Mac OS X "Leopard": Features discussed in detail (Keynote notes); Will ship in Spring 2007

Intro information:

• 19 million active Mac OS X users 'vast majority of installed base is running Mac OS X'
• Tiger was the best selling software product ever for Apple
• 86 million lines of source code ported to Intel for Tiger
• more than 3,000 Universal applications shipping

• Mac OS X compared to Vista, feature-by-feature
• Safari RSS, IE 7 RSS -- even have the same layour
• iCal, Mail.app, all copied "Even tried to copy our color scheme"
• "If you can't innovate, you just imitate -- but it's never quite as good" with picture of an Elvis impersonator

Full supprt for 64-bit architectures

• 64-bit support extended through Carbon and Cocoa: This means you can have a fully native, 64-bit Carbon application or Cocoa application
• The same frameworks that support 32-bit applications now support 64-bit applications

"Time Machine"

• Only a quarter of Mac users back up files
• Only 4% use automated software to backup
• In comes Time Machine
• automatic back-up -- if you change a file, it's automatically backed up
• everything is backed-up
• Restoration can also be alá carte
• Can be backed up to hard drive or server
• Located in Dock -- when activated, a space scene appears that shows earlier versions of a folder extending backward into time
• timeline appears on right side -- folder can appear as it did yesterday, 2 days, a month, even further
• Can automatically fly backward through time until a point when there was a change made to a folder
• File can be restored via a "Restore" button
• What type of performance hit will there be?
• Supports various applications -- iCal. For instance, a contact is missing --
• Time Machine will fly backward through time until it finds a time when the contact existed
• Applications will need to be updated to support Time Machine
• Slight bug on stage -- iPhoto crashed. Forstall says "I wish I had a time machine to go back to before that happened"

"Complete package"

• Boot Camp will be included with Leopard, already achieved more than half a million downloads
• Front Row will be built-in to Leopard
• Photo Booth built-in, expanded range of supported cameras

Spaces

• virtual desktops
• desktops can be switched by just clicking on a application in that 'space'
• all spaces can be seen at once, ala Exposé
• Live updating of each space

Spotlight

• Can search other Macs
• Can search servers, e.g. workgroup servers at office
• Advanced search -- specifigy boolean operators, file type, etc.
• Application launcher -- hit one or two letters of app name, you can launch it
• Recent Items are added

Core animation

• "Time Machine" was built with Core Animation
• allows decomopisition into layers -- specify start stage, goal state
• Can dramatically reduce source code
• iTunes commercial where city of albums is built can be generated on the fly with Core Animation

Universal Access

• VoiceOver advances: Text-to-speech capabilities dramatically enhanced -- side-by-side comparison of Tiger, Leopard and Vista (reading Apple boilerplate) Leopard dramtically clearer.
• Braille support
• Closed captioning support

Mail.app

• Stationary (in standard HTML), templates and custom
• Notes (notes taken in special message type, in new mailbox called notes)
• To-Do lists: Text can be selected and made a "to-do" -- priorities, due dates, etc. can be set. Any incoming e-mail message or document can also be made a to-do.
• New "to-do" service in Leopard, any application can tie in

Dashboard

• Over 2500 Widgets in existence
• "Dashcode" -- helps design, develop and debug Dashboard Widgets. Templates, visual editor for HTML, parts library, JavaScript source editor and debugger
• Web Clip -- anyone can turn any part of any Web page into a Widget. Allows user to select a portion of a Web page, click a button, then generate an automatically updating Widget based on that page. The Widget is live -- page can be navigated from within Dashboard.

iChat

• Multiple logins
• Invisibility
• Animated buddy icons
• video chat recording
• tabbed chats
• Photo booth effects
• "iChat Theater" -- can broadcast other application content
• Backdrops -- can be images or movies, without a green screen

Parental controls have been enhanced

iCal

• fully multi-user
• CalDev support

Xcode 3.0

Leopard will ship in Spring, 2007.

Feedback? Late-breakers@macfixit.com.

Resources