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Leopard Arrives Oct. 26
10/16/2007
It was about 14 months ago that Apple first previewed Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard") at its 2006 Worldwide Developers Conference. Now, following delays reportedly resulting from resources shifting to iPhone development, the company has announced a release date for the new OS: Oct. 26 at 6 p.m. Coinciding with the release is Mac OS X Leopard Server, which includes the first commercial CalDAV calendar server, along with Wiki Server and Podcast Producer.Included in the update of the Mac operating system are the following:
- Support for 64-bit applications.
- "Time Machine," a new feature that provides automatic backups of a user's hard drive. This new feature can restore a completely failed drive to a new drive and also provides control over versions, so users can choose which version(s) of any given file will be restored.
- The full version of Boot Camp also ships with Leopard. It allows users to boot Windows on Apple's hardware. (Boot Camp was previously available in beta form for Intel-based Macs.)
- "Spaces" is a new workflow that lets users organize applications they use often and switch between them rapidly.
- It also includes an update to Spotlight, Apple's search technology. It includes support for searching other machines on a network and adds support for Boolean expressions.
- Leopard also includes a new technology called Core Animation.
- Improved universal access for users with physical disabilities, as well as closed captioning in QuickTime.
- Enhancements to Mail.
- Enhancements to Dashboard, including a new developer tool called Dashcode for creating Widgets and Web Clip, which lets users turn ay part of a Web page into a Dashboard Widget.
- A new and improved iChat, which includes video effects, support for slideshows, multiple logins, animated icons and video recording. It also includes a feature called "Backdrops," which lets users swap out their backgrounds for still or moving images.
- A new Finder interface resembling the iTunes interface, including a feature called "Cover Flow," which allows users to flip through documents like flipping through album covers in iTunes.
- Podcast Producer, a system for recording content and automatically uploading it and converting it into a podcast "optimized for playback on almost any device, including a High Definition TV, iPod, Apple TV or multimedia-enabled cell phone."
- Wiki Server, which includes tools for creating and editing wikis; and
- iCal Server, a calendar server that supports the new CalDAV standard.
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About the author: Dave Nagel is the executive editor for 1105 Media's educational technology online publications and electronic newsletters. He can be reached at dnagel@1105media.com.
Have any additional questions? Want to share your story? Want to pass along a news tip? Contact Dave Nagel, executive editor, at dnagel@1105media.com.
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