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OS X Leopard

I went by the apple store yesterday, I did not expect that there was going to be so many people waiting in line for it (most of the people I know pre-ordered it for delivery). The Eaton Centre is on my way home, so I figure I would just pick it up. When I saw the line, I was just going to go home, and come back at 8 to pick it up .... but it was raining so I figured I would just stay. I sat there and watched the line (which snaked up and down the top floor of the Eaton Centre) - and figured I would just bite the bullet and line up (better than walking in the rain unprepared). They were very well organized, and the line actually moved very quickly. It took around 30 minutes to line up go in and buy it. I did a clean install, and I am up and running with Leopard - the changes are not in your face type, but really nice usable features. I would say that there were probably 1000 people in the store before I was :eek:
 
I have always been an early adopter of new versions of operating systems (except Vista). I am usually involved in testing early versions of Fedora Linux releases (which happen every 6 months). I remember testing a beta version of Windows around 10 years ago.... that was one of the most interesting experiences. I installed it on a machine at work.... I figured the impact was local. The network was a Novel network, and used SMC cards that supported large packets. First thing I did was click - expore network ..... poof the network went down :eek: I could not believe that it could be Windows fault... must be a co-incidence. So network comes up ... click click.... explore network .... poof network down.... ok once can be a co-incidence - twice maybe not. Turns out that windows SMC driver that was included -- decided to send the non-standard large packets as the default... The SMC drivers for the Novell server -- well - they could not handle that and exploded. Now I really don't think it was Microsoft's fault - but it was funny
 
I don't mean to say that there is no substance in Apple products; some of them work quite well. My issue is that there is just so much emphasis on style, and that inevitably makes the product much more expensive than strictly necessary. Design is important, but is it really wise to cram a bunch of hot electronics in a small plastic box with minimal venting? Especially when the device isn't meant to be portable?
 
I installed Leopard. I don't know how I lived without Quick Look.

System wide, hitting the space bar with a file selected, instantly brings up the view of the file without opening the application that created it.

This has increased my productivity by yet another leap. I no longer have to go searching for a file by opening one at a time in its application.

It may not sound like much, but once you've used it, you'll be impressed.

Leopard is a very polished OS, bringing it yet again light years ahead of Windows. My MacBook Pro is flying along and I'm finding myself using lots of the new features intuitively.

Love it. Love it. Love it!
 
For many years before I finally bought an Apple G4, I had exposure to nearly every type of PC, Workstation, Token Ring, imaginable in the simulation of buildings under stress. I remember using a Quadra by Apple and being unimpressed.

Then I started to use client/server setups with IBM RISC-based platforms, and found it more amenable to process large amounts of data and animate the results with the software. I began to find conventional PCs very useless, but became enthralled with SUN workstations and a few of the 'beta' Apple products that we used at that time.

Then a PowerMac became a convention for testing at my firm, and I thought it was the cat's meow on every level - looks, power, intuitive interfaces and a serious use of RISC-based architecture. By the time G4 came along, I could use it for nearly everything: my music, my work, my storage of architectural images and diagrams, etc.

I was horrified by the G5 - due in part to looks, the running hot processing that required massive cooling - so I declined any change in hardware. I am left now with software upgrades and the idea that Apple has accepted the Intel chip over the Motorola-IBM RISC platform. It's amazing that with each upgrade in operating software, the price remains the same, and the ease of use increases. I expect Leopard to be the same, just as I was not surprised that MS Vista had so many bugs and other issues, despite all the hype.
 
junctionist said:
If this new operating system is so great, why can't I just replace my copy of Windows XP with it?
Click to expand...

It might be a good idea for Apple to do that (make the operating system for PCs). They'd lose some of their advantages though.
 
^ I think they would lose more than just some advantages.

OS X's greatness comes, aside from many other things, from Apple knowing exactly what hardware it will be installed on avoiding all the device conflicts, driver problems and plain incompatibility that Windows is plagued with.
 
MetroMan said:
^ I think they would lose more than just some advantages.

OS X's greatness comes, aside from many other things, from Apple knowing exactly what hardware it will be installed on avoiding all the device conflicts, driver problems and plain incompatibility that Windows is plagued with.
Click to expand...

Exactly.

Window compatibility isn't as bad as people make it out to be though. It has issues, but it's far better than before. I stick all sorts of things to my system and XP recognizes them just fine.
 
Leopard's Backward Compatibility Restrictions on PowerMacs

Some people I know, assumed that older PowerMacs could not install OS X Leopard - that it was written exclusively for PowerMacs that have Intel not Motorola/IBM chips. I thought it would not hurt to share my understanding of this with others on UT, subject to corrections at a later date after I attempt an install, or by any guru/expert/more-knowledge-based person that posts afterwards.

If you look on the spine of the case containing OS X Leopard, you will see G5, and an upgraded G4, can still install this operating software upgrade.

In an earlier post, I pointed out that I have a "souped up" G4, so I should think this would not be a problem. The minimum requirement for PowerMac G4: 512 MB Memory and 87? MHz CPU processing speed. You can stop here, if that is all you need. Ahead is my interpretation of what I was told by a Mac expert:

  • A PowerMac running on the Intel chip, is just like a PC running on the same platform, when the application is properly partitioned. But for those of us using the Motorola/IBM chip, the PC emulations are parallel platforms that look to the Windows application like a PC, but technically are something less than that.
  • One of the reasons that Leopard still includes selective non-Intel PowerMacs - meaning G4 and G5 - is that they have Dual Processors, which mirror the Dual Core architecture of the current Intel chip used.
  • The upgraded Memory and CPU processing speed requirements for the G4, relate to the more robust space and instruction requirements of Leopard on the system drive. The code interfacing to hardware is actually at the driver level.
 
Zephyr said:
* A PowerMac running on the Intel chip, is just like a PC running on the same platform ...
Click to expand...

smuncky said:
Install Leopard on ur PC!

http://dailyapps.net/2007/10/hack-attack-install-leopard-on-your-pc-in-3-easy-steps/
Click to expand...

I guess this proves the point about the Intel Mac partition is like being on a PC when that is your target task. (I wonder if all those hacker problems that Macs have largely avoided will now come a vistin' as well.)

Thanks smuncky for that link.
 
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