Hardware
The transition of Apple’s product line to Intel based processors is now complete.
MacPro desktop
The G5 based PowerMacs are being replaced by the Intel Xeon dual-core based MacPro which are about twice as fast. Same case design as the G5 towers but completely new interior with space for two more internal hard drives (four total) and an extra optical drive. Plus an extra USB and Firewire 800 connector on the front panel. Base configuration: dual Xeon processors (four cores total) at 2.66GHz, 1GB of RAM, 250GB hard drive, NVidia GeForce 7300GT w/256MB video memory for $2500. There are literally millions of build-to-order combinations possible. Shipping TODAY!
Xserve server
Same size (1U rack) as before but with 3GHz Intel processors up to 5X faster than previous models. Added a redundant power supply and total capacity up to 2.24 terabytes (yes, thats more than 2000 Gigabytes!) And its $300 cheaper.
MacOS X 10.5 “Leopard”
Only a few new features were demoed, some “top secret” features are being kept under wraps for now. Developers at the show get a special preview version today! It is expected to ship next Spring.
Geeky Developer Stuff
- 64 bit addressing top to bottom (apps can work with ridiculously huge amounts of data)
- Core Animation (built-in support for layered animations)
- Dashcode: developer tool to create and debug Dashboard Widgets
- Xcode 3 developer tools (available today)
Time Machine
Automatic full backup of everything: your stuff and system files. Cool 3D interface to browse back through time to view or retrieve any file or files from any previous date. Works with both files and also within applications if they add the necessary support (iPhoto was demonstrated.) If this works as advertised it will be really amazing.
Spaces
There are existing third party applications that provide virtual desktops but Apple’s take seems to be more abstract than vanilla multiple screens. Spaces are workspaces each containing collections of applications that you want to use together. You can crate them and switch between them at will.
Spotlight
More sophisticated searches (boolean operators such as “and”, “or” and “not”), search other machines, launch apps by typing a few letters then return and easy access to recent documents, photos, PDFs, etc. without performaing a full search.
Universal Access Improvements
Apple is putting a lot of effort into making Leopard more accessible to the disabled with enhancements to: VoiceOver (voice control), braille support, closed captioning, better navigation and greatly improved quality of its synthesized speech.
Mail
Steve touched on only a few of many improvements to Mail in Leopard. Those highlighted were: message templates with support for photos and full HTML content (anything you can do on a web page you can do in a message), notes and a system-wide To-Do service available to any application.
Dashboard
WebClip allows you to grab a section of any web page and make it into a live-updated widget. Same thing for live webcam feeds.
iChat
iChat will gain many new features: multiple active logins, animated buddy icons, video recording and tabbed chat windows. Major new stuff includes: real-time PhotoBooth video effects, backdrops, iChat Theater which allows you to share slideshows and presentations through the video connection and screen sharing where you can actually control the other person’s screen if they grant you permission.
So Much for the Rumors
Missing from the announcements were: the iPhone, tablet Macs, Core Duo 2 based MacBook Pros, price cuts on the current laptops, the “real” video iPod, iTunes Movie Store and other products predicted by rumor and “mainstream” news sites.
We’ll be recapping this in detail at Friday’s meeting and (Apple willing) watch the keynote itself with all of its cool demos.
