Leopard? Crap. I just installed Leper on my laptop. Pieces just started falling right off.
In this Special Episode of MacMost, We introduce you to our top ten new features in Mac OS 10.5 Leopard, including Spaces, TIme Machine, Mail, iChat, Stacks, Widgets and more.
by Gary Rosenzweig
Let me start by saying that I was very unimpressed by Tiger (Mac OS 10.4). As an OS, it was great, but it didn’t offer me anything I needed that wasn’t already in Jaguar (10.3). Maybe a little more stable. Maybe a little faster. But for $129 I wanted more.
But Leopard is a different story. I feel there are significant new features here. I love it and won’t be wasting any time upgrading all my machines to it.
The Finder
The new look is very clean and functional. I like how the Devices, Places and Search for sections on the left can be toggled. The column view is my favorite way of viewing a Finder window and it seems very snappy in Leopard.
There is a new coverflow view that looks like how you flip through albums in iTunes. This is pretty useless unless you have a folder full of pictures.
There is also a new Quick Look feature in the finder. If you select a folder and press the Quick Look button at the top of the finder window, you just get some basic info about the folder. But if you select a file, such as a picture or a text file, you get a preview of the contents of that file. In fact, you can expand it to full screen. You can also leave this semi-transparent Quick Look window open and select other files and it will instantly change to show a preview of that file. So you can use it as a quick slideshow, not only of pictures by other documents.
Spaces
This is my favorite feature of Leopard. I really need this. Spaces allows you to have multiple desktops and easily switch between them. You can put windows on any desktop and move them around. You can view all of the desktops and choose one, or switch between them easily.
This will make my workflow a lot better. I can have one space for Mail and regular browser stuff, like news and information. Another space will probably be where I work with development apps. Then I can have one for server work like FTP or Dreamweaver. Then maybe a fourth for quick miscellaneous work. I’ll probably figure out the best way to use it as I get used to it.
Mail
For me, the simple addition of Notes to Mail is huge. Notes are little documents in Mail that aren’t messages — they don’t get sent to anyone. So it will allow me to keep track of phone calls and meetings alongside my mail messages. All my communication in one place.
Mail also has some improved archiving features. I like to archive my mail often, so this will save some time and effort.
Including the To Do list in Mail as well as iCal means that I’ll probably use it more. Hopefully this To Do list will sync with an iPhone app at some point as well.
Stacks
A lot of attention has been given to this little feature, but it really isn’t anything special. You could already put folders into the Dock and expand them to select an item. This is kinda the same thing, just prettier and a little faster.
That said, the little but of speed might make the difference. I may end up using Stacks more than I did Dock folders in Tiger.
Time Machine
When I first read about Time Machine, I though: “Nice idea, but I won’t be using it.” The reasons were that I have too many big media files, and that I like more control over my backups. But Time Machine may have won me over with its ease of use.
To get it working, all you need is an external hard drive to totally dedicate to backups. Then plug it in, turn on Time Machine, and you’re set. Now everything will be backed up in hourly archives for the last day and daily archives for the last month.
And it just works. This means instead of my three-times-per-week manual backup, I’ll have a very comprehensive backup system, and I don’t have to do anything. I’m in.
Web Clip Dashboard Widgets
This is a really cool new feature. You can create your own Dashboard widgets from sections of Web pages. So you can visit your favorite sites and create news, weather, sports and other information widgets. I was even able to create a Twitter widget by just selecting the “What are you doing?” form in the page. Now I can update Twitter from my Dashboard.
There are probably a million uses for this.
Dictionary
Yes, Dictionary. I love dictionaries. Did you ever check out the front of your dictionary? the printed one, I mean. It usually has all sorts of cool information about language and such. Well, if you haven’t you can now since that front matter is part of the Leopard Dictionary app.
It also has Wikipedia, a Japanese dictionary, and a special Apple dictionary. I can see them adding more in the future too. Maybe even third-party dictionaries.
The DVD Player
Some great new features here. You can zoom in on the video, save bookmarks and clips. The clips function is pretty advanced. Not sure how I will use it yet, but it works well.
