Here comes the Leopard

[Boyd Ostroff]

http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/071016/apple_leopard.html?.v=4
http://www.apple.com/macosx/
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/10/16leopard.html

Apple to Ship Mac OS X Leopard on October 26

CUPERTINO, California—October 16, 2007—Apple® today announced that Mac OS® X Leopard will go on sale Friday, October 26 at 6:00 p.m. at Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers, and that Apple’s online store is now accepting pre-orders. Leopard is packed with more than 300 new features and introduces a brand new desktop with Stacks, a new way to easily access files from the Dock; a redesigned Finder that lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to instantly see files without opening an application; Spaces, an intuitive new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; and Time Machine, an effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac®.

“Leopard, the sixth major release of Mac OS X, is the best upgrade we’ve ever released,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “And everyone gets the ‘Ultimate’ version, packed with all the new innovative features, for just $129.”

Leopard’s new desktop includes the redesigned 3D Dock with Stacks, a new way to organize files for quick and easy access with just one click. Leopard automatically places web, email and other downloads in a Downloads stack to maintain a clutter-free desktop, and users can instantly fan the contents of this and other Stacks into an elegant arc right from the Dock. Users can also create their own Stacks for quick access to folders, documents or applications. Leopard’s gorgeous new look extends to all applications, with every window on the desktop offering a consistent design theme and active windows outlined by deeper shadows that make them stand out.

The updated Finder includes Cover Flow® and a new sidebar with a dramatically simplified way to search for, browse and copy content from any PC or Mac on a local network. Content on any computer on a local network can now be searched using Spotlight™, browsed using Cover Flow or copied across the network with a simple drag and drop. .Mac members can use the new Back to My Mac feature to browse and access files on their remote Macs over the Internet.

Quick Look is the fastest and easiest way for users to look inside files without launching them or even having the application that created them. With Quick Look, users can instantly view full-screen, high-resolution files of virtually anything, even media files, from any view in the Finder.

Spaces gives users a powerful new way to organize their work by creating customized desktops which can contain only those applications or documents needed for each project, with the ability to quickly switch between Spaces with the mouse or keyboard.

Time Machine lets users easily back up all of the data on their Mac, find lost files and even restore all of the software on their Mac. With just a one-click setup, Time Machine automatically keeps an up-to-date copy of everything on the Mac.* In the event a file is lost, users can search back through time to find deleted files, applications, photos and other digital media and then instantly restore the file. If it’s ever necessary, Leopard can also easily restore an entire system from the Time Machine data on an external drive.

Mail has been updated in Leopard and features more than 30 stationery designs and layouts that look great on a Windows PC or Mac so users can easily send stylish, personalized emails with beautiful graphics and photos. Notes and To Dos help users stay organized by acting just like emails that can be easily created, saved as drafts, synced across multiple Macs and stored in Smart Mailboxes. Data detectors automatically sense phone numbers, addresses and events so they can be added to Address Book or iCal® with just a few clicks, and users can keep up-to-date by getting the latest news and blog feeds delivered directly to their mailboxes with a built-in RSS reader.

iChat®, the easiest-to-use video conferencing application on any personal computer, offers even richer video chats in Leopard with iChat Theater, which makes it easy to show photos, presentations, videos or files in a video conference; screen sharing which lets users remotely view and operate another Mac; and Photo Booth® effects for fun distortions and video backdrops that can instantly make users appear to be anywhere they choose.

Other new features in Leopard include:

improved Parental Controls, aiding parents in managing their kids’ online activities with automatic identification of unsuitable content before allowing website access, plus time limits and activity logs that can be accessed from any Mac on a home network;
the complete Boot Camp® release, previously available only as a beta, making it possible to run Windows natively on Intel-based Macs;**
Web Clip, bringing anything that a user wants from a web page to Dashboard as a live widget;
new Photo Booth features, helping users create animated iChat buddy icons or fun effects and backdrops with still or video images;
an enhanced Dictionary with Wikipedia built in, allowing users to access up to date information on virtually any subject in a snap;
a newly updated iCal with multi-user calendaring based on the new CalDAV standard; and
an updated version of Front Row, making it even easier to play music or watch movies, TV shows and photos on a Mac using the ultra-simple Apple Remote.
Pricing & Availability
Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard will be available on October 26 at Apple’s retail stores and through Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $129 (US) for a single user license, and online pre-orders can be made through Apple's online store (www.apple.com) starting today. The Mac OS X Leopard Family Pack is a single-household, five-user license that will be available for a suggested retail price of $199 (US). Volume and maintenance pricing is available from Apple. The standard Mac OS Up-To-Date upgrade package is available to all customers who purchased a qualifying new Mac system from Apple or an Apple Authorized Reseller on or after October 1, 2007 for a shipping and handling fee of $9.95 (US). Leopard requires a minimum of 512MB of RAM and is designed to run on any Macintosh® computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5 or G4 (867 Mhz or faster) processor. Full system requirements can be found at www.apple.com/macosx/techspecs.

* Requires an additional hard drive sold separately.
** Copy of Windows XP or Vista required.

Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market this year with its revolutionary iPhone.

Press Contacts:
Anuj Nayar
Apple
anuj@apple.com
(408) 974-8388

Lynn Fox
Apple
lfox@apple.com
(408) 974-4300

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit Apple’s PR website, or call Apple's Media Helpline at (408) 974-2042.

Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, Cover Flow, Spotlight, iCal, iChat, Photo Booth and Boot Camp are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

[Heath McKnight]

I am quite happy that I can buy it for $9.95 plus tax, since I had to buy my MacBook sooner than later...I just couldn't wait.

heath

[Charles Papert]

Dig it--bought my mother an iMac on October 3rd, sitting pretty on this one also.

[Heath McKnight]

Trust me, Chas, I really wanted to wait. I wasn't sure I could get Leopard like this, but I think you could a few years back if you bought a Mac after a certain point.

heath

[Robert Morane]

They should have included Quicktime Pro.

[Theodore McNeil]

I have heard a lot of people saying, "I'm waiting for leopard to come out before I upgrade..."

It's going to be interesting to see if those words materialize into sales.

[Jeffrey Butler]

Originally Posted by Theodore McNeil

I have heard a lot of people saying, "I'm waiting for leopard to come out before I upgrade..."

Of course a Mac w/o CSX or FCPX is what to me? iMovie really, really has some serious potential...but it's the apps, not the OS that would keep me from upgrading. So while I'm kind of excited about a new OS - all I really want is for what I'm running to be solid - everything. It seems the answer to most questions these days is faster, bigger hardware. Kinda disappointing...I don't have to upgrade for the OS - I have to upgrade just to get on Intel first...then hope my apps run right - then deal with Leopard and hope that all it's new features don't trash what should be a stable environment in the first place....

Happy, but I just want to make some money with what I have and quit upgrading for a while... ;=) I do need some more horsepower, though...

[Theodore McNeil]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey Butler

Happy, but I just want to make some money with what I have and quit upgrading for a while... ;=)

Right on. I just got my current computer finally set the way I want it and it does every I want it to. So why bother. Why should Steve Jobs get ALL my money?

But, I'll probably get Leopard for my home laptop though. Y'know, just to see how bad it is. :)

[Mike Peter Reed]

Best thing about Leopard - it will make use of the 64-bit potential of the CPU sitting in my MacBook currently only doing 32-bit maths. The 300 other things are pretty inconsequential to me.

[Greg Boston]

Originally Posted by Mike Peter Reed

Best thing about Leopard - it will make use of the 64-bit potential of the CPU sitting in my MacBook currently only doing 32-bit maths. The 300 other things are pretty inconsequential to me.

Agreed. The one thing that makes a Leopard upgrade very relevant to those folks using the Pro Apps, is the integration of some stuff that FCP and others can take advantage of to boost performance. Those running octo-core Macs will get to unleash those puppies with Leopard. I'll be really interested in seeing how Compressor's performance can be improved under Leopard.

-gb-

[Jeffrey Butler]

Originally Posted by Greg Boston

Those running octo-core Macs will get to unleash those puppies with Leopard. I'll be really interested in seeing how Compressor's performance can be improved under Leopard.

That kind of talk, however, makes me want to upgrade the hardware AND the software...I know there would be a big boost to go from my dual 2.5 (ppc) to the octos - and then a bigger boost with this 64bit mamba. I need to find out about the FCP suite and make sure it's native on Leopard before I consider selling a kid....

[Boyd Ostroff]

Here are some early reviews based on pre-release copies shipped to journalists:

http://online.wsj.com/public/article..._20081024.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/25/te...rssnyt&emc=rss
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columni...-leopard_N.htm
http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/19621/page2/

[Heath McKnight]

I'm planning on going over to the Apple Store near me at 6 PM to grab a copy for $10 (glad I bought my system AFTER Oct. 1 for this deal)!

heath

[Harrison Murchison]

Originally Posted by Jeffrey Butler

That kind of talk, however, makes me want to upgrade the hardware AND the software...I know there would be a big boost to go from my dual 2.5 (ppc) to the octos - and then a bigger boost with this 64bit mamba. I need to find out about the FCP suite and make sure it's native on Leopard before I consider selling a kid....

For the biggest bang you'll want to hold out for Leopard and the next MacPro systems. The current Octo is nice but with Penryn 45nm chips coming we're going to see a few enhancements.

1. Today's 8-Core MacPro is based off of Intel technology that manages group affinity for 2-cores. Thus the chipset handles the caching for these two cores fine but when you have 8 total cores your efficiency drops. Penryn grades todays 16MB 2-core affinity Snoop Filter with a 64MB 4-core affinity Snoop Filter. Expect to see immediate improvements in multi processor aware applications.

2. Next Leopard gets smarter about multicore as well. A new API allows developers to set priorities in their applications and Leopard locks these to certain processors. In Tiger you couldn't ensure that there was any core affinity for processes so the computer wasted resources swapping content amongst different cores.

3. Penryn has 47 new SSE4 instructions which Apple will likely hop on for media apps. This is the most significant SSE upgrade in a while and when software begins to use them we should see some nice things.

I'm stoaked for Leopard and new Intel hardware.

[John C. Chu]

Originally Posted by Heath McKnight

I'm planning on going over to the Apple Store near me at 6 PM to grab a copy for $10 (glad I bought my system AFTER Oct. 1 for this deal)!

heath

Hey Heath, just as a FYI, Apple is giving away T-shirts to the first 500 people in each retail store getting Leopard.

http://www.macdailynews.com/index.ph...tore_visitors/