Did Apple hire the Microsoft Bob guys to work on OS X 10.5 Leopard?

Anon:

FYI: Panthers and leopards aren't the same creature...

Lucas:

Ummm, don't you mean 'Leapord', not 'Panther'?

Panther was all the way back at 10.3

christian:

dude shut the **** up time machine is a cool feature. comparing it to bob. /rolleyes

tell me what do the nuts of microsoft smell like? i figure you should know since youre hugging them so tightly and close to your bosom

rob:

you mac supporters are really persistant, aren't you?

very touchy-feely... don't like to be prodded.

the comparison to bob was a clearly humour, christian, and Lucas was simply correcting your initial smart-ass remark.. then you had to bring out the nut-hugging comment.

piss weak.

why don't you go read an iBook of good comebacks, and then come and leave a real comment. maclover.

p.s. it was meant to be lame.

Nick:

All in all...apple tiger is way ahead of soon to be released windows vista (and w/o bugs)...all these features in leopard are just frosting on the cake that i would eat anyways..

joe malarky:

christian,

someone should rip your nuts off, if they already haven't!

joe malarky:

somebody touch you bad when you were a kid, christian?

Barrie:

Don't forget that what was revealed about Leopard was only a small subset of what the full final release will have. So for those asking, "is that all there is" the answer is "no".

just me:

Well, allot of Mac users I know, myself included, were underwhelmed by the Mail 3.0 demo. I have Stickies and NUTD/C for Notes and To-Dos... I think Stationary could have been added to iPhoto or iWeb for photo happy emailers to use, slightly insulating us from those that will overuse the feature when it's built into Mail itself.. Give me the ability to generate Read Receipt requests and stay the Hell out of my way, (maybe make searching faster) and I'll be happy as a pig in $hit with Mail... The rest? Meh.

But the rest of the Demo of 10.5 has some significant stuff there.. Allot that people are overlooking in fact..

WebClip and DashCode are going to be two poweruser features allowing us "Mac guys/gals" that help our family and friends add features to the OS they will enjoy w/o allot of work. This added to Automator will make building lightweight apps to perform specific tasks on Macs easy for the end user. (or those that support them)

Ditto for Time Machine.. The power of Rewind (PowerOn Software MacOS 9 days) with the added bonus of restoring individual files, photos, addressbook entries? Automated backup that supports full restoration or individual files? It's a friggin godsend to those that support family and friends (for free). I think there will remain a place for Cloning to an ext drive that can be kept in a safe dept. box incase of fire/flood/etc.. But I'm an annal retentive backup freak.

The "Backgrounds" in iChat are a big deal, but for a different reason... Since this will be built into the OS, iLife07 should also be able to take advantage of this, allowing custom backdrops to be inserted in iMovie. Same with the KeyNote sharing ability.. The creative aspect of this feature (CoreAnimation) and what it should provide to users of iLife07 and future versions of Apple's Pro Apps is being missed due to the corny nature of it being demo'd as part of iChat.

64-bit top to bottom, along w/ WebClip and DashCode, and Time Machine are worth the price of admission to MacOS 10.5 Leopard.


just my $0.02US


justme

Uncle Paul:

True. When OS X was revealed many moons ago, it was touted as the platform for the next 10 years. So naturally Leopard would be evolutionary. And we'll have to wait until January to see some of the 'top secret' stuff.

For now, though, the features in the upcoming iChat are very compelling from a business development standpoint.

Eric:

I'd agree that the features shown are more evolutionary than revolutionary, but the implementation and usability is what will keep Apple far ahead of anything coming out of Redmond - whenever that might be.

It should also be noted that they are keeping additional features under wraps, so as not to be immediately imitated by Vista.

Lefty:

My guess:

Steve Jobs left out of his WWDC keynote the key innovation that will distinguish OS X from Windows Vista: seamless, easy, integrated rich media use across multiple computers.

Mac OS X Leopard will allow for music, photos, graphics, animation, and video to be digested, shared, and consumed easily.

I wouldn't be surprised if an Apple media server software app (and an Apple media server box itself) ship when Leopard ships.

As for disclosure of above, Jobs will wait until Microsoft shows its Vista cards (ie. Vista goes golden beta); then he'll deliver the knock-out punch with the post-Tiger, not-in-Vista innovations.

wiley:

Speaking of "clearly humor," I think the screen-shot camparisons during the keynote between Mac OS X and Vista, then the Elvis impersonator picture, were comedy gold.

When I saw the Windows logo super-imposed over the top of an Aqua bubble the first time, I just had to shake my head and think, "No shame, man. No Shame."

As for Bob, it was another attempt at making Windows whimsical and "friendly." Sadly, Bob is now living in a van down by the river; I've been told he's running Windows ME...

Doug:

Ok, I'll ignore the BOB reference but still, how could you have anything but love for TimeMachine's interface? I can't wait for this and vista to be out so that the two backup features can be compared side by side for usability. My bet is that my Mom would be able to use Time Machine and that geeks will have difficulties with Vista's offering.

There have been a number of Vista apologists trying to bring equivalents between OS X and Vista by saying, you are getting backup....we have it too or you have HTML Mail? So have we! But there is a big difference in how the features are accessed and the features they have. Who would look at Spotlight and Windows XP search and say "See they both search!"