Front Row
A lot of people have opted for a Mac Mini over an Apple TV to run their home entertainment system. After all, you can theoretically do everything on a Mini that you can on an Apple TV, plus play DVDs and surf the Web.
Well, it looks like Apple doesn’t mind that configuration at all, as the new Front Row in Leopard is basically Apple TV on your Mac. You get everything you get with Apple TV, plus the whole computer part. It even looks the same and works with the remote control.
Photo Booth
I know a lot of people love this little app. If you do, then you will really love the virtual green screen feature. It takes a picture of the background and then uses it to cut out the background behind you and put anything else — like an aquarium or ski slope. Lots of fun.
Spotlight
This seems more useful than before. I’m not sure if it is faster, or that it simply has a few new options. One of the things I always hated about Spotlight is that it didn’t easily let you search for just file names. It still doesn’t, but it has a new “what” category that makes it more obvious how to search by name.
Boot Camp
So, technically, Boot Camp is part of Leopard. However, most Tiger users that want Boot Camp have been using it for a while.
Boot Camp is fantastic, of course. Not because I want to run Windows. But simply because I want to play games. My MacBook Pro makes a great game machine if I boot into Windows and use a two-button scrollwheel mouse. Dell has lost a sale, as I didn’t update my “PC game machine” this year with a new model, instead just using my Mac and Boot Camp.
There are lots of other improvements as well. the Font Book utility is better, iChat has a bunch of new features, Preview also has better handling of PDF files, and even TextEdit now has grammar checking.
Best of all, nothing seems to have taken a step backward. This happens so often on both Apple and Microsoft OS releases. It took us a long time to get back some of the cool functionality in OS 9, for instance. Heck, Stacks could be considered a replacement for the spring-loaded folders that OS 9 had.
But all-in-all I’m pretty happy with the OS and look forward to using it on all my machines within days.
Gary, Jay, and Will talk about Leopard and give their first impressions. They discuss features like Space, Stacks, Time Machine, Parental controls, folder sharing and Finder changes.
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In MacMost episode 29 we report on the upcoming Leopard release, and Apple’s rosy quarterly earnings report. In our Quick Tip we show you how to enable Tabbed Browsing in Safari. In our Podcast Salad segment we feature the Short Order video podcast and our Must Bookmark is MacTeens.com. For MacMost Loot we ask, “Who created Hypercard?”
Mac lovers aren’t that difficult to find, but a Mac loving Monk, well those are a bit more obscure. Sean Patrick is just that. He’s a formerly ordained Theravadin Monk and the owner of Boulder Mac Repair in Boulder, Colorado. He has been using Macs since 1985, starting with a friend’s dad’s 512K.
“I would go to his house and play with it everyday. I just fell in love with it,” Patrick said. “Throughout school I always had the ability to work with them, I just couldn’t afford one,” he said.
Patrick later developed an interest in graphic design, an industry that has virtually always been dominated by Macs.
Eventually, he purchased his first computer and now, “I probably have about 60 or so in here. It’s like a small museum,” he said about all of the Macs in his shop.
Patrick’s love affair with Macs continues today. As the solo owner of Boulder Mac Repair, he spends his days tooling around on the computers he loves while dreaming of returning to the place he loves, Cambodia, in the near future. His love affair with South Asia developed after he went there to study Muay Thai, a martial art practiced in several South Asian countries. He left the country for a new start after losing his job as a web programmer during the dot com bust.
“I lost my job with everyone else, I was a web programmer,” Patrick said. “What am I going to do?”
“So I left the country.”
And on every trip he’s made to Asia, his Macs made the trip with him. When traveling he uses them to send emails, write, manage photos and videos.
“When I went to Asia the first time I had a clamshell iBook, the graphite edition,” he said.
Traversing another continent with his Mac has reinforced why he loves them so much. Patrick said, “Most of the time they haven’t even heard of it. A lot of the countries I go to like India, Cambodia, Burma, they haven’t even seen the Apple logo. I travel kind of shoe string style, so it’s not something I really flash.”
Traveling can really put a computer to the test.
