According to the report, Apple's upcoming OS will focus solely on "stability and security." Also, it will be a landmark OS as Apple will not be making it PowerPC compatible—so it'd be the first OS X to not work with the platform. The new OS is supposedly slated for a Jan 2009 release.

It'll be interesting to see the reaction at Macworld if OS 10.6 is announced. Die hard fanboys may mourn the new limitations of their Power PCs. And our eyes may still be too blinded by the glitz and glamor of Leopard to appreciate good old "stability and security." What do you think? [TUAW] [Image]

Almost everywhere ".Mac" has been replaced with %@, which means that the name of Apple's online service will be inserted programmatically by applications.

Here's hoping that our assumptions are right and Apple is just using "%@" as filler. Because typing "the service formerly known as .Mac" would be a bitch. [Coding Robots via TUAW]

UPDATE: AppleInsider reports that the new brand may be "Mobile Me."

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If you already purchased a machine, you can download an update to enable this. Second, they're shipping a newer case with a quieter fan. It doesn't seem like they've found a way to control fan speed yet, or they could have just seeded an update for that to people who are stuck with the louder, full speed one. Our recommendation is still a "don't buy" for these guys, partially for their lousy tech support, as well as for several other reasons.

Apple Executives to Showcase Mac OS X Leopard and OS X iPhone Development Platforms at WWDC 2008 Keynote

CUPERTINO, California—May 13, 2008—Apple® today announced that a team of Apple executives, led by CEO Steve Jobs, will kick off the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, June 9, 2008 at San Francisco's Moscone West. This year's WWDC will showcase two revolutionary development platforms, the ground-breaking innovations of OS X Leopard® and OS X iPhone™, the world's most advanced mobile operating system.

The five-day WWDC event, which runs from June 9 to June 13, will feature the first ever iPhone track for mobile developers with in-depth sessions and hands-on labs to fully explore the capabilities of the OS X iPhone 2.0 software, including the iPhone SDK and the App Store, a breakthrough way for developers to wirelessly deliver their applications to iPhone and iPod® touch users.

The iPhone track will also enable mobile developers to work side by side with Apple engineers to create amazing applications that leverage iPhone's revolutionary Multi-Touch™ user interface, animation technology, rich set of APIs, including programming interfaces for Core OS, Core Services, Media and Cocoa® Touch technologies, built-in three axis accelerometer and geographical location technology to deliver truly innovative mobile applications.

This year's Mac® track will give newcomers and seasoned veterans alike the technical foundation and techniques needed to develop world-class OS X Leopard applications with sessions that discuss every level of the system, including interface design and implementation, application frameworks, security, localization and networking.

WWDC 2008 will offer over 150 information-rich sessions and labs where Apple engineers will go in-depth on the innovative technologies that power OS X iPhone and OS X Leopard. Developers can bring code to the labs and work one-to-one with Apple engineers, applying development methods and best-practices gained from sessions to enhance their applications.

Other activities at Apple's WWDC 2008 include:

* presentation sessions led by engineers that provide an in-depth look at OS X iPhone, OS X Leopard and innovative tools and technologies such as the iPhone SDK, Cocoa Touch, Interface Builder, Xcode® and more;
* practical hands-on sessions where attendees can learn Apple's own coding strategies and techniques;
* technology labs where attendees can work one-to-one with Apple engineers; and
* special events, including the Welcome Reception, Apple Design Awards, Lunchtime Speakers and Stump the Experts.

Visit Apple's WWDC website for registration and complete session details at http://developer.apple.com/wwdc.

Currently the video resolution is pinned at 800 x 480 and there're difficulties with wwan, but work is continuing to overcome this.

Is this the smallest Mac in the world? Very probably, and pretty amusing given that OQO was founded by some ex-Apple employees. [OQOTalk]

Three percent of all the electronic components in the world become obsolete every month. When you imagine all the shit coming out of China, it's pretty staggering. The problem is actually worse for the military, which spends about $10 billion a year on keeping up obsolete electronics parts. Ironically it's because they've switched to using off-the-shelf consumer electronics for 90 percent of their components—with a much shorter service life, four years at best—rather than "military-spec" gear, which was designed to hang around for a decade or more.

