[icon,apps/mac.png]As most of you already know I am a 'Mac-tard' and am a big fan of the Mac OS X operating system, so much so that I went and modelled the theme of this site after its gorgeous 'Aqua' user interface.
So, for the past couple of weeks I have been counting down the says until Steve Job's Keynote speech at the 2006 Apple WWDC. The speeches, coined 'Stevenotes' by fans normally include (along with financial information about Apples last quarter(s)) sneak-peaks into Apples latest and greatest software and hardware; and this years speech was no different---with the main focus of it software-wise being the next version of Mac OS X, Leopard.
At around 9 o'clock I sat down with my trusty iBook, opened up QickTime and started streaming the keynote. The section on Leopard consisted of 10 sections---each one describing a new key-feature of the product, with interactive demonstrations of each one. An hour and half later I got up and thought to myself 'What's new again?'. The features presented in the keynote did not have the same 'Wow!' factor that I had come to expect.
Here is a quick rundown of the major 'key' features of Leopard and why I think that some of them are little more than 'Yesterdays Jam'.
<ol><li><blockquote><strong>Native support for 64-bit applications while also able to run 32-bit applications without emulation or translation.</strong></blockquote>This seems to me to be little more than a technical achievement---not something that is going to change the way that a user works. Apple are by no means the first ones to do this either---both Linux and NetBSD have had support for 64-bit applications (along with the associated tool-chains) for a while now. The '<em>64-bit Buzz</em>' is long gone, 64-bit may have been a selling point a few years ago when the technology (as far as consumer were concerned) was 'new'. This 'buzz' however only lasted until users wised up to the fact that actually it makes very little difference to performance.</li><li><blockquote><strong>Time Machine---an automatic backup utility that works mainly with Finder, but also with other programs (such as iPhoto and iTunes) and even third-party applications; it backs up every file overwritten by the user, allowing users to "go back in time" and restore files (any number at once) from a specific date in the past.</strong></blockquote>Time Machine seems to me to be one of those features that everyone wants to have (if only to impress people with) but will never actually be used. I would be lying if I said that I was not slightly impressed by the demonstration of Time Machine until I realised that once you strip away the fancy visuals you are just left with a spiced-up CVS repository---something that is not new and hardly innovative (at-least not nowadays). If Apple were really serious about back-up they would ship each Mac with the option of having an internal back-up drive (in a RAID-1) fashion as if most uses are given half a chance they will take more space over more redundancy. Time Machine is nothing new for people who already have some kind of regular back-up routine in place and a waste of hard disk space for those who do not.</li><li><blockquote><strong> "The Complete Package": Front Row and Photo Booth, currently only available with the purchase of a new Mac, will be included with Leopard.</strong></blockquote>While I applaud Apple for adding the 'Front Row' and 'Photo Booth' packages into Leopard it is not something that they should be making such a big deal about---most Macs already come with them and the 'back-porting' of applications into the core operating system is something that people expect. It is the same as you buying a new car and the salesman saying "It now comes with a fully operational engine", an engine is something you expect when you buy a car---just like the back-porting of beta/testing software is when you get the new version of an operating system.</li><li><blockquote><strong>Virtual desktops called "Spaces".</strong></blockquote>Virtual desktops are things that have been around for a long time and can be found as a core component of most UNIX desktop environments (e.g. KDE and GNOME). Virtual desktops are already available to all OS X 10.4 (Tiger) users by way of the aptly named "<a href="http://desktopmanager.berlios.de/">Desktop Manager</a>", which is a open-source application designed to add multiple desktops to OS X. Sorry, Apple, but it looks as if someone has beaten you to it this time! While the Virtual d=Desktop solution presented in the keynote was substantially more advanced than the current version of "Desktop Manager" the difference it would make to my workflow are not great enough to make me go out and get a copy of Leopard.</li><li><blockquote><strong>Upgrades to Spotlight, including the ability to search other computers (with permissions) and advanced search options such as Boolean operators as requested by many developers.</strong></blockquote>This seems more evolutionary than innovatory to me---these are the kind of features that Apple normally sneaks into a release of an operating system and are the ones that make people stand back and say "Now that it smart". There is nothing smart however about boasting about it---doing so just takes all the excitement you get out of finding it.</li><li><blockquote><strong>Core Animation, a key component of Time Machine, but also a significant feature on its own; when a developer (creating a screensaver, for example) specifies a "start" and a "goal" space, Core Animation automatically deals with the intermediate steps (color, opacity, etc.), enhancing these applications while shortening the source code.</strong></blockquote>This <em>is</em> what I call a worthwhile feature. Any tool that can make a developers life easier and a users life more interesting is a tool worth having at your disposal. How much users will benefit from it is yet to be seen and mainly depends on how quickly developers take to it and start using it in there applications---it could be a flop or it could be the next thing in UI design. "Only time will tell. Sooner or later, time will tell"</li><li><blockquote><strong>"Universal access"---significant improvements to applications including VoiceOver, along with increased support for Braille and closed captioning.</strong></blockquote>I have no doubt that this feature will benefit many people, however I am not one of them. This is yet another example of software evolution taking its course. While this kind of feature should be highlighted when a disabled person is buying a Mac a keynote is certainly not the best time. As, to put it bluntly--the majority of the population is not disabled and are not particularly interested in features that will just benefit the disabled.</li><li><blockquote><strong>Enhancements to Mail including the additions of Stationery, Notes, and To Do's. To Do's use a system-wide service that is available to all applications.</strong></blockquote>Stationary---where do I start with what is wrong with this, or more to the point, what is not innovative about it. This kind of feature is nothing new, the idea of spicing up an e-mail using a pre-made template that can be applied to an existing e-mail has been around since the days of Microsoft Outlook Express. To Do's however are a nice feature, especially if there is system-wide support for them. If this is the case then To Do's maybe the next Dashboard (which is a feature of Tiger that I am especially fond of).</li><li><blockquote><strong>Dashboard enhancements, including Dashcode to help developers code widgets and Webclip, a feature that allows users to turn a part of any webpage into a live Dashboard widget.</strong></blockquote>As hard as I tried I was just not able to fault these features---the idea of being able to create a Dashboard widget by simply 'cutting-out' a piece of a website truly is innovative and can see this being a real benefit to regular and power users alike.</li><li><blockquote><strong>iChat enhancements, including multiple logins, animated icons, and tabbed chats; iChat Theater, allowing users to incorporate images from iPhoto, presentations from Keynote, and videos from QuickTime into chats; and Backdrops, which are similar to chroma keys, but do not require a green or blue screen.</strong></blockquote>Support for things like multiple logins and tabbed chats has been around for a while now and can be found in almost every open-source IM client (e.g. GAIM and Adium), so there is nothing new or innovative here. The ability to send streams other than those from a web cam is actually quite nice---and I am sure that it will be greeted with open-arms by iChat users. Sadly I am not an iChat user, for the sole reason that it does not support all of the IM networks I use. Backdrops seem to me to be a much less practical feature and while they will be fun to play with for the first hour or so I am sure that the novelty will quickly wear-off.</li></ol>
As you can see while there are many 'new' features there is nothing 'new' so to speak that will distinguish it enough from Tiger to make me <em>want</em> to upgrade. While I am sure that I will upgrade (if for nothing more than compatibility with newer applications) how much I will benefit from it remains to be seen.