Leopard
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Mac OS X Leopard Developer Preview Update v1.0 released
Apple has released a v1 Software Update for all those torrenters developers who are working with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard right now. We received a screenshot of the update, and it doesn't offer much more info than: "This Software Update delivers improved reliability and compatibility for Mac OS X Leopard Developer Preview and is (of course) recommended for all users." The update weighs in at a mere 46.4MB, and should be available from Leopard's Software Update. Enjoy.Thanks Ashton and Big J
Apple fires retail employees for downloading Leopard
Nobody touches Big Brother's Apple's OS until they're good and ready -- not nobody. Apparently not even Apple employees are beyond the long arm of the law, since a few Apple Retail employees have been sacked after being overheard by the Thought Police co-workers while discussing their evil deeds, and were subsequently reported to corporate. Their crime? Downloading the WWDC edition of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard that was handed out to developers at the recent keynote and has been popping up on file sharing sites of late. At least five employees have been fired so far, with "dozens" more facing electroshock therapy expulsion. When questioned about their actions, the employees fessed up to the crime, and they seemed to think Apple was in the right for giving them the boot, though they do wonder if they'd still have their jobs if they'd hadn't admitted to downloading Leopard. Guess you'll never know now, eh Honest Abe? Though you can assume with our BitTorrent habits that we wouldn't be blabbing about our recent acquisitions in front any Inner Party members Apple corporate types.
Mac OS X Leopard shots aplenty leak to the interwebs
If you haven't yet managed to lay your hands on an illicit download of the developer version of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, which was handed out at WWDC earlier this month, take solace in the myriad of screenshots being leaked to the internet by the lucky ones. Most of the enhancements we've spotted so far have been fairly minor -- Steve Jobs saved the big surprises for his keynote or for when they're closer to launch -- but expected upgrades like Automator 2.0, expanded options for popular programs and fun little Finder tweaks are good signs of things to come.[Thanks, Mark J.]Read - Think Secret Leopard shotsRead - LeopardScreenzors Flickr set
Poll results: Will you buy Leopard?
It's safe to say that most TUAW readers are looking forward to picking up Leopard. In our unscientific poll, a full 56% of you selected either "Now! I want it now!" or "As soon as possible." I totally agree-if only to play with Time Machine and learn what those "top secret" features are. It's going to be a long wait for next spring.
Mac OS X Leopard tidbits roundup part 3
Here we go with another Mac OS X Leopard tidbits roundup - yes, certainly to be confused with our running WWDC 2006 tidbits roundup; I figured it's all about the Leopard now, as we've pretty much exhausted everything WWDC-related besides which brand of socks Mr. Jobs wears with his new Nikes. So enjoy this latest batch of small tips and improvements in the next big cat from Cupertino: The ReadMe included with the Leopard requires G4, G5 or Intel processors - sorry G3 owners (ok, so maybe this isn't an improvement for the G3 folk out there, but it's still good to know) We're receiving reports that Safari can resize any text areas (such as comment fields) on the fly. We can't confirm because we don't feel like risking the wrath of Jobs. Some of us have families, y'know "Smart Renaming" - when renaming a file, the extension is no longer included in the file name selection (Someone buy that engineer a beer!) If you have to rename a file extension, the Finder now includes a preference for disabling the extension renaming warning (a second round, comin' up!) A new preference in the Dock System Preferences pane allows for toggling how quickly the Dock 'springs' when hidden The Finder allows for customizing the amount of space between icons iChat includes many handy window organizing features, such as a customizable keyboard shortcut for bringing the app to the front, as well as a preference for tabbed chats (instead of simply forcing it on those who aren't quite as hip on tabs) It sounds like Safari will know when you've entered text into a website (for example: when leaving a comment in a forum), and can prompt you before quiting and blowing away unsaved changes Spaces, thankfully, allows users to bind applications to one desktop or another. This will be handy for, well, keeping everything in its place, but it will probably be something to get used to for virtual desktop newbies That's it for now. We'd post more, but we still have to walk that aforementioned line of not having to relocate to a building with "minimum security" in its title.Thanks to everyone who sent these in
TUAW Poll: Will you buy Leopard?
