Everyone loves the WWDC. Know why? Because it’s the time of the year when Steve Jobs announces some awesome new product and everyone gets out their rumor machines in the big run up, hoping that this year it’s an iWoman, a lady-sized iMac with muliple ports. This year will be no exception. Jobs is set to start WWDC 2007 with a keynote that will address Mac OS X Leopard. Developers should start drooling immediately, as you’ll apparently be walking home with an official beta copy of the new OS. → Read More
Yeah, yeah, we know already know that Mac OS X 10.5—Leopard to you and me—has been delayed until October. And we kinda know that the delay is because of the iPhone. But what does that even mean? A Silicon Valley analyst has surmised that the iPhone is so complicated to that, last minute, Apple had to pull a bunch of developers off Leopard to help work out some of the iPhone’s kinks. Or could that just be a red herring? → Read More
Pssst, Mac Fanboy, do you want to see the latest screenshots of Leopard? Yah, you do. Hit the link to see the new grouped Spotlight, a real advancement, and the lack of the “brushed metal” look we’ve all gotten used to. It’s pretty. Screenshots [tomwrote, via Mac Rumors] → Read More
Mac users have been waiting on Leopard for several decades, if you’ll forgive my hyperbole, and they’re going to have to wait a bit longer. Originally, Leopard (OS X 10.5) was slated to hit the shelves and Macs this Summer. The iPhone, however, has gummed the works. According to an email sent to key developers and vendors: iPhone has already passed several of its required certification tests and is on schedule to ship in late June as planned. We can’t wait until customers get their hands (and fingers) on it and experience what a revolutionary and magical product it is. However, iPhone contains the most sophisticated software ever shipped on a mobile device, and finishing it on time has not come without a price — we had to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from our Mac OS X team, and as a result we will not be able to release Leopard at our Worldwide Developers Conference in early June as planned. While Leopard’s features will be complete by then, we cannot deliver the quality release that we and our customers expect from us. We now plan to show our developers a near final version of Leopard at the conference, give them a beta copy to take home so they can do their final testing, and ship Leopard in October. We think it will be well worth the wait. Life often presents tradeoffs, and in this case we’re sure we’ve made the right ones. So, October. Sorry, ROCKtober. No Leopard for you at the WWDC (unless you’re cool). There you go, friends, see you then. Thanks, CB → Read More
Apple has announced that OS X Leopard is now officially delayed. The reason? The iPhone. That’s right, Cupertino had to “borrow some key software engineering and QA resources” from Leopard development and apply them to iPhone production. As a result, Leopard will debut in October rather than at June’s WWDC event. I still maintain that the iPhone is going to be a disaster. Apple announces Leopard delays due to the iPhone [TUAW] → Read More
The professional rumor mongers over at Think Secret now say that Leopard, the next version of Mac OS X, will be released in June, right around the time of the Worldwide Developers Conference. Leopard was originally scheduled to ship by the end of March, but it turns out that the new OS is a little more advanced that Apple first anticipated. Whether or not this means we’ll see that new rumored GUI—Illuminous—is still unclear. New versions iLife and iWork, with a number of features that require Leopard, are also expected to be released around the same time as the WWDC, perhaps without the 2007 suffix. This means that Apple won’t be forced to release new versions of iLife every year. Leopard better be worth it, what with Apple teasing us about its release for years now. Leopard leaping in June [Think Secret] → Read More
Poor Leopard. Even though everyone is all excited that the new OS X version will launch this April, the rumor tree is budding with grumblings that it won’t be available for a long time and that the programmers themselves are sick of being pushed by Apple’s evil Persian sword-armed team lead. To those who say that Leopard is ready to go and that people are just lying, the Apple programmers say “it’s barely beta, not Final or Gold Master.” So please shut up and let them work. Leopard not ready for April–”Barely beta, not final or Gold Master” [ArsTechnica] → Read More
. Jesse is an analyst for Prudential and something of a Mac fanboy, or so it seems, as he’s always upgraded Apple’s valuation and is contact with many nebulous “inside sources” that even we corrupt bloggers can’t get our vodka-scented hands onto. So it comes as no surprise that he’s a source of many of the fun Apple rumors we find and relay, deliberately or not. → Read More
