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Johno Says:

Te best thing they could do with stacks is make it optional.
it sucks as a a navigation aid, disabling the ability to navigate without opening a single window. I looked at stacks and went to Hierarchal Dock just to do something we have been able to do since at least System 8.
It was as if the software engineer who came up with the idea had never used a Mac before.

Posted on January 24, 2008

jackchgo53 Says:

Weird how personal tastes go!  I think the translucent DOCK is great (why do I see it called a “menu bar” in so many of these reviews?  window-speak?).  I also like the stacks option and use it a lot to make the icons in my dock larger and easier to spot.  I think its great that more features are due with the 10.4.2 update tho.  I expected that the initial release of Leopard would be somewhat compromised by the iPhone release, but I am amazed at how few problems i’ve encountered with Leopard.  When you think of the alternative (Vista?), gosh, I REALLY hate to think about that!

Posted on January 24, 2008

Mark Says:

The Menubar he is referring to is at the very top of the screen.  As in where all the menus are selected from.

Many people (myself included) are annoyed at the translucense of the menubar.  I found a freeware app that changes it to a shade of grey, which saved my sanity.

Making it a built in option proves they are actually (sometimes) listening to their customers.

Posted on January 24, 2008

Gino Says:

@jackchgo53

No, when people refer to the translucent MENU BAR they mean translucent MENU BAR at the top of the screen not the DOCK at the bottom of the screen. Look at it, you can see the desktop background through it. It bothers some people and they would like the option of turning that feature off.

Posted on January 24, 2008

necromancer Says:

i bought an airport extreme and a seagate free agent usb 2.0 7200 rpm hdd and have the two hooked up togeather i my basement and i backup my 17"macbook pro with tymemachine with no problems....could it be not all drives are supproted for such a task?  mabey a 5400rpm or slower drive wont cut it over the wireless networks? just a thought

Posted on January 24, 2008

OSX Tester Says:

@ Mark

Save your sanity? Some of you are hanging by a thread if the slight translucency of the menu bar can push you over the edge. ;)

I rather like it myself and didn’t understand all the bitching, but making it optional for those that don’t is a nice touch. Same can be said for the stacks options. The new list view is much better for folders with a lot of items.

There are many other nice additions as well, including a very handy menu bar item for Time Machine.

Posted on January 24, 2008

Claus from the north Says:

Hello from the Canadian Arctic - I’m a photographer based in the north and have been annoyed with the fact that I cannot download my RAW images from the new Nikon D300 and D3 cameras - Aperture needs to have a new plug-in or patch to recognize this new format.  Any news if Leopard 10.5.2 will address that issue.  It’s been 3 months since the newest Nikons have hit the shelves - it only took a few weeks for the folks at Adobe to update their programs (Lightroom and Photoshop) to accept these new formats. Aperture is geared towards professionals and I’m surprised it is taking them so long to respond.

Posted on January 24, 2008

Keith Says:

Claus, Yes, Camera RAW is supposed to be updated for the new Nikons in 10.5.2.

Posted on January 24, 2008

Siva Says:

What about the ability to use Front Row on a secondary monitor (in my case my big screen TV connected to my iMac)?  eyeTV 2.5.x and eyeTV 3.0 allow you to choose a secondary monitor as the default for full screen presentation.  Why can’t Front Row do this?

Posted on January 24, 2008

DAG Says:

The ONLY reason 10.5 is worth the money is the under the hood changes that will eventually be necessary. After living with 10.5 since launch day, I can categorically say that 10.5 is a trainwreck- not worth the money and loaded with bugs.

If Apple wants to add value, they could start by not locking online features to dot mac, the overpriced and eternally underperforming service. The I think intentional crippling of wireless backup to the new AirPort with a HD “Time Capsule” is more of this line of thinking.

Speaking of value, or lack of, Stacks and Time Machine should be euthanized. Apple needs to offer a REAL consumer server without having to buy a $500 copy of OS X Server. I am more disappointed with this release than at any time during the OS X era.

Posted on January 24, 2008

Duncan Babbage Says:

@DAG: Reports have been that the reason that Time Machine backups to AirPort disks were disabled was because it was discovered, late in the Leopard development cycle, that at times the AirPort Extreme would report back to the originating machine that data had been successfully written to the disk, before actually verifying that the write was good. This would mean under certain disk failure or power loss conditions you could have a failed backup without realising it. If that is the case, Apple was obviously being responsible in pulling support for that feature until this issue was addressed. This missing feature has hurt them, certainly in bad publicity from confused users. I don’t think it has anything to do with the Time Capsule.