Steve gave us a sneak peek at Leopard and now we've had some time to digest it all. Based on what you've already seen and read, how eager are you to get your hands on that shiny, black CD? Are you chomping at the bit, do you want to wait and see what the "top secret" features are, or are you happy enough with your current OS to stave off any urgent desire to upgrade? Let us know, and check back tomorrow for the results. Willyou buy Leopard? Now! I want it now! As soon as possible Some weeks after release More info before deciding Nah, I'm happy where I am Free polls from Pollhost.com
Cohen on Mac Pro's gaming prowess
Macworld's Peter Cohen (author of the magazine's recently vanished GameRoom column) has posted an online idolatry to Apple's new Mac Pro workstation, in which he praises the G5 successor's potential as a gaming tour de force.Cohen summarizes, "With Leopard coming next spring, Universal Binary games here today and Cider-wrapped games coming within the next couple of months, Mac gaming is on the upswing, and the Mac Pro is a rig that should really be able to take advantage of everything that's offered." Do you agree? Some of the comments we received for our original post on the Mac Pro raised issues with the Xeon's shortcomings as a gaming chip (which Cohen also addresses), while other Joystiqers engaged in a healthy debate on cost comparisons with similarly configured PCs.
Leopard running free across the internet?
Although those of you who enjoy remaining law-abiding citizens probably won't be all that interested in this particular development, the anxious and morally nebulous of the Mac community will be happy to learn that Apple's brand-spankin' new version of OS X has already found its way onto the internets -- well, a beta version, at least, presumably the one they handed out at WWDC 06 (no, we didn't get a copy). Not surprisingly, early "testers" reportedly claim that the software feels "incomplete." This is obviously not the first time an Apple operating system has leaked out before its intended release (tsk, tsk to those unscrupulous developers responsible): both the Tiger and x86 versions of OS X were being torrented around well ahead of their appearance on store shelves. Now we're not willing to risk the wrath of his Steveness in order to verify the truth behind this supposed leak -- that's what you readers are for. So if you happen to be a friend of a friend of someone who's successfully installed the unreleased OS on his/her machine (or have any other, um, links information to share), please feel free to inform your fellow Engadget reading pals in the comments section.[Via Download Squad]
Engadget Podcast 084 - 08.15.2006
We're back! Again! Yes, we're quite sorry for the delayed program (listen in to find out a bit why), but there's no dearth of news to discuss. Fresh from Apple's big WWDC 2006 kickoff event we've got the long predicted and somewhat jejune Mac Pro, the Cinema Display bumps, and some interesting tidbits on Leopard, including Time Machine -- which Ryan sorely needed this week. Sony also pulled a fast one on us with the mylo, an intriguing and beguiling new WiFi handheld that seems to compete more with the PSP than anything else. Also hot off the presses is Engadget Mobile's scoop on the BlackBerry Pearl, RIM's new mobile consumer foray, and their first with a camera, removable media, and media playback capabilities. Thanks for welcoming us back, and enjoy! Get the podcast [iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3). [RSS] Add the Engadget Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically (MP3). [MP3] Download the show (MP3). [AAC] Download the enhanced show (AAC). [OGG] Download the show (OGG). Hosts: Peter Rojas and Ryan Block Producer: Trent Wolbe Music: Solvent - Instructograph (Ghostly International) Format: 1:00:15, 27.6 MB, MP3 Program: 6:05 - Apple WWDC 2006 6:48 - Mac Pro hands-on 7:03 - Apple OS X 10.5 "Leopard" officially debuts 15:56 - Sony launches mylo 27:51 - The BlackBerry Pearl 44:00 - Listener emails LISTEN (MP3) LISTEN (AAC) LISTEN (OGG) Contact the podcast: 1-888-ENGADGET, Engadget (Gizmo Project) or podcast at engadget dawt com
More juicy in-depth Leopard screenshots of Spaces, Mail, Safari and more
At this point it seems like these websites are placing bets between each other to see who can get closest to an NDA violation without actually getting nailed with one. HardMac has posted the latest set of (non-blurry, properly grabbed) screenshots of some hitherto unforeseen areas of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, including the Spaces and Time machine system preference setup panes, Mail.app stationary and a photo browser (which might make these iTunes and iPhoto library browsers extinct), RSS feeds and setup, notes in Mail with todos and calendar settings, as well as exclusives of new Finder functionality (note the lack of brushed metal in the Smart Folder) and Preview features.So far I'd have to say this is probably the most exciting set of screenshots as they are some of the most revealing of new features and abilities in Leopard. Er, I mean, a friend told me they look really great... check them out while they're still live boys and girls.