IEEE Spectrum lists a couple of egregious examples: The B-2 Spirit, one of Jesus' favorite planes, started flying in 1989, and by 1996, lots of its electronic components were obsolete. And in the Navy's new sonar system, 70 percent of the parts were obsolete when they started installing it.

Finding the parts isn't just difficult, it's expensive as hell, so the cost of maintaining obsolete but very necessary wares basically keeps you from upgrading. In the NYC subway case, instead of moving to a new, modern computerized system that would probably be cheaper in the long run, the Metropolitan Transit Authority has had to focus its limited budget on maintaining the frail, antediluvian network, trapping New Yorkers into an transit system light years behind, say, Japan's. (There have been stories in the recent past about the subway's upgrades, but they have mainly been superficial.)

Not all of you depend on the subway, or fly B-2 bombers, so here's a closer to home example: Windows vs. OS X. The latter is lighter, faster and springier, because it dumped all of the Classic OS's code. A fresh start, with a transition eased by the Classic emulation scheme. Windows Vista, on the other hand, is burdened by 20 years of legacy code, code that it could be argued is essentially obsolete. So we pay the price with a bloated operating system that struggles under its own massive girth. Dumping all that dead weight for Windows 7 and starting fresh—while painful—would be the best thing Microsoft could do. But it's not that easy, or they'd have done it, obviously. Maybe. You got any better examples of painful obsolescence? [IEEE Spectrum, NYT]

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It appears that contestant Charlie Miller just earned himself $10,000 for hacking a Macbook Air inside two minutes. So, those of you who voted Vista as the first to go down are probably fairly shocked right now. Miller was also among the researchers who first hacked Apple's iPhone last year, so it may not be all that surprising to hear that he was able to work his magic with OS X so quickly.

During day one hackers were only allowed to use network-based attacks. Not surprisingly, no one even attempted it. Today the rules were relaxed to allow hacks that involve websites and email. So, Miller utilized a simple website that contained exploit code to get the job done—which leads us to believe that the flaw he exploited exists within the Safari browser. Too bad they cut the prize money in half with each passing day. [PWN 2 OWN via Yahoo and PC World]

During the day I work with images, videos and other largish files, many of which get deleted and need no local backup. I let this slide earlier, thinking Steve J's keep-it-simple strategy made sense. But now I yearn for a backup program that at least lets me set blackout times (say, my usual working hours) where I don't have to deal with manually shutting down an in-progress backup. Or worse, having to reboot everything because the slow-down didn't go away. Before I try this Lifehacker freeware Time Machine tip that Chen has graciously bestowed upon me, I have to ask, am I the only one who feels this way? Or...

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This solution does not have all of the bells and whistles as BTMM (like encryption options and a near zero configuration set up) but the bottom line is that you will be able to have complete control over your desktop remotely when all is said and done. Hit the link for instructions. [Lifehacker]

Takano also added a single USB port and a power button to the front as well as an enclosure that slides off to reveal the hard drive in all its glory. The good news is that there is a complete guide on how to build one yourself—but unless you are fluent in Japanese, you will probably need to rely on the pictures. [Mac Mod Lab via 123Macmini via Ars Technica]

We've actually set up the Time Capsule several different ways already, as the only router in the network, and as an Ethernet-linked node on an existing wireless network. The start-up wizard in AirPort Utility asks you plainly what you want to do, in increasing steps like a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book. I know some of you don't need that kind of child's play, but this kind of thing will even help you when you tell your mom to get one of these and realize you won't have to do tech support too.
Once you've got it set up, either as your router or a node on your network, you can just pop into Time Machine and see it listed as a drive. If that's all you want, select the drive and you're as good as done. That first dump can be a real doozy though, so keep some things in mind:
• Set aside an entire night to get it done.
• Consider connecting via Ethernet, especially if you have an 802.11b/g Mac. (Time Capsule has Gigabit 10/100/1000Base-T wired connectivity.)
• Try not to interrupt the first dump, as the subsequent file-integrity check will take a long time too.

But say you buy the 500GB Time Capsule, and want to use an external 1TB drive to do all your serious backing up. When you connect it via USB, it is automatically visible in both the AirPort Utility and the Time Machine on your Mac. What you can't do is merge the two to make one massive 1.5TB volume, though. You have to choose one or the other.In some cases, you may want to connect the USB drive you already use for Time Machine to the Time Capsule, to simply make the process wireless. Bear in mind that if you do that, you still have to make the massive initial dump: Time Capsule won't recognize that drive as your previous Time Machine drive, but just as new storage that you can use.