“I love having my Mac, because even in Thailand and Burma, I was able to keep that computer running for 90 days straight,” he said of their stability. “I didn’t have to restart it once.”
“This is traveling hard, in the back of pick up trucks and staying in $2 hotels.”
Stability can also be proven closer to home.
“There’s a computer at my house, my Mac Mini that’s been on for 7 months without a restart,” Patrick declares. “That’s not unusual. You couldn’t do that with Mac OS 9. You’d be restarting everyday,” which is why he likes many of the changes introduced with OSX.
“I know that I can get on there and it’s stable. I can keep programs (running) for 15 days,” he said.
But stability isn’t the only thing he likes about Macs.
“Personally, what I like is the combination of high design, the aesthetics of the cases,” Patrick said. “Macs aren’t just pretty on the outside, they’re also pretty on the inside.”
Patrick also said he loves, “Just how elegant the user interface is. It’s very intuitive for new users.”
“For Unix users it’s very powerful,” as well. Macs have a broad reach and are powerful tools for users ranging from beginners to experts.
An expert himself Patrick has been repairing Macs in some way or another for the last 12 years. Professionally, for the last 3 years.
“I was pretty much that guy that people would call to get free repair work done,” he said, which prompted him to start Boulder Mac Repair when he returned from his most recent trip to Asia.
“I’ve had the shop open on Broadway for a year now. Each month my work has nearly doubled exponentially,” Patrick said of the success of his business. Part of that success may be accredited to support of his business by the local college students and the Boulder community as a whole. At times, he has as many as 20 or 30 iPods in a week in his shop for repair. Fortunately, he has a full time iPod repairman on his staff to handle that aspect of the business. But his success may also be accredited to his strong sense of the impact of money and greed on people, gained from living in a Monastery during part of the time he spent in Asia.
As his website states, “I’m not trying to get rich off of this gig, and the discount rates I charge reflect that. I’m just trying to live a simple, joyful life.”
It seems that is what Sean Patrick has been able to do.
In addition to all of the repair work he does, he mostly uses his Macs for media and communications. He listens to music, watches movies, sends emails and browses the internet, among other tasks.
Gary, Jay, and Will talk about the October 26 release of Leopard, Leopard features, iTunes DRM, the Amazon MP3 store, Greenpeace, recycling computers, Netscape 9 and Mac browsers.
Subscribe to the MacMost Review via iTunes.
In MacMost episode 27 we report on Half Life 2 for Mac, Bungie’s split from Microsoft, iPod Nano and Classic updates, George Harrison’s addition to iTunes and new iPhone commercials. Gary updates his unlocked iPhone. In our Quick Tip we show you how to enlarge the cursor. In our Podcast Salad segment we feature Squigglebooth and our Must Download is Graphic Converter. For MacMost Loot we ask, “What was the name of the program that caused flying toasters to dance across the screen on early Macs?”
At Bang Salon in Denver, Colorado, they not only follow the latest trends in hair styles, but also in computers. They’ve used Macs since opening up in 1999.
“I always have felt like Mac and Apple is more artsy,” said Lisa Garcia, co-owner of the salon. “To me, there’s a specific type of person that uses Mac. People who tend to be more artsy and trendy and more what our salon is all about.”
“Nobody really walks into a salon or a business, if you’re using a PC, and says ‘Wow, that’s cool you guys use PC’s.’ They do walk in and say, ‘Wow, I love the fact that you guys use a Mac,'” Lisa said.
Bang Salon is co-owned by Lisa and Rodger Garcia, a husband and wife business team. Lisa has a background in public relations and handles business operations and is a part time stylist, while Rodger focuses on providing award winning service to his clients.
Bang, located in the trendy, upscale Washington Park neighborhood, was the recipient of the “Best of CitySearch” award for “Best of Hair Salon” for 2007-08.
When the salon opened in 1999 the brightly colored first generation iMacs had just been released. They purchased a green iMac and a blue iMac to launch with. They also chose to use Macs at their Park Hill location, which opened in 2005.
