[Hands0n]

The biggest upgrade to Mac OS X has arrived. Over 300 new features make navigating, organising files, backing up documents - anything you do at work or play - easier than ever. The new Mac OS X Leopard. It's the world's most advanced operating system. Advanced.


I could scream :D


Silly, innit :p

[Ben]

I believe there are launch parties in the Apple stores, including free T-Shirts!

You know you want to :P

[3g-g]

I know I've absolutely no need to upgrade, but I probably will, just for the sake of it!!

[Ben]

Lol, same, love Tiger. I'll upgrade in a few months once the fuss has died down and everything works properly (assuming there will be some initial bugs).

[chaslam]

Just went into my store (PCW) as when I was in work this morning we were expecting some in (some being 2, and one was going on a display model, so actually only 1 haha) so popped in quickly this evening to see if they had arrived, but they hadnt. Spoke to my colleague (actually my manager) and he said that they are expected in the morning, and hes gonna put one to one side for me :). Will get it in the morning :).

[chagle]

I was at Apple Lakeside @ 4pm this afternoon. Only 5 queuing at the time including myself. By 6pm came, lots of people queuing! I got 'the t shirt' (so to speak) and walk out quite happily with a copy Mac OS X Leopard -- with a huge smile on my face. O' they even sent me an 'email receipt' direct from their small little handheld thingies! :-)

I couldn't believe how busy it was... Lakeside hasn't seem anything like it I'm sure. God, what is it going to be like when the iPhone s released??!!!

Installed.. registered and... playing! :D

[Ben]

Grats chagle! You're officially an Apple diehard :D

chaslam - good luck with getting your copy, fingers crossed it's there for tomo!

[Hands0n]

Installed.. registered and... playing! :D

Do tell. What was the install like? Was it painless and simple? Did you just install over OS X Tiger and did you have to re-install any of your apps or did they survive the process?

Big question - do you have Parallels and did you have to re-install it after OS X Leopard?

Sorry about the questions but ...... *screeeeeem* ..... I don't think I'll last the week without getting it!

[Ben]

Oo yes, did you do an 'Upgrade', 'Archive and Install' or 'Erase and Install'?

[chagle]

Hello All,

I did both! :-)

Because I was playing, I wanted to simply upgrade - which does work! However being an Ex-Windoze person, I'm used to doing scratch installs. So after playing about after the upgrade I thought I'd like a clean install.

Well being a switcher, over the past couple of months I've been experimenting, installing apps etc. etc. so I thought I could do with a good clear out! So a clean install I did! It's painless... just a lot of waiting! A couple of questions etc. and it installs itself!

So had a small play with the new features - I love spaces!! But currently (as we speak) configuring mail.app and then a couple of 3rd part apps to download and install.

BUT go buy it.. it's worth it!! Should be finished soon, so I'll be playing with the 300 new features later!

As for Parallels, didn't test if after the 'upgrade'.

BTW, I love iWorks, bought it too! :-)

[miffed]

Typical !!

I am stuck here in the Isle of Wight - Went to "The Islands Biggest (and only) Apple dealer" this morning , ....Who don't open on a Saturday :mad::(

...so nipped down the road to PC world - who stunned me with the revolution "It was only launched yesterday " :confused: ...Erm , yes - that was BEFORE today , SO WHERE IS IT THEN ?
The tell me they don't know when it will be in stock , but If I go with them , they can "tell me all the details about it .... " (no thanks :mad: )

I am loathed to order from Apple , after waiting bloody weeks for my Touch , which I finally received about 3 weeks after launch date

[Hands0n]

Oh I am not going to please you too much then :D

My Airport Extreme started playing up today. The first bit of Apple kit that I've had go wrong. It was only two months old so I took it back to the Apple Bluewater store where they exchanged it without any quibble - barely even looking at the receipt.

While I was there I asked about Leopard and the nice young lady pointed to the shelf behind the counter which was stacked up with shiny black boxes with a large X on each. "Have you got the Family Pack?" I enquired, half expecting a negative response. But sure enough there it was - same as all the others but with "MAC OS X V10.5 RETAIL FAMILY PACK" printed on the label (no, I don't know why the label was shouting at me either!).

Well, for £129 it simply had to be done - 5 shiny new OS X Leopard licences in one neat package. Oh and what a package it is too. The holographic detail on it is a positive work of art I tell you. I've had as much fun with the outside of the packaging as I am anticipating having with its contents.

The first candidate is my Mac Mini which is the nominated sacraficial lamb :D Next will be the Macbook Pro and finally the Mac Pro. It is really only Parallels that I am worried about - not that I use it all of the time, but I don't want this messing up my Windows XP licencing.

@Miffed - if you really have trouble getting a copy of Leopard give me a shout and I'll help out if you like. Royal Mail Special Delivery and it'll be with you the next day.