The internal drive and any external drives can be seen as standard network drives, too, across both Mac and PC platforms—checking the guest friendly option in AirPort Utility's disk settings is helpful there. Speaking of PC compatibility, Apple appears to be promoting Time Capsule, at least by word of mouth and in all the support literature, as a dual-platform product, even though its core Time Machine software is not available to Windows users. You can use third-party backup software and select Time Capsule as the target drive, though there are certainly many competing products that will let you do this for cheaper.

The only significant problem I've run into is the networked printer. I connected a printer to Time Capsule that I had set up for local use on my Mac. Time Capsule recognized it immediately, and the printer selection on the Mac itself showed it just fine, but when I went to actually send over a print job, I got an error that the printer was offline. (Eddie Izzard fans would've appreciated the ensuing angry outburst: "Not offline! No. Online. Control-P Print!!") I don't blame Time Capsule yet. I'm going to try it with some other printers soon, and will get to the root of it.

We will continue to test this and alert you to any issues, but in the meantime it's safe to say that this is a worthwhile product for people who have the money and want the convenience. How often do you refuse to connect the USB to your backup drive because it would hamper your style? How often are you afraid, after a long period of not backing up, of the time it may take you to perform a backup. Those issues go away with Time Capsule.

But there's a cost, particularly at the 1TB model, which is $200 more than the $300 500GB model. When we ask about this, all we get back is that these are "server grade" drives. Great, thanks, but we're gonna recommend the 500GB version. If you have 300GB of backup or less you're covered, and if you have 1TB of backup or more, you're better off scoring some massive drive or drive array at discount, and plugging it in via USB. Now go back the #&#;$% up!!! [Time Capsule on Giz]

This means better stability, faster file handling and improved device compatibility. It also contains some future proofing, including support for DirectX 10.1, UEFI firmware and ExFAT flash-memory file format. On the subject of overall speed, some early Battlemodo action suggests that there's a nice bump here.

In terms of reliability, Microsoft tells us, "SP1 users likely to have fewer disruptions," defining a disruption as anything from a full-on system crash to the likelier application failure. Microsoft quantifies this with "average time between disruptions." Initially on Vista, you could go about 17 hours without a disruption, now it's double that at 34 hours between disruptions. When I asked about how this compared with XP, Microsoft said it was a tough comparison, since they lacked the detailed telemetry on XP. (Perhaps this is a convenient shortcoming.)

As you might have heard, Microsoft is also claiming that, security wise, Vista is not only better than XP but that it's better than Linux and Mac OSX as well, using security updates to 10.4 Tiger in the first year as a comparative example. [Microsoft]

Your argument seems to break down the difference between researcher-reported vulnerabilities, the number of released patches and the amount of actual vulnerabilities left standing by the end of one year. And you gave us this sexy chart to examine.

In every category, Vista is either the lowest, or tied for the lowest. And since your argument seems to boil down to the logic: the less vulnerabilities, the less fixes, the more secure, Vista wins. Of course, from what our tiny brains make of the case, such an argument doesn't take into account factors like just how many people are trying to exploit a particular platform/vulnerability, or just how damaging each exploit can be. But from that strategic commander chair, you seems to think that these issues balance themselves out. Maybe you are right.

But I'm not waiting in the open to find out. I have an emergency bunker prepared specifically for such occasions because pissing off the Mac and Linux communities at the same time is a funeral I'm not attending...like that time you said Firefox was less secure than IE. Things got messy and someone cried. [JeffJones via darkreading]

Now that you have a stylish set of geeky ass-cushions, you need to hook yourself up with these Prove shelves from Creosa. With a little work, you can make them look just like Leopard stacks.[Omni Mouth via Apartment Therapy and Creosa via Freshome]

AirPort

* Allows password-protected accounts on AirPort Disks to show up on in the Finder's Shared Sidebar.
* Resolves an issue with saved passwords for wireless networks.

Back to My Mac

* Improves the reliability of Back to My Mac-enabled Macs appearing in the Finder's Shared Sidebar.
* Improves compatibility with D-Link NAT gateways.

