Mac OS X Leopard: First Impressions

[Lesser Evets]

I got it FedEx at 1pm. Installed.

IT BOMBED!

Not sure what or why, it just said it failed and there is an unknown problem, need to restart.
After that my primary drive vanished!
OSX wouldn't find the drive.
So I repaired it, and all that (wasn't anything wrong with it, that i could find).
Rebooted Leopard and sat there watching the drive choice window and 5 minutes later the primary drive SLOWLY crept in grey, then ok.

Installed.
Worked.

Makes me nervous about this drive though. Was the original 250GIG that came with the computer, and it might be a piece of crap ready to bomb.

10.5: nice.
It IS fast; snappy.
The features are great.
Spaces is still a hassle and a little of a burden.
Time Machine isn't recognizing my AirPort drive.
Mail is wonderful.
Finder is great.

All the people whining about transparency are whiners. Shut up.

 

[oceanmonster]

Unfortunately my first impressions will have to wait until Monday because my stupid university store won't have it until then. Ugh!

MINE TOO!!!! Apple delayed my bookstore's shipment because i guess universities are not that important.

Oh well. I guess i'll see what it is like next week.

 

[ibook4a]

Arrived 10 am uk time.

I installed leopard on an ibook g4 with 768mb ram and a mac pro.

Leopard is FAST on the mac pro and networking in particular is awsome now.

leopard seems about the same speed as tiger on the g4, no noticable difference although there are several bugs...

Can't get 'back to my mac' to work, though i think its because remote login wasnt enabled, would of been nice if it told me that though before i left home, now i have to go home, enable it, and wait a while to see if it works.

Love the screen sharing and all my apps are still working.

i much, much prefer the old red yellow green close zoom minimize buttons from tiger also. i think these new ones look rubbish

Bootcamp is broken though. gives some random error message about me not booting from my startup disk...which is wrong because...well....
its in raid 0 so its prob something to do with that.

time machine is great but took friggin ages to make the first backup

apparently you can't backup to airport disks. which was really annoying..but i was able to use a volume on my mac pro to backup to..so now i have wireless backups which is good.

anyway..enough blabber from me.

A

 

[Poseidon]

So as a non-Mac owner (for now) who has been watching this thread, I'm curious: does Apple typically take into account customer concerns (like all the ones posted in here) when updating their OS's?

 

[sulhaq]

Macbook Pro 2.33ghz 3gb RAM.

Upgraded from Tiger absolutely no problems. Took about an hour.

First impressions:

-- Very nice. I love the UI. The 3D dock is amazing and even reflects live movies as well as reflects the icons placed onto the dock itself. I'm in love with the Aurora wallpaper.

-- I write a lot of code so the first thing I did was open Xcode Tools and it crashed. I logged out, restarted. Nothing worked. It kept crashing on launch. Popped in the Leopard install disk again and overwrote the Xcode install and it worked fine after that.

-- Time Machine is awesome. I connected by 250gig HD and Time Machine asked if I want to use it as backup and I said yes. That's about it. It does take some time to backup though. A complete backup of my system took about 40 minutes with the initial backup being 58gb. Initial backup of your system takes exactly the amount of space that is currently in use on your internal HDDs. Time Machine does not recognize NTFS partitions as it completely ignored my Windows NTFS partition.

-- I love spaces. I am a chat freak and chat with my fiance 25 hours a day. Now I can set her personal full screen chat window in a separate space and away from all the clutter I am working on at the moment. It's awesome.

-- Quicklook is AWESOME! Seriously Quicklook ROCKS! I watched all my little videos again just to watch them in Quicklook preview lol. But seriously, it previews almost everything. Very very cool.

-- Booted into Windows and put in my Leopard install disk. Auto-Install Wizard updated all my Windows drivers though I haven't tested anything there yet. Still playing in OS X. However, the installer crashed on one driver. It was something like "USB Composite removal driver" or something. I got some exceptional error and Windows went on to install the rest of the drivers after skipping the one that gave the error.

-- Some of my programs aren't compatible with Leopard of course. Some noteworthy ones are: Parallels (Build 4560), LiteIcon, Cocktail, Tinkertool, Onyx and Shapeshifter. I upgraded to Parallels build 5160 and it worked then, however I seem to get an error when Parallels tries to mount my Windows Volume into OS X. It give some timeout exception although Windows itself works perfectly on Parallels.

-- The rest of the Applications are running smoothly as they did in Tiger. I have noticed a considerable speedup in the launch of all applications and especially the ones that come packaged with leopard. All of those launch on one bounce or two.

Overall I am extremely happy and impressed with Leopard. It's made my macbook pro so much better.