Apple wants your mommy to control WoW
Yeah, that's right, your mommy is gonna pwn your World of Warcraft account once Apple's Leopard comes out -- and of course, lets assume your mother would even know how to turn on the computer. Metroblogging Azeroth pointed out this little widget on the Apple page that says Leopard will let parents set a specific time and play duration for their little WoW griefers.Why's Apple gotta pick on the big guy? Couldn't they have just said parents could set limits to video games? What's this unknown beef Apple has with the money-making MMO with the mostest?[Via WoW Insider]
Flickr Find: Mac OS X Leopard Preview screenshots
I'm not sure if these screenshots are breaking some NDA, but Flickr user Alex Patterson has posted a photoset of Leopard screenshots. They certainly help fuel the fire on a number of theories spawned from our tidbit roundup posts, such as Spotlight being a full-blown app. A few of the images are extreme closeups or slightly blurry, but overall it's a nice set of Leopard pr0n to keep the excitement going.
NewsFire adds Leopard compatibility
David Watanabe wins a tip of my hat today for being one of the first 3rd party developers to add Leopard compatibility to NewsFire, his popular, streamlined RSS newsreader. From the release notes, this new version 1.4 build 68 also adds prefix/suffix string rules (I'm assuming for feed searches?).It's great to see developers firing off Leopard-compatible updates so quickly, even though Leopard isn't going to be available to the public for at least another 4-5 months. Who wants to take bets as to how long it takes Adobe to update CS3 for Leopard? Of course, with the way things are going over there, we might have to wait for CS4 and 10.6.This Leopard-compatible version of NewsFire is available from NewsFire's site.[via Macworld]
Why wait for Leopard? Share and edit your calendars now with SyncBridge
By now you're probably picking up on a new theme of 'Why Wait for Leopard?' If so, good eye. If not: you really need to read more TUAW. In either case, we've tracked down another Leopard-busting app in the form of SyncBridge, which brings all the features of syncing, sharing and editing iCal calendars to the table, without the wait for Leopard or price of .Mac (sidenote: I'm a .Mac member and fan, so don't be hatin').The SyncBridge software uses Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger's built-in SyncServices to share calendars over the SyncBridge servers, allowing others to subscribe to and edit calendars, sending changes up to the servers and syncing back to your own calendars. Users can even log into the site to see their calendars displayed, though it isn't possible to edit the calendars on the web; that has to be done through an iCal client. A tour is offered at the site, explaining each step of the process.SyncBridge is charged as a yearly subscription service at £25 / $46, which probably places it outside the range of the casual calendar editing/sharing enthusiast. Nevertheless, this is a viable alternative to waiting for Mac OS X Leopard to land next spring.
