Leopard Release In Mid/Late April?

[matticus008]

...There's no way anybody's going to pay $70/piece for software that will be outdated in 6 months. Even a release date as late as April or May is pushing it.

Who's to say that there will be a replacement iLife offered in January? It only makes sense to make fewer releases as a product matures.

3. Typically, Apple makes the .9 version the latest version they support and works with all updated software they make (i.e. the majority of Apple software requires 10.3.9 or higher).

OS X has only reached the .9 stage once before, so that theory is not based on any repeat occurrence--they don't "typically" do anything of the sort. Incidentally, the compatibility version I've found to be most common is 10.3.8.

I am certainly in agreement with ehurtley and others--the consistent and untouched bugs in the developer builds clearly suggest that efforts are being directed elsewhere internally. The Finder has quite literally been untouched outside of quick look, and new Finder technologies were heavily intimated around WWDC last year and I think they may have even been mentioned at Macworld. It's clear also in some cases that test code was piled onto existing software for development purposes and doesn't reflect a finished product. I can't discuss this in any detail (but also will freely admit that I am not personally involved with this round of beta software).

 

[macnews]

Who's to say that there will be a replacement iLife offered in January? It only makes sense to make fewer releases as a product matures.


OS X has only reached the .9 stage once before, so that theory is not based on any repeat occurrence--they don't "typically" do anything of the sort. Incidentally, the compatibility version I've found to be most common is 10.3.8.

Ok, I have to eat some crow here. You are correct, 10.3.9 has only happened once before - at least to the best I can verify. It was 10.2.8 before that, can't find 10.1.x but think it got to 10.1.6? Still, my point was at the end stages we saw time between the releases. Apple has released 10.4.9 builds for testing, indicating it will most likely be released prior to 10.5. So the basic principle still holds true even though my .9 was incorrect.

 

[Dokter_Mac]

I say that the seeds from Leopard only contains what developers need. The kernel, frameworks, extensions, etc.
The stuff that is not in the "public" seeds will be in the "internal" seeds and builds! I'm sure there is a internal Leopard build that is polished and almost finished. I think that the end of April is very realistic and that it will be released pre-wwdc07!
Time will say

 

[cwedl]

I would prefer it to come out in April as I don't think Tiger was ready, They released it too early. I'm hoping that Leopard will be a good release, and it seems from the hype that it will be as good as the panther release.

 

[synth3tik]

I want the super cool top secret features.........iLaunch.....

 

[ejsavage]

I still say that Apple will want a super build up to the iphone, so they will want to leave May/June for all that hype. It my guess that Leopard will be out before May 1st.

 

[Shaker]

I would prefer it to come out in April as I don't think Tiger was ready, They released it too early. I'm hoping that Leopard will be a good release, and it seems from the hype that it will be as good as the panther release.

I agree. I remember Tiger having a rather large issue with iChatAV and "bandwidth". I regretted upgrading to Tiger early and had to wait ~2 months before Apple ironed out the bugs out of iChatAV for Tiger.

 

[SeanMcg]

Off topic but...

I don't know if this means anything but the European Apple Online Stores are all down and have been for some time this evening. I think there will be product announcements tomorrow along with the 10.4.9 update. We'll see!

I noticed that the European Apple Stores are selling a TomTom GPS system that has iPod integration. Evidently you can control your iPod via the the TomTom screen. It isn't on the US store, and I haven't seen this one in the states, yet. Then again, I haven't really been looking...

More on topic: Someone always has to make a complaint about ".1" upgrades. Stop. "Dot" upgrades in operating systems are different than in applications. Hell, Windows 2000 is NT version 5.1, Windows XP is NT version 5.2, and how much did those cost? The reason that they are an incremental upgrade is because the underlying kernel, while improved, probably hasn't changed all that much.

I also think 10.4.9 is taking a little bit longer because they probably have elements in there that will increase compatibility with 10.5 systems. Can anyone else confirm or deny?

 

[Sharkus]

The current seed is, allegedly not very polished at all. There seems to be quite a lot of work to be done and I seriously doubt we'll see a release before WWDC. I expect to hear about the Top Secret features and the release date fairly soon, but I doubt we will see product early. Just going on the top secret thing, if it's something that would effect developers then we'd need to have at least a month with it to check everything works, let alone to submit bug reports and have the issues addressed.
Of course the Top Secret features could be new apps or something that doesn't effect the lower levels of the OS and thus would not need devs to recode things.

 

[encro]

I would prefer it to come out in April as I don't think Tiger was ready, They released it too early. I'm hoping that Leopard will be a good release, and it seems from the hype that it will be as good as the panther release.

Judging by the care that Apple seems to be putting in place and getting things right before releasing 10.4.9 it appears that Apple may be taking QA and control a little more serious this time around and hopefully this should mean that 10.5 shouldn't have problems of the same scale as Tiger's release.

 

[EricNau]

Who's to say that there will be a replacement iLife offered in January? It only makes sense to make fewer releases as a product matures.

Did you read my entire post?

Either you didn't, or I'm totally missing your point, because I'm pretty sure I said there probably won't be a release of iLife in January.

