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Leopard build 9A321: all the new features listed!

macosxrumors.com — The latest build (9A321) of Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 is revealing several neat features. We gathered all this information in one article for you, Mac OS X fans!

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  • codyman, on 10/12/2007, -20/+5niiice
  • gmprunner, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9I don't know about everyone else, but I've seen all of these features listed on other sites for quite some time. Don't get me wrong though, they are pleasing.
    • soogy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Yep. The title of this article leads me on to believe that new features were added in THIS specific build, which is untrue. All of the features listed have already been announced for quite some time now.
    • vaguelyrandom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Most of them are just generic ones that are almost worthless - a new installer, more screensavers, improved parental controls. I'm underwhelmed.
  • chriscohoat, on 10/12/2007, -29/+3as a longtime windows user, i think (among most all features), time machine would be a great addition to windows. the next version of windows will have it, thankfully
    • wphj, on 10/12/2007, -20/+19Thats how it works.
      Get it all on a Mac, now.
      Or wait and get the half-assed copycat a few years later.
    • lemac, on 10/12/2007, -16/+10Windows 2003 Server has had the same thing for some time now (same thing as a time machine). I use Windows, Linux and Macs and prefer them equally for specific tasks.
    • TGMD, on 10/12/2007, -18/+8Windows had the same functionality since 2003, Time Machine just looks better...


      These features don't look too impressive too me though...
    • bedlam, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9If anyone is interested, the feature lemac is referencing is called Volume Shadow Copy.
    • kethraal, on 10/12/2007, -9/+21"Windows 2003 Server has had the same thing for some time now (same thing as a time machine)."


      Weeelllll... let's not twist things, shall we? 1) Windows 2003 is a server OS. Leopard is a consumer OS. 2) Windows 2003 had Volume Shadow Copy. While theoretically identical in functionality, it wasn't particularly easy to use (or robust for that matter). Time Machine has, from my testing, seemed to be both more day-to-day usable and more reliable.
    • gcnaddict, on 10/12/2007, -21/+7"Weeelllll... let's not twist things, shall we? 1) Windows 2003 is a server OS. Leopard is a consumer OS. 2) Windows 2003 had Volume Shadow Copy. While theoretically identical in functionality, it wasn't particularly easy to use (or robust for that matter). Time Machine has, from my testing, seemed to be both more day-to-day usable and more reliable."

      Shadow copies were in the vista beta since Beta 1, long before Leopard was shown off to anyone. If anything, Apple still copied Microsoft.
    • wphj, on 10/12/2007, -8/+3-1 from gcnaddict
      I read the first part of your comment and modded you up, before I realized you were saying the opposite
    • kethraal, on 10/12/2007, -6/+11"Shadow copies were in the vista beta since Beta 1, long before Leopard was shown off to anyone"

      I know. Vista is based off the 2K3 code base, so it's pretty logical that they're there. As I mentioned, the difference is not in the existance of parallel underlying technologies -- the difference is in their implementation and utilization. In Windows, Shadow Copies are a royal pain in the ass to set up, even for just basic functionality. The APIs for them aren't well documented either, so it's not commonly integrated into consumer apps.

      On the other end of the spectrum, there's Leopard. Time Machine makes the "base" functionality easy, and (at least in my limited coding experience thus far,) the APIs make it easy to build Time Machine functionality into your app.

      It's like arguing that there's nothing innovative about modern cars, since the Model-T drove on roads first.
    • joe90210, on 10/12/2007, -7/+9ya, right clicking on a file and clicking "Restore previous versions" is much harder than having flying windows and snazzy effects
    • Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2@lemac:

      You can't prefer multiple things equally. Prefer means you have a preference. If you don't have a preference, then you like them all equally.

      different.
    • Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -3/+8""Windows 2003 Server has had the same thing for some time now (same thing as a time machine)."

      That is funny, because I'm pretty sure you can't access deleted contacts from outlook, via outlook using VSC in W2kS. VSC is NOT the same thing. Some of the underlying technology is similar, but TM is much more robust in terms of it's UI and integration into apps. Have you even bothered to view the demo at www.apple.com?