[Hands0n]

@chagle - Just a thought - but when you fresh install OS X Leopard don't you lose the iLife applications? iLife07 came with the Macs pre-installed - is it 07 on Leopard or 08? I'm confused :confused:

[chagle]

Yes indeed. You lose iLife 06 - But I have also bought iLife 08 :-) So it didn't bother me! :-) This Mac stuff is costing me a fortune! But .. it's great fun! :D

[chagle]

... There's no iLife with Leopard, I believe only on new Macs?

[Hands0n]

Yes indeed. You lose iLife 06 - But I have also bought iLife 08 :-) So it didn't bother me! :-) This Mac stuff is costing me a fortune! But .. it's great fun! :D

Hmm, interesting. I "Upgraded" my Mac Mini and it kept everything inclulding iLife07. I'm happy.

I know what you mean about costing a bundle - I've spent a small fortune in 2007. Must stop for 2008, but then I'm almost out of Apple stuff to buy!

[chagle]

Does anyone use/run iWorks? Just started getting into it.. looks OK.

[Hands0n]

No I'm running Neo Office and will change to Open Office once they've sorted out their UI and get rid of the necessity to run X11. From what I've seen of iWork it isn't bad but seems more like MS Works than MS Office.

I reckon Apple should get a grip of Open Office and make turn it into "iOffice" or similar (remember, you read it here :D).

[chagle]

That would be good!! But I won't hold be breath! :-)

[Hands0n]

I don't know really - Office is something of a double-edged sword for both companies.

For Microsoft it is penetration into the Apple marketspace, an always-on presence for those Apple Mac users who need something more capable than iWork. Any serious user of Spreadsheet in particular, and Wordprocessor in general, will find iWork lacking. iWork does not scale for large or complex documents (nor does Open/Neo Office I should add at this point). In contrast MS Office scales massively and has a very rich Function set and Scripting language. Any serious business or technical user cannot cope with iWork in comparison to MS Office.

My thinking in relation to Open Office (OO) is that in that product Apple may have a strong platform upon which to build a comparable product to Office. I am not sure why OO does not scale like MS Office. Did the programmers design it like that on purpose or is there some underlying limitation in the use of C++ and Java? The designers know what they are competing with (hence the inherent compatibility with MS Office file formats) so why not meet the challenge point by point?

I believe that it is purely a matter of resource - that the OO project cannot pull the design and development strings in tightly enough to bring OO into head-to-head combat with MS Office. But I also believe that a cororation like Apple could take the source code and do precisely that.

The question is, using OO or developing from the ground up, will they? Observing that Apple generally like things all their own way, I suspect that as their Mac market grows they will develop an appetite to do this one way or another.

But with iWork, they will not convince the Business world to take a step back to the late 1980s. :)

[Ben]

Am glad the upgrade went well. I think I'll try archive and install.

WRT Office, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing that it's a Microsoft product provided their Mac support remains good. Adobe's suite is another product that is essential for a massive amount of Mac users, but provided Adobe keeps up support for the platform (CS3 is excellent) then the more Mac developers there are, the better.

We've got Mac Office 2008 coming out shortly. I'm very excited. While I commend OO, and hope it continues to grow, I think Apple should be encouraging Microsoft to develop more Mac software products (given that MS is a software company) and not challenge it at this time. Any serious challenge to MS Office on the Mac may leave us with no version of MS Office at all.

[Hands0n]

I'll try Archive and Install on the MBP (it has Parallels) as I don't want to take any chances.

[miffed]

@Miffed - if you really have trouble getting a copy of Leopard give me a shout and I'll help out if you like. Royal Mail Special Delivery and it'll be with you the next day.

Cheers Handson !

....but fortunately , I learned there is an Apple store in Southampton :)
So a quick 10 min detour after getting off the ferry & I am happy man -Only got a single licence (I have been promised another copy by a friend already - legitmatly of course !) - so the single version will suffice for now ! ,letting the wife drive home as we speak , can't wait ! ( not sure there is enough battery power in the macbook to upgrade on the fly !

[Hands0n]

Ooooh Upgrading on battery power? That'd be way too scary for me :) I did the MBP last night, jacked into the mains, external HDD backup taken first. Couldn't take the risk of bu99ering it up completely. Sweaty palms, blurred vision, the lot!! FFS its only an Upgrade, done it squillions of times before - just not on Apple. Shouldn't have worried, typical Apple, asked me three questions then told me to buzz off while it go on with the business.

I have some problems with Parallels afterwards - but all it needed was the Parallel tools re-installing and everything came back.

Next up, this weekend probably, is the Mac Pro - the computer extension to my life!! But its the third to be done and the confidence levels are high as it is a stock install (except for Parallels).

So what are your thoughts on Leopard so far?

[Ben]

FFS, they haven't included support for Java 1.6 (http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2007/10/29/no_java_for_leopard/). What on Earth are they playing at? It has only been out for about a year, and a developer version was available for some time, so I think everyone assumed it'd be a part of the upgrade.

*bangs head on desk*