Disk utilities

* Restores the functionality of the progress bar during permission repairs in Disk Utility.
* Addresses an issue that could produce an alert when creating disk images using Disk Utility or Terminal.
* Improves disk partitioning when multiple RAID sets are created on the same disk.

iCal

* iCal alarms are now more reliably delivered via email.
* Resolves an issue when inviting attendees via a CalDAV account.

Mail

* Improves stability when resizing columns in the message viewer or switching between Stationery templates in email messages.
* Addresses an issue in which attachments enclosed inside an HTML link may not be clickable in email messages.
* Fixes an issue with email accounts added using the "Simple Setup" feature in which messages cannot be sent due to an SMTP connection failure.
* Improves Smart Mailboxes compatibility with .Mac Sync, and addresses an issue with To Do's disappearing when using Smart Mailboxes.
* Resolves an issue with syncing Mail accounts with .Mac in which multiple On My Mac folders appear in the Mailbox pane.

Networking

* Addresses an issue in which Microsoft Windows shared folders may be read-only when connected via SMB.

Printing

* Resolves an issue in which user-selected values on Paper Feed PDE are reset to default while saving a custom preset.

Security, Firewall

* Addresses a code signing issue; third-party applications can now run when included in the Application Firewall or when whitelisted in Parental Controls.
* In Security preferences' Firewall tab, the "Block All" option is now called "Allow Only essential services"
* Includes recent Apple security updates.

System and Finder

* Addresses a potential data loss issue when moving files across partitions in the Finder.
* Resolves an issue with login after turning off FileVault for a specific user account.
* Improves compatibility with Adobe Flash-based uploaders used by .Mac Web Gallery and certain other websites and applications.
* Resolves a potential text drawing issue with certain Adobe Flash-based websites and applications.

Time Machine

* Addresses formatting issues with certain drives used with Time Machine (specifically, single-partition MBR drives greater than 512 GB in size as well as NTFS drives of any size and partition scheme).
* Resolves an issue in which files restored in Time Machine may be restored to the backup hierarchy rather than the folders to which they belong.

Security company Intego discovered that the OSX.RSPlug.A Trojan horse malware is infecting users on certain porn sites who agree to upgrade their video codec. Oh, and it's not a simple button press, either. Users need to agree, download the file, mount the .dmg and install it on their dic- disk. When the malware is setup properly, a computer's DNS settings will change, redirecting browsers to phishing sites and ads for porn.

Cry me a river. This isn't some dangerous Trogan horse, it's pornographic Darwinism. [cnet]

So hit the jump for our Frankenreview: 10 takes on Leopard, or fresh perspectives on all those features you've heard about now 100 times already. And hopefully, by the end, we will have The Answer.

Gizmodo
It's time machine, ichat, finder...blah blah blah...but the truth is, you can't go back. Tiger had a few things that I got caught up on—little hiccups like when you get your sleeve caught on a doorknob, that kind of feeling—and they ironed em out.
- Brian Lam to me over AIM after testing

2nrds
The first differences you notice when switching from Tiger is the transparent menu bar and the 3D dock. The dock looks nice, even though not offering much new functionality.

LunaPark6
[A]new feature found within the dock is "Stacks". Any folder that's dragged to the right side of the Dock turns into "Stacks". Once you click these Stacks the items within that folder will spring out....Very cool feature and something totally unique...

MacWorld
The concept of Spaces is that the Mac's interface is actually a series of workspaces, located adjacent to one another on a grid...I'm not convinced that multiple workspaces are ever going to be a mainstream feature, but they can be a huge productivity boost to busy power users.

Technology Review
Unfortunately, Time Machine has a serious problem: there is no way (that I can find) to remove a file from a Time Machine backup. This is a pretty glaring omission. [UPDATE from Apple: This is factually incorrect.]

GuardianUnlimited
[Safari's] headline feature is that you can take a fragment of a web page and turn it into a Dashboard widget...There's also a more subtle improvement: you can resize text areas in web pages.

AppleInsider
The general interface speed of Leopard, despite its fancier bells and whistles, is at least slightly faster overall than Tiger in general and in some cases dramatically snappier and more responsive...That's largely because many of the fancy features of Leopard are delegated to the video card, which is usually sitting idle.

