Leopard Mac OS X 10.5 Screenshots and Features

[MacRumors]

ThinkSecret posts some more screenshots from the latest build of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard (9A283).

Meanwhile, Apple posted a Leopard Technology Overview document for developers. Apple details several features for Leopard which are drawing some attention:

Resolution Independence

In Leopard, the system, including the Carbon and Cocoa frameworks, will be able to draw user interface elements using a scale factor. This will let the user interface maintain the same physical size while gaining resolution and crispness from high dpi displays.

OpenGL Improvements

Leopard also provides a dramatic increase in OpenGL performance by offloading CPU-based processing onto another thread which can then run on a separate CPU core feeding the GPU. This can increase, or in some cases, even double the performance of OpenGL-based applications.

QuickTime Improvements

QuickTime’s plumbing is receiving significant upgrades in Leopard. There have been significant enhancements in handling the H.264 encoding. Also, transparent alpha layers, an optional part of the H.264 specification, are now supported in H.264-based QuickTime movies. And finally, QuickTime supports 64-bit.

OpenGL Improvements were previously described in August after WWDC. This new Multithreaded OpenGL has already been incorporated in the Mac Pro's version of Mac OS X 10.4.8.

 

[luminosity]

i suspect we'll see leopard released in january.

 

[jamdr]

i suspect we'll see leopard released in january.

That would be really, really nice. I'm looking forward to this release a lot, especially for the opengl improvements. But it still won't keep me from buying a new laptop now. This will definitely be worth $129

 

[dizastor]

Minor features now, major consumer oriented "hidden from WWDC" features at MacWorld?

 

[Superdrive]

I still don't see anything too great that every user needs. The parental controls are looking really nice, especially limiting hours on school nights etc. I'm hoping some super-secret features will really make me jump for it next March.

 

[twoodcc]

i suspect we'll see leopard released in january.

well i really hope that you are right. i guess we'll have to wait and see though

 

[spicyapple]

The Finder brushed metal will be the last surprise change to the UI. Brushed metal is so 2004. Probably we'll see a radical change to Finder?

My guess, we'll see buttons and soft gradients, like those on the Apple store (Mac Book Pro) pages.

 

[mac4evan]

QT = 64 Bit

QuickTime now 64-bit!!!

Even more of a reason to get the new MBP😀

 

[mac4evan]

i suspect we'll see leopard released in january.

No way...

Won't happen but it never hurts to dream.

 

[superleccy]

QuickTime now 64-bit!!!

So that'll be Quicktime 8.0 then.

Great, but Leopard just got £20 more expensive for Quicktime Pro users. 😡 🙁

SL

 

[abrooks]

i suspect we'll see leopard released in january.

Not unless January is in the Spring, which is when Apple has officially said Leopard will be released.

 

[IlluminatedSage]

I am looking very much forward towards this release.

it will be a very nice upgrade for all of us

 

[nsbio]

Not unless January is in the Spring, .

It is California, so January IS Spring there 😉

 

[irbdavid]

One of the things that bugs me quite a bit in tiger is the video mirroring - it always runs at the native resolution of the lower-res display, presumably now with this new feature this won't matter, and both displays can be run at their native resolutions whilst still being mirrored?

 

[shawnce]

i suspect we'll see leopard released in january.

I hope you are wrong 🙂

I want Apple to take the time that is needed to clean and update their APIs as best they can... the 64 bit API switch is their best chance and only near term chance to clean house.

 

[840quadra]

Holy slow website.. I guess I will have to wait until everyone else takes a peek! 😱

 

[luminosity]

didn't apple officially say that intel processors would be out in the summer of 2005?

 

[gavd]

Not unless January is in the Spring, which is when Apple has officially said Leopard will be released.

Steve likes to beat deadlines though...

 

[lord patton]

didn't apple officially say that intel processors would be out in the summer of 2005?

no

 

[powermac_daddy]

lame update for the Macbook Pro.

looking forward for the next update in 2007 - OX 10.5 on macbook pro, then i'm ready to throw out $3,000.

 

[WildPalms]

Just gets sexier and sexier 😛

 

[STLSigns]

More news is good news!

I would like to think that quicktime encoding enhancements might be part of a solution with the "iTV" and future "vPod"...digital media in general.

It's been an great year for Apple it makes happy to be a Apple user since my first IIe.

The future is bright!

 

[STLSigns]

1/2 correct thread

lame update for the Macbook Pro.

looking forward for the next update in 2007 - OX 10.5 on macbook pro, then i'm ready to throw out $3,000.

"Lame"? More machince, same price. I've never call better lame.
But I do agree if you can wait a few more months, a great MBP will be ready with your name on it.

 

[Littleodie914]

Wow, there's some pretty spiffy stuff in there that most people might not notice, including:

Picture Taker Panel
iChat Integration
Xcode Improvements

 

[Eraserhead]

I'm thinking a January release to compete with Vista. I wouldn't mind if they delayed until March to cram more features in, but at that point there's little they can do. Otherwise the Vista vs. reviews will be vs. Tiger not Leopard which will mean that Apple won't look like the innovator that it is. I suspect a free "10.6" may come in about a year with more business (and other) features to compete with SP1 (when they start buying Vista.)