There are two things that have me kind of disappointed though. Firstly, Perguardian is not compatible Yes, I download torrents. There are legal torrents out there you know. I know I have nothing to worry about if they are legal but Peerguardian just gave me peace of mind that my machine is not being intruded. I usually left it on even if I wasn't downloading anything. It was an awesome program and I REALLY hope they update it to work with Leopard.

Secondly, You can't change your Internal drive Icons anymore! I tried. If I'm missing something someone please explain how. But When I click on my Macintosh HD icon, the "Paste" button doesn't light up. I've confirmed that the Icon I want to use is on the Clipboard and it still doesn't light up. I am forced to conclude that you can no longer change the internal drive icons. WHY APPLE! WHY!

 

[Germacintosh]

b]HUGELY ANNOYING: For some reason, copying files from my external USB HDs was giving me serious problems. Every time I tried to copy a large directory, the transfer would just stop part way through. Not just stop, but hang. If I clicked cancel, nothing happened, and the transfer continued to hang. I had to restart Finder, then half the time finder would not start back up (Error -600 finder can't startup or something of the sort). This required a reboot. I ended up having to transfer files 3-4 at a time from my external drive to my MBP HD. This is a HUGE issue in my opinion - I never had this problem with Tiger [/b]

-The fancy webcam backgrounds didn't work too well for me. They worked, but in my somewhat poorly lit room my body always had holes in it and would go invisible from time to time. I expect better lighting would help this.

.

Totally the same for me! This is a real issue and needs to be taken care of asap!

 

[Mindcrime]

So as a non-Mac owner (for now) who has been watching this thread, I'm curious: does Apple typically take into account customer concerns (like all the ones posted in here) when updating their OS's?

No, not usually. Apple has a "eff them if they don't like it" attitude with regard to a lot of user concerns. When Tiger came out, there was a lot of contention about Spotlight and its functionality (namely it's lack of functionality with certain functions, i.e. boolean searches). They ignored the concerns and waited until Leopard to fix it. There are other things they've ignored from the community as well.

Stacks - I'm pretty sure we'll never see improved functionality for this feature until 10.6, and then they'll roll it out with a ton of fanfaire and a whole host of new and improved features that won't quite make it to the 10.6 Gold Master...

 

[martin_m]

iWork 08 Problems

I installed on an iMac PPC G-5 2.0Ghz - 1Gig RAM

Everything went fine, I cannot open Keynote, Pages, or Numbers. I've trashed and re-installed. Still no documents will open in any iWork 08 Package.
Anyone else had a problem with these applications?

Repair Disk Permissions takes forever and the Progress Bar never changes to a solid color, it runes across the screen like it did in Tiger at the beginning.
Anyone else notice this behavior?

Maybe it's time to go Intel

 

[ghostface13]

Leopard took just under 20mins to erase and install on my MBP 2.4GHz. Although, the first time when I tried to do a normal upgrade installation i got the blue screen that's been mentioned before.

Couple of things to note...

Apple apps seem very fast, ilife, iwork etc..
Finder is very sluggish, hopefully something that will be fixed soon.
Like spaces, not too fond of stacks - icon on front extremely annoying, plus preferred just having popup folder. At least give us the choice!!!
System Preferences was playing up a bit, being a bit slow and sluggish.
Anyone else found that Firefox is very slow, I've reverted to Safari for the moment, which is at least twice as fast. i hope this is just a bug which gets resolved soon because I prefer Firefox interface.
Plus, what's with the dull folder icons???? A company with a reputation for good aesthetics like Apple should really know better.
Don't like the lights indicating which applications running.
Ical lost some of it's functionality, like info drawer.
Front Row is much better apart and quicker apart from the intro sequence to go from desktop to front row.
Coverflow and quick look very impressive, just a bit unresponsive at times.
Time Machine useful, and awesome interface.

On the whole, very pleased, although that's based on the fact that I'm assuming a lot of the bugs get fixed soon, otherwise my opinion might go downhill....

 

[Rozzolo]

Juat upgraded

Hi folks, I've just upgraded (no fresh install, i have to buy an ext HD to backup music) on Macbook Pro 2.16ghz + 2gb ram.

Nice.

But:
- am I the only one that finds expose slower?
- also spaces is not as smooth as i expected
- with spaces, again, switching desktop and coming back to the previous one puts Finder as the front window... little bug.

Front row is much faster, Mail too.

 

[pasito]

Bluetooth headset

The new OS runs great!!!

Imac 2.16ghz, 2gb ram.

Bluetooth headsets now run in stereo!!!!

Quicklook is brilliant.

Just having a wonderful time at the moment.

