Leopard
The new version of OS X is here, Leopard and of course I’ve got it.
On the positive side, it’s nice to finally have unified window elements, instead of the mish-mash of different window styles we had before. I can finally use the Finder with the sidebar switched on without being really annoyed at how bad it looks. Spaces is also great, I’ve set up my browser on one space, iTunes on another, Adium on another and Mail on another. It’s so easy to just flick between them, move apps around and for the first time, virtual desktops seem useful to me.
But there are negatives too. The new dock is just no good at all, the background is just too bright with not enough contrast to the icons, while the transparent menu bar just feels totally pointless. Stacks are the biggest mistake though. Since the very first version of OS X I’ve had my Applications and User folder in there and it was always good to not only have drag/drop access, but a single click way to open the window in the Finder. This functionality has now been ruined, because now when you click you get a stack, which if you have a lot of Applications or files, just isn’t big enough to let you see everything. So of course then you click the “show in finder” link, which means you’re now two clicks away instead of one. But worst of all, the stack shows the first icon from the folder you’ve dragged in there, so my Apps folder now shows as the Address Book icon, with some of the other app icons appearing behind. My Users folder shows as a document. What were they thinking? Why does my Applications folder look like Address Book you idiots. I’ve kind of got around this by dropping two alias’s in there instead, which gives me the one click access back, but removes my ability to drag and drop. I had to go get custom folder icons though, since the new folder icons are so bad you can no longer easily tell the difference between different ones. They’ve just broken the functionality, replacing it with something that’s worse.
It’s an odd release, because much of what is new doesn’t immediately effect me. Time Machine does nothing for me, because I don’t have an external drive and even if I did, it’s not exactly convenient having it plugged into a laptop all the time. I don’t actually create a lot of files, since everything is on remote servers, so the updates to Spotlight and the Finder don’t mean much either. Parental Control upgrades? Nope, no kids. Boot Camp? Nope, I use Parallels. iChat? Nope, I use Adium. But where it does get interesting is the sheer number of small improvements across the entire system. Notes and todo lists in a much faster Mail? Great. Virtual desktops that actually seem worthwhile? Excellent. Quick Look, for one keypress, instant previews of all files? Super.
But like all OS X releases, the real reason for having it is all the new developer tools under the hood. The sheer number of new API’s, and especially the introduction of Core Animation, is going to mean that in six months time we’re going to start seeing even more creative applications, as developers are able to leverage the new tools that they’ve been given to play with. No OS X user should want to be left out of all that potential, and that’s what makes upgrading a no-brainer.
