The morning post brought me great pleasure - it brought me the new OS for Mac, Leopard.
Although I am hugely trusting of Apple I thought it prudent to back everything up first before installing, so set it going whilst I went to the gym. Came back, inserted the DVD and a couple of button presses later it is installing on my MacBook. The install mechanism confirms the install will take 2 hours so a bit of housework later and it is finished.
The first thing to note was that it worked. No messing just did what it said it would do and all my files are still there, my apps all work and my internet connection is still working.
The second thing to note is that everything looks gorgeous. Subtle tweaks to the visuals such as semi-transparent menus, a less harsh brushed metal and of course the 3-D dock all signal that this is a significant evolution of the OS but with all the cosy familiarity of OS X.
I set up the Time Machine flawlessly, I say I set it up, the mac pretty much did it itself. I have previously used apps such as Retrospect on Mac and Windoze but this was by far the simplest set-up. The interface looks stunning and many back-up developers must be kicking themselves saying ‘Why didn’t we think of that?’
I had previously thought the coverflow navigation was a bit gimmicky - I barely use it on ITunes so why would I want it in my Finder? Well I have a feeling I may grow to love it. Flicking through docs and pics seamlessly is a joy.
Quick Look is also a handy idea, allowing you to see any file without opening the parent app. Personally in my line of business I doubt I will use it much, but I can think of a lot of designers who would love this.
I think the experience can be summed up better by my wonderful Other Half. She opened the package and was amazed at the 3D foil printing on the DVD box. ‘How do they do that?’ ‘It’s so cool’. I had never heard her this enthused about any piece of software before. She carefully opened the packaging and began leafing through the accompanying book. ‘Wow.”oooh’ ‘ That looks good’. She was visibly excited by an operating system.
And that is why Apple have the reputation they do. She is no geek but can use a computer . Apple got her excited about the possibilities of what she could do, not what the machine could do.
I love it.
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It certainly looks pretty and from what I’ve read it’s got a few nice features like the auto back up. Isn’t it just an upgrade pack though?
If you consider Vista an upgrade of XP then yeah i guess it is.