Okay, a few things:
For people saying "Spotlight isn't impressive, it's a Launchbar ripoff, etc." well, there's no good way to put this: you're wrong. First off, this signals the presence of pervasive metadata as part of the Mac file system, much like the BeOS File System of several years ago. To those who say that BeOS's version of this was primitive, well, you're dreaming. This is basically the same thing. Is that bad? Hell no; BeOS's metadata, querying, and saved queries (what are being called "Smart Folders") were way ahead of their time, and I'm quite glad to see OS X get these features. THIS is the feature Longhorn was SUPPOSED to have, and has gotten scaled way back to try and get it out the door sooner.
The 64-bitness of this OS is marketing speak. Basically the APIs have been revised to allow 64-bit access to RAM and virtual memory for all G5-equipped computers, and to allow command line tools access to this as well. This is primarily for server applications. This is not a fully 64-bit OS.
Dashboard is a good Konfabulator killer; in my experience Konfab is a resource hog, is overpriced, and has a plethora of redundant (and hence useless) widgets. I'd much prefer a well-coded, non-JavaScript, Apple implementation of this concept. The Exposé tie-in is just a bonus. I'll be glad to see Konfab's developer shuffle off this development coil; he has a reputation for being a bit of a dick. Maybe he can turn his outfit into one that makes Dashboard widgets and sells them for cheap. That'd be a much better use of his time.
iChat AV allowing for multiple audio and video streams kicks ass. I know several Mac-owning friends who will be getting iSights because of this. When we're all away from college (or even when we're there and feeling lazy) this will be a great feature.
Image Core looks, from my perspective as a digital video student, BAD ASS with a capital everything. I can't wait to see how image and video applications take advantage of this new technology.
Automator doesn't excite me particularly, at least from my point of view, because I've never been big into scripting. But I'll definitely play with it when it arrives; who knows, it could be more useful than I think.
And finally, to those saying that Longhorn is going to blow this out of the water or that Apple needs a revolutionary GUI makeover, you're dreaming. Microsoft's "interface enhancements" have been, largely, eye-candy. Where's the logic in an alt+tab switcher that rotates windows 45º or so and obscures most of them? A 3D interface, as someone suggested, is ridiculous. We're dealing with a 2D display device; how on earth does a 3D interface increase productivity, reduce user confusion, or even make sense as an operating paradigm? There's not much left to adjust about current GUIs until we're projecting holograms and interacting physically with projected "objects."
Between the displays and the features I saw in OS 10.4 Tiger today, I thought it was a pretty good keynotenot mind-blowing, but certainly not BAD. The people expecting either PowerBook G5s or iMac G5s were delusional. This was a developers conference keynote. PBG5s were already guaranteed to arrive AFTER the end of this year. iMacs are consumer products, as are iPods. We may see revisions to those products in the coming months.
--Cless