“I used to work for a PR firm,” Lisa said. “They used Macs and so that’s what I learned on. So that’s what I felt most comfortable with. Even though I tried using a PC, I just never really liked using them.”
Lisa specifically sought out software that would meet her needs on a Mac. She found Salon Transcripts [http://www.salontranscripts.com/], an application designed for use exclusively on Macs that empowers salon owners by streamlining scheduling, payroll, and inventory among other features, all in one application.
“I just feel like they’re way more advanced, as far as being trendy and you know just what we feel our salon is all about,” said Lisa.
The image that Bang Salon and Apple computers represent are synonymous: funky, cool, hip, urban, sleek, modern. That also describes the clients of Bang Salon.
From prominent local businesswomen who pay top dollar for Rodger’s expertise, to college students who get more affordable cuts from Bang’s junior stylists, the clientele is as unique as the salon and the neighborhood.
One thing the Garcia’s considered when designing the look of the salon was the visual appeal of Macs and how that fits in with the salon. Rodger was the primary designer and he incorporated elements to set the salon apart from their competition. Lime and tangerine colored walls flank the seating area which is punctuated by modern black leather couches. Their renowned iMacs sit atop a custom built reception desk and inverted triangular shaped mirrors form dual sided styling stations. All of that to show that if they look good their clients will look good too.
“Our salon is not a stagnant salon. Every time you come in there’s going to be something new, changing to keep up with the industry,” said Lisa. “That’s why we change out our Macs when new ones come out. We try to keep everything fresh and updated, the latest. We just feel like that’s really important in our industry. It’s hard and it’s expensive, but I think that’s one thing that makes us kind of stand out from other salons. We’re constantly keeping updated.”
In addition to new Macs, Bang stays competitive by always broadening the skill set of their stylists.
“With our salon, we’re very focused on education,” said Lisa. “All of our other stylists that are in the salon are continuing their education, and not in Denver. We send them to New York usually, or LA, or we’ve even gone to Europe for education.”
It is that commitment to bringing the freshest, most modern styles to Denver from the world’s fashion leaders that makes Bang Salon unique. That, and their use of Macs. But using Macs for business has other advantages as well, like reducing the expenses associated with employee training. Bang’s Wash Park location has 12 stylists and 18 employees, while their Park Hill location has six stylists and 10 employees, which totals many hours of employee training.
“I mean all of the schools that my kids have gone to, they were using Macs,” said Lisa. “So I think it’s a lot easier for people, the young people who are coming in that work our front desk. There’s very few that have said, ‘I’ve never used a Mac before.'”
But the Garcia’s don’t just use Macs for business. They also have a G5 laptop at home and some of the Salon’s old iMacs.
In addition to surfing the Net and sending email, Lisa said “I use iPhoto and iMovie. I’ve made quite a few movies. My kids love to use it to play video games.”
Gary, Jay, and Eve talk about the iPhone 1.1.1 update, iPhone unlocking, iPhone hacks, opening up the iPhone to 3rd party developers, Leopard release, the Danger SideKick and selling Macs at non-Apple stores.
Subscribe to the MacMost Review via iTunes.
This week on MacMost episode 26 we report on the iPhone firmware update, Boot Camp beta upgrade, and iLife Support 8.1. We also report on the lawsuit against Apple regarding the iPhone price cut. For our Quick Tip we show you how to remind yourself of appointments in iCal. We feature the Sesame Street podcast in our Podcast Salad segment. Our Must Bookmark is the Internet Archive at archive.org. For MacMost Loot, our contest segment, we ask, “What do the words: Charcoal, Geneva, Verdana and Papyrus describe in Mac OSX?” For updates and more go to MacMost.com.
In MacMost episode 25 we talk about Starbucks’ free “song of the day”, Leopards iminent release, and we leave Bill Gates alone. In our quick tip segment we show how to hook up your camera without launching iPhoto. Podcast Salad takes a look at the Webb Alert podcast and we recommend Audio Hijack Pro in our “Must Download” section.
Gary, Jay, Will, Eve and Dave talk about the upcoming release of Leopard, Starbucks free music, MacBook rumors.
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