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First Hand Reports on WWDC's Leopard 9A466
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You are on to something!
First of all, somewhere in all the multi-touch Apple patents they discuss:
1) tactile feedback where the surface gives a small vibration when/where touched.
2) the ability to detect pressure (ala a paintbrush) and attack (ala a piano KB)
This gives the MT an advantage over traditional KBs.
Also, a MT device can be in addition to the display device(s) attached to the computer.
The MT is an empty slate and can assume whatever format is useful (to provide input/output) for the application running at that time:
-- Equalizer KB with slider controls for AV DJ
-- Piano KB (maybe larger or multiple MT devices)
-- An input device for other instruments such as guitar, clarinet and some that aren't even invented yet. (you saw Steve flick the contact list-- imagine playing a rasquedo on a MT guitar).
-- A small, portable, inexpensive MT device that is the (truly) universal remote control-- offering buttons, scrollwheels, sliders, squeezers... whatever? (a quick lookup of universal remotes shows offerings from $129 to $499. mmm... maybe universal remote is the hidden iPhone app
-- a light table for photographer, artist, draftsman, stained-glass designer... cha, cha, cha.
-- a universal game board for Monopoly, Risk, Backgammon, Go...
-- all sorts of medical/forensic applications
-- a gameboy type of portable game (whoops... another button on the iPhone).
-- a universal game input device (ahh... motion sensors on the iPhone)
-- training device for pilots, doctors, auto mechanics...
-- universal/customizable kiosks
This just scratches the surface (heh, heh)... but with MT we have an input (and output) device that can be tailored to the requirements of the application, while, at the same time, personalized to the needs/desires of the user.
With that perspective, the qwerty KB is so 20th (er 19th, 18th, 17th, 16th) century.
I suspect the traditional KB will be around for a while (for us older folks) but the younger generation will be raised on MT devices.
Macbooks have 64MB of shared memory. That means, the integrated graphics chip can take up to 64MB of the Main Memory and use it for Graphics.
you can hear the new voice on the accessability-demo at the Apple-Leopard site. In my opinion, not so great.
Bit of Noob Question, Sorry
Sorry about this, but why does the Intel Macs require more RAM than the PowerPC Macs for Leopard?
Sorry about this, but why does the Intel Macs require more RAM than the PowerPC Macs for Leopard?
anybody knows if they will finally get rid of the "only-5-regioncode-switches" crap for the DVD player? because that's just the biggest BS ever!
Sorry to burst the bubble, but we have no way of playing HD-DVD or BD at the moment
There is no way to currently play either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray on a Mac right now.
DVD Player.app does not support it and neither does VLC. Trust me I have tried them all. VLC will play back some of the extras but only video and not audio.
I haven't seen any proof of HD playback in Leopard either, only some cryptic reference to preference panes that mention HD-DVD
I would love love love for someone to prove me wrong here but I know for a fact that the only current way to play anything HD back is by Boot Camp and using PowerDVD.
There is no way to currently play either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray on a Mac right now.
DVD Player.app does not support it and neither does VLC. Trust me I have tried them all. VLC will play back some of the extras but only video and not audio.
I haven't seen any proof of HD playback in Leopard either, only some cryptic reference to preference panes that mention HD-DVD
I would love love love for someone to prove me wrong here but I know for a fact that the only current way to play anything HD back is by Boot Camp and using PowerDVD.
leopard does look very graphic intensive, too bad most apple computer have a very slow card. 7300GT and below compare to 8800 GTX in windows. A total joke.
What else do we know about future functionality (of iTunes, Leopard, iPhone)... by looking at related products?
For instance - iPhone will sync to Entourage. Since iPhone syncs through iTunes - does that mean that iPod will natively sync to Entourage now?
Leopard's Coverflow (& Quick Look) show thumbnails of documents and fully functional previews. The iPhone has OSX - will the iPhone use Quick Look to view Word attachments on emails etc?
Does the Stacks Grid interface remind you of the iPhone menu?
Hey that's a great question.
For instance - iPhone will sync to Entourage. Since iPhone syncs through iTunes - does that mean that iPod will natively sync to Entourage now?
Leopard's Coverflow (& Quick Look) show thumbnails of documents and fully functional previews. The iPhone has OSX - will the iPhone use Quick Look to view Word attachments on emails etc?