 

[GotPro]

Quicklook Issue

You know... Quicklook is AWESOME.

Except... maybe I'm being retarded... but I don't understand why it doesn't work Logically.

Ok... hear me out here...

lets say I open the coverflow finder in My Documents.

I have 200+ docs in there.

I press spacebar to launch quicklook...

If I hit the right or left arrows, GREAT! It goes to the next or previous doc.

No problem.

BUT... lets say, I've got a doc in preview too long for my screen... and has scroll bars.

You'd THINK that the up and down arrows within quicklook would scroll through the document. At least that is what seems logical to me.

BUT NO! The up and down arrows DO THE EXACT SAME THING THAT THE LEFT AND RIGHT SCROLL ARROWS DO?

Argh! Why repeat that functionality when I could just scroll up or down using those arrows instead of losing all that time f*&*ing with the mouse?

Maybe on a desktop where you have a scroll wheel it's be fine... but I'm on a stupid one button Macbook Pro.

ARGH ARGH ARGH ARGH

Anyone else get this? Or am I just retarded?

 

[GotPro]

Also...

Does anyone know how to get the Finder to open up to a different default location?

It forces me to open it up to my "Home" folder...

Quite honestly, wouldn't it make more sense to have an option to allow it to open up at the last PREVIOUSLY OPEN location?

For instance... if the last thing I looked at in the Finder was my "Documents" folder, then the next time I open it up, it should open up there.

Or, maybe I want it to open up to Applications each time... why shouldn't I be able to set that?

Is there a hidden file or command that would allow me to do this?

Just wondering.

Oh, and that web-widget tool in Safari is AWESOME! WOW!!!!!

Maybe me #2 favorite feature after time machine!

 

[trunkster]

Turns out my copy was only delayed by an hour and arrived at 1:39 PM.

Leopard is awesome; I did a upgrade install on my MacBook. I also did a full install on my Mac Mini and it all works great. Sounds like a lot of complainers on this forum. Being tested leopard for a couple of months, they have improved it quite a bit. The transparent menu was hella hard to read, now it's a lot better (mainly because people complained).

If you aren't too excited now that you've upgraded, you will be. There are a lot of little features which have made my life easier that I've only found by playing around with Leopard.

- File sharing for one is a lot easier then in tiger.
- The new xcode is better for debugging.
- Automator has added some additional features that make recording macros easier.
- Time machine will save your butt.
- iCal finally has the correct date.. this should have been though of a long time ago.
- Stacks are nice. But don't expect that you will never have to open that folder again.
- Quick Look is the new preview, in the sense that it's now the fastest way to view images and documents.

I'll stop, you guys all know this. Just don't be too quick to judge until you have been using it for at least a week.

Though if your Mac has crashed then I can understand... maybe the old rule with Windows should apply with OSX then. Don't upgrade, just format and install a new copy.

 

[flopticalcube]

Lots of stuttering on my MacBook. Looks like the GMA950 is holding things back a bit.

 

[trunkster]

Does anyone know how to get the Finder to open up to a different default location?

It forces me to open it up to my "Home" folder...

Quite honestly, wouldn't it make more sense to have an option to allow it to open up at the last PREVIOUSLY OPEN location?

For instance... if the last thing I looked at in the Finder was my "Documents" folder, then the next time I open it up, it should open up there.

Or, maybe I want it to open up to Applications each time... why shouldn't I be able to set that?

Is there a hidden file or command that would allow me to do this?

Maybe me #2 favorite feature after time machine!

Of course there is and of course it's sort of hidden Just click on your desktop or the finder icon. Then go to Finder -> Preferences. You'll see "New Finder windows open:" and you can set it to anything you want.

 

[NewtypeCJ]

OK, just did an Archive & Install. Computer came back up no problem. But Mail.app crashes every time I attempt to open it. I have not gotten it to start up once. :'( I'm on an Intel Core 2 Duo iMac, 2.0GHz. Repairing permissions now, we'll see if it works. Otherwise, looks great!

Edit: Fixed -- seems the icons in my dock were all pointing toward the "Previous Systems" folder for some reason. When launched from Finder, they all work, so I just replaced the icons on my dock... and it's fixed. WOo hoo.

 

[bperboy]

You know, I really find it inconceivable that Front Row still does not support compilation grouping in iTunes. It really is a major oversight on Apple's part. Other than that, it's been working great. I probably could have gone with an Archive and Install rather than the Clean install that I did do, but not a big deal. Just lost a few pics that I didn't backup. Running Time Machine for the first time. Does it compress the backups at all???

 

[GotPro]

Of course there is and of course it's sort of hidden Just click on your desktop or the finder icon. Then go to Finder -> Preferences. You'll see "New Finder windows open:" and you can set it to anything you want.

