| Apple OS X Leopard Sneak Peek |
[08 Aug 2006|09:38am] |
Yesterday Apple gave us a preview of OS X Leopard, their next operating system. I still can’t believe they’ve made 4-5 major OS releases in the time Microsoft did one or so lousy releases. COMON MICROSOFT!!!
If you missed out on watching live feeds of what was going on in WWDC, well I would check out this site and watch the videos.
As I mentioned in my previous article, OS X Leopard looks amazing. I really cannot wait to get my hands on a developer copy or when the final version comes out. The new features and additions to already wonderful programs is going to be excellent. They’re going to make easy work, even easier.
Time Machine: At first I thought this was not such a good idea since you would be taking up a lot space, but this is wrong. Time Machine backups everything the first time and then it will only backup changed files after. Of course if you continue adding music, movies, photos…etc it’ll make your backup size larger, but it sounds great to me. The ease of use in Time Machines doesn’t look like it could get any easier, you find the date in which your file does exist, hit restore and you’re done! One really cool thing I found in Time Machine was not only can you backup to an external hard drive, but also a server, finally my Xserve can get some real usage!
Mail: I’ve always liked Mail and how well it integrates with other OS X applications. Now, they’re adding even more to Mail, stationery, To-Do lists and Notes! Now when someone tells me something in an email I can quickly create a note about it and jot down the important things from the email, or I can create a to-do list and have it also show up in iCal. I am always getting tasks from people in their emails to me, and now the ability to write down notes and make a to-do right in one application is great. Last but not least, stationery! I am still a little worried about how this will look since there are many different email programs out there and it might look funky for some people, although I assume when both parties are using Apple Mail it’s going to look fine (just worried about sending to Windows people). I just wish Apple Mail was like his now, it looks so cool!!
iChat: iChat’s improvements have come in a professional and fun way! Let’s start with the fun! First off you can add in backgrounds when doing a video chat. Essentially that makes it look like you’re standing in-front of a busy street corner or out on a hot beach! If that wasn’t enough Apple has integrated the silliness of PhotoBooth into iChat video, now you can show your friends all the weird and funny faces you can make in real-time! iChat is really a great piece of software that has made audio and video conferencing very easy, but Apple didn’t stop there. The new iChat will allows users to collaborate and work together much easier. Now you can share screens and work on projects together, or even show a co-worker a Keynote presentation, or picture slideshow through iChat. Apple definitely gets an A+ for the new iChat!
Spaces: One of the last thing I want to cover that I thought was major and a feature I love and use is the ability to have multiple desktops. Currently I use a little 3rd party application called VirtueDesktops which allows me to have multiple desktops so i can spread out my work. If you’re still a little confused, check out the Spaces video. Now this virtual desktop feature is going to be right in OS X Leopard, no more extra programs and not to mention its going to be better then VirtueDesktops! One thing I found to be very cool with Spaces is that you can show all the spaces in one screen and then move applications from one space to another and even re-arrage the space order!!
OS X Leopard…it’s really going to stomp on Windows Vista, not that OS X Tiger didn’t, but it’s really going to convince people to switch if they already haven’t. Tons of new and cool features, software additions that are really going to make tasks easier, and digital life management better.
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| Apple WWDC 2006 - My Thoughts |
[08 Aug 2006|09:39am] |
Wow, another World Wide Developers Conference is done. This conference means new Apple products and updates!
First before I talk about what actually happened, I’m going to talk about what I saw as happening.
I thought Apple would release a new mobile phone. I thought it would be much better then the Rokr although having iChat would be a big maybe. Having a better iTunes interface was something that I would have thought to happen, but seeing the rumors of the iChat mobile led me to believe that could happen too.
Next, I thought an update to the Xserve was going to happen since every other product was on the Intel chip making it obvious that the Xserve would be next.
Not only would they move the Xserve to the Intel chip but also the PowerMacs, sorta obvious.
An Airport Express for doing video, but then we discussed this at work and we couldn’t agree on which video ports they would need on the unit because it could end up being a lot.
A preview of OS X Leopard would also happen, and I would have a copy by the end of the night.
Alright, so most of these things happened and some didn’t…here’s my thoughts on what really went down at WWDC ‘06!
The new Mac Pro is the replacement unit for the PowerMac G5 and it looks amazing. The ability to have 2TBs of storage in the unit is great, and I think Apple is starting to understand people don’t like it when the machines come with 256MBs of RAM or maybe even 512MB, especially in these “prosumer” units. Boosting it up-to 1GB of RAM; STOCK is a great move on Apple’s part. Not only that but you can slam 16Gbs of RAM into one of these puppies!! The use of the Intel Xeon chip is a great idea, although is it better then the Intel Core 2 Duo? I would have thought they would use the Core 2 Duo in the Mac Pros and Xeons in the Xserve, I always thought the Xeon was a server chip, not a workstation chip, but hey, it works for me! The elegant design of the Mac Pro enclosure is absolutely spectacular. Somehow I believe each design Apple puts out is the best, just to be awed again when a new product update comes out. There is one thing I didn’t like about the design, and it’s the 2 optical drives. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of 2 internal optical drives, but it looks a little weird with 2 slots (maybe I am just so used to the one slot on the PM G5), it just looked so good with one slot. I also checked the Apple Store website because I wanted to see if they had the Blu-Ray and HD-DVD drives as CTO options and they don’t…so if I were to get the Mac Pro, it would be put on hold until those drives become an option. Overall I am very very impressed with the Mac Pro, although this is definitely a “prosumer” machine as it can get pretty pricey. I think the lowest I got it down to was about $2200, which isn’t too bad, but no soccer mom, or really an average Joe will buy this unit.
XSERVES!!! Now this is what I had been waiting for myself, and well worth it. The new Xserve use the Xeon chip also and support 2.25TBs of storage in the 1U unit. This next part sorta got my attention because it’s not something I would expect in an Xserve, and that a built-in graphics card, a superdrive, and a huge amount of space for RAM. This thing can take 32GBs!! WOW, who wants to get me one of these?! I also really liked the idea of the new redundant power supplies incase one goes, you got a backup right there, great idea! I have the Xserve G4 now, and it’s not really even noticing the amount of work I do on it, so maybe one of these bad-boys would be a little bit much for me, but hey….I can still want it!
The last major thing out of this years WWDC in my opinion was Mac OS X Leopard. The things I want to cover for Leopard will probably get posted in another article since I might have a lot to say about what they talked about. Briefly, I am highly impressed with it and it looks very very innovative. Tasks and working in the OS X environment look much easier, and I love to say this, it makes me want to use the computer more then i already do. They have so many new and cool features (see other article) that make the overall user experience fun and enjoyable! Apple has done it again and they will put out another award-winning operating system, Hasta la Vista, Vista!
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