Does the Stacks Grid interface remind you of the iPhone menu?
Hey that's a great question.
Is there one? iPhoto's part of iLife, not the OS. I don't think it's included in the beta.
First off, I'd like to ask why ADC Select & Premier members not at the conference don't get a copy of this new build? I have the select membership and nada. Some of us don't have the time and/or money to go to the conference. I'd have to miss a week of work and classes I'm taking to get computer certifications with. Plus tickets to the conference are $1500 each. When you factor in airfare, hotel reservations, meals and so forth, that's over $2000. I don't even make $17,000 (I'm a computer tech for an elementary school district) so I don't have the money. But hey, what can I do? No use complaining.
As for multitouch, I can see it as a complement to keyboards & mice for now, not a replacement. Try using it on a desktop Mac! Either you'd get carpal tunnel syndrome really quickly do to having your hands vertical for a long time or get a hunch back if you put the display flat on the table. It's a shame that humans see in the vertical dimension and use our hands in the horizontal. Maybe if they made a multi-touch screen at an angle? There are also OLED keyboards out there. If they can combine those w/ a multi-touch screen, something like Star Trek. You can have it automatically readjust for different language sets or have different shortcuts for each app. It would help to have some tactile feedback to help you know where your fingers are on the keyboard. If you've never noticed, there is a bump on the F and J button on QWERT keyboards. This tells you where to put your index fingers when typing. If you've ever taken keyboarding lessons, you know that your right hand needs to be on J, K, L and : while your left is on A, S, D & F. Just a little trivia.
I'd like to see Apple make a tablet Mac. OWC Computing (http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ModBook) mods a Macbook into a tablet computer. Only things that would make it better is if they also did it to a MacBook Pro and if they had a stand so you don't have to keep holding it. Pretty cool concept. I know tablets can be a niche market, but what isn't if you think about it? I can see tablets in places where you have to go around to different places and write stuff down. Or maybe making a super simple tablet that acts like a map? There's a pretty large zoo near where I live that has paper maps. Would be nice to see where you are in the map and have the map automatically reorient itself when you turn it around.
I was just thinking of the QUick View thing or whatever. I wonder how it works if you don't have a certain program installed? Didn't SJ or someone say something about plug-ins? If so, why not integrate them w/ Spotlight plug-ins? That way, you can look for specific kinds of files and be able to preview the. Would make sense. Plus, it'll save you a lot of money if all you need to do is read the documents and not write to them if you don't need the program.
As for multitouch, I can see it as a complement to keyboards & mice for now, not a replacement. Try using it on a desktop Mac! Either you'd get carpal tunnel syndrome really quickly do to having your hands vertical for a long time or get a hunch back if you put the display flat on the table. It's a shame that humans see in the vertical dimension and use our hands in the horizontal. Maybe if they made a multi-touch screen at an angle? There are also OLED keyboards out there. If they can combine those w/ a multi-touch screen, something like Star Trek. You can have it automatically readjust for different language sets or have different shortcuts for each app. It would help to have some tactile feedback to help you know where your fingers are on the keyboard. If you've never noticed, there is a bump on the F and J button on QWERT keyboards. This tells you where to put your index fingers when typing. If you've ever taken keyboarding lessons, you know that your right hand needs to be on J, K, L and : while your left is on A, S, D & F. Just a little trivia.
I'd like to see Apple make a tablet Mac. OWC Computing (http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/ModBook) mods a Macbook into a tablet computer. Only things that would make it better is if they also did it to a MacBook Pro and if they had a stand so you don't have to keep holding it. Pretty cool concept. I know tablets can be a niche market, but what isn't if you think about it? I can see tablets in places where you have to go around to different places and write stuff down. Or maybe making a super simple tablet that acts like a map? There's a pretty large zoo near where I live that has paper maps. Would be nice to see where you are in the map and have the map automatically reorient itself when you turn it around.
I was just thinking of the QUick View thing or whatever. I wonder how it works if you don't have a certain program installed? Didn't SJ or someone say something about plug-ins? If so, why not integrate them w/ Spotlight plug-ins? That way, you can look for specific kinds of files and be able to preview the. Would make sense. Plus, it'll save you a lot of money if all you need to do is read the documents and not write to them if you don't need the program.