ArsTechnica
[Under the hood] DTrace solves a long-standing kernel development problem, and does so in such a fantastic way that it creates new opportunities for Apple to help all programmers...[which] can't help but lead to better, faster, more stable applications—from third-party developers as well as from Apple itself. And it's all thanks to an obscure, open-source, low-level kernel debugging framework from Sun.

TimesOnline
After playing with the system for a couple of days, it becomes apparent that there is plenty on offer, ranging from small improvements such as being able to see which wi-fi networks are locked or open to more drastic changes such as smart folders.

CNET
Should you pay for Leopard? If you're happy with the way Tiger works, then maybe not. If you need Bootcamp, however, then you must have Leopard...Plus, Leopard makes it far easier to find documents and applications than Windows Vista...

- Consensus? Read the top and bottom quotes again and let the battle ensue between your wallet and your techie conscience. But there's no doubt that Leopard is more than a re-skinned Tiger, and that most of the hyped new functions are useful for more tasks than filling up a feature sheet. Leopard is an incredible follow-up to Tiger.

Some software enthusiasts found a full set of GMA X3100 drivers within Leopard's files, which are essentially for a Santa Rosa chipset with integrated graphics. (The currently available Santa Rosa MacBook Pros actually use separate graphics cards.) But even more interesting than the driver itself was the date when it was added.

Tacked on to the OS on just October 11th, this seems like a last minute inclusion by Apple. Maybe this means nothing, or maybe this means that we'll be seeing a Santa Rosa MacBook refresh sooner as opposed to later. Seeing as the first Santa Rosa laptops hit in May, and MacBook Pros with the chipset appeared in June, it's about damn time this update makes its way to Apple's low-end lineup. [electronista]

+ Apple
Apple's Leopard. Pretty good we hear. And yes, we've heard a lot about it. Apple might have almost no computer market share compared to Dell and HP, but the small loyalty seems to have been justified this week...

- HD DVD, Blu-ray and Us
HD DVD brags that they've had the biggest hi-def disc launch of all time with Transformers, right before Blu-ray reports that they are actually outselling HD DVD movies by nearly 2-to-1 in the US. But with as low as both sides' overall sales figures are, any company currently "winning" this format war is at about the same place as the ant who just "won" a stale pile of dog crap for the colony.

= Pear Cable
Let's say you are a company who charges $7,250 for some speaker wire. Then let's say you won't supply said $7,250 speaker wire for a test—run by you—comparing your own wires with another brand. Then let's say you are Pear Cable and all of this actually happened.

Usually when a company is called out on their own BS, it hurts their stock big time. But since we always knew that Pear Cable was completely full of it, the company really had no lower to go.

[picture]

Of course, by installing Leopard on a PC, you are endangering the stability of the space/time continuum, risking not just the future of the Earth and our own humanity, but the existence of everything in the Universe. And we could never condone anything that Back to the Future told us was best avoided. [OSx86]

Thanks Jason!

The problem appears to occur only for users who are upgrading from old OSs, which is just one more reason that any computer owner should pony up, backup their files and do a clean install on any new operating system. Whether or not the software "works" either way, clean installs tend to be less buggy over the long run. The Apple-using segment of the Gizmodo crew has performed both types of installs without incident—but you know how it goes—you'll be the unlucky one. [apple via fortune]

Update: As many comments have already pointed out, the error seems to be caused by Application Enhancer (APE), or as Apple refers to it, "enhancement" software. Here's the fix. Happy installing.

Screen sharing also works most of the time, allowing us to remotely control the other person's desktop. When you can connect, it's beautiful. When it's hung at the connecting stage due to router configuration or some other error, it sucks.

And here's document share. The initiator controls scrolling through the document and you can see video of them on the left. Very sweet for collaboratively going through something (like, for example, a book you're whoring out).

1. Leopard works fine on old machines as long as they're not too old. Leopard only works on Intel, G5 and G4 Macs that are 867MHz or faster—meaning your really, really old PowerBooks or iBooks are borderline. You can try rigging up an install on Macs that aren't too old (like the one we tested on), but you don't get the Core Animation or other fancy effects. It's slightly slower to start up and shut down compared to Tiger, but you get more features.