  • Switchnig, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1mmmmmmmmmlet me see if i can simplify this equation
  • MoeB, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11all these features are useless if it doesn't have pr0n download acceleration.
    • FunkyWitDaSysTm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2well, with the 802.11n airport cards, you can stream pr0n from a media server in HD... it's not much, but ther u go.
    • maninblac1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@funky

      Just how clearly do you need to see the cooch? I think DVD is good enough ya know?
    • avatarpalin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I would love for Jobs to say.." and for those of you who love Porn... As much as I do, I would like to introduce one.... more.... thing.."

      "iWank"

  • lemac, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3I still don't understand how the TIME MACHINE is suppose to work on laptops if it requires a 2nd hard drive (it will not work with partitions -- will not backup to a partition on the same drive). Has Apple ever explained this?
    • Capta1nA, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11plug in a hard drive
    • maverick808, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4You can also use a network drive, which means no plugging in anything for your Apple laptop.
    • ricksite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+52nd hard drive...hmmm...iPod?
    • sembetu, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well, there has been talk of Apple possibly using the new 100GB Toshiba Mini Drives as additional storage in their laptops. Could be a total solution in progress. Extra storage + small size + Time Machine = possibility? I don't know, just hazzarding a guess.
    • Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -4/+1as you can see, it really isn't that hard to understand. If you use your brain.
    • amosconi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It does work on a partition.

      Of course the backup partition need to be at least the same size of the main partition.
  • Tawakol, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1http://duggmirror.com/apple/Leopard_build_9A321_all_the_new_features_listed
  • cwestpha, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5the ZFS is new, everything else apears to be bug fixes.
    Its actualy Ironic how some of these are actualy stolen Windows features (and before you ask I am a macolyte so dont bash me for being a blind windows user). TimeMachine is a front end for a modified version of Vista's back-up system with the good old system save state. Resolution Independance (more like a bug fix for how long it has been absent) has been in Windows and most *nix for a while (though most applications made for them arent).
    Hopefuly at the upcoming macworld they release high DPI cinima displays that arent limited anymore by OS X. Bet Apple will have some auto scaling feature built into the displays too so that you could just plug in a high DPI cinima display and the UI will auto scale to the size intended by Apple.
    TIME MACHINE, from what I have seen so far isnt partition based, but it doesnt want to let you have the files on the same hard drive as the boot OS. It wants to try and force some inteligance of backing up data to another source. :p
    • dashiel, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5windows back up system is just a rip off of *nix style snapshots. though useful in both windows and *nix, neither of them had an easy to understand or accessible UI. the seamless integration and easy to use interface are the innovation in this case. after all the original concept of the GUI was nothing more than putting together an intuitive shell to complex and obscure command line directives.

      resolution independence has been in the system since tiger, it wasn't introduced fully to give developers time to update. and vista is the first windows release to support resolution independent UI.

      these will not be all the features either. MWSF will introduce some pretty significant additions. my money is on a new finder, new UI and a massively updated .mac service for integration with iTV and the iphone.
  • robdazomba, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Most of these features were revealed by Jobs at the last WWDC and the rest have been known via other legit sources. Example: resolution independence was a coming feature announced to developers almost a year ago. What's the point of the excited tone of this article? There's literally nothing new in it.
  • lemac, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah but being a "laptop" a user cannot be assumed to have a hard drive connected (or a network drive for that matter) all the time....so will it only back to the point the last time a hard drive was attached (and restore only when that particular drive is connected to the laptop)...I think Apple should provide an option to make the time machine work on a parition on the same drive -- that would simply solve the problem.
    • hyperpasta, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7...and cause Time Machine to serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever! Time Machine is a backup utility! Why would anyone EVER back up on the same drive?? How will that protect against drive failure??
    • jschrab, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Most data loss is not due to hardware failure but user error. Time Machine isn't a backup solution so much as it is SVN for the everyday Joe.
    • dagamer34, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2what's wrong with doing both?
  • mtappenden, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3This is looking rather nice. Resolution Independence is going to be a great feature I think, but as well as that I'm looking for ZFS to be used as the boot drive default in the final release, that would just be a huge step forward for the Mac OS. Other than that Time Machine and general improvements such as the grammar engine and the Calendaring service are going to make this a really big leap forwards for me and probably many others in their day to day use of computers. Excellent news.
  • griz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3What every happened to abiding by an NDA?
    • dagamer34, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1This stuff has been public for months. Nothing new is actually said.
    • kethraal, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0"What every happened to abiding by an NDA?"

