With WWDC just days away, the first Tiger information and screenshots appears to have been leaked. According to sources, Apple will reportedly provide developers with a Mac OS X 10.4 Preview copy at WWDC on Monday. The screenshots provided reportedly come from this upcoming developer preview.
(Of note, the screenshots come from a previously unconfirmed source, and as a result may spark the usual debates of legitimacy -- though on casual inspection, do appear real (Tiger Read Me PDF)
Overall Mac OS X 10.4 is said to not hold any dramatic changes from Mac OS X 10.3.
The preview is labeled "Version 10.4 Pre-release" (About Box) and build number 8A162 (Build).
A new version of Safari (v2.0) is bundled with the release and offers at least two new features. These include support for RSS news feeds as well as a new "Private Browsing" mode. Private Browsing allows users to browse without keeping a history of pages viewed.
System Preferences (Screenshot) has been tweaked yet again, with the addition of an iTunes-like search function on the top right (Search 1) which hilights relevant control panels in real time. As the search gets narrowed (Search 2) so do the control panels that are hilighted.
In addition, Apple has added new security features to their firewall, most significantly a Stealth Mode (Firewall Options) which should "Ensures that any uninvited traffic receives no response -- not even an acknowledgement that your computer exists."
Perhaps the most dramatic change, however, is the inclusion of a new Expose features called Dashboard (Screenshot). Dashboard appears to be a Gadget/Widget based utility which provides users with a quick access (invoked by user-specified function key) to frequently used tools/applications. The tools available to users in the Tiger build include Address Book, Calculator, Calendar, iTunes, Stickies and World Clock. The tools provided however, are heavily themed with un-Mac OS X-like styles. It's assumed that developers will be able to provide additional "Gadgets".
Confirmation or invalidation of these images should come at WWDC next week.
Thanks to Gary Niger and Ron Delsner of GNAA for providing the information in this article.
(Of note, the screenshots come from a previously unconfirmed source, and as a result may spark the usual debates of legitimacy -- though on casual inspection, do appear real (Tiger Read Me PDF)
Overall Mac OS X 10.4 is said to not hold any dramatic changes from Mac OS X 10.3.
The preview is labeled "Version 10.4 Pre-release" (About Box) and build number 8A162 (Build).
A new version of Safari (v2.0) is bundled with the release and offers at least two new features. These include support for RSS news feeds as well as a new "Private Browsing" mode. Private Browsing allows users to browse without keeping a history of pages viewed.
System Preferences (Screenshot) has been tweaked yet again, with the addition of an iTunes-like search function on the top right (Search 1) which hilights relevant control panels in real time. As the search gets narrowed (Search 2) so do the control panels that are hilighted.
In addition, Apple has added new security features to their firewall, most significantly a Stealth Mode (Firewall Options) which should "Ensures that any uninvited traffic receives no response -- not even an acknowledgement that your computer exists."
Perhaps the most dramatic change, however, is the inclusion of a new Expose features called Dashboard (Screenshot). Dashboard appears to be a Gadget/Widget based utility which provides users with a quick access (invoked by user-specified function key) to frequently used tools/applications. The tools available to users in the Tiger build include Address Book, Calculator, Calendar, iTunes, Stickies and World Clock. The tools provided however, are heavily themed with un-Mac OS X-like styles. It's assumed that developers will be able to provide additional "Gadgets".
Confirmation or invalidation of these images should come at WWDC next week.
Thanks to Gary Niger and Ron Delsner of GNAA for providing the information in this article.
