WWDC: Jobs talks Leopard

Apple boss Steve Jobs today during his keynote address at WWDC revealed that Mac OS X Leopard features a new desktop, a new Finder, and 64-bit top-to-bottom functionality. Detailing 10 features of the forthcoming system software, Jobs covers features dubbed "Quick look," "automatic animation," Boot Camp, "Spaces," Dashboard, revamped iChat, and the Time Machine backup utility. Apple's new desktop includes a new menu bar as well as "Stacks," Apple's rapid access folders that reside within a brand new dock. A new Finder offers a cleaner sidebar, the ability to search remote Macs as well as servers, and a "Back to my Mac" feature that enables users to browse their own computer from remote locations. Leopard's new Finder also adds Cover Flow technology for viewing files and folders in a manner similar to flicking through iTunes albums.

More on Leopard's Finder

Apple is adding the ability to search for files by time, which includes support for searching networked computers. The "Back to my Mac" feature maintains kwowledge of a Mac's IP address, thus allowing owners to remotely view their systems over the internet.

Quick Look offers painless previews

A new feature in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard allows users to preview files without opening them, and the technology even supports plug-ins for document types that aren't initially supported. Mac users will be able to view photos, watch videos, and browse text documents without ever having to launch the corresponding software.

64-bit Leopard, automatic animation

Apple's latest system software is 64-bit throughout, running both 32-bit and 64-bit applications natively at all levels through Cocoa. Jobs demonstrated automatic animation via an application that ran hundreds of videos simultaneously, allowing the executive to choose a video by clicking on a view or searching by typing in search tags.

Spaces

A previously announced feature of Leopard, Spaces essentially support multiple desktops for four different working environments all operating simultenously. Spaces allow users to work with multiple applications cleanly, with each space containing its own set of windows.

Dashboard, new widget

Mac OS X Tiger users already have access to more than 3,000 widgets for the operating system's Dashboard feature, but company CEO Steve Jobs plans to add another widget that allows users to search for movies by movie title or by theater. The executive also discussed a "Webclip" feature that allows users to make a widget out of any Web page.

iChat gets a boost

Leopard brings better audio quality with AAC-LD (low delay) to iChat, as well as other desired features like tabbed chat and photobooth effects. iChat Theater enables users to showcase applications to others, and a "background" feature can place nearly any scene behind an iChat user.

by MacNN Staff