I don't even understand why we need them. Even then, why change them? Unless you fly internationally often and get DVDs from multiple regions, you don't need to change it.
Aah ok..
Still I expect Coverflow in Finder is going to create a conflict to iphoto's browing experience if they don't update it by then.
In fact makes you wonder if it's an application on the verge of extinction - just have the 'image mod' features of iphoto pop up in a floating tool bar when viewing the image in quicklook and 'your done'.
Same could almost go for itunes!!
Why couldnt is be for consistency?
Too many people have been creating these conspiracy theories, that Apple has made Finder like iTunes for x reason.
How about it just works better this way?
iTunes is a database management software that is most similar to what the Finder has to do. (Manage a database of files which may/may not have graphical data attached to it. It has all sorts of metadata attached to it, such as creator, last modified, last added, etc...). And they have had 7 iTunes revisions to ensure it does its job the best way possible. It makes complete sense then, following the themes of consistency, and adapting the best interface you have, to model Finder after iTunes.
However, keeping in mind that they are not exactly the same thing, Apple has left out views like by Album art (not many files are grouped together under a similar image), and replaced it with Column, and icon views. Personally, I think coverflow will work much better in Finder, because of the preview ability, and the ability to flip through PDF pages. You never even have to open a file to get info you need. (Quicklook is great too, but it is an additional step compared to coverflow).
Can someone give me a UI gripe besides it looks like iTunes?
Are you telling us that using a Finder and using a folder are the same thing?
In any case, I'm far from the only one saying that the Leopard Finder's iTunes makeover was squarely aimed at switchers. It hit a lot of people who saw the keynote, and of course the analysts were falling all over themselves to say it too.
.
Too many people have been creating these conspiracy theories, that Apple has made Finder like iTunes for x reason.
How about it just works better this way?
iTunes is a database management software that is most similar to what the Finder has to do. (Manage a database of files which may/may not have graphical data attached to it. It has all sorts of metadata attached to it, such as creator, last modified, last added, etc...). And they have had 7 iTunes revisions to ensure it does its job the best way possible. It makes complete sense then, following the themes of consistency, and adapting the best interface you have, to model Finder after iTunes.
However, keeping in mind that they are not exactly the same thing, Apple has left out views like by Album art (not many files are grouped together under a similar image), and replaced it with Column, and icon views. Personally, I think coverflow will work much better in Finder, because of the preview ability, and the ability to flip through PDF pages. You never even have to open a file to get info you need. (Quicklook is great too, but it is an additional step compared to coverflow).
Can someone give me a UI gripe besides it looks like iTunes?
I really don't think that's true; you can play "HD" DVDs which have been burned from Final Cut Pro, but not HD-DVDs, the next-gen blue laser discs.
Fortunately...
Fortunately, the transparent menu bar can be turned off.
The reason Vista looks like Leopard is because Vista looks like Tiger, and Leopard looks like Tiger. Leopard also looks more like Vista because of that ridiculous grass background, which really should never have been on a mac.
Fortunately, the transparent menu bar can be turned off.
The reason Vista looks like Leopard is because Vista looks like Tiger, and Leopard looks like Tiger. Leopard also looks more like Vista because of that ridiculous grass background, which really should never have been on a mac.
I hear you on that one. I've been working on a zen-cart project and I'm using my home sites folder and by the time I barrel down to the images folder for the templates, I have the finder all the way across the screen. Of course I could drop a folder on the left, but I switch between several apps and hit several folders, so I'm all over the place. Something must be wrong with the way I'm using it.
yea, but if they called it something else, people would say, "hey, that's just Cover Flow for Finder"
I imagine it would be "no mouse" before "no keyboard". If Apple released multi-touch displays in the near future I couldn't imagine they would 1) be affordable (to the mainstream market) 2) accessible enough to replace both mouse and keyboard (ergonomics alone would make a multi-touch display type friendly on current desks). Either way, it seems likely with the direction Apple is taking OS X that multi-touch technology is just around the corner.
I feel the same exact way. However, they do say the beta is available FIRST at WWDC. So, I'd assume it will be available to ADC members at a future date, just like previous years. At least I hope so...