I'm looking forward to how Apple makes this work and how well they explain Spaces and other features. In the end the differences will be in the execution

tom:

for all you who still think Microsoft will try to implement anything shown at WWDC into Vista. Wake up, Vista is going RC1 in a few days, and RTM in a few weeks. Vista is done, okay? There's only bug fixing going on. Every developer knows this, and Jobs knows it too. This "Top Secret" thing is just his clever marketing speech, and unfortunately it seems to be working.

tom:

Doug: yes, there is a difference. Microsoft implemented these things first, Apple followed. Yes, Apple does it more beautifully. But isn't it funny how Mac people really quickly call Microsoft a copy-cat when they include a feature in Windows that's been on the Mac OS? Isn't it clear that Apple is playing catch-up with iChat, Time Machine, Mail, and many more things? Sure OS X does these things better now, but someone had to make a start, no?

That said, I can't believe Apple includes stationeries in Mail now after everybody's finally stopped using them. They're so nineties.

Johnny Appleseed:

Dan misses the point of Time Machine's visual effects. It's not just eye candy for eye candy's sake, but an intuitive spatial interface that could be the beginning of 3D GUIs hitting the mainstream. With the new Core Animation built into the OS, it will become easier for developers to incorporate 3D interfaces into their apps.

Dan Warne:

Johnny: I didn't miss that really, but just objected to the kitschness of the galaxy/time warp background. It is taking Apple into 'condescention' territory... treating users as if they can't figure out what a feature is for, so need some wacky visual aids.

Same as that annoying dog with the wagging tail in the XP search box; Clippy in Office; and ... Microsoft Bob's 3D environment.

So to restate: I'm all for 3D desktops and any innovation in operating systems that takes us away from flat windows stacked on top of each other; what I dislike is the wacky cookie time warp background, which is totally incongruous with Apple's philosophy of spare, clear interfaces with minimum clutter.

Jono:

Whatever.

I'm already thinking Tiger is way ahead of VISTA.

And I'll buy all these features for Leopard plus whatever else Apple has in the secret locker.

Take my advice guys, give up with Windows because you won't want to look back.

Ace:

mac fanboys crack me up almost as much as *nix fanboys ...

while leopard's impact remains to be seen, if tiger really was all that great, then why isn't everyone using it yet?

if you haven't figured it out yet: compared to PCs, Macs are expensive, hands down ... what system an average computer user uses really has little to do with the operating system; it has much more to do with the affordability of the system itself, and the operating system is simply the interface for that system ... and while computer enthusiasts like myself wouldn't hesitate to use a Mac (as i do everyday, as well as windows), no amount of new features, bells, and whistles will change the fact that average people will more likely buy PCs instead of Macs because they're cheaper, period

also, curious as to what novice computer users see when they shop for a computer?

Dell (Windows)
HP/Compaq (Windows)
e-machines (Windows)
Gateway (Windows)
Apple (Mac OS)

average people don't buy computers for their operating systems, and their choice usually lies with the computer, not the operating system

on a side note, apple's marketing approach is really disappointing me; it seems clear to me that the "smear" tactics and opponent bashing they've been using at WWDC and TV commercials only show poor sportsmanship and, dare i say, a lack of innovation ("by Apple? blasphemy!") for marketing their products ... i don't see M$ employing the same marketing approach

Mike:

I love the new features in OS X and think they are well worth the upgrade (assuming it will be $99-$130US). Come on, how hard is it to part with $100! To me it is clearly worth that.

I bought my first Mac 4 years ago after being a Windows user since 3.1 and MS-DOS before that. I can't put into words how sorry I am that I didn't try a Mac sooner. (of course maybe that’s not true, it’s possible I may not have liked the operating systems before OS X) The Mac has a superior operating system with OS X.

"Ace" thinks that the OS doesn't matter, but I don't think he could be more wrong. The OS is almost the ONLY thing that matters. It is more important than hardware brand or processor speed.

It is true that Apple does not make a truly cheap computer, but the VALUE is certainly there. You get as much power and capability dollar for dollar from Apple (I would say you get more) as you do from any brand. The difference is that Apple doesn't produce a $350 dog like Dell or eMachines. Even when I was a Windows fanboy, I never bought the cheap machines, so really my switch to the Mac hasn't cost me anymore than if I hadn’t switched.

However, I have gained a new sense of empowerment from my Mac. All the features work and work well. OS X features are so simple to find, use, and understand that it brings joy to the user. Windows XP, although rich with features, they are harder to find, harder to implement and harder to understand. The layout is unintuitive to the point where you almost think the designers where hiding things. The cascade of windows a user has to wade through to find features is infuriating and the inability to tell if they are working or how they work is horrible.

But all that aside my real problem with Windows is the way its performance degrades over time. If you are a long time Windows user as I was, you learn where all the features are hidden. You learn where the settings can be views and changed. You get used to having to reboot for changes in the system to take effect. The one thing I could not get used to is having to do a clean install of the entire system at least once every other year. I could find no way to keep XP or any other version of Windows feeling snappy for a period longer than that. Conversely OS X is organized and efficient. It stays fast and actually GETS FASTER from version to version on the same hardware. My Macs have actually gained performance (generally speaking) over time. The only thing that shows their age is the introduction of new formats and the ever increasing amount of graphic eye candy being added to apps. For instance, H.264 is great, but an old G3 iBook just can’t do it.

Macs are well worth your serious consideration, should any of what I said ring any bells.