A comprehensive list of Leopard features and surprises
Apple claims Mac OS X Leopard includes "over 300 new features," but how many of them are significant reasons to upgrade? And how many of those 300 new features were revealed for the first time today? Here's a comprehensive list for those readers who don't have time to scour Apple's various Leopard pages on their own.
New Apps, New Features
Some represent substantial new applications, including the redone Finder, Spaces, and Time Machine. Others are thoughtfully subtle refinements to the applications you already use. Apple's list doesn't even capture the whole range of what's new, but here's some notable must have elements from its listing.
Address Book
For example, you can now sync your Address Book with Yahoo in addition to Apple's .Mac service, Microsoft Exchange Server, and other LDAP directories.
Boot Camp
If you boot your Intel Mac into Windows, Apple now provides updated drivers that are Microsoft certified, so Windows doesn't throw up warnings when you try to install them. The keyboard drivers also better map keys to Windows functions.
Enhancements to the file system mean you can wipe out your Windows partition and restore the disk back to Mac OS X using live repartitioning.
Dashboard & Dashcode
Apple includes a new Movies and Theaters widget which displays trailers and lets you buy online tickets. Your selection of widgets can now be synced between computers with .Mac.
Apple provides Dashcode as a development tool for building your own widgets, providing simple templates so you can get started even if you're not a programmer. Dashcode is like HyperCard for the web, but uses standard JavaScript, HTML and CSS for building mini-functional web bits.
If that sounds too complicated, you can use the new Web Clip feature built into Safari to simply cut out a selection of a web page as a live clipping that updates in Dashboard.
Developer Tools
New code presentation features in Xcode, with instant-on debugging, faster searching, project snapshots, and a research assistant for pulling up API documentation and source code references. New support for Sun's DTrace code optimization and performance monitoring, support for Ruby and Python in building Cocoa applications and AppleEvent scripting.
The Dock, Desktop and Finder
A new feature of the 3D Dock is "Spring Loaded" icons. Drag a file to a Stack or an application, hit the spacebar, and that folder or application opens up, allowing you to drag your icon directly into the context you want.
This can be used to a drag and drop file into a specific folder in the Finder without having to move windows around. Just drag it to the Finder icon in the Dock or a Stack, hit space, and Finder window pops up allowing you to dig down through folders in the Finder in one smooth action.
You can now set up file sharing on any folder, using contacts from your Address Book to specify access permissions. With "Back to My Mac" you can even access your home shared files from remote locations using .Mac to track and relay your home location automatically, even if you have DSL or Cable Internet access that hides your location behind a firewall.
The Finder itself is made over with Cover Flow, dynamic file Icon Previews, and an option Path Bar that shows a breadcrumb trail of the location of the folder you're in.
Font Book
When an application requests a fond that is disabled, the new Font Book can auto-activate it, and then disable it again after that application quits. Leopard also protects required system fonts so you don't accidently wipe them out. It also prints hardcopy font catalogs for you, and even supports Braille fonts.
Front Row
Leopard delivers all of the features of Apple TV (apart from a dedicated YouTube client), so you can use your laptop to stream content to your TV from another system's iTunes library, using the same "10 foot interface" you can control via remote control.
iCal
Calendaring gets a huge makeover, with CalDAV integration, support for advanced calendaring features such as delegation, free-busy status, office hours, auto-pick appointment scheduling, and resource reservations.
iChat
Builds upon video conferencing and chat features with screen sharing, document sharing in iChat Theater, AppleScript automated tasks, backdrop effects in video chats, tabbed windows, and animated icons you can build in Photo Booth.
International Support
More fonts, more keyboard layouts and input methods, more foreign language localizations and expanded support for system wide spell checking.
Mail
Notes sync with .Mac. Email archives are easier to create, allowing you to transfer your mail to another system. Mail gets a photo Media Browser for plugging your own pictures into Stationery templates. To Do events sync with iCal.