 

[dongmin]

Before these submissions, I would agree with you 100%. I was really thinking that WWDC was going to be catalyst as well. It may still be, as this is only a page2 rumor. But with the reports coming in and corroborating each other, we had to post it somewhere.

It's also possible that Apple will ANNOUNCE in April, at the NAB or whatever event, but not ship until WWDC. It would give Apple about 6 weeks to take pre-orders which they've been known to do with OS releases.

 

[surferfromuk]

By a thorough process of logical deduction I say MAY (eer or September)

It can't be June or July as it would eclipse Iphone, not March as it will eclipse Apple TV (and ahem PS3), so it would then be September since they're not going to ship in August cos everyone's on holiday ( they are in Europe anyway!).

They've got h/w updates approaching 'due' and they ALL can't wait until September so they've got to come in April/May and so it is more logical to double boost sales with new h/w and leopard prior to the Iphone launch.

Vista is 'old news' already so no conflict there and certainly will be when Leopard ships...if there are secret features they need to start 'appearing' now so the buzz can start to build and not eclipse iPhone...

You know they could still sit on leopard till the next glory slot of September/October but it would do Apple a lot of good to ship in April and May!.

 

[Stridder44]

Apple: Secret Leopard Features. Do You Have Them??



Come on seriously what's the hold up?

 

[surferfromuk]

Who are you asking ?

 

[TheBobcat]

Ever since I heard WWDC was happening in June, my gut just told me that we wouldn't see it before then. It its as unpolished as they say, and with the "top secret" features still unknown, a release in a month just does not seem plausible. They should just take their time and do it right.

 

[mickeymikey]

What is wrong with some of you people? Clean out the cotton. Steve said Spring 2007! For those of you that don't realize, Spring begins on the Vernal Equinox on 3/21 and ends on the Summer Solstice on 6/21. We're still in Winter!

Why are you crucifying Apple when there is no evidence that they won't deliver in the promised window? If 6/21 comes and we don't have Leopard, sure, it's time to gripe, but give them a chance to do what they said they'd do.

I bet some of you are even mad because Apple hasn't launched stuff that they haven't even invented yet.

 

[crees!]

Technically speaking, spring is until June 21st and therefore any release up to and including that date is still spring and not late.

Yes, I realize that, and actually had that fact written in my original post, but took it out at the last minute to simplify.

What I meant was, most people don't consider mid to late June spring (even though it is).

They could always just delay it 'til "Summer."

That would suck, but they could do that if they see that it's not gonna be ready for release in the Spring.

I don't believe has ever officially said anything other than "Spring 2007".

did officially say Mid-Spring then Changed it to 'Late" Spring ..


it was in the details in "Leopard preview page" I remember seeing it but i forgot to screen capture the page

So, you're saying it now says Late Spring?

Because the current Leopard Sneek Peek page (at the bottom) says "Coming spring 2007".

So are you all going to cry to big daddy if it's not released by Spring '07? All of this "Spring actually begins and ends here" is getting entirely, ENTIRELY old. Whether the bees are buzzing or leaves are falling off of trees, who cares!

 

[50548]

So, are the "Top Secret" features going to be announced alongside the release date?
Or for that matter, are there actually going to be any major features we haven't already heard about?



irmongoose

Honestly? I don't "effing" think so...no secret features apart from some under the hood improvements...no new UI, no wonderful changes in Finder...it's not gonna happen.

 

[dejo]

So are you all going to cry to big daddy if it's not released by Spring '07?

I'm certainly not.

All of this "Spring actually begins and ends here" is getting entirely, ENTIRELY old. Whether the bees are buzzing or leaves are falling off of trees, who cares!

I was just trying to set the record straight as to what Apple has officially said about Leopard's release.

 

[wrldwzrd89]

I think that if the internal builds of Mac OS X v10.5 "Leopard" are as far as 2 months ahead of the external builds, a release before this rumored April date is possible (and would be sufficiently bug-free for general release). Alternatively, if the builds are only 1 month ahead inside Apple, this rumor is right on target. If Apple's internal builds of Leopard aren't significantly ahead of the external builds (say, 2 weeks or less in advance), then a release in May or June seems most likely to me.

I'm basing this on the rate at which bugs in the various Leopard seeds have been fixed, the information contained in this rumor report, and speculation on how far in advance Apple maintains internal builds. Feel free to slap me if I've made some glaring logical error.

 

[digiguy23]

I'll believe it when there is a pre-order button on Apple's website

 

[bankshot]

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: not before June.

Heck, I have nothing better to put in my sig, so after Leopard is released, I'll link back to this post and either say "I was right" or "I was wrong".

 

[blodwyn]

Over on MacRumors on the 10.4.9 page there's this note indicating end of March for Leopard. Clicking the link doesn't confirm this, just saying Spring

 

[jacg]

Apple: Secret Leopard Features. Do You Have Them??

I think we've found them all out already via those various leaked screenshots. New screen savers, parental controls. I forget the rest.

Resolution Independence? The developer connection video suggests that developers get their apps ready for 2008. What does that mean? Leopard in Spring 2008 or no resolution independence in Leopard to begin with?