Posted on January 24, 2008

David Says:

@Siva
Apple seems to have some paranoia about supporting secondary displays. The DVD Player app has long supported only the primary display too.

@DAG
Apple understands correctly that 99% of consumers don’t want a server. The pro-sumer market will always find a solution that works for them, often using 3rd party HW and SW. Time Machine is there to help the vast majority of people who never back up anything, but are quick to scream when something goes wrong and they face losing a file or entire volume. Try working at an Apple Service location for a while and you’ll find only a tiny fraction of people have a back-up of anything and more than half of those contain so few files that restoring a working system with all applications, data and settings could take a whole day.

Posted on January 24, 2008

Paul Says:

Trainwreck???!!!!

I’ve been living with Leopard since the start, 8 to 12 hours per day nearly every day. Leopard is incredible.

Bugs? Some, but not excessive. I’ve been in the Apple world since 1982 and have never been more excited about a new update. (As VP Sales of a software product I demonstrated and sold systems using Microsoft Windows - knowing it somewhat intimately also).

I believe there are many upset “users” who are no user at all, but are professional naysayers. You can usually tell who they are by the lack of detail and balance. Their comments are completely negative and don’t mention about the parts they appreciate (unless it is obvious “feint praise"). If they are really so upset about everything, why are they Apple “users?”

Microsoft must really be scared to pay such bottom dwellers to frequent the comments of articles. It is interesting to me that the truth almost always shines through anyway. It’s hard to lie and really convince.

Leopard is incredibly popular. The numbers show it. The hundreds of new features show it. The “Wow!” factor shows it. The average, very positive review shows it. Any casual comparison between Vista and Leopard shows it (let alone the in-depth comparisons).

Please excuse me if I wrongly accuse, but it gets on my nerves what seems demonstrably b__s___!

Spend a half hour on Leopard and I’m quite sure 90% or more will agree this is the best operating system ever available.

Having said that, I’m looking forward to the new advances. I want to publicly say “Thank you” for all the hard work at Apple. Having been so involved with technology all these last 26 years, it is wonderful that you continue to excite and inspire me. Again, my sincere thanks.

Paul :)

Posted on January 24, 2008

Rob Says:

I also don’t agree with the criticism about the translucent menu bar. I actually quite like it. We have our desktop set to switch pictures every 30 minutes, using my wife’s pro photography as the source. I like that the menu melds with the background, leaving only the menu items with a coloured base behind it. Beats a bright white menu that gets in your face. I do think that Apple got this one exactly right in switching, but sure if some want to have the glaring white, the option is fine too. I won’t use it.

Posted on January 24, 2008

Timothy Miller Says:

The main problem with Time Machine on remote drives has to do with an major oddity about how Time Machine stores its backups on disk.  Traditionally, UNIX (which MacOS is a variant of) does not support hard links for directories.  UNIX does not support hard links for directories due to problems that can occur if there is a circular reference; e.g. the current directory contains a “subdirectory” that is actually a hard link to the parent directory.  These hard links are the way that Time Machine makes it appear that each backup is a complete, separate filesystem tree, while not taking up any space for files and directories that have not changed.  Since a USB drive is locally mounted, MacOS can do anything it wants, so those hard links can be implemented.  However, with network file systems, the remote computer is in control of the disk, and things you do to the remote file system are just requests that have to be interpreted remotely.  If either the network file system protocol or the remote file system does not support hard-linked directories (almost always the case), then you cannot support Time Machine the way it was implemented with 10.5.0.  To solve the general problem of putting Time Machine backups on remote volumes, Apple would have to do away with their reliance on hard-linked directories.  I’m interested to see how they do it.

Posted on January 24, 2008

Dave Says:

The problem with the translucent menu bar is that it violates the UI principle justifying transparent interface objects. Transparency was supposed to be used for transient elements; things like drop-down/pop-up menus, dialogue boxes and the like. The menu bar is the the one truly immutable interface element; it’s always there at the top of the screen, only being hidden, on rare occasion, for fullscreen playback of media or games. It’s useless demoware that makes absolutely no sense from a UI standpoint.

I wish Apple would lose its obsession with arbitrary UI changes. Leopard breaks the usability and logic of more interface elements than any Mac OS X release to date (besides 10.0), the vastly-improved window system notwithstanding.

Posted on January 24, 2008

JohnK Says:

Keynote has great support for a second monitor or projector. Go figure.

Leopard has worked well for me. No complaints here. I’m still gradually expanding my activities to take advantage of the new features. I’ve got to pay attention to my day job as well as enjoy my Mac.

