The long wait for the latest version of Apple’ OSX operating system comes to an end today for millions of Mac fans worldwide. OSX Leopard goes on sale in retail stores at 6pm, although others will receive it earlier by pre-order and courier delivery. Apple (to their credit) made delivery for Friday no matter where you live, so I had my copy around 9pm Thursday PST.
Installation
This is the first time I’ve ever had an upgrade for a Mac system. Like many people I’m a late Mac convert (Mac sales are currently running at about 50% first time Mac buyers at the moment), so I had no expectations as to how the process might be. The start is easy enough: insert the DVD and you get an icon pop up automatically. Click and off you go, complete with a computer restart.
The first thing that threw me was the “DVD check” a process that for me (Mac Pro, twin Intel Dual cores 2.6 something, 4gb ram) took around 20 minutes. I’ve since been told by Chris Pirillo that you can hit the skip button and bypass this, but as a former Windows user I’ve long been trained into never bypassing any check. On my second install on a Macbook Pro I skipped this part and had no problems.
Installation time after this took around 30-40 minutes. A bit like a Windows machine the estimated time to install figure was fluid, often increasing then decreasing rapidly. Another restart then Leopard appeared.
You Won’t Recognize Finder
Immediately changes are obvious. Image files on your desktop show the actual image, not just a generic icon. The dock bar is different, complete with shadows etc.., but I knew to expect this. The biggest surprise was just how radically different Finder is. With Finder, think iTunes complete with coverflow. Flicking through files has become a breeze, and the ability to page through pdfs or even play a movie from within Finder will be a time saving godsend for many.
For those in a network environment, one of the most positive aspects is that Leopard auto-mounts network computers and drives, including Windows machines and Windows share devices. In my case it auto-mounted a Western Digital 1tb NAS drive (that is set up on a Windows share basis so my networked DVD media player can see it) automatically, and I had immediate access to it. Same with the old Windows MCE box my son plays games on.
Spaces Is Handy
The new Spaces feature provides virtual desktops that are ideal for users who tend to have too many things open at any give time, or don’t own multiple monitors. It’s a feature that comes standard with Linux, but it’s new to Mac and isn’t available natively in Windows.
Dock and Stacks
The dock and stacks feature allows you to drag and display multiple items from the OSX dock. It’s a good feature that provides far easier access to folders than via the previous requirement of having to visit Finder (or via short cut then displayed in a Finder window). It does however remind me of Windows, but this isn’t a bad thing. OSX is a great package, if Apple steals a few ideas from Windows to make it better so be it, after all it’s the user that matters at the end of the day.
Don’t Click The Time Machine Button
The only negative I found is Leopard is Time Machine. The feature itself is great, and setup a cinch, presuming you’ve got an additional hard drive (external or internal) for the backups. However, if Time Machine hasn’t made a backup yet to visit, clicking the Time Machine button completely borks OSX…least it did for me. I took me a number of restarts and some serious banging of the keyboard (no CTRL+ALT+DELETE on a Mac) to fix it. I’m sure now it’s making backups that it will be a great feature, but just be warned: don’t hit that button on your first day.
Summary
Overall it’s just brilliant. From the moment the installation had finished it felt quicker and better for me, although perhaps it’s just more mouse sensitive. A lot of the deficiencies in previous versions of OSX have been addressed and the new ways of undertaking basic interactions make what was already a good operating system better. It may have been a little long in coming, but for those thinking about upgrading it is worth the wait and money.
I can’t wait! CompUSA has it for 30 bucks off even in-store. I’ll be passing out leopard shirts for FastMac. Almost all of the Apple stores in the US will have these awesome shirts!
http://dailytec...?id=713_0_1_0_C
Does anyone know if it will be worth upgrading to Leopard on a 1.67GHz PowerBook G4? My computer has definitely been slowing down so I’m not sure what to do. Also, do you need to backup your files or does the update just install over Tiger without clearing everything?
Jesse
I ran both installations as an upgrade and everything is still there and working like it should. I’ve heard some people suggest a clean install (and as a former Windows user I’d suggest that) but so far, so good.
sinch isn’t a word. cinch is though.
@jesse
installed leopard on my g4 1ghz machine and it works great. it scales down by disabling things such as stacks but coverflow still works great. i installed it on my 1.67 g4 and it’s been fine and dandy ever since.
Here’s your ctrl-alt-del: http://en.wikip...t-Delete#Mac_OS
Last call to buy a Mac with much-updated, well-proven Tiger 10.4 on board.
After next week, *new* Macs with Leopard installed WILL NOT boot Tiger.
cool, thanks duncan and alaska… i think i found something to spend that iphone credit on
Duncan,
The Mac counterpart of CTRL+ALT+DELETE is Command+Option+ESC.
