Getting ready for the next Big Cat
Happy 1st October, TUAW readers! Whilst not a particularly notable date (unless you're my brother, in which case Happy Birthday!) it does in fact signal the countdown to the next release of Mac OS X: 10.5 Leopard - due at some stage in the next 31 days. If you've been living away from Apple civilization for the last 18 months, you'll want to head over to Apple's Leopard features pages, and check out what we can look forward to with the release. But what can we do in the interim, whilst we sit and wait for Steve to announce a launch date? Here's four things to bear in mind to whet the appetite (and potentially empty the wallet) in advance of the Leopard launch.
Backup. Backup. Backup. Whilst you may think that I'm talking about Time Machine, I am in fact talking of a general backup plan - when installing a new OS, I always ensure I've got a couple of working backups of my OS, regardless of whether I'm doing an Upgrade, Clean Install or Archive and Install (and on top of my existing Backups) just to make sure. Paranoia? Most certainly not - my Windows-using past taught me the hard way just important backups are. Oh, and talking of which option to take, I err on the side of a Clean Install - that way, your Applications folder gets a handy clean out (along with Application Support files) - and with a backup at hand (and all serial numbers duly noted) there's nothing stopping you getting going again.
Check the Sys Specs. According to AppleInsider / Wikipedia, you'll need:
A PowerPC G4 (867Mhz or faster), G5 or Intel Processor
512MB RAM (additional recommended)
DVD drive
Built-in FireWire
9GB Hard drive space
Built-in display or an Apple-supplied Graphics Card
Looking down the specifications, you'll want as much RAM as you can afford - that's hardly a surprise, or unusual in this day and age, but still worth pointing out. If you don't match the specs, and really want Leopard, you'll either want to upgrade certain aspects of your system or buy a new system.
Get yourself another External Hard-drive. Whilst I have no knowledge of how Time Machine works, if you want to be able to take full advantage of the backup and easy restoring features, you'll almost certainly want to grab yourself a large (and perhaps just as importantly FAST) hard-drive. I'm using an assortment of FireWire 400 & 800 drives for backups, but if you're wanting the latest and fastest it might be best investigating eSATA drives (which can be added to MacBookPros via a $119US ExpressCard) or go the whole hog and indulge yourself with a Drobo.
Smile! You're on camera. With Leopard integrating Photo Booth into the general OS instead of shipping with iSight-enabled Macs, you can pick up a fairly cheap USB camera, lose hours of productivity making amusing photos but at least then be able to explain to the boss why you're not in yet via the joys of a video chat. Or go one better and present the accounts via iChat.