Posted on January 24, 2008

Stef Says:

DAG… You have no clue what you are talking about, do you ?. I have to agree with paul...You have to be a professional to say so many stupid things in so little words. It takes a lot of creativity.
I have no clue what you are talking about when you say “REAL consumer server” and clearly you are not familiar with the server licensing scheme at Apple nor are you with the server grade software that can be installed on os X from a “REAL consumer” point of view with no additional cost, try do that on XP or Vista home, we’ll talk again after.
As for .mac goes, you have a point but in the end, it does increase the quality of the interraction between the applications and the remote tools and thus allowing better overall experience to the user. If you knew anything about Apple and the way they work, you would have gotten that, but you have to stop and think, which you don’t seem to be able to do readily.

Posted on January 24, 2008

Doug Says:

Leopard was a bummer as far as LAN… all was fine until then...can’t get on a school anymore, just the wireless at home… not good… maybe the huge update coming will correct that…

Posted on January 24, 2008

DAG Says:

I have seen more kernel panics on this supposedly finished OS than on OS 10 Beta and that’s saying something. Not on one computer but on G4, G5 and Intel Macs. Lots of eye candy and dumbing down of the interface (Firewall comes to mind) for the Pee Cee switchers, but not much there there for the $129.

I would advise anyone with 10.4 to stay with it until you have to switch to this late-beta OS.

Posted on January 24, 2008

Jon Says:

As a fairly recent user of Leopard, it appears snappy and responsive, and I haven’t run into any bugs… yet. 

However, as a graphics pro (1977) and long time Mac user (1986), I have to say that most of the iconography of Leopard is really disappointing from a design standpoint.  If it’s the result of simplicity and minimalism design aesthetic being applied, I can only say that while those attributes can be the basis of good design, the Leopard UI isn’t it.  At least not in my design book.

Did Apple hire some laid off Windows UI designers?

Sheesh, Apple.  Is it really rocket science to design a UI that will give users some personal customization control over, without the use of 3rd party apps of dubious stability?

Posted on January 24, 2008

Re Stef Says:

I would like a consumer grade server running OS X. Apple thinks a Time Machine backup on an Airport Extreme with a HD is going to get the job done. I don’t think so.

I have a significant library of digital media that I would like to put on a proper home server running OS X, but do not need a pro-grade software set like OS X Server. There is a middle ground between a lightweight backup like Time Machine (tried it and do not like it) and a full Pro Server on decent hardware, integrated into the Mac OS. MS sees the market need, so maybe I am not alone in seeing it.

The value of the media I would like to park on my server is worth many times the hardware I use, so a proper server would be a godsend for backup and delivery of the content on my LAN and maybe when I am away from home, as I work out of town during the week.

My complaint about the OS is that Apple spent too much effort on eye candy of dubious value (Finder Coverflow, for example) and not enough on things that would be of great value (ZFS comes to mind). Here, a whole OS upgrade cycle later, Spotlight still gets it wrong more often than it is right. The Dictionary app is slower now than on 10.4 even on the latest Apple HW and a fast internet connection. Slower is not the desired direction for software, now is it.

It is also highly unfinished. My Macs have QT Pro, Flip4Mac Studio and the entire FC Suite installed, yet many QT supported files do not work in Quick View. Installing Perian adds some, but not all, function to this feature. Safari still randomly loses/forgets cookies for logins and such. The Disk utility still lacks the ability to do stuff that should not require 3rd party apps to accomplish. The list goes on.

I have used Macs at home and work alongside Windows and a laundry list of other OSes for well over 20 years and have a decent idea of what is possible. Apple is wasting time on eye candy at the expense of functionality and is crippling some open source technologies it uses in order to tie apps to dot Mac, etc.

Funny how so many think Mac users are fanboys, but the truth is that many hammer any critical comments on Apple products. Apple can do much better. With the financial resources they now have, they are without excuse.  OS update 10.5.2. had better be good or I will revert to 10.4. Leopard is all hat and no cattle.

Posted on January 24, 2008

hmurchison Says:

hahahahahahahha Revert to Tiger?  Puhleeze.  I’m not even using Time Machine or Spaces but you couldn’t PAY me to go back to Tiger.  Not because Tiger sucked because it didn’t.  I can’t live without the Spotlight improvements (Booleans and “xxx” searches), Data Detectors in Mail and Quicklook.  The iCal and Addressbook changes are welcome. 

You can always pick a few features that are half baked and complain but most Mac users running Leopard will agree that it’s a decent jump forward.  Hell if you routinely mount/unmount volumes and network shares and got frustrated with the finder locking up you’re loving Leopard for AutoFS alone. 

