apple added the HD pane to the DVD player when they added "HD" options to DVD Studio Pro, which can output H.264 Main Profile in HD-DVD file-structure format, which can then be burnt to stanard DVDs, and those DVDs tested in Apple's DVD player application.



    In other words: move along, nothing to see here.
  • Reply 10 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jroller View Post


    Cool. Thanks for the INSIDE info....



    are you always retarded like this?
  • Reply 11 of 47
    bacillusbacillus Posts: 313member
    Make the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) the base for the app...and skip the wiki BS.
  • Reply 12 of 47
    meelashmeelash Posts: 1,045member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jpferreira View Post


    are you always retarded like this?



    WHOA, why all the anger?
  • Reply 13 of 47
    sandorsandor Posts: 655member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    I'm sure the number of people buying OS X paying $1 would be more than enough to cover the few people who pay $30 for Quicktime. Higher volume = lower cost.





    have you ever seen/read the MPEG-LA's licensing scheme? higher volume does NOT equal drastically lower cost for MPEG-2 licensing.
  • Reply 14 of 47
    louzerlouzer Posts: 1,054member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sandor View Post


    have you ever seen/read the MPEG-LA's licensing scheme? higher volume does NOT equal drastically lower cost for MPEG-2 licensing.



    I just assumed he meant 'without' the MPEG license, which is extra anyway (its not part of pro, is it, I thought it was on top of it).
  • Reply 15 of 47
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mr. H View Post


    I've seen this commented on around various places. A lot of mis-information is being spread here. DVD player on my MacBook running 10.4.9 already has an HD pane in preferences, and it's got nothing to do with blu-ray or HD-DVD discs. Both blu-ray and HD-DVD can use MPEG-2, H.264 (up to and including High-Profile) or VC-1 video codecs.



    10.4 does not play H.264 High-Profile or VC-1 (VC-1 is supported by the latest flip4mac plugin, I believe. But DVD player does not use QuickTime codecs for playback). Apple added the HD pane to the DVD player when they added "HD" options to DVD Studio Pro, which can output H.264 Main Profile in HD-DVD file-structure format, which can then be burnt to stanard DVDs, and those DVDs tested in Apple's DVD player application.



    In other words: move along, nothing to see here.



    HDCP.
  • Reply 16 of 47
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by meelash View Post


    WHOA, why all the anger?



    He's a Wilco clone.
  • Reply 17 of 47
    macgregormacgregor Posts: 1,434member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Bacillus View Post


    Make the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) the base for the app...and skip the wiki BS.



    Wow, someone is really taking conservativism to a higher level....



    The Oxford ED is the best dictionary (thus the default status), but Wikipedia has considerably more intriguing uses. It can have some errors, but it also has zeitgeist and it has cross references and it has some opinion. You just have to be intelligent about how you use it. Don't be afraid.



    I understand the concern, but not the anger. I find that many of my friends who don't like the wiki are usually not comfortable with ambiguity in life and default to authority figures, like Fred Thompson.
  • Reply 18 of 47
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Louzer View Post


    I thought you could do this already.



    You can, just create a new, empty message, and enter the phone number as the username. Type your message and it goes off as a SMS text message.
  • Reply 19 of 47
    macgregormacgregor Posts: 1,434member
    Oh, yeah.. back to ZFS....



    I don't know much about it, but I assume that even if it is set up to be "read only" that means that "write" is also one line of code away. With hardware and software differences between OSes of competing platforms becoming less significant and even between version upgrades of the same OSes, Apple needs to be cutting edge with this kind of technology - as with the Core technologies.



    Make life easier on developers and more elegant for consumers and more reliable for businesses and Apple will continue to improve market share incrementally. Then when enough evolutionary steps are made under the hood, the occasional revolutionary product can be released - a la iPhone.



    This is the underlying strategy that Microsoft is either too large or too arrogant to really adopt. They would rather add stuff willy-nilly and buy their way out of dead ends, than embody a culture of innovation at the DNA level of corporate culture.



    Students of business and technology .... pay attention.
  • Reply 20 of 47
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    We already knew we were getting fullscreen support for video in the keynote Quick look demo. I knew Apple couldn't hold "fullscreen" hostage for that much longer.



    If they want to sell Quicktime Pro they need to have a bundle that comes with a lot more extra stuff like iMovie, effects soundfiles or whatever to entice people to upgrade.



    I have no problems with ZFS being read only at launch. As MacGregor says, taking it to write capability is only further testing and a small code change (I'm assuming). What I need is a bulletproof ZFS so the more testing the better. It's nice to see Seagate now delivering 1TB drives for $399



    http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/storage...607230819.html in a couple of years these will be selling for $250 and the typical "enthusiasts" home network will likely have 3 TB of data. Time Machine could not have come at a better time along with ZFS.
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