The new Mail provides smart support for more ISPs, so you don't need to know your email server settings. It also works as an RSS feedreader, and tracks articles you've read even if you separately read them from Safari.
Network Utility
Leopard adjusts your TCP buffer size automatically for "optimum application performance in high-bandwidth/high-latency environments." It also provides new tools for AirPort wireless networks.
Photo Booth
Takes four shot pictures like a real coin-op photo booth. Create new photo effects, and record videos. Export movies or Photo Booth slides into animated GIF icons for use in iChat.
Preview
Better searching, customized layout, editing tools for graphics and PDFs, support for GPS positioning metadata. Batch imaging operations.
Printing
Live previews of print jobs in print dialogs. Location manager smart selects the default printer when you travel. Software Update offers to install new drivers for your printer as the manufacturer updates them.
Safari
Movable Tabs let you reorder pages and drop all open windows into a single tabbed one, or drag a tab out into its own window. Safari warns you before closing a window with multiple tabs. Create a bookmark that includes multiple tabbed windows. Visual Find command highlights occurrences on the page. Purge history items automatically.
Security Features
Tags downloads to advise you when applications change, so malicious websites can't dump malware without you're knowing it. Signed apps, sandboxed environments, random system library addressing, expanded support for digital certificates and smart card.
Spaces
Virtual desktops let you set up virtual desktop regions to isolate tasks. Move windows between them by dragging them to the edge of the screen and bump them into a new space.
Spotlight
Solve equations, find definitions in the dictionary, launch apps instantly with just a few keys, do more complex queries, select search by file name or content.
System Wide Features
Media Browser integrated into open file dialogs, so you can browse your photos, movies, and music and open them in any application. Scroll through the content of open windows in the background.
Leopard mounts filesystem using separate threads, so unresponsive volumes don't slow down the system. Optimizations for dual core processors.
Improved help guides highlight menu functions in applications. System wide spell check is now combined with grammar checking. Vastly improved text to speech. Keyboard based drag and drop.
Braille support for the blind and for creating Braille documents. Hardware support for Braille input and finger-read displays. Improved Voice Over features with spell checking, positional audio effects.
Text Edit
Autosave in Text Edit, support for Office 2007 and OpenDocument files compatible with Open Office.
Time Machine
Intuitive backup and restore, with automatic scheduling, exclusion lists, and disaster recovery options that plug you backups into the reinstallation process.
The 300 features don't touch on new graphical embellishments and eye candy, nor many of the significant yet invisiable new features of Leopard that will induce developers to build faster, smarter, prettier applications; it's 300 marketable features. That leaves Leopard a no-brainer upgrade. Leopard goes on sale in ten days.
New Apps, New Features
Some represent substantial new applications, including the redone Finder, Spaces, and Time Machine. Others are thoughtfully subtle refinements to the applications you already use. Apple's list doesn't even capture the whole range of what's new, but here's some notable must have elements from its listing.
Address Book
For example, you can now sync your Address Book with Yahoo in addition to Apple's .Mac service, Microsoft Exchange Server, and other LDAP directories.
Boot Camp
If you boot your Intel Mac into Windows, Apple now provides updated drivers that are Microsoft certified, so Windows doesn't throw up warnings when you try to install them. The keyboard drivers also better map keys to Windows functions.
Enhancements to the file system mean you can wipe out your Windows partition and restore the disk back to Mac OS X using live repartitioning.
Dashboard & Dashcode
Apple includes a new Movies and Theaters widget which displays trailers and lets you buy online tickets. Your selection of widgets can now be synced between computers with .Mac.
Apple provides Dashcode as a development tool for building your own widgets, providing simple templates so you can get started even if you're not a programmer. Dashcode is like HyperCard for the web, but uses standard JavaScript, HTML and CSS for building mini-functional web bits.
If that sounds too complicated, you can use the new Web Clip feature built into Safari to simply cut out a selection of a web page as a live clipping that updates in Dashboard.