As for the Time Machine slowdown, I commented on this twice in on my blog.
http://allmymac...log.blogspt.com
Duncan, image files that show the actual image and not an icon, are not new to Leopard. They already exist in Tiger.
OSX should become a Facebook application
walmo
I always saw a generic image in 10.4, it might have just been me.
Alaska
US English vs everywhere else. Sorry if it’s wrong.
@Alaska
Sinch is a word: http://www.webs...efinition/Sinch
If you check Websters, you’ll notice it has the same definition as “cinch”.
@All: Does anyone know if Leopard has the same limitation as Tiger with regards to mounting external servers in Finder? eg. now it only allows you to mount via read-only FTP.
For the record, I used my iPhone to find Command+Option+ESC, it didn’t work in getting me out of the Time Machine bork.
I would consider to wait till I get review from real end users.
I feel so behind now knowing that I don’t have it yet.
But I’m very much looking forward to it! Can’t wait!
I’ve been a windows users since i started out until recently where i’ve been working on a mac and now tomorrow i make my first ever personal purchase of a Mac computer. I’m really looking forward to it and nearly everything I’ve read about Leopard is positive.
OS/X Leopard will beat Vista to the core.
Beware MSFT
http://www.meetingflex.com
How do the virtual desktops (or ‘Spaces’) work in Leopard?
I do work for multiple clients and I’ve got a nice ‘one desktop per client’ system in Linux – where each desktop would have it’s own instance of Firefox, a terminal, maybe an editor and whatever else is needed.
This works well in something like KDE as it remembers my setup the next time I log in… My experience with the Virtual Desktops 3rd-party application in Tiger isn’t nearly as nice — certainly no remembering and it tends to treat all instances of an application as one.
Just wondering how leopard compares.
Im a windows guy (but thinking of switching
) but for the record, Microsoft had a Virtual Desktop feature included as a part of its free PowerToys package since the early days of Windows XP.
http://www.micr...ppowertoys.mspx
It works surprisingly well – with buttons that allow you to control desktops via quick-launch-style icons.
I usually feel a tiny bit uncomfortable installing a 10.x.0 release. Quite often Apple will release a 10.x.1 or a 10.x.2 a few weeks after the initial release that fixes most of the problems. Early adopters are gamma-testers of sorts. Sounds like most things are going smoothly so far though.
Duncan,
You haven’t tried Ubuntu of late, have u! Go check out!!
Its a pity even today, people want to pay for an operating system. I can understand when it comes with the computer pre-installed. But even for upgrades?? Give me a break..
For the record: Windows XP had a bunch of small tools and one of them was Virtual Desktop.
BUT – and this is one BIG BUT – it sucks big time. X11 has it right, it was made with this support in mind. In Windows it is a horrendous hack and minimized and restores groups of windows. It takes screenshots of your desktop to show a bird’s eye view, and this is also slow. On modest machines this thing is sluggish and very very unusable (that’s only masochists really use it).
In OS X, Spaces takes advantage of the Mac’s light years ahead Quartz Compositing. Like Exposé it is a trivial task to show live apps in the bird’s eye view. It does have “VIRTUAL” desktops, not one workspace with minimizing windows. The real differentiator: it is FAST, extremely FAST. Nowhere near the Windows ‘power’ tool.
It is a pity that people not always work for free. It is nice to have a hobby, or to have a company invest in free stuff (and they all have an agenda, don’t be naive).
But for the desktop, unfortunately Linux gets nowhere near the uniformity, consistency, easy of use of the Mac. Even though there are good stuff in Linux-land (and I use them, I am a geek, Gutsy Gibbons is the closer you can get) there is no consistency. Apps behave differently, they look different. Compiz/Beryl ‘looks’ nice, but they have to drop down the eye-candy. Macs can do exactly the same effects, cubes and such. One has to wonder why Apple doesn’t do it!! Take a look at Spaces: it doesn’t get in the way.
Icons have similar quality, toolbars, small, widgets, network integration, graphics show off, etc etc.
The Mac is a good compromise between having most of the same Unix-power that Linux have but also having a good user experience up front and out of the box.
And come on US$ 129 is a bargain. A backup system alone from a third-party would cost half of that (if not more). The new Quick Look alone would cost some U$ 30 at least. The whole package has many really usable, stable and elegant stuff that don’t get in the way for a bargain price.
I am from Brazil, and even paying extra taxes I still think the package deserves being purchased instead of pirated. I am ordering it today.
The icons in OS X look HORRIBLE and this is even worse. Could they have thrown any more cheesy effects at it? And my IT dept won’t let us change anything… Possible solution?
