I've been following the developer builds for a while.
Now 9a559 is my main OS, and all i can say is BUY THIS.
I have a 2.16ghz C2D MBP with 128Vram and 3gb of RAM, and boy, this makes my computer feel like a whole new one, its just SO responsive.
It's also a whole lot more stable than Tiger - especially with apps like Mail and Safari.
The interface is absolutely stellar (although it looks a little funny on non cocoa apps like Firefox, but taht went out the window when I tried the new safari anyway!)
There's a few annoyances i have with the system, for one, the dock is about 3 times as loud as it was in Tiger. each app icon has two shadows, and theres the reflection, then the strange "glow" spot that marks open applications, and then theres the refraction from the glow spot. There's jst far too much going on.
The other problems are hardly worth mentioning (no network location contextual menu in the apple menu anymore!)
Networking is one thing that improved massively in Leopard. I'm getting a whole lot fewer airport errors, they've done away with the useless "internet connect" app, simplified the whole thing. And now you get a list of secured and unsecured networks in the menubar for airport. sweet.
The new finder is... I can't say im that excited about it, its more or less exactly the same as the previous one just looks better - Quick look is beyond amazing though.
Addicted to stacks and spaces.
And yeah i could ramble on and on about how brilliant leopard is, just know that it's worth the upgrade for sure, both practically and aesthetically, ESPECIALLY if you have an intel mac, i was always disappointed with the stability of Tiger on intel as opposed to PPC but that resolves all of that and puts intel macs in their rightful place (aeons ahead of PPC! )
__________________ “To create a new standard, it takes something that’s not just a little bit different, it takes something that’s really new and really captures people’s imagination and the Macintosh, of all the machines I’ve ever seen, is the only one that meets that standard.” — Bill Gates
... and boy, this makes my computer feel like a whole new one, its just SO responsive.
(Sigh...)
I wish I had a nickel for every time I'd heard/read that. Every new iteration, whether a minor 10.x.x or a major 10.x, brings out a flood of speed increase observations. By now, if half of them were true, this freaking box (Mac Pro) would be thinking for me instead of waiting for my input.
Have a Powerbook, specs listed below, three years old but a capable machine, nonetheless. Upgraded from 10.3.9 to 10.4.6 a few months back (then .8, now .9).
Guess what people? It's friggin' slower! Period. Takes longer to boot up. Finder is less responsive. Software takes longer to fire up. And, I hate Spotlight.
Sorry, just had to get that out.
YMMV. Have a nice day.
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Just a knuckle-dragging troglodyte, back from a better place...
I've benchmarked every X release. - none got better tha 12 -14 sec for 1000 Windows Bloom which tests Finder response.
OS9 would aways get 9 sec even on modest system, it always felt quicker than any version of X...'til now.
Leopard?? 9 sec - we finally get wonderful Finder response. This is a brilliant OS and all consumers should jump asap.
Pros...go slow.
__________________ Spring Cleaning Sale email for flyer..sweet prices across the board • Many Retina's, Airs, new iMacs all on sale - great • OWC at par Trades welcome
It's also a whole lot more stable than Tiger - especially with apps like Mail and Safari.
That's amazing stuff the hear. I have found Tiger to be impressive and utterly stable. In particular I have never had issues with Safari and Mail.
It all sounds good!
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A MacPro 2.66 Xeon, an iMac G5, a Uni MB, a wee PowerBook 12" 1.5, an eMac, a couple of cameras, a lens collection and a wonderful iPod. Oh, and a delicious wife.
"Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little." Tom Stoppard
“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader".
Robert Frost
I wish I had a nickel for every time I'd heard/read that. Every new iteration, whether a minor 10.x.x or a major 10.x, brings out a flood of speed increase observations.
I've noticed this too. I'm running Tiger on an old G4 Sawtooth and while it hasn't seemed slower I haven't noticed any huge speed increase either. I think the excited speed increase reports might sometimes contain some element of the placebo effect. Like every time I wash and wax my car, which is hardly ever, I feel like I'm driving a new car that somehow seems faster.
__________________ The price of apathy toward public affairs, is to be ruled by evil men. -- Plato.
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Spring Cleaning Sale email for flyer..sweet prices across the board • Many Retina's, Airs, new iMacs all on sale - great • OWC at par Trades welcome
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