David Pogue's NYT review of of the new Leopard OS

[Bozita]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/technology/circuits/25pogue.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

October 25, 2007
State of the Art
Apple Offers New Goodies in Leopard System

By DAVID POGUE
If you’re a computer company, what on earth do you add to the sixth annual version of your operating system?

It’s not as though there are any glaring holes left. Nobody is still crying out for a better way to organize photos.

That’s the challenge that Apple faced in developing Mac OS X 10.5, code-named Leopard, which goes on sale tomorrow after a four-month delay. Price: $110 online, $190 for a family pack, or free on a new Mac. As Steve Jobs points out, for that money, “everyone gets the Ultimate version.” (That’s a swipe at Microsoft, which sells Windows Vista in at least five versions costing as much as $330 for the Ultimate).

Microsoft had it a little easier with Vista, because everybody knew what Windows needed: better security. Maybe Mac OS X is harder to hack, or maybe the virus writers consider the Mac’s 8 percent market share too piddling to bother with. But in its six years, Mac OS X hasn’t experienced a single virus outbreak or spyware infestation.

So Apple’s mission in Leopard was to make us aware of needs we never knew we had — something Apple is usually good at.

Apple’s Web site lists 300 new features in Leopard. They’re not all earth-shattering; they include a Braille font, a “Word of the Day” screen saver and a Danish spelling checker. (Settle down, folks.)

Fortunately, others really do make you slap your head and say, “Of course!”

more, ...

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. After all the Vista nightmares

I'll let you all be the guinea pigs

I won't be looking at any upgrade for Tiger for at least six months.

;-)

[onehandle]

2. I always say I'll wait a month to install a major upgrade...

...then I'm doing it in less than a week. I've never had a problem with an OSX upgrade.

This time however, my wife and I are considering new machines.

She has the last G5 iMac and I have the last G4 PowerBook.

We may get new machines with Leopard pre-installed.

[Texas_Kat]

4. Apple's not Microsoft

That's probably the hardest thing for newbie Mac users to realize. Mac software works. Out of the box. Everytime.

Oh sure, there's always a chance something will be a bit glitchy, but Apple doesn't subscribe to the Microsoft paradigm that paying customers should be beta testers of its new software releases.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. XP worked out of the box

vista didn't

:-)

Hell Linux works out of the distro

:-)

[Texas_Kat]

6. My copy of XP was problematic ..

but then, I only keep it around to test functionality of websites. So what do I know?

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Been playing with OS's for so long

that Vista is a real pain in the rear

XP had a few issues, but nothing to really scream about

But Vista, why I am using a macbook for my personal box these days

:-)

[LeftCoast]

3. I'll let you all know how it goes. I'm installing today or tomorrow

Depends on when the software arrives.

[LeftCoast]

7. Well, DU looks nice on Leopard

No real problems so far. Nice and snappy once it was all set up. Install was pretty quick.

[nadinbrzezinski]

9. Nice to know

will find my receipt and see if I can get the Mac program and shelf it for a month or two

;-)

[LeftCoast]

10. Still no major issues to report

Aperture wouldn't run properly at first, but then I realized there was already a software update available. Once I ran that everything has been super-slick. Seems to be noticeable improvements in performance, specifically the load balancing between processors seems much better.

The feature I really really like is the quick view. I love being able to look at virtually any file and with a click of the space bar I can instantly see the content. Time Machine is pretty cool too.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. Quick view was impleleted in Vista too

and it is cool yes, it is

[LeftCoast]

12. I haven't had a chance to get my hands on Vista yet

I'd like to give it a spin. Looks like they've gotten a lot of improvements at least in terms of the UI. I hadn't heard that they have quick view as well. Will be interesting to see how it compares.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. It does, and one thing I like about the OS

it is superceded by how many things I don't like about the OS

;-)

[alfredo]

14. I just installed. It is beautiful. It's fast. Photoshop 7 is not

working. Shit!!

[City Lights]

15. After installing it, my "sleep" function no longer works properly.

When I put the computer to sleep, the screen fills with multi-colored lines that don't go away even after the computer wakes up. The hard drive awakens, but the monitor doesn't. The only way out is to reboot. x(