Whoa whoa whoa, let's put all this talk about Intel
Macs on hold for a second and think about what we could also see at Macworld 06 in addition to - or instead of -
new hardware: Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. How much would that rock? I
mean: Apple using new, faster Intel chips is cool, but I personally don't believe the hardware makes the Mac experience
- it's all about the software in my book, so I'd be much more interested to see a more powerful, more refined, more
everything version of OS X.A couple of clues brought me to this post. The first is the fact that we know the next version of OS X is landing in 06, as Apple has already used it to fire a shot across Vista's bow by announcing it would be out by late 06 or early 07. The second clue is from all the buzz surrounding Intel chips and new hardware. An introduction of Leopard at Macworld would be a fantastic "one more thing" and/or showstopper that no one - but me, of course - saw coming.
So just in case it happens: you heard it here first. In case it doesn't happen, well then I'd like to point out that my ability to predict what Apple will do next is neither more nor less accurate than most of the rumor sites out there.
But enough about me, what do you guys think: will we get a sneak peek of Leopard alongside or instead of Intel Macs on January 10th?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
12-23-2005 @ 8:47AM
Pablo Hernandez said...
I was actually thinking about this!!
What better way to ring in the new year than with new Apple Intel Hardware and a 10.5 preview!
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 8:47AM
l0ne said...
Absolutely improbable at MW. Jobs was very clear stating that Leopard would be unveiled "here next year" (at WWDC).
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 9:00AM
Peter Garner said...
Not even a year after Tiger? Seems pretty unlikely to me, though stranger things have happened. Didn't Apple say they were going to start releasing new versions of OS X LESS often?
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 9:03AM
LD said...
We won't see a 10.5 release until Intel machines are out. So either we get both or neither.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 9:04AM
Random Guy said...
The only downside would be giving Microsoft a months-early preview of what they'll be competing against with Vista.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 9:08AM
Brad said...
Simple answer.
No.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 9:09AM
icerabbit said...
I hope we may see a tip of the veil lifted at least. Not sure we will though.
With all this buzz about switching to Intel & universal binaries; I wonder about one or actually two things:
- CPU optimization for individual chipsets (G4, G5, G? / Gi / Gintel). Will they invest time in optimizing it for those with serious investments in current hardware?
- the footprint of applications and the OS as a whole. Is everything going to weigh in half again as much or double? Eating away hard drive space & memory, and thus precious performance?
I sometimes really wonder why certain apps weigh in at xx MB when just a number years ago nobody had that much memory in their computer. I think the best example of this is dashboard. You have inactive widgets taking 10MB-20MB of RAM each and about 240+ MB of virtual memory (each) on the hard drive. Times a dozen widgets. Fortunately they don't eat too many CPU cycles while they're in the background.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 9:20AM
Tom said...
My understanding was that 10.5 was being made FOR Intel Macs, so wouldn't it make sense to release both simultaneously? Or maybe they're just using a specially compiled version of 10.4, I don't know, my Bittorrent doesn't work well so I haven't been able to snag a developer version of the OS and get my Dell to dual-boot.
Sadly.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 9:21AM
Eric said...
I posted about this a few days ago on my own blog, but I do think we could see Leopard in January. If 10.5 is supposed to be out before Vista which is to launch in the Fall, Apple would likely start showing it anytime now. They started showing Tiger long before it launched. I think we will see Leopard, but it will not launch yet.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 9:22AM
meatmcguffin said...
icerabbit, you can remove the ppc code or the intel code from a universal binary app through the terminal with no ill effects, so i would assume that apple would ship the universal version of tiger/leopard, then when installing it would only install the relevant components. this makes less sense for apps incase you needed to copy them between machines but an os more or less stays on the computer it was installed too.
anyone know what happens if you install the os on a firewire drive? can you install the universal os on it, or would you have to install the ppc and intel versions on different partitions?
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 9:30AM
fra said...
I just wana know will it use iTunes GUI or the bastard baby of iPhoto and Photoshop's GUI!?
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 9:39AM
Chris said...
I don't have much in the way of speculation of hardware or future software changes but I've got an idea about the advertisement campaign for Leopard.
I guarantee we'll see something along the lines of "who says you can't change your spots?" You heard it here first.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 9:47AM
fra said...
I just wana know will it use the iTunes GUI or the 'love child' of Photoshop and iPhoto's GUI.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 10:04AM
TriangleJuice said...
icerabbit,
the size of most applications is due to localization. You can safely remove these "localization" folders if you want.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 10:07AM
Greg said...
Apple, please please please fix iPhoto!!! That's all I want so I can go back to using it with my 12,000 pictures! Forget new OS, just focus on what's currently wrong. My wishes:
-Link photos into the library (a'la iTunes) instead of copying them.
-Multiple libraries
-When importing from digital camera, let me decide the directory structure
-Handle 10k+ images with ease
A PC can do all this today but in an ugly way. So the power is there.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 10:08AM
iJavaJoe said...
No, not a chance of that. Apples been producing "Mactell" functional versions of OSX since 10.0. 10.4.4 will do the job nicely. We may get an idea what's new the day before the show. However with Apple doing it's best cloak and dagger tricks we may not find out 'till his "Steveness" gets on stage and says we just invented the biggest thing since the wheel and lever! and he'll probably be right...
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 10:28AM
Kevin said...
Upon reading this, I have a strong feeling Leopard might actually be a reality. I cannot provide more details, but I overheard (first-hand) a developer accidentally mentioning something about sending any Mac OS-related feedback to Apple as soon as possible. This is my assumption of course but he seemed to indicate the reason being a major system update TBA during Macworld. I thought it was just a simple 10.3.5 kind of update, but this makes sense seeing that we might have Intel Macs on the loose. Realistically, I would think that we'll only see a Leopard announcement, and maybe a developer release.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 10:32AM
Tony Ward said...
To me (welcome to my world--hahaha!) it makes more business sense to unleash the Intel Macs first, get that ball rolling, lure the switchers, get them hooked on the goodness, and then say in the fall, "Hey-- you love that Mac experience, right? Well..." BAM- Leopard. Software sales feeding from hardware sales. Profits. R&D money. Bluetooth iPod. Apple Media Center.
Either way, I'm giddy with anticipation for the big show.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 1:08PM
Natrino said...
In a word: no.
Reply
12-23-2005 @ 1:10PM
yoharryo said...
I think we will see a headless iMac, an iPod that plays video along with iTunes movie store, and Apple will shift to Intel...
Reply