Apples’s Next Generation of OS Leopard is slated to be released in the coming weeks.  The operating system formally labeled Mac OS X 10.5 has been in development for more than two years and Apple has said only that it will ship in spring 2007.

Unlike Microsoft, which releases beta versions of Windows to millions of testers, Apple keeps its cards close to the vest, sending new OS builds only to trusted developers roughly once every 45 days. Based on public information and months of testing by sources, it’s apparent that Apple faces the same challenge it encountered with the release of Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4) two years ago: improving on an already highly regarded OS.

The biggest improvements in Leopard are those consumers won’t see, at least not directly. Among the most notable: Core Animation, which lets developers add slick animations to their software without taxing system resources.

Apple bills the new Time Machine feature as a major improvement over other approaches to backing up your data because of its seamless integration and slick interface. Once you’ve initially backed up, you specify how often Time Machine should troll for changes. If you need something you deleted a week ago or a draft of a document from a month ago, Leopard can "go back in time" and browse your hard drive as it was back then, retrieving the desired file.  This is nothing new as Windows has been using Shadow Copy for several years in it’s server versions and to a lesser extent on their Desktops.  And I think we’re all familiar with CVS.

Time Machine’s comprehensive approach to backup is also its biggest flaw, however, requiring substantial hard drive space. Casual users with modest media libraries will encounter few difficulties, but those with meatier collections will either need to invest in additional hard drives or instruct Time Machine to ignore particular folders, leaving them without backups.
Spaces is another compelling new feature, letting you operate several desktop environments simultaneously. Instead of running applications side by side, you can instead run photo-related applications in one Space while placing e-mail and Web browsing software in another. A simple key command switches Spaces, akin to switching between applications. This way you don’t have to minimize what you’re working on when you receive notification of a new e-mail—or juggle business and personal tasks in the same screen.

Tags | Apple, General, Tech News