Apple says Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard is supposed to be released sometime this month. That usually means the very last day of the month (in this case, the 31st). But regardless of the specific date, it’s coming…soon. So perhaps it’s time to re-familiarize ourselves with some of the shiny new features, eh?
Since I obviously don’t have a copy of Leopard (you think I’m paying $500 for pre-release seeds? Well I have a bridge in Alaska to sell you), I can’t say anything more than what’s on Apple’s Leopard preview site. But Apple-“To Hell With NDA”-Insider gets their grubby little paws on everything, and is more than willing to share its opinion on the near-finished OS X increment.
Today, in their second “Road to Mac OS X Leopard” article (the first was about the new Dock), they tackle one of the originally-less-thrilling features of Leopard, Spaces. If you’ll recall (or if you won’t), Spaces is a virtual-desktop app built right into OS X. It’s basically like having multiple displays connected to your computer — but instead moving your head from one screen to the next, you hit a key combo to switch to the next desktop on a single display. The idea, essentially, is to set up multiple work environments — one for web browsing, one for email, etc. — to keep your screen free of clutter (and distraction).
Virtual desktops are nothing new. I remember using them on Linux years ago — and they were around way before even then. But because of tediousness, effort required, and the need to adapt yourself to this new way of dealing with windows, they were never really picked up by the mainstream. When Spaces was first talked about at WWDC ‘06, I remember giving VirtueDesktops — a virtual-desktops app for OS X — a try. It was fun for a few days, but the novelty wore off and I just sort of forgot about it.
AppleInsider, though, seems to think Apple may have done what it does best: take a relatively unimpressive tool and make it useful. They claim it takes a “new and different” approach to virtual desktops, and mentions “how well Leopard’s Spaces actually works in practice.”
The article is three pages long and takes a look at the history of VDs, some inherent problems with them, and some cool things Apple did to make them helpful. And be sure to check out Macworld’s more to-the-point first look at Spaces, as well as Apple’s Spaces preview site, where you can watch a demo video of the clutter-cutter in action.
Don't forget our own preview over on the mothership:
http://www.macworld.com/2006/08/firstlooks/leospaces/index.php
You know, I was going to include it -- I had the page open in a browser tab and everything. I just forgot to stick it in the post.
The link's been added. Thanks for the reminder.
Oh, this is funny: I actually *did* include it. I linked to it in the "If you'll recall" sentence, pointing "recall" to the Macworld article.
I just didn't mention it specifically, which is why even I didn't realize I actually included it. Well at least now people know it's there.
Ha! Sorry, Dan, I didn't catch that one, either. Thanks for the update!
"Finally, it's unclear how Spaces interacts with windows that have been minimized to the Dock..."
Wait a minute! Is he writing a review, or is he just making this stuff up as he goes along? I would think this would have been a simple thing to check if he actually had a working copy of the OS in front of him, but now this article just starts to look like something anyone could put together from MacWorld's article and the info on the Apple web site.
I notice the Road to Mac OS X Leopard articles by this Prince McLean have been on a bashing Windows UI elements spree. Can't he discuss Leopard features without the assistance of Windows or the need to use it as a punching bag?
Not even Macworld does this with their OS X reviews which I have read religiously over the years.
I never see John Sircusa of ArsTechnica do this and his OS X reviews are way superior and riveting compared to Mr. Mclean and thats a lot coming from a Windows user. After reading page one of everyone of these Apple Insider Road to Leopard reviews I seem to get sleepy - I wonder why? I suggest the stick to rumors.
Actually, AppleInsider penned 2 other articles:
Finder
Preview
However, they must have touched a nerve with the article on Preview since it no longer is available, so perhaps they pushed that NDA a bit too far. Shame since that was a good article.
Now I just need to find out why my comments here all seem to come from Anonymous when it keeps telling me that I'm signed-in.
@Andre:
Sadly, AppleInsider "reviews" have a tendency to bash Windows for no particular reason other than the age-old Windows-Mac war. It doesn't help that many of them are written by the RoughlyDrafted website author; that guy makes Mac fanactics look like Windows lovers by comparison. I'm guessing he's got a shrine set up to Steve Jobs with some images of Jesus Christ that he Photoshop'ed Jobs' face over...
And he doesn't realize Steve Jobs doesn't like people like him or even Apple Insider. A site that continuously post unauthorized information about Apple or their pre-released products is not in Steve Jobs good books.
Engadget sucks up to Apple so much, but Steve Jobs will never forgive them because they caused Apple stock to plummet a bit with the iPhone delay rumor which turned out to be incorrect.