Developer Tools
New code presentation features in Xcode, with instant-on debugging, faster searching, project snapshots, and a research assistant for pulling up API documentation and source code references. New support for Sun's DTrace code optimization and performance monitoring, support for Ruby and Python in building Cocoa applications and AppleEvent scripting.
The Dock, Desktop and Finder
A new feature of the 3D Dock is "Spring Loaded" icons. Drag a file to a Stack or an application, hit the spacebar, and that folder or application opens up, allowing you to drag your icon directly into the context you want.
This can be used to a drag and drop file into a specific folder in the Finder without having to move windows around. Just drag it to the Finder icon in the Dock or a Stack, hit space, and Finder window pops up allowing you to dig down through folders in the Finder in one smooth action.
You can now set up file sharing on any folder, using contacts from your Address Book to specify access permissions. With "Back to My Mac" you can even access your home shared files from remote locations using .Mac to track and relay your home location automatically, even if you have DSL or Cable Internet access that hides your location behind a firewall.
The Finder itself is made over with Cover Flow, dynamic file Icon Previews, and an option Path Bar that shows a breadcrumb trail of the location of the folder you're in.
Font Book
When an application requests a fond that is disabled, the new Font Book can auto-activate it, and then disable it again after that application quits. Leopard also protects required system fonts so you don't accidently wipe them out. It also prints hardcopy font catalogs for you, and even supports Braille fonts.
Front Row
Leopard delivers all of the features of Apple TV (apart from a dedicated YouTube client), so you can use your laptop to stream content to your TV from another system's iTunes library, using the same "10 foot interface" you can control via remote control.
iCal
Calendaring gets a huge makeover, with CalDAV integration, support for advanced calendaring features such as delegation, free-busy status, office hours, auto-pick appointment scheduling, and resource reservations.
iChat
Builds upon video conferencing and chat features with screen sharing, document sharing in iChat Theater, AppleScript automated tasks, backdrop effects in video chats, tabbed windows, and animated icons you can build in Photo Booth.
International Support
More fonts, more keyboard layouts and input methods, more foreign language localizations and expanded support for system wide spell checking.
Notes sync with .Mac. Email archives are easier to create, allowing you to transfer your mail to another system. Mail gets a photo Media Browser for plugging your own pictures into Stationery templates. To Do events sync with iCal.
The new Mail provides smart support for more ISPs, so you don't need to know your email server settings. It also works as an RSS feedreader, and tracks articles you've read even if you separately read them from Safari.
Network Utility
Leopard adjusts your TCP buffer size automatically for "optimum application performance in high-bandwidth/high-latency environments." It also provides new tools for AirPort wireless networks.
Photo Booth
Takes four shot pictures like a real coin-op photo booth. Create new photo effects, and record videos. Export movies or Photo Booth slides into animated GIF icons for use in iChat.
Preview
Better searching, customized layout, editing tools for graphics and PDFs, support for GPS positioning metadata. Batch imaging operations.
Printing
Live previews of print jobs in print dialogs. Location manager smart selects the default printer when you travel. Software Update offers to install new drivers for your printer as the manufacturer updates them.
Safari
Movable Tabs let you reorder pages and drop all open windows into a single tabbed one, or drag a tab out into its own window. Safari warns you before closing a window with multiple tabs. Create a bookmark that includes multiple tabbed windows. Visual Find command highlights occurrences on the page. Purge history items automatically.
Security Features
Tags downloads to advise you when applications change, so malicious websites can't dump malware without you're knowing it. Signed apps, sandboxed environments, random system library addressing, expanded support for digital certificates and smart card.
Spaces
Virtual desktops let you set up virtual desktop regions to isolate tasks. Move windows between them by dragging them to the edge of the screen and bump them into a new space.
Spotlight
Solve equations, find definitions in the dictionary, launch apps instantly with just a few keys, do more complex queries, select search by file name or content.
