Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard 9A321 Seeded

[MacRumors]

Apple has seeded Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) Build 9A321 Client to developers tonight. This comes on the heels of an unconfirmed report that Apple had seeded build 9A326 internally to employees.

According to various reports, the new seed details few changes from previous seeds, with the usual minor bug fixes and a list of ongoing known issues.

Apple last seeded Leopard in November with Build 9A303.

No word on any user interface upgrades which are expected by some in the final Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard release. While there has been some speculation about an early Leopard release, Apple has officially promised Leopard by Spring 2007.

[zigziggityzoo]

screenshots?

[xPismo]

...and on the machine churns. Thank you to all the Apple dev's working late and long on our new shiny OS update.

[koobcamuk]

Not long at all until this is released now. The MWSF seems closer each day. Leopard will be amazing - I am just wondering exactly when I will be jumping on board - day of launch? Week after 6 months after?

Might be finance determined!

[Zeromus]

I look forward to MWSF more than Christmas

[Chundles]

Leopard won't be released nor will a shipping date be announced at MWSF.

There will be a big preview of all the new features that we consumers will mostly use (as opposed to the WWDC preview which had some developer focus) and that's all.

I expect Leopard to be released sometime next Autumn (around late March) with the shipping date announced two weeks prior to release.

[arn]

Originally Posted by Zeromus

I look forward to MWSF more than Christmas

There's no real reason to think its coming at MWSF.

Spring 2007. That's the official word.

arn

[Hobofuzz]

Originally Posted by Chundles

Leopard won't be released nor will a shipping date be announced at MWSF.

There will be a big preview of all the new features that we consumers will mostly use (as opposed to the WWDC preview which had some developer focus) and that's all.

I expect Leopard to be released sometime next Autumn (around late March) with the shipping date announced two weeks prior to release.

For us up North, you mean Spring :P
Silly Aussies with your crazy seasons

[Chundles]

Originally Posted by Hobofuzz

For us up North, you mean Spring :P
Silly Aussies with your crazy seasons

Yeah but I don't kowtow to the northern hemisphere norms. Everything I post is relative to where I am, I use A$ for prices, SH seasons for times etc.

Don't you push your Northern agenda on me sunshine....

[swingerofbirch]

Originally Posted by Chundles

Yeah but I don't kowtow to the northern hemisphere norms. Everything I post is relative to where I am, I use A$ for prices, SH seasons for times etc.

Don't you push your Northern agenda on me sunshine....

I bet you have one of those crazy upside down maps too!

Anyhow March isn't too far off, although when Apple says Spring, its window is pretty big. Spring is March 20 to June 21!

[Chundles]

Originally Posted by swingerofbirch

I bet you have one of those crazy upside down maps too!

Anyhow March isn't too far off, although when Apple says Spring, its window is pretty big. Spring is March 20 to June 21!

Or September 20 to December 21.

Oh crap it's still not summer yet.... Gonna be a hot one.

[MacSlut]

We'd be seeing releases with very few issues, at this point if they were releasing early for MWSF. I think they have enough going on to keep it on schedule for the spring, but maybe show off some of the yet to be announced features at MWSF to counter the Vista press.

[mahonmeister]

Just a quick question here. Has Apple ever had different "levels" like Windows Business vs Windows Home or has there always been just one? Anyways, it's good to hear that Leopard is progressing along.

[Hobofuzz]

Originally Posted by Chundles

Or September 20 to December 21.

Oh crap it's still not summer yet.... Gonna be a hot one.

It's so weird how it'll be winter here and you'll be having summer.

I like how Homer called the southern hemisphere "Crazy Opposite land"

[arn]

Originally Posted by mahonmeister

Just a quick question here. Has Apple ever had different "levels" like Windows Business vs Windows Home or has there always been just one? Anyways, it's good to hear that Leopard is progressing along.

There is Mac OS X Server and Client (regular). Beyond that, there haven't been further breakdowns.

http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/

arn

[Chundles]

Originally Posted by mahonmeister

Just a quick question here. Has Apple ever had different "levels" like Windows Business vs Windows Home or has there always been just one? Anyways, it's good to hear that Leopard is progressing along.

Well, to be fair there are two "levels" of OSX, the regular one and OSX Server. The server version just has a bunch of well, server stuff included. It's not going to be a better version for general use than the regular version unlike the Home/Pro divide.

So for practicality there's only one version of OSX.

[shawnce]

Originally Posted by mahonmeister

Just a quick question here. Has Apple ever had different "levels" like Windows Business vs Windows Home or has there always been just one? Anyways, it's good to hear that Leopard is progressing along.

They only have Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server.

In the case of 10.5 that one version of Mac OS X will support PowerPC 32-bit, PowerPC 64-bit, Intel 32-bit, and Intel 64-bit all in one package (DVD).

[Chundles]

Originally Posted by Hobofuzz

It's so weird how it'll be winter here and you'll be having summer.

I like how Homer called the southern hemisphere "Crazy Opposite land"

Salads, fresh fruit, cold cuts of meat, fresh delicious seafood, at the beach. On Christmas Day....