The real Leopard show-stopper? Developer goodies that weren't on stage
Reports are surfacing on the web that, while everything Apple showed on stage at WWDC 2006 was exciting and purty 'n all, the more exciting attractions are what wasn't shown on stage. AeroExperience, a Vista developer resource site (of all places), claims to have an exclusive list of many of the underlying changes, newly introduced APIs and other developer goodies that might simply not have been prime fodder for the news and PR spotlight session of the keynote.It's a pretty lengthy list, so here are some of the highlights for you cliffnote readers out there: Leopard will feature resolution-independent user interface and there are several functions to get the current scaling factor and apply it to pixel measurements (we've mentioned how cool this is before, and so has Mr. Gruber). Address Book adds support for sharing accounts, allowing an application to restrict content according to user (.Mac already does this, so I'm wondering if they mean some kind of framework or protocol is in place to open this up to something like WebDAV or simple FTP). Automator includes a new user interface and allows things such as action recording, workflow variables and embedding workflows in other applications. Time Machine has an API that allows developers to exclude unimportant files from a backup set which improves backup performance and reduces space needed for a backup (I was curious about how Time Machine would handle 'useless junk' types of files myself). Carbon, the set of APIs built upon Classic MacOS and used by most 3rd party high-profile Mac OS X applications, now allows Cocoa views to be embedded into the application. This could provide applications like Photoshop and Microsoft Office access to advanced functions previously only available to Cocoa applications. Text engine improvements include a systemwide grammar checking facility, smart quote support, automatic link detection and support for copying and pasting multiple selections. Mail stationery is open to developers, allowing any web designer to create fantastic-looking Mail templates, with defined areas for custom user content (bring on the stationary plugin packs!). A new framework is included for publishing and subscribing to RSS and Atom feeds, including complete RSS parsing and generation. Local feeds can be shared over Bonjour zero-configuration sharing and discovery (I suspected something like this; sounds like Safari and Mail.app might share the same RSS database, as can other apps, so users don't have to waste time exporting/importing between RSS apps). Check out the full list at AeroExperience for more of the potentially rocking Leopard features that Steve and company didn't show on stage.
Why wait for Leopard? Get a virtual desktop manager now
Mac publications are all taking a new eye to the apps and features that Leopard is 'killing,' and Dan's post about the 7 apps that Leopard kills inspired me to check out the current market of virtual desktop managers for Mac OS X. Since I'm on a MacBook Pro however, the only one I could really put through the ringer was VirtueDesktops, which is fine since it seems like a feature-packed and very capable virtual desktop manager. Hence, another post in an ongoing theme here at TUAW: Why wait for Leopard?While we didn't get a full shakedown of Spaces at WWDC 2006, VirtueDesktops seems to offer the same functionality, with quite a few tricks up its sleeve. Barb blogged VirtueDesktops in February 2005, but it has certainly come a ways since then. It still offers a basic set of four desktops with the ability to add more, and it's very keyboard shortcut-friendly. Here's a quick rundown of the rest of this highly customizable desktop manger: Eye candy - a wide variety of the standard Aqua transitions are available for switching between desktops. This alone is worth showing off to friends, even if you aren't into the multiple desktop thing AppleScript-able Extensible with plugins Works with Growl to let you know which desktop you've switched to (you can name them for better organization and recognition) Sticky windows and apps - you can bind apps to one desktop or another, or specify them to show on all desktops. This is handy, for example, if Mail.app is 'stuck' to a 'Communication' desktop. Clicking on Mail.app in the dock will automatically switch to the required desktop There's even more to this virtual desktop utility, and since Leopard is taking a while to cook, why not check it out? VirtueDesktops is donationware and a Universal Binary.
All the little things: WWDC 2006 roundup part 2
It's a sequel! That's right boys and girls: in our never-ending quest to dig up every detail we can on the recent events surrounding WWDC, Leopard and other random tidbits, we've gathered a few more juicy items for your digestion. Apple 'Teams?' Readers sent in various tips, and even The Gruber™ linked it. So it must be real. But what is it? [UPDATE: Looks like Teams is an advertised wiki feature of Leopard Server.] Readers are noting that, in the keynote, Bertrand Serlet says "With Spotlight, finally, it's easy to find information on your local disks and information on the web." Could this be a prelude to an even farther-reaching (and slower) Spotlight in Leopard? MacFixIt has a nice roundup of actual application versions included in Leopard. Of specific interest, they note that Exposé is listed as a 1.0 app, which might also mean that this icon in the dock heralds Spotlight as a full-blown app as well. Happy Finder, Sad Finder - neurotic Finder? Sorry for the crummy screenshots, but these were both taken from different times of the keynote (36:28 and 1:01:25, to be exact. Thanks David B.!). Could they have been from different Macs? If so, why the curious change in such a fundamental icon? This is on iChat's preview page, but it's still worth mentioning in part because no one did on stage: along with the new video and slideshow features, it also has screen sharing so users can get truly collaborative over a chat. This might be a new type of file preview ability in the Finder, or it could just be an extra feature in Time Machine. Either way, it looks handy. It also seems to be an indication that Apple is moving towards a broader use of palettes like those in iWork and iWeb, including the transparent style found in iPhoto '06. Some readers are reporting a new icon in Safari's toolbar (which can be seen on the Dashboard preview page), but that's just the Dash Clippings widget tool. That's it for another round of WWDC and Leopard tidbits, and thanks to the many who sent these in; you readers have some good eyes. Keep those tips rolling in, and we'll keep rounding them up.
