No, I’m not actually at the Apple World Wide Developers Conference, but that won’t keep me from commenting on the Steve Jobs keynote address.
First, I’m pretty impressed that Apple completed its transition to Intel processors so quickly. The PowerMac has now become a much faster Mac Pro, and while the Xserve name remains the same, the updated rack servers are much faster than the G5 powered ones they replace. Well done Apple.
But because I admitted to myself long ago that I just don’t need the power (or cost) of Apple’s Pro machines and instead got our family an iMac a couple of months ago, I was more interested in the preview of the upcoming Mac OS 10.5, AKA Leopard. Although expectations were pretty high due to the extensive coverage by various Apple sites, Leopard still appears to have plenty of new features worth the upgrade (available sometime next spring).
Here are a few of the things I’m looking forward to:
- Time Machine seems like a great idea, bringing version control and backups to the masses in a very easy to use interface
- Virtual desktop support through Spaces to make managing and organizing windows a little easier
- An improved Dashboard and widget creator – Dashcode
- Improved iChat, including screen sharing and video special effects
To be honest, I’m hoping there’s more cool stuff in Leopard than the 10 features Steve covered today. He claimed that Apple is keeping some of it under wraps for now, so there might be some other improvements worth noting later. I can only guess as to what they might include, but I’m at least hoping for an improved Front Row and an updated Safari.