With the launch of Leopard, fake Steve Jobs speaks out in a one on one interview on Wallstrip. Check out the interview at http://www.wallstrip.com . Enjoy!
Just the yesterday, dealmac showed an online offer of Leopard for $99 that didn’t require a rebate. Still $129 is relatively inexpensive for a OS with support. Would you rather pay twice that amount for Vista Ultimate? I have it and I decided I’d be better off sticking with Win XP Pro. I’m not Vista bashing, I just like Win XP Pro better.
I can hardly wait to upgrade to Leopard on my MacBook Pro 2.33. When I get my 8-core MacPro, Leopard will come pre-installed, so I’ll be set. Apple will sell millions of copies of Leopard, but I wonder how non-Intel Macs will fare when using CoverFlow or QuickLook. I’ll bet those features really need processing power to run smoothly.
I don’t see anything earth shattering, for most people this will not be enough of an incentive, but overall a nice upgrade for the average Mac fan.
I’m stopping by at 6PM, anybody else in Quebec City can get it for a hundred bucks by using this $20 off coupon from Micro Logic in Ste. Foy.
http://porsche....amp;-loadframes
We wanted it this morning, but STUPID Steve Jobs made all the stores hold it until 6PM Friday WHEN ALL BUSINESSES IN CANADA ARE CLOSED until Monday, barring walmart and McDonalds.
It’s clear that Apple doesn’t think any businesses use their products to have done this.
I can not wait to have Leopard!
Microsoft should take care… my sister bought PC with Vista, and let me tell you, IT’S UNUSABLE!
So If I do a clean install of Leopard….what happens with iLife 08 that came with my new macbook pro? Will it be there after the clean install or what
129 dollars for what in the Windows world is a service pack. Its amazing how many loyal Apple fans will shell out money for hardly anything new.
And yes Alexis, I’m sure its “unusable”… Thats why it has more of an install base than all of OSX. The Vista bitching is really getting old, and no one ever seems to have any grounds for what they say…
That being said, Leopard looks like it has some nice new features to add from the mix, and some nice features borrowed from Vista too. I’m looking forward to seeing cover flow in the Finder… That’s a pretty innovative step forward.
If the store you buy it at has a 10% lowest price policy, you can show them this coupon
http://porsche....amp;-loadframes
That should force them to get it to you for a hundred bucks. At least if you’re in Canada.
Both Best Buy and Future Shop have such policies.
not the most important aspect, but he has a point… http://www.crea...ange-its-spots/
http://www.best...angid=EN#lowest
“Either prior to purchase or within 30 days of purchase (14 days for computers, monitors, printers, notebook computers, camcorders, digital cameras, radar detectors, portable DVD players, and air conditioners) should you find a lower advertised price, including those on the internet from an authorized Canadian Dealer, we will match that price.”
“Simply present us with your original Best Buy or BestBuy.ca sales receipt, along with proof that the item you bought is being advertised at a lower price. Once our staff verifies that the item is in stock and available for immediate sale and delivery at the advertised price, you will receive your refund.”
porsche.micrologic.ca/fmi/iwp/cgi?-db=Leopard&-loadframes
It falls within the parameters of Best Buy’s lowest price offer. So I would suggest doing it.
Every single Best Buy in Canada will now have to sell OSX Leopard for about $100.
Or be stupid and pay more. I know I won’t
Why is it that, the first day Leopard comes out, everybody says wooo…, and and higlisht just the good parts…and when Vista came out, everyone was ‘well we will have to see…but here are the bad parts so far’…
MIcro Logic in Quebec City’s retail price is $129, same as best buy. They ARE an authorized Canadian retailer, and would fall in the Best Buy price guarantee, I believe.
The coupon price would be $109, then 10% price guarantee off of that, that Futureshop and BB offer would knock it down to under $100. In theory. I’m going to put it to the test later today.
@Balnko
Because its fun to love the little guy and hate the big guy. Web 2.0 fanatics and journalists are, for whatever reason, mac people. Its amazing to me that Microsoft Internet TV (in Windows Media Center) got no attention when it was released. And Front Row is a joke a against Media Center, yet the journalists ate Front Row up. What about the Office 2007 ribbon as a major innovation?
It’s cool and trendy to be a mac geek… Microsoft is just a “big corporate bully” who can never get it right.
@Andre
Apple, the little guy?
@erick
Yes, Apple is the little guy in this ring…
Don’t get me wrong, I like alot of what Apple does. I think they produce alot of cool products, but I think Microsoft gets such a bad rap, just because they’re Microsoft.