System Wide Features
Media Browser integrated into open file dialogs, so you can browse your photos, movies, and music and open them in any application. Scroll through the content of open windows in the background.
Leopard mounts filesystem using separate threads, so unresponsive volumes don't slow down the system. Optimizations for dual core processors.
Improved help guides highlight menu functions in applications. System wide spell check is now combined with grammar checking. Vastly improved text to speech. Keyboard based drag and drop.
Braille support for the blind and for creating Braille documents. Hardware support for Braille input and finger-read displays. Improved Voice Over features with spell checking, positional audio effects.
Text Edit
Autosave in Text Edit, support for Office 2007 and OpenDocument files compatible with Open Office.
Time Machine
Intuitive backup and restore, with automatic scheduling, exclusion lists, and disaster recovery options that plug you backups into the reinstallation process.
The 300 features don't touch on new graphical embellishments and eye candy, nor many of the significant yet invisiable new features of Leopard that will induce developers to build faster, smarter, prettier applications; it's 300 marketable features. That leaves Leopard a no-brainer upgrade. Leopard goes on sale in ten days.
Comments
There is a typo in the 'Font' category description: "When an application requests a fond that..."
hahahaha.
i know, i know, "does your mac play games?"
and my answer is: "not at all, because i have a ps3 and no interest in gaming past that."
=]
However, most of the features are really just eye candy.
You're kidding me. Did you even read the list of changes in this article (let alone the 300 list on Apple's website)?? Improvements in Spotlight, Spaces, and Time Machine are "eye-candy"?
You are absolutely insane, or, you just don't know what the word eye-candy means.
$129 is really a great deal. When you compare it to Windows, it's simply a must.
$109 and free shipping through Amazon if you pre-order!:
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Mac-Vers...2562120&sr=8-1
...
"Leopard mounts filesystem using separate threads, so unresponsive volumes don't slow down the system. Optimizations for dual core processors."
are great but I'm still wondering why it's taken this long to put them in. You'd have thought some genius would have figured these things out a while ago. We've been suffering from unresponsive volumes for years.
I even think that every web page in Safari should have it's own thread so that if one stupid site decides that its flash adverts are going to hang up the browser that it shouldn't affect any of the other sites I have open. I should just right-click the tab and force quit the page that's causing an issue and Safari stays open.
Also, when are we going to get downloads in a tab/sidebar? I can't believe that's still not in there.
Some of the features are a bit far fetched though. Tabs and the fact they can be moved count as 2 separate features for the terminal?
"Copy Files Between Mac OS X and Windows
Copy, open, modify, or delete files in Mac OS X that you saved to your Windows partition. Leopard understands the Windows FAT32 disk format."
Did they mean to write NTFS there? I'm sure someone said one of the newer Leopard builds had write support for NTFS.
Overall, it looks like a good package but still some disappointments like it looks as though we're still getting that uglified interface with the weird mix of candy blobs and nice subtle shading.
does XP and/or Vista do this?
hahahaha.
i know, i know, "does your mac play games?"
and my answer is: "not at all, because i have a ps3 and no interest in gaming past that."
=]
i totally agree with you!!!
why can't people get past the fact that
Personal Computers are meant for
'personal' use!!
thats why they invented computers that play games
separately like the PS3, Wii, XBOX, etc...
i get so angry
say 'Macs suck because there arent any games for it'!
it's stupid and makes no sense whats so ever!
people need to grow up and buy themselves a game console if
they really want to play games!!!!
Features like this:
"Leopard mounts filesystem using separate threads, so unresponsive volumes don't slow down the system. Optimizations for dual core processors."
are great but I'm still wondering why it's taken this long to put them in. You'd have thought some genius would have figured these things out a while ago. We've been suffering from unresponsive volumes for years.
