Near Final Version Leopard Releases

oday, Apple Computer announced its near final version of Mac OS X Leopard, in what is the 6th major release of the world's most advanced OS.

Leopard is scheduled to ship in October this year, and according to Apple, introduces over 300 new features; including a new Desktop and Dock with Stacks, an updated Finder featuring Cover Flow, Quick Look, Time Machine, Spaces, and enhanced iChat and mail applications, among others.
The new Dock features Stacks that help users better manage desktop clutter caused by browser and email downloads.

The all new Finder has Cover Flow, which is an innovative way to quickly browse and locate files/applications. Finder also has a new Sidebar that simplifies organisation of files on a Mac, adding easy access to shared Macs and PCs on a home network.

With 'Back to my Mac' .Mac subscribers can browse and access files on their remote Macs over the Internet.

The near final Leopard sports Quick Look, an innovative way for users to instantly preview any file, even play media files, without having to open an application.

'Time Machine' as the name suggests helps users travel back in time to find deleted files, applications, photos, and other digital media.

Leopard's latest iteration includes: full native 64-bit support to enable applications take complete advantage of 64-bit processing; easy multi-core optimization and scheduling to take advantage of the latest Intel hardware; and Core Animation to help developers easily create animated user experiences.

Other new features in Leopard include: Leopard Mail for customization of email, Notes for easy taking down and organizing of notes, to dos for creating lists viewable directly in Mail, data detectors for automatic sensing of phone numbers/addresses/events, iChat with iChat Theater for presentations, iCal for powerful group calendaring features, Spaces for giving users a powerful clutter-free way of creating customized spaces on their desktops, Web Clip for fetching things from Web pages, Boot Camp for running Windows natively on Intel-based Macs, and other new development tools.

According to Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, Leopard is the best release of Mac OS X till date, surpassing even Tiger, and would further extend Mac OS X's leadership as the most advanced and innovative OS in the world.

Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard is scheduled to ship in October, and will be available through the Apple Store (www.apple.com), Apple's retail stores, and Apple Authorized Resellers for around $129 (Rs 5,805 approx) for a single user license.