Leopard shows Vista its heels
October 23, 2007 — Steve Dotto
Apple is on the verge of leaping ahead yet again with the release of their newest operating system, Leopard.
Just when Microsoft has finally played a bit of catch up with Vista, Apple puts on a burst of speed and shows their heels once again. It has to be frustrating for Microsoft, but Mac lovers are in their glory.
Leopard raises the bar yet again starting with new ways to organize your work on the Desktop and with the Finder. Having desktop items stack, in related piles is the first of the new interface options Apple has incorporated. Actually there are a lot of improvements to the organizational aspect of your data. Being able to see the contents of a file without opening in using Quick Look is a great concept, sort of like thumbnails but for all documents, you can even browse through all your files using a very compelling feature called Cover Flow. All these features are designed to give us more control over our data. To find what we need, and not waste time looking for items. It is a very compelling, almost tactile way to work with your data.
In an idea lifted from the Linux world Apple has added Spaces, where you can organize your desktop into quadrants. With common tasks, applications and files all grouped together, open and ready to work on, So people who work on multiple projects or tasks can structure them in logical groups and you can quickly switch from desktop to desktop and only have the appropriate files open.
Yes, I think RAM is going to be a vital element in any Mac running Leopard, 2 Gig is sounding pretty good!
One of the most celebrated new features is an amazing recovery tool called Time Machine. It is an automatic back up utility that will back up everything on your drive, your documents, your photos your music. And your can return to your computer at any date in the past, finding your data exactly as it was. Time Machine first makes an exact copy of your hard drive on the backup drive, uncompressed, then makes incremental backups, just recording the difference, so you have everything backed up.
It saves hourly backups for 24 hours, daily backups for a month and weekly backups for everything older. 
Apple has also upgraded their popular iChat video conferencing software to include fun and creative backgrounds, and the ability to roll in presentation graphics. Apple Mail now has stationary and the ability to write to-do lists that will appear in iCal.
The other big news in Leopard is Boot Camp. Boot Camp will turn your Mac into a dual boot machine able to run Windows XP or Vista in native mode. It is a fairly simple process to install a Windows partition and run your Mac in either operating system. Boot Camps is not my favorite way to run Windows, I prefer emulation with a product like Parallels Desktop (www.parallels.com) but the native implementation provided by boot camp certainly is faster.
Apple has thrown down a operating system gauntlet that Redmond can’t ignore, and it will not look good if it takes Microsoft another 3 years to return fire.
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maya 6.5 issues
hello had to reinstall my student licensed maya 6.5 and spent 3days trying to get it to work on my mac due to conflicts with maya and macs osx tiger ;contacted alias/autodesk and finally resolved this issue was planing to purchase leopard but dont want to go through the same headache reinstalling maya to run on leopard.I had the same issue with installation running on panther ,and know others that experienced same issues on their macs.Is this an issue with maya 6.5 or macs os. I know other people that run maya on their pc and not an issue .My question is why does this have to be such a pain it should be simple as installing mac s os x,provided that you purchased the Maya software .
Maya issues
That does sound frustrating! We don't have experience with that particular issue; your best bet is to contact the Maya manufacturers with your question.
-Michelle of Team Dotto Tech
new MacBook Vs Vista Premium edition
I just made the switch to OS MacBook 10.4.10 I can tell you it's much faster than my VISTA premium.I wunder ,Steve if I should "punch-it-up" by putting the New Cat (Leopard) to really get the mac to hunt faster!!
Macbook pro
I too am a Maya user and recently installed maya 8.5 demo off their site on my new macbook pro. Everything installed as it should and there were no problems at all getting anything to run. Not sure why you're using 6.5 or where you even got it from as 8.5 is the latest Autodesk Maya has to offer.
I still ended up returning the macbookpro. In it's place I bought a quad core 2.4 gig monster with 4 gigs of ram (expandable to 8 gigs) a 500 gig sata 2 hd and a 512 meg video card for about $1000 taxes included. The money saved can now go towards some awesome software... maybe a vacation. Most likely gas... have you seen the gas prices these days?
Get a real computer and install either linux or vista... OSX is just eye candy.
Leopard is Mac's version of Vista
As a tech who deals primarily with large businesses and organizations I deal with their onsite techs when they have run out of ideas. I have heard the comment more than once that Leopard is fancy and neat but drivers are virtually non-existent (more so than with Vista). It is appearently nealy impossible to work with on a high level basis and is more difficult to set up for most VPN's. I have no experience with it but from what I have heard for an average home user it may fit the bill but avoid it for businesses at all costs untill some more time has gone by and there is industry support for it.
I there heard somethings
I there heard somethings about Leopard as well, I don't even use a Mac as I feel that your limited to what you can and cannot do with it...on the other hand with vista os you can do alot more. Now that Microsoft has release it's service pack 1 the operating system is alot smoother to run and there are alot more drivers and securities. Both the 32 bit and 64 bit systems run very well...
VMware Fusion
Steve,
I am a PC user thinking (definitely) switching to Mac, what are your thoughts on VMware Fusion compared to Parallels?
PS. I think that if you rounded up all of your Mac Episodes on your website, put them in one section, it would help PC users see the difference in Macs, and then it would be easier to make the choice to stay with PC or go with Mac.
How come you cannot open or download any of the episodes in past seasons, using the download buttons next to the video screen?