Some of the smartest people I know work there, and alot of the work they do is really pretty innovative and cool, it just doesn’t get the attention it deserves. They also make some head-up-ass decisions. UAC (the annoying prompts in Windows) is a good idea, but some of the implementation really needs to be cleaned up.
What happens to iLife when you do a fresh install of Leopard? Does it include iLife 08 or what? Is it on my Tiger disc? Id like to know ive never done an OSX update before.
iLife and iWork are not on the install disk, dito with microsoft office and any other program like it.
You need to back up your programs folder just like you need to backup your documents before you wipe your drive.
That said you should be just fine running the normal update process without wiping the drive.
Doing a “clean install” with an OS X install just means it makes a copy of the old system, and installs a new one from disk. You still retain all your software and all your preferences. Heck, you still retain the old “system” and can rename can revert back I believe. It’s a no brainer and has actually less risk than a normal update.
Everyone who getting Leopard this week, enjoy.
Ken
For the record, the mac CTRL+ALT+DELETE is CTRL+OPTION+(the button you turn the computer on with).
@ Balnko
Disclaimer: I’m not trying to exhibit fanboyism, this is just a simple question. I currently run Windows XP MCE, and Windows Vista, but plan on buying a Mac in the near future.
You ask why Leopard gets only good features highlighted, whereas Vista only has bad features highlighted. Here’s your chance to rectify that. Please list the bad features of Leopard over the previous iteration, and then please list the good features of Vista over the previous iteration. I’m not saying that there’s nothing bad about Leopard, and nothing good about Vista, but I believe that you would find that when comparing both of these upgrades, only one of them would likely stand out as an upgrade.
The reason that so much hype surrounds Apple, and so much animosity surrounds Microsoft is pointed out by Andre, but I don’t think it’s as clear-cut as that. Apple has been steadily improving their products, whereas Vista is a failure. That’s not to say that Microsoft is a failure, but in an attempt to reach the “coolness” factor of OS X, they have released a flawed product. Perhaps Vienna will be better, and I hope for them that it is, but they stumbled, and the “leopard” pounced (pardon the pun, but it was too obvious to resist).
Wow – that’s really interesting. First TechCrunch admit some weeks back to using torrent sites to download illegal tv shows and movies, and now you have a full article up talking about receiving ‘my copy around 9PM Thursday’.
Here’s the Apple MacOS X license
“This License allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple Software on a single Apple-labeled computer at a time. This License does not allow the Apple Software to exist on more than one computer at a time”
So, unless you specifically ordered a family pack, you just broke the law and are yet another example of a TechCrunch writer stealing IP. When oh when is someone going to get the authorities to raid the offices of this bunch of software/movie/music/tv show stealing muppets.
sorry, missed the context
“…“DVD check” a process that for me (Mac Pro, twin Intel Dual cores 2.6 something, 4gb ram) took around 20 minutes…”
“On my second install on a Macbook Pro …”
@Joe: Let me remind you that “coolness” is just an “inch long”. I bought MacBook earlier this year (because it was cheaper than Dell by $100 bucks given the same spec) and I’m using Vista in it full-time by now.
Somehow I felt that OSX is not that useful compare to Vista in the long run. But that’s for me personally. Everybody has different expectations of the OS.
I laughed at university students that bought MacBook just to read e-mail and browse their Facebook account. I’m sure they’ll buy OSX Leopard just to use it for e-mail and browsing their Facebook account. They won’t use anything else.
Oh, Microsoft just launched an initiative to cut MS Office 2007 Ultimate price down to $64 for College Students. Now you’ll hear these Mac owners scream “OH CRAP!”.
This is all a fraud!
Back in June, Mary Jo Foley of ZDnet fame wrote a stunningly concise article, “Leopard looks like … Vista”. Truer words were never spoken! Many of you peolpe out there do not realize the truth, all software is born at Microsoft, even our competitor’s! You see the Apple hackers constantly scour our site for hints of what we are planing for the future, they send spys, moles, fake pizza-boys,… In their desperation they even steal experimental betas so far from production that even most MS employees don’t realise that we are developing them. They then slap some of their crappy code under these interfaces and claim to have developed it first.
This is why Leopard and all of the so called versions of OSX over the past 5 years looks like Vista, you see, Vista is the real thing. We just take our time to make sure it is done right before releasing to the public. We care, we take our time, we do stable coding. Don’t be duped by imitations.
Ms Foley, you have been backing down, trying to explain, apologising, … DON’T! Stand strong, tell the truth, you were absolutely right all the time, “Leopard looks like Vista!”
http://fakestev...er.blogspot.com
Fake Steve Ballmer. You’re a turd.
For the rest of you. You’ll find a much more informative article (compared to the one above) about Leopard here:
http://www.appl...ew_desktop.html