But enough of that, people, Leopard will not be released for about another 3 months. If it were to be released at MWSF it would be either in Gold Master stage or about a week away. It's not, it's not even close.

Leopard in March folks, not January.

[Westbury]

So, when they come out with the new OS, will there be a way to "update" your current version? If this is even possible, do you have to pay for the "update"? I've been longing to buy a macbook for it seems like forever and Christmas seems like a good of an excuse as any, but I'm scared something bigger, or i guess smaller in this case, and better will come out the next day and i'll be stuck with the old thing. Do you think there's any reason to wait for MWSF to buy?

[shawnce]

Originally Posted by Westbury

So, when they come out with the new OS, will there be a way to "update" your current version? If this is even possible, do you have to pay for the "update"? I've been longing to buy a macbook for it seems like forever and Christmas seems like a good of an excuse as any, but I'm scared something bigger, or i guess smaller in this case, and better will come out the next day and i'll be stuck with the old thing. Do you think there's any reason to wait for MWSF to buy?

All [1] major revisions to Mac OS X (ie 10.3 to 10.4 or 10.4 to 10.5) have been something that you have to purchase (retail box). I wouldn't expect Mac OS X 10.5 to be released at MWSF ... it will likely be a few months later. Also it will likely cost around $129 bucks ($199 for 5 system family pack), not exactly a bank breaker.

Review the following site for details... http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/

[1] Only 10.1 was a free major revision.

[Analog Kid]

Every January I hope for that one MWSF that's like the Christmas you dreamed of as a kid-- every present you ever asked for sitting under the tree. Apple seems to like slow and steady though-- they'll move up products occasionally (Intel, for example) but they never use one forum to dump half a dozen really exciting products. They're too worried about their business cycle...

Seems like this time of year everything that's in development or hoped to be in development gets tagged with a MWSF release date.

[Analog Kid]

Originally Posted by Westbury

So, when they come out with the new OS, will there be a way to "update" your current version? If this is even possible, do you have to pay for the "update"? I've been longing to buy a macbook for it seems like forever and Christmas seems like a good of an excuse as any, but I'm scared something bigger, or i guess smaller in this case, and better will come out the next day and i'll be stuck with the old thing. Do you think there's any reason to wait for MWSF to buy?

In general, I recommend buying when you need to but in December, if you can hold off a couple weeks or months, I'd suggest it. Apple seems to like to refresh their products right after the holidays to keep the sales going after the big binge. It's not unusual though for them to show a product at a forum like this and not ship for another month, so steel yourself to that possibility.

[Chundles]

Originally Posted by Westbury

So, when they come out with the new OS, will there be a way to "update" your current version? If this is even possible, do you have to pay for the "update"? I've been longing to buy a macbook for it seems like forever and Christmas seems like a good of an excuse as any, but I'm scared something bigger, or i guess smaller in this case, and better will come out the next day and i'll be stuck with the old thing. Do you think there's any reason to wait for MWSF to buy?

Going from 10.4 to 10.5 is more than an Update. It will cost you money to go from 10.4.x to 10.5.

If you have 10.4 on your system when you begin the installation process you're presented with two options:

1. Upgrade (just installs the new components over the old ones - like a patch)

2. Archive and Install (makes a little quarantined area for your old system, installs the new OS fresh and then migrates your apps, docs, music, settings etc over leaving the old system files in a folder you can use until satisfied everything works - then you delete the Previous System folder)'

3. Erase and Install - a fresh, clean slate.

Once you have 10.5 on your system you will get free updates within the version number, so there will be 10.5.1 released a couple of weeks later - that's free if you've got 10.5, as will 10.5.2, 10.5.3 etc.

The MacBooks most likely won't be updated until around the Leopard release in late March - there's just nothing in the hardware pipeline to update to. March will bring a new chipset combining the current Merom processors with a number of updates to bring increased functionality to the Core 2 Duo range.

I'd wait till after MWSF because then you'll get iLife '07 pre-installed on your new Mac. Unlike Leopard, iLife '07 will be released at MWSF and to get it for free will definitely be worth the couple of weeks wait.

[retroneo]

Originally Posted by mahonmeister

Just a quick question here. Has Apple ever had different "levels" like Windows Business vs Windows Home or has there always been just one? Anyways, it's good to hear that Leopard is progressing along.

Yeah. There used to be System 7 Pro, that included AppleScript, PowerTalk, PC Exchange and QuickTime.

[iMacZealot]

I don't think anyone really knows when Leopard will come out. I mean we have an idea, but nobody can tell the exact date the golden seed (or whatever the hell you devs call it) is declared. It'd be REALLY cool if they released is MWSF out of left field to stop Vista in its tracks, but I highly doubt they can do that. As for what I'm looking for at MWSF, I just want my damn iPhone so I can be cell phone-less no longer. Oh, and depending on if they throw in an extra app into it, I may replace Office with iWork '07 but only if it's worth it, if my iMac can handle it, and if my wallet can handle it.