Past Seasons
[QUOTE] How come you cannot open or download any of the episodes in past seasons, using the download buttons next to the video screen? [END QUOTE]
My question exactly and what I found out is the Podcast site LOST all Season 3 & 4. (Most likely to a virus but an Apple site would NEVER admit to that). I joined 2 months ago to view ONE video and it has never worked in that time. I was told the shows would have to be re-hosted but so far NOTHING. I am really starting to doubt they will EVER be put back online. When a web site and show that hands out so much computer information can't even keep their website up, it really makes me question just how far you can trust the information they are feeding the public.
Maybe if enough people protest the techs here will actually do something and re-host those missing shows, but what I'm betting happens is, this comment of mine gets deleted and I get banned for daring to voice an opinion that goes against this website.
need help with sony dvd rw dw - d22a
my cdr burner stopped working .. I can burn dvd but cannot burn cdr's ... restorded it once but then it stopped again ... went on the web site to research .. not sure if it is os related or new driver ... or it's just bad .. apparently sony has had a problem with this model ... but there doesn't seem tobe alot of support from them ... thanks
need help with sony dvd rw dw - d22a
Can you read discs with no problem and not burn cds?
Fraser
cd/dvd driver not recognized
Fraser,
No, I cannot read discs either. As I said, any action is met with the notice, " Device Driver not Found" or some such statement. Django
Why does Leopard even have this feature?
[QUOTE] One of the most celebrated new features is an amazing recovery tool called Time Machine. It is an automatic back up utility that will back up everything on your drive, your documents, your photos your music. And your can return to your computer at any date in the past, finding your data exactly as it was. Time Machine first makes an exact copy of your hard drive on the backup drive, uncompressed, then makes incremental backups, just recording the difference, so you have everything backed up.[END QUOTE]
Now why would a perfect system like Apple claims their Macs to be need something like this? Could it be Apple created a new OS to hide the fact their computers get VIRUSED like PCs do? Maybe instead of releasing an expensive OS to hide the fact MACs get viruses like any other computer out there, MAC should just admit they get hit too and move on. Develop a good AV for their systems and stop promoting a lie.
Just for fun before making the comment here I visited the Apple site and tryed clicking the BUY NOW for the LEOPARD OS. The page crashed before I got to the BUY NOW page. Apple can't even keep their web sites working right and now they are trying to sell a new OS. Seems like Microsoft all over again. Push out junk before it's finished, then try to fix it later. Both companes strike me as the same, they don't address the real issue people have problems with but instead they focus on the issues they want to hide. VISTA addressed Microsoft's issues with security. But they went overkill. LEOPARD addressed Apple's issues with viruses and tried to hide it as some new backup feature. Both companies need to listen to the customer and stop listening to people in the sales department who tell them how to slant their new products to try and rack up more sales.
In the end, your choice of an OS should depend on what system you're most comfortable with. Don't let the sales people push you into a new OS without first checking into it and asking lots of questions. Make sure you're going to be comfortable using the new OS. If it doesn't have the features you want, DON'T MAKE THE SWITCH. The computer should serve you NOT the other way around.
Mac versus PC
Simply put, the fact that I no longer am inundated with"allow" "deny" more constantly than my annoying mother-in-law is reason number 1 for starters for never, ever going back to a PC of any sort. Secondly with Finder and........never mind, if I start listing all the wonderful features, ease of use, smart layout, etc. I would probably be in in the 100's going on and on about the virtues of Mac to PC.
Throughout my working history (30 years) I have had the priviledge, if you want to call it that, of having to work with software from various firms. The job of finding bugs, problems and documenting all the annoying and problematic issues one could possibly run into has finally, I feel, reached what can only be called euphoria at having and owing my first Macbook Pro.
From the ease of opening the box, setting up to finally surfing the net was just one easy step after the other.
I never thought I could possibly be so attached to a particular piece of hardware/software that I find myself lost without it. I couldn't get my files transferred fast enough from my old PC (5 years old) to my Mac. No problems, no fuss, no screaming little windows telling me what it could or could not understand just simple ease and joy.
That was September of last year and I've added significantly to my Apple purchases.
Their staff and support personnel were more than helpful and informative without all the techno garble that PC stores seem to want to confuse and disorient the average user. They simply know Apple and their products. What a pleasant shopping experience that was.
No worries about hackers, spyware and all the other nonsense and constant upgrading of all these other programs that seemed to inundate me daily with my PC. No, there really is a light at the end of the tunnel.
As for Time Machine. I didn't buy it because of worries about spyware but just so that in case I ever lost, dropped or broke my Mac my entire life was all there ready to be loaded in a blink. With the prospect of my Mac family growing in the near future I need only transfer all my information from Time Maching into my new laptop and "voila", it's all there.
My husband and I have been using the same computer till now and we find that the only problem we have is not having 2 of them.
For those who hate being bothered when they just want to surf, for those who don't want to be bogged down by all nuances of setting up and using firewalls, spyware, etc. properly Mac is the way to go.
If for some reason you really need to have certain PC software and not want to go all out Mac then I would truly recommend that you have Leopard and find the solution that works for you. Whether it be partitioning your Mac or running it in emulation mode.
All in all, I am a true converter to Mac and am still trying to find someone who wants a PC. For now it is one big paper weight.
Dvd/cd device driver not found...
Sorry guys, I think I screwed up here - so I'll try again.
I cannot get my new acer aspire laptop using vista to recognize th device driver for the cd/dvd player/burner. I'm always met with "Device driver not found" or some such notice. Help! Django.
Dvd/cd device driver not found...
Good Day,
From what I can find on the internet it is possible that the drive is loose inside the unit. I would recommend finding the screw(s) that hold the drive in the computer, remove them and the drive, and then reinserting the drive and putting the screws back in. This seems to be the common solution to this problem.
Fraser