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!!!

Dude!!! You rock! I owe you a brew ;-)

THANK YOU!

Yay Apple again! LOL

 

[GotPro]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet Shortcuts!!!

Guys... I'm not sure how many of you know this... BUT!!!!

If you open in Cover Flow mode, say... your Applications folder...

You can type the first letter, or first couple of letters of the name of the program to instantly zoom to it!!! TRY IT OUT!

For instance...

Opening apps, then pressing P will zoom you to Pages... pressing PH will zoom you to photo booth!!!

Same goes for the Documents!!!!! If you type the first few characters of a document you think you are searching for... ZOOM it goes right to it!!!

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

Could we do this in Tiger and I just missed it for 18 months?

 

[72930]

Guys... I'm not sure how many of you know this... BUT!!!!

If you open in Cover Flow mode, say... your Applications folder...

You can type the first letter, or first couple of letters of the name of the program to instantly zoom to it!!! TRY IT OUT!

For instance...

Opening apps, then pressing P will zoom you to Pages... pressing PH will zoom you to photo booth!!!

Same goes for the Documents!!!!! If you type the first few characters of a document you think you are searching for... ZOOM it goes right to it!!!

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!

Could we do this in Tiger and I just missed it for 18 months?

This is JUST like iTunes and 100% expected...

 

[ppdix]

Transparent Windows suck... Quick Look WINS!

Stacks are kinda useful only if your desktop has no icons... Try finding a file when icons, text and more icons and more text are overlapping. There needs to be a way to turn the transparency off. Also there is a limit of files/folders Stacks can display. If there are more to display, it shows the arrow pointing to the finder's location and it says i.e.: "293 More in Finder". The limit seems to be 142... How they came up with such an odd number, I don't know. On my 24" screen I should be able to display twice as many items.
Stacks' FAN doesn't work if the dock is positioned on the left or right. All u can do is sort...

Coverflow works great but only if your jpg's, for example, are small. High resolution files like my camera's 10MP take about 2 seconds to clear up even on my Dual 3.0GHz Mac Pro with 6GB of RAM. Smaller files are quicker, but not instant...

Quick Look! YES!!! The fastest way to sort through files... Instant update of jpg's even at Full Screen! Not a hesitation, not a delay... Sweet! Even a folder with 300 High-Res 10MP images was displayed on Index Sheet at amazing speed!

Spaces seems useless to me... Having two 24" Samsung Screens. The left is landscape and the right is portrait... Spaces shows both screens as part of each space. I haven't really played with it so much so I can't be objective yet.

Video performance seems slower. Moving windows and files on the screen now "stutter" a little. Even with the wicked fast X1900, my 2 24" screens can't redraw smoothly enough. It was not a problem on 10.4.10.

Miscellaneous... I really Hate the new folders. They are too big and the shape is odd. Labels should change the color of the folder like on System 9.
Icon preview is nice but why those crappy white frames around the picture icons? Adobe Illustrator "AI" files don't have icon previews... Nor do EPS files. Folders in the finder should show it's contents like Windoze has been showing for years or even the Stacks generated previews on the dock...
Scrolling should be like the iPhone... Just a flick of the wheel and the files smoothly scroll and slow down... I think a Kensington mouse offers this, but it would be nice to have it as part of the OSX. The screen savers are cheesy... There is so much more they can do besides a color changing star... If you change the background color of a window to black, the text still disappears cause it is always black.. Lastly.. The grey menu bar is terrible. It blends in with your open windows and the text menus are, for the first time ever, hard to read. I do like the black Apple though.

Cheers

Pat

 

[BLUELION]

What gives Universities? Apple?

Unfortunately my first impressions will have to wait until Monday because my stupid university store won't have it until then. Ugh!

Same here. Apparently, the block that is pushing the surge in sales doesn't have a right to join the party today. Best of luck to the rest of you.

 

[therevolution]

Guys... I'm not sure how many of you know this... BUT!!!!

If you open in Cover Flow mode, say... your Applications folder...

You can type the first letter, or first couple of letters of the name of the program to instantly zoom to it!!! TRY IT OUT!

Could we do this in Tiger and I just missed it for 18 months?

Yes, it works in Tiger as well.

 

[bondiblue2]

truly incredible

I was the first one in the store at Chesnut Hill, MA and it was really great. I love the look of the dock although my friend said he wasn't too fond of it. Leopard is so sleek and sends off almost an auroa of epicness. 3 THUMBS UP!

(i still wish they would make some app unistaller, in the meanwhile i have to use appzapper)

I GOT MY T-SHIRT!