Why wait for Leopard? Get Dash Clipping now
Let's face it: Apple on Monday previewed some really slick new features in the next version of Mac OS X, but they aren't going to let us get our hands on them until some time next spring. Even though that's technically 6 months or so away, that's really like a few years when translated into computer industry years. So why wait for Leopard?Some of the features in the upcoming Mac OS X 10.5 either already exist in present applications (as Dan pointed out), or developers have been inspired from Monday's keynote and are producing their own versions, with Web Clippings as our first example. The developer of Shrook looked at this new tool, realized that it's utilizing a fairly simple trick and whipped together his own Dash Clippings tool.After playing with this for a bit, I can say it more or less works very similarly to the Web Clippings tool demoed in the keynote. You enter a URL into the widget, and it loads up the page. You then drag the widget to the proper size and over the specific area of the page you want to clip, and presto - you've just made yourself a live, dynamic web clipping tool that will check the page for updates as often as you tell it to.Hey, who says Apple is the only company that can use the "good artists copy, great artists" steal philosophy? Once you're done answering that (or not), go snag yourself a copy of Dash Clippings and check one drool-inducing feature off your Leopard shopping list.
7 apps that Leopard kills
Phill Ryu, a man who must have some sort of direct neural interface with the Mac shareware community, has posted a list of applications which could very likely be killed off by features of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard which were announced yesterday. Seasoned OS X users will have immediately seen parallels between many of the new Leopard features and software that has been available for some time. Most obviously, Spaces are just fancy names for virtual desktops; something that can be easily achieved by VirtueDesktops, DesktopManager, and VirtualDesktop Pro. The new application launching features of Spotlight take aim at popular applications such as LaunchBar, Butler, and my personal favorite of OS X applications, Quicksilver. With iChat, tabs kill off Chax, live presentations kill off ShowMacster, and backgrounds kill of ChatFX.Be sure to click through to the original post for all the other apps now lining up at the unemployment window, and to see what the shareware developers themselves have to say about the announcements.Update: Buddy'o'mine and BarCamp mastermind Chris Messina has a similar post.
All the little things: a WWDC 2006 tidbits roundup
With big events and announcements like yesterday's WWDC, there's always a few bits and pieces that manage to fall through the cracks. New product details as well as features and screenshots of new Mac OS X functionality are prime examples, and these bits and pieces are now starting to trickle in. Instead of posting each minor piece of info, we figured it would be better to simply round them all up together, so here we go with the first WWDC 2006 tidbits roundup post of what we've found so far: In the Spaces video preview at Apple's new Mac OS X site, you can clearly make out a new RSS sidebar item in Mail.app (pictured). This isn't in the dedicated Mail.app preview section and wasn't mentioned on stage. Woops. [UPDATE: Commenter David is right: this RSS feature is mentioned lower on Mail.app's preview page, but it isn't featured at all in the demo video. Strange.] In a screenshot of the Dock, a folder on the right side of the divider has a black triangle underneath it, denoting the same 'yes, it's running' UI feedback that applications have. iChat is also featured with a new UI sans brushed metal (pictured on left). If it's already been stripped from iChat, could brushed metal have gone the way of the PowerMac G5 for the rest of Leopard? The Mac Pros are apparently the first (and only?) Intel Mac to not include Front Row and an Apple Remote. This also means (to our knowledge) they don't have an IR port either. That's it for now. If you've uncovered more juicy new details not mentioned so far from yesterday's keynote, feel free to leave a comment in this post or use our tips form.Thanks to everyone who sent these in