      This sort of thing is, from what I can tell, acceptable under the ADC NDA.
    • ahknight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Nope, not acceptable under the ADC NDA. There's an addendum for prerelease software that takes several pages to say "shut up about it or we'll pull your colon out through your nose".
    • Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Whatever happened to knowing what is under an NDA b4 spouting?
    • deadbaby, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The people using this build didn't sign an NDA most likely. These are fairly boring changes to the core OS. I really doubt Apples cares if they are leaked or not.
  • felchdonkey, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I certainly hope that isn't ALL the new features. It hardly warrants a complete new name, as if it were a major upgrade to the OS, if that's all it is. And there's no way I'm paying $100+ for some file recovery and backup tools, one extra iChat feature, and extra parental controls.

    Bring me an improved Finder, let me unplug my iPod or USB drive without hitting "eject," and give me a maximize button. Until then, I'm fine with Tiger.
    • $cirisme, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The title on Digg is a bit misleading... it's not really a list of all the new features in Leopard but rather a list of all the features that have been discovered in Leopard's preview so far. I would expect more from Apple later.

      And I'm not sure that's even a good description of it, they missed all the features Apple has listed so far on Apple's website. Such as the new cal dav support in iCal, or Spaces, or the universal todo service, etc.

      Personally I skipped Tiger when it was released and am looking forward to all those features as well as the new Leopard ones. :)
  • KeiichiMorisato, on 10/12/2007, -6/+2Has anyone else noticed why Apple is introducing resolution independence now?
    All of their displays from their laptops to their 30" monitor all have a "low" DPI -- 72-96 DPI.

    Windows laptops have the most variability (from 96 dpi at 1024x768 all the way to 1920x1200 at ~140 dpi).

    The resolution scaling feature in Vista is not as good unless you're using the latest applications from MS that are "aware" of high DPI screens (like the new Office 2007 suite.)

    Here's to hoping that Leopard's version is better.
    • aquax, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9My 15.4" MacBook Pro does 1440x900 which is 110.27 dpi (actually, ppi, but let's not split hairs).
      A 17" MacBook Pro does 1680x1050 which is 116.54 dpi
      A 13.3" MacBook does 1280x800 which is 113.49 dpi
      A 17" iMac does 1440x900 which is 99.89 dpi
      A 20" iMac does 1680x1050 which is 99.06 dpi
      A 24" iMac does 1920x1200 which is 94.34 dpi
      A 20" Apple Cinema Display is 1680x1050 which is 99.06 dpi
      A 23" Apple Cinema Display is 1920x1200 which is 98.44 dpi
      And finally, a 30" Apple Cinema Display is 2560x1600 which is 100.63 dpi

      So as you can see, these numbers did not come directly out of my ass, and Apple's current lineup is at the very least 94 dpi, and at the most 116 dpi.
  • SKick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"QuickTime:

    The new version of QuickTime present in the latest build of Leopard gets improved A/V controls by extensively using the CoreVideo API."

    Lets hope those improved A/V controls include full-screen support sans the Pro.

    ...
    • ahknight, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4That's a software lockout. Ain't no way they'll do it. Of course, you could just use VLC or one of the many, many free QuickTime player programs for the Mac that do fullscreen without making you get QT Pro.

      But, well, actually searching for a solution is effort, eh? :)
    • SKick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I've used VLC, MPlayer, and a script for Quicktime to enable full-screen.

      It's not about effort, but paying full price for an operating system that fails to offer fullscreen playback of media out of the box with its default media player.

      "But, well, actually searching for a solution is effort, eh? :)"
      I don't believe I mentioned anything that would insinuate a lack of effort to find a solution. Of course, creating an insult that makes sense would require effort, right? :)
    • mydigglogin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Let's hope Apple finally includes the QuickTime Pro features for free. It's probably the most annoying thing about the Mac, especially that you're forced to upgrade with every major version.

      BTW, unless I somehow missed it, the list didn't even mention Spaces. There's definitely more to Leopard that this list.
  • mochaman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3This is not the complete list.