I’m already using Leopard only apps.  I’ll be adding more (Bento, DL2, Textmate 2.0) in the near future.  I don’t mean to trivialize peoples experiences but the masses are not seeing enough issues to downgrade IMO.

Posted on January 24, 2008

Mr. Reeee Says:

What I really want to see is the Spotlight search window get the option to display search results like the Tiger Spotlight window.

Leopard Spotlight searches are a visual mess compared to the way Tiger could display search results into easily recognizable categories.

I argee with others, the new Leopard icon set is dreadful! Monochromatic, nearly indistinguishable from each other. It feels like System 7 all over again. Thank the Gods of Mac for Iconfactory, Panic and their excellent CandyBar app.

Oh, I shut off the translucent Menu Bar with Leopaque. Works great, now I don’t have to worry about which desktop picture to showing.

The Time Machine backup drive I bought is the LaCie 2big Triple (2-disk RAID). It’s fantastic. Nice looking with FireWire 400, 800 (USB2 pfffft) and the disks are user swappable! 1TB for $400! A great value!
http://www.lacie.com/us/products/product.htm?pid=10967

Posted on January 24, 2008

J.R. Says:

I want more simple stuff like synchronization of ToDo List, Notes,Documents, and easier way to create email signatures. The aforementioned list does not have any unique values to me when I cannot do simple things like that with my iPhone and a brand new Leopard. Also, Mapping my drive to my MacBook Pro and AFP used to be so simple under Tiger. Now this BackToMyMac crap? Please! Don’t get me started about iCal. I have a dotmac account and I cannot keep my iCal synchronized between my MacPro and my MBPro. Imagine that! I have been using a Mac since my SE30 (OS 6.x)

Posted on January 25, 2008

Barry Says:

No Bugs Yet?
Try deleting something from your Time Machine backup and see how it erases all of your Expose’ settings in regards to the F keys.

Posted on January 25, 2008

Rick Says:

@DAG

Don’t know what you have done wrong or how you installed Leopard but I have had it installed, since Oct 26, on two mini’s, one Intel, one G4, my Intel iMac and my MacBook.

I have had exactly one Kernel Panic on the Macbook, none on any of the other three machines.

I would never go back to Tiger.

Posted on January 25, 2008

Russ Says:

I also actually LIKE the translucent menu bar.  And what’s the comment about it “violating the User Interface Principal”?  Huh?  What is there, some kind of “geek rulebook” that one must follow somewhere?  I never knew there were set “rules” about how interfaces must look.  This is just nit-picky nonsense.  Anyway, this is Apple, where we “think different”.  Newsflash, we don’t have to do things the same old way everybody else does.  Personally, I like the fact that it’s odd and different and new and I’m glad Apple continually tries new things.  If you don’t like it, go buy a boring cookie cutter Windows box.

Posted on January 26, 2008

Niccolo M Says:

Even more than by the tranlucent menu bar I am annoyed by the translucent menues. If you have some high contrast document behind it, it becomes difficult to even read the menues. Unfortunately there does not seem any way to switch this effect off (as oposed to the translueceny of the menu bar)

Posted on February 06, 2008

Geoid Says:

Never mind the bleeding menubar… how trivial! :p My personal pet hate with Leopard is iCal.. which has been ruined IMHO.

Previously there was a side bar which would show the details of any appointment or todo that you clicked on. Now, you have to double click and then you get an annoying pop-up which often appears in an awkward place, and then you have to close it again, before double-clicking the next one - that’s 5 clicks needed now instead of 1 click previously.. retarded.

Worse.. if your todo item happens to be at the bottom of the list, try editing the Notes field and pretty soon you’ll find yourself typing without being able to see anything as it runs off the bottom of your monitor and into Jobsland.  Did anyone actually test this thing??

I really hope I’m wrong and some clever dick points out that I’ve just missed a setting somewhere that enables the sidebar.

Also… I’m thinking 300+ new features??? Fantastic.. where? So far I’ve found one - time machine - and lost 4 (no iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto, iWeb) which were all included free of charge in my last installation of os x.

I can’t say I’m impressed with Leotard..  I’m considering upgrading to Tiger.

Posted on February 07, 2008

siva Says:

Geoid - you are wrong - iLife was never included with Mac OS X.  It was always a separate product.  It does come with every mac purchased though.

And unlike you I love Leopard.  My wife loves the email stationery.  Sure there are a few bugs, but 10.5.2 and up will fix them.

Posted on February 07, 2008