2. Veteran Windows users probably won't change their minds about switching. If you're thinking of making the switch to OS X, Leopard doesn't provide a dramatic change over Tiger—so if you didn't like OS X before, you're probably not going to change your mind now. That said, the improvements over Tiger just makes it all the more worth your while to give OS X a shot. Depending on whether you absolutely need certain Windows apps (you can find many Mac equivalent apps), you can have the option of dual booting with Boot Camp or running both operating systems at once with Parallels like myself.

3. Time Machine provides the easiest built-in backup software on any OS. Even compared with the built-in backup software on Vista, Time Machine is super easy and super automated—all the while keeping functionality high by including easy-to-use file versioning as well. If you're not already backing up your Mac with apps like the similarly powerful SuperDuper, Time Machine is a big reason to upgrade. All you need to do is plug in an external USB hard drive and everything's taken care of for you, all in the background without any input from you. If you're already happy with your backup method, this will be a marginal feature, but if you're tired of dealing with backups or losing data, Leopard is for you.

4. iChat gives you powerful video, screen and document sharing. Another one of the major improvements in Leopard is in the iChat app. Not only do you get video effects, there's lots of work-focused document sharing and screen sharing as well for working with people over long distances (totally would have been useful when I was writing my book). There's also iChat recording for recording your video chats or meetings for later viewing. That's a killer feature for some, totally useless for others. But if you're going to be doing any kind of screen-viewing with other people, iChat is probably the easiest way to do it since it launches right from your chat application.

5. Leopard is the only way you can dual-boot Windows on your Mac. Boot Camp may have been free before, but your old copy will expire at the end of the year. That means you need Leopard to dual-boot Windows and OS X. You can still use virtualization software like Parallels or VM Ware for using Windows at the same time as your Mac, but you're sharing system resources between the two applications. If you only need to use Windows—and you need to maximize your RAM and CPU—you're better off with Boot Camp.

6. Leopard probably will work with your applications. It's likely that Leopard will work with just about all your applications and plug-ins, but there are going to be a few bumps along the way. For us, our Griffin PowerMate, a NAS driver (which caused us a massive chain of consecutive kernel panics), various Unsanity add-ons and Mail.app plug-ins all have to be updated for Leopard before we can use them again. You should make sure all your critical apps are Leopard-compatible before you upgrade by checking their web sites, otherwise you're going to find yourself actually downgrading back to Tiger while you wait.

7. If you use your Mac every day you should upgrade now. On the other hand, if you use your Mac for more than just a few hours a day, chances are you're a hardcore user. If this is the case, you should definitely buy Leopard. There might not be one glaring feature that makes you rush for your credit card, but all the small improvements—from iCal to Mail to Address Book to Finder—will make your day-to-day computer use that much more convenient that you'll be glad you upgraded.

8. Leopard is not much more resource intensive than Tiger. We've noticed slightly more RAM usage compared with Tiger, but as long as you have more than 1GB of memory it's not a huge deal. You do need about 10GB of free space to install Leopard, but after you're done there's no real noticeable storage increase demands. In fact, we're pretty sure that our MacBook Pro runs faster now after upgrading to Leopard than it did back on Tiger. You probably don't need to buy more RAM for this, but it couldn't hurt.

9. 64-bit performance speeds up newer Macs. If you're on a Core 2 Duo Mac (that's pretty much all new Macs purchased in the last year or so), Leopard will eventually give you 64-bit versions of your apps. It's a bit technical when we get down to talking about frameworks and the building blocks for new applications, but just know that 64-bit versions of the same applications will run faster than 32-bit versions. Plus, you have no performance penalty for running 32-bit applications along-side 64-bit ones.

10. You might not need Leopard right now if you're on an old machine. Although Apple lists 300 new features in Leopard, on a few of them are critical—and none of them are showstoppers. If you're going to buy a new Mac soon, the new Mac will come with a copy of Leopard, saving you $129 in the process. Plus, the cost of iLife '08 isn't included in Leopard, meaning you're going to have to shell out another $79. If you buy a new Mac, you get both of these for free. Even if you're not planning on a new machine, you need to take a good look at the features listed above and see just how important they are. If they're only marginally crucial to your every day usage, it's safe to wait until you really need Leopard for something before upgrading.

Bonus: There are three very tangible reasons to upgrade to Leopard: Time Machine, iChat and Finder/Quicklook upgrades. If you have a good backup solution now, or don't use iChat video, and don't have to browse a lot of multimedia files in finder, you might not need to upgrade.