    When MWSF rolls in Jan you'll get the full scoop.

    Stay tune!
  • lysdexia, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1Wow - some new bloat on MacOS. Is Mac bloat better than Windows bloat?

    • newbill123, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Lysdexia asked: Is Mac bloat better than Windows bloat?

      I think Bender has the best answer to this metaphysical query.

      Fry: I'm so confused. The [OS] I liked turned out to be evil, and the [OS] I hated was good. How can I live my life when I can't tell good from evil?
       Bender: They're both fine choices, whatever floats your bloat.

      ... or something like that. :-)
  • xxdesmus, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Wow, what an unimpressive feature set...
  • synystar, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2...bah digg down
  • maninblac1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Okay, i'm going to be honost about this, but i may sound like a total noob when i ask this, but i seriously don't get it.

    Why do we need resolution independence, doesn't vector graphics resolve this problem on its own. A vector is supposed to be infinately scalable, so if we have a vector based graphics system, need we only scale the length of the vector to increase it's size, this should solve any size problem regardless of dpi or screen resolution. This was the idea of OSX vector graphics icons as i understand, you could scale them to rediculously large sizes, (or small) and they still looked as they were intended.

    Then again, i'm not sure i understand how resolution indepence attacks a problem differently than vector graphics.
    • synystar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Resolution independence means that you can specify an element by it's true size. You can say 1in and it will be 1in regardless of which resolution you have chosen. An element at that size won't appear smaller at a higher resolution ... it's still just 1in.
    • synystar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Forgot to add: that means you don't have to think of interface elements in terms of pixels anymore.
    • maninblac1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2I see, well that's nifty then. Only, isn't resolution independence accomplished via some sort of vector graphics, you can't use a bitmap approach. So if i understand it, resolution independence is and application of vector graphics (though modified).
    • mtappenden, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Yes... So resolution independence uses vector graphics :)
    • Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I don't think the patent apple has applied for said anything about vector graphics.
    • synystar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Game comment. And you played the "noob" card. Why do you ask a question that you know the answer?
  • uvscwolverine, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2While I agree with previous posters that yeah, this is rehashed from other rumor sites, it is nice to see it all in one list. I would also wager that while a few of the features listed were previously unannounced there will probably be more than this in the final shipping verison. Pretty well all of the features shown are things that developers would want/need to know about, hence their presence in the developer copies. But, what do I know? Maybe that's the entire feature set and I'm just off my rocker.
    • mtappenden, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yeah the only problem is it's not all in one list since not all the new features are listed, but it's an ok list of some of the good ones.
  • mrsteveman1, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1This apple stuff lately is ridiculous, OMG whats Apple going to do next? wasn't that cool!

    Apple users seem to want to exclude the rest of the world from using things Apple comes up with or designs. For what purpose? so that everyone has to use an Apple just to use that feature? thats totally Microsoft style crap.

    Second to that, what is it you all want, recognition? Yes Apple's products are cool. Anything else? Do you want an award? A cookie?

    Originality may be required in the art world, but these are computers, they weren't painted and they don't need to be put in a museum, and no one cares who was the original.

    For instance, Apple didn't make the first mp3 player, the first mp3 player i remember seeing for sale was the Diamond Rio. So by that standard, Apple's iPod is just a copy. They got into the game AFTER everyone else had innovated and designed a new market. Sound familiar?

    By the same reasoning, Apple may or may not have had time machine or any other functionality first, but it doesn't matter because it will be in Windows and hopefully everything else anyway, most likely without the flashy movie style crap that isn't necessary.

    Thats what we're supposed to be doing, helping to develop smarter more useful computers, but i can guarantee you that if Apple and its users keep up the "we were first! you must speak our name at the dinner table, right after prayer!" thinking, you will eventually lose to the guy who comes along, in his garage, and designs something better that costs less. Apple is, at last count, 85% losing already, you can redefine winning if you want, but thats President Bush style crap.

    Apple = 1970's IBM now

    Apple != Moses

    Apple is not your leader, so stop following everything they do like a pet.
  • alexandros, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0mtappenden, what are the new features that aren't listed? I'm interested to know.
  •  

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