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Leopard Arrives Oct. 26
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.
Leopard Server, according to Apple, includes more than 250 improvements. Among these are:
- 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.
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard will be available at Apple Stores and through Apple authorized resellers Oct. 26 for $129. Leopard Server, which is expected to be available at the same time, sells for $499 for a 10-client pack and $999 for the unlimited client edition. Both editions run on pretty much any fairly recent Mac, from 867 MHz G4s through current Intel-based systems.
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