Apple to Ship Mac OS X Leopard on October 26

CUPERTINO, Calif., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple(R) today announced that Mac OS(R) 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(R).

"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(R) 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(TM), 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(R) with just a few clicks, and users can keep up-to-date by getting the latest news and blog feeds delivered directly to the their mailboxes with a built-in RSS reader.

iChat(R), 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(R) 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(R) 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 (http://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(R) computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5 or G4 (867 Mhz or faster) processor. Full system requirements can be found at http://www.apple.com/macosx/techspecs.

Apple Announces Mac OS X Server Leopard

CUPERTINO, Calif., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Apple(R) today announced that Mac OS(R) X Server version 10.5 Leopard will go on sale on Friday, October 26, at the same time as Mac OS X Leopard. Leopard Server extends Apple's legendary ease of use, making it even easier to take advantage of the benefits of a server, and introduces Podcast Producer, the ideal way to automatically publish podcasts to iTunes(R) or the web. Leopard Server packs more than 250 new features including Wiki Server, allowing people to collaboratively create and modify their shared web sites with just a few
clicks; and iCal(R) Server, the world's first commercial CalDAV standard-based calendar server.

"Leopard Server is the best release of Mac OS X Server yet, bringing more great innovations, like Podcast Producer, Wiki Server and iCal Server," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.

"With new setup features that have a server up and running within minutes and no client access licenses, Leopard Server is the ideal alternative to complicated and expensive server offerings for small and large businesses."

Leopard Server presents new features for effortless setup, management and monitoring of systems on the network. Server Assistant configures server applications, network settings such as IP addresses and DNS configurations and user accounts with just a few clicks. Server Preferences simplifies management of users, groups and key server applications, and a Server Status Dashboard widget remotely monitors activity and usage. Leopard Server also eliminates the need to manually set up Leopard clients by automatically configuring client applications, including file sharing, Mail, iChat(R), iCal, Address Book and VPN from user information stored on the server.

Podcast Producer is the easiest way for anyone to record content, automatically upload it to the server and convert it into a podcast optimized for playback on almost any device, including a High Definition TV, iPod(R), Apple TV(TM) or multimedia-enabled cell phone.

With Wiki Server, anyone can easily create and edit collaborative web pages, called wikis, with a few clicks of a mouse. Wiki Server has 20 Apple-designed web page themes and provides a complete revision history to make it easy to restore previous entries and merge or compare different versions. Wiki Server can automatically notify users whenever a change is made, keeping them up-to-date on the latest information, and users can tag keywords to find content quickly.

It's easy to share calendars, schedule meetings and coordinate events within a workgroup, school, small business or large corporation using iCal Server. iCal Server is the first open, standards-based calendar server that works with popular calendar programs which support the new CalDAV standard and does not require client access licenses, so businesses can add users freely as they expand at no additional cost.

Leopard Server is fully UNIX compliant and its core services, including Apache 2, MySQL 5, Postfix, Podcast Producer and QuickTime(R) Streaming Server, are 64-bit, allowing users to work with larger data sets and take full advantage of the performance and processing power of their 64-bit hardware. Since Leopard Server is fully 32-bit compatible, users can run 32-bit and 64-bit applications natively side-by-side.

Pricing & Availability

Mac OS X Server 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 $499 (US) for a 10-client edition and $999 (US) for an unlimited-client edition. An unlimited client license of Leopard Server is included with Apple's powerful Xserve(R) rack-mount server hardware at no extra charge. Online pre-orders can be made through the Apple Store(R) (http://www.apple.com) starting today and current subscribers to the Apple Maintenance Program will receive Leopard Server as part of their service agreement. 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 Xserve 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 Server can run on any Macintosh(R) computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or G4 (867 Mhz or faster) processor, a minimum 1GB of RAM and at least 20GB of available disk space.

Road to Mac OS X Leopard: Preview 4.0 [redacted version]

• Road to Mac OS X Leopard: Dictionary 2.0 [redacted]
• 
  
• Road to Mac OS X Leopard: Dock 1.6
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• Road to Mac OS X Leopard: Finder 10.5
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• Road to Mac OS X Leopard: Spaces
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• Road to Mac OS X Leopard: Time Machine
  [List of articles by Phil Elmer-Dewitt from Fortune]