We keep waiting for the special airdropped surprise announcement that Leopard is hitting the streets, but it’s not happening. It feels a lot like waiting for an episode of Lost where something happens: Each time we look, we expect to see it, only to instead get another damned flashback. While we can’t help you in figuring out why the bird said “Hurley” that one time, we can at least give our most die-hard Mac fans a little Leopard screenshot porn to keep you happy for now. And don’t worry, when we get word on a ship date, you’ll be the first to know. Nothing excitingly surprising in this set, though, but feel free to follow the link to the Think Secret gallery, if you’re into that kind of thing. Leopard Gallery [Think Secret] → Read More
The above chart clearly shows that upgrading OS X will be as easy tripping over your own feet. As for Vista, it’s more like trying to get a pro-PS3 article submitted to Digg. Maybe Microsoft should take a hint from Apple and stop releasing about 60 million versions of its next OS. Vista Mac Upgrade [MacHouse] → Read More
I use computers running on Mac OS X and Windows XP. I fully intend on upgrading to Leopard when it launches, however, I’m staying away from Vista for the time being. I was planning on going into a full-on diatribe of why, but Computerworld/PC World managed to pinpoint all of the reasons I do not plan to buy and upgrade to the new Windows OS. Writer Mike Elgan nails everything that irritates me about the launch: the high pricing (Home Premium is $239, $159 upgrade; Ultimate costs $399, $259 upgrade), XP is not dead yet (though Microsoft wouldn’t mind if you thought it was), upgrading and setting up Vista promises to be a very time-consuming project, Vista is not fully cooked for general use or gaming and you’ll need new hardware for decent performance (that 18-month-old PC just won’t do). Finally, if you’re looking to buy a new computer anyway, Elgan suggests Vista is a good reason to switch to a Mac. The fact is, OS X already does most of the stuff Vista does, and has for some time now. Unless you’re dependent on a Windows-only piece of hardware or software that there is no Mac equivalent for or you’re a hardcore 3D gamer, it’s worth investigating a switch to OS X. Leopard promises to be pretty outstanding and if Apple follows the pricing it has in the past, it’ll only cost $129 to upgrade when it rolls out. → Read More
get too rich for your blood? If you are a victim of these bizarre circumstances, have I got something for you! A Portuguese eBay user going by gio_di (8) has a video of himself telling you about the new features in Leopard, ostensibly in English. Gio knows, he says, about all the stuff we don’t know about the new OS, and he’s willing to spill the beans, for a price. That price is currently $76 and rising. If you make the bid, no problem, as a 100% satisfaction guarantee is offered. We’re not sure exactly what that means, but we’re not going to be the ones to find out. But are you bad enough to win the auction? If you do, send us the video, we’ll post it here so the whole world can share Gio (and now your) knowledge of Apple secrets. Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard – TOP SECRET FEATURES [eBay Auction] → Read More
When Leopard, the forthcoming version of Apple’s OS X, hits the streets in the coming weeks, it will ship with Boot Camp, built-in software that allows Intel-based Macs to dual-boot to Windows XP (or, indeed, Vista). It’s included as part of the 10.5 OS package. But if you’re planning on sticking with Tiger, the most recent OS X version, Apple wants you to pay $30 for Boot Camp. Is this a nickel-and-diming, money-making scheme or a carrot-and-stick approach for getting users up to Leopard? We think it’s a little bit of both. Apple to charge Mac OS X Tiger users for final Boot Camp release? [MacScoop] → Read More
While most of these are fairly esoteric, TUAW has some good ideas for making OS X even better than the average bear. For example: Removing applications – and all their baggage: Deleting (or “uninstalling”) an app on Mac OS X is easy: you just move it to the trash. But what about all the extra data apps create when you use them (databases, media libraries, etc.)? Because Apple pays us to love them — actually they don’t but wouldn’t that be nice — we consider this list a group of “wants” rather than needs, aside from idle disk removal sans unmounting. Unmounting is a one-click procedure, but the little window that pops up reminding you that you’ve just destroyed all your data and potentially made yourself sterile is a bit much. Just give us a graceful unmount procedure without wigging out, OS X. My top X unlikely requests for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard [TUAW] → Read More
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