I even think that every web page in Safari should have it's own thread so that if one stupid site decides that its flash adverts are going to hang up the browser that it shouldn't affect any of the other sites I have open. I should just right-click the tab and force quit the page that's causing an issue and Safari stays open.
Also, when are we going to get downloads in a tab/sidebar? I can't believe that's still not in there.
Some of the features are a bit far fetched though. Tabs and the fact they can be moved count as 2 separate features for the terminal?
"Copy Files Between Mac OS X and Windows
Copy, open, modify, or delete files in Mac OS X that you saved to your Windows partition. Leopard understands the Windows FAT32 disk format."
Did they mean to write NTFS there? I'm sure someone said one of the newer Leopard builds had write support for NTFS.
Overall, it looks like a good package but still some disappointments like it looks as though we're still getting that uglified interface with the weird mix of candy blobs and nice subtle shading.
OS X has always been able to read FATXX volumes. All external drives/USB flash drives run on the FAT16/32 filesystem, so it's only natural. Even if they meant to write NTFS, they aren't wrong.
I just pray searching over networks is improved. (non-Macintosh networks that is). Spotlight is garbage when searching a windows or linux fileserver.
We've got X-serves at my work, and Spotlight is garbage on that too. For all intents and purposes, it doesn't work at all. Whenever we need to find something on the netwrok, we go over to an OS 9 machine and use Sherlock.
However, most of the features are really just eye candy.
I totally agree. There really is not much there at all. Whenever I see people raving about these "300 new features", I always wonder what they've been smoking. Tiger was a miniscule improvement (especially compared to the hype), and I see nothing that indicates that Leopard is any different.
most of the features are really just eye candy.
I totally agree. There really is not much there at all.
Eh... to each his/her own. I think it's unfair to characterize the majority of the features as "eye candy," since the vast, vast majority of them are actual features and improvements, not design changes. Out of the 300 listed, I can't think of more than a handful that are just "eye candy."
However, I can see how you might say a lot of the new features aren't important or useful to you, depending on how you use your Mac. There's nothing in here that represents a major, game-changing feature. The biggest features are things like Spaces and Time Machine, and some people may not find those particularly useful.
To me, though, this is a major upgrade. A lot of the new features are things I've been wanting for a long time. Some of them, like Time Machine, strike me as brilliant improvements over what's already out there. Others, like iChat invisibility mode, strike me as long overdue. Either way, they're things I want that will make my life a whole lot easier. I'm sold on it.
$109 and free shipping through Amazon if you pre-order!:
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Mac-Vers...2562120&sr=8-1
...
when we can expect the delivery? i ordered one also with super saver shipping ... within a week?
This is the one feature that I've been waiting for for the longest time. Without a media browser in the open dialog box, new Mac users are confused as hell when they're trying to upload a photo to their webmail and they don't know how to browse their photos from the open dialog box. It's because they CAN'T! Not sure why it took Apple this long to add this very necessary feature. Windows has actually had this feature for years.
$109 and free shipping through Amazon if you pre-order!:
http://www.amazon.com/Apple-Mac-Vers...2562120&sr=8-1
...
Location: Ireland
Copy Files Between Mac OS X and Windows
Copy, open, modify, or delete files in Mac OS X that you saved to your Windows partition. Leopard understands the Windows FAT32 disk format.
I think the only purpose for this statement is that they want to make it obvious that you can easily make a document in windows, boot into OS X and open that document.
They are not talking about NTFS because for the OS X user, they cannot write to NTFS.
(I am familiar with how you can; save your stamp)
when we can expect the delivery? i ordered one also with super saver shipping ... within a week?
PLEASE NOTE: This product will ship October 26.
PLEASE NOTE: This product will ship October 26.
December 12? Are you sure?
PLEASE NOTE: This product will ship October 26.
I'll wait until at least 10.5.1 to see what Leopard breaks and after the first bug fix.
Also, I wonder if Leopard's version of Safari is any better than the buggy v3.0.3 I now have.