9 Mac OS X Leopard Rumors
WWDC will run for 5 days starting on the 7th of August. In anticipation, here is a run down of the coolest Leopard rumors circulating on the Internet.
While I may be fueling the rumor mill that I complain about, we are now within five weeks of the day when most of these will be proven right or wrong. Or at least, will be postponed until the next version of Mac OS X.
So here are, in no particular order, my nine favorite Leopard rumors:
1. Bit Torrent
Of all the Mac OS 10.5 rumors, this one is my favorite. The rumor is that Apple is going to include a Bit Torrent client as part of the new operating system to distribute iTunes music/video and software updates. The benefit of sharing your bandwidth to offset Apple’s costs is that- according to the rumor- you will receive credit based on your participation. These credits could be for the iTunes store, the Apple store or something else. This is a great idea, as long as it is turned off by default and people are well-informed before they opt-in.
2. Virtualization
While Boot Camp was a great development, the true Mac-switcher-drool-inducer is virtualization. With the full product launch of Parallels for the Intel Mac, and Apple’s quiet endorsement of it, running Windows (or Linux) within OS X just got simple, inexpensive and impressive. Support for virtualization within the operating system would take it one step further, though recent mentions of Parallels in Apple literature makes the picture murky.
3. Windows API
The strangest- and strangely appealing- rumor may be the one about native support for Windows API in Leopard. That would mean that you could run most Windows-only applications in Leopard the same way you would run a Mac application.
4. Geographical Mapping
Then, there has been talk of the inclusion of geographical mapping software with the operating system. I am not sure at all what the benefit would be, except for some cool integration with Address Book, but with Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth already out there, Apple may just be throwing their hat in to the ring.
5. Not Called Leopard
The most basic and appealing rumor I have come across so far is that the new operating system may not be called Leopard at all. Apple may move to a new naming scheme (dogs, maybe?) or a different cat (OS X Cheshire), but it seems like the world of marketing and re-branding may influence this decision more than an innate love of cats.
6. Living Elements:
A few rumor sites have been talking about ‘living elements’ within OS X. While the descriptions are vague, I think we can be quite confident that Mac OS 10.5 will include a lot of eye-candy and graphics that will introduce a host of new visual cues in to our jaded ways of using the Mac.
7. A New Finder
This one has been long overdue. The shortcomings in Finder are legendary and have spawned a cottage industry of small applications that overcome them. Of course, an improved Finder would kill that industry, but when has Apple shied away from introducing features that make entire companies redundant?
8. Improved Dashboard
The Dashboard has been one of those things that people either use rabidly or not at all. My reasons for not using it are numerous, but some small tweaks to the speed and usability could get me to use it. This may be one of the smaller updates to OS X, but I expect some changes here.
9. Collaborative Documents
Some rumors speak of collaborative document editing features. While these features would make more sense as part of the iWork suite, operating system level support could also be introduced.
And then, there are a few rumors that do not excite me a lot yet, but could in the future. TUAW recently reported that the OS X servers could move to Sun’s ZFS file system. Also, Mac OS X may be moving towards resolution independence, but I will hold off judgement on that until someone can explain the excitement about it. And finally, there are rumors about full-screen applications in Leopard that could allow you to do things like have your iCal calendar in the background of your desktop at all times. Nice, but not quite in the awesome category yet. Use the comments to point out why I should be excited about these features or to point out all the cool rumors I may have missed.
So there you have it—a round up of all the rumors that will keep me going until the WWDC conference in San Francisco, California this August. Apple Matters will have regular coverage from that event, so stay tuned.
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Nice collection of ideas. I’d just like to point out that if Apple implemented BitTorrent (which makes sense to me) then it would probably have to be a feature of iTunes rather than of OS X itself, since the iTMS via iTunes is cross-platform.
If you’re interested in reading a good discussion of resolution indepenence, try this article by John Siracusa.
We’ll know on August 7th if any of these features will show up. Just a few more weeks to wait. I say sit back, relax and rest assured that we’ll soon see the real thing in action.
I agree that the BitTorrent thing could be part of iTunes, but it could also be used for distribution of Software Updates for the OS and other software distribution in general. If the capability exists, why use it only for music?
True, true, but I’m sure the iTMS accounts for much greater bandwidth cost than the rare OS X software updates. You know that it actually operates at cost, right? i.e. the music store doesn’t make a profit to speak of. I reckon using P2P distribution, Apple could turn the whole thing profitable.
Great scouting report Devanshu! Let’s take some time to digest them all…
”...there has been talk of the inclusion of geographical mapping software with the operating system. I am not sure at all what the benefit would be, except for some cool integration with Address Book, but with Google Earth and Microsoft Virtual Earth already out there, Apple may just be throwing their hat in to the ring. -Devanshu
The immediate benefit would be those folks roaming and jetsetting. I assume these same people have “constant-on” connection via CDMA 1XRTT or EVDO (I can give you the full explanation of that at request) or GSM’s EDGE or earlier GPRS modes. Wi-Fi can do it but trouble of finding “hot spots” and the troubles of log-ins make that too cumbersome for most - including me. For worldwide travelers, you are better off going GSM than CDMA. I found out the hard way on my trip to Dresden, recently.
So, why would this particular feature so exciting? Again, in my trip to Dresden, it would have been really nice to have my PowerBook 17” with that capability when I was out lost in the countryside. And not knowing a comfortable set of Deutsch vocabulary, it was terrible to communicate. It would have made my roaming a lot more fun and adventurous.
Also, Mac mini-on-automobiles shops would glee if this comes true. Imagine, they would not have to pay Garmin for the GPS nav app. It would be built-in and if not, there will be an open-source version out there for OSX “Cheshire” <thanks Dev for a witty proposal>? Stay with “Leopard” Steve, you’ll have a more marketable term than “Mac System X 10.5” as I’m sure your marketing geniuses are proposing.
As for bit-torrent, the only way for Apple to include the source code into the main development trunk of OSX is for its main dev gurus will not insist royalties. This is similar to terms they got with Konqueror’s for Safari’s code base.
We know that Apple is quietly moving to a “lossless” format for the audio part of iTMS. Also, Apple is spearheading its initiative to offer full-length movies. We still have to know what format or “wrapper” they will use to protect the content via DRM. I don’t see how they just can’t a modified Fairplay algorithm for the video wrapper. That would really tingle Bbx’s common sense.
So, Apple + lossless audio format + huge video/movie format = need for an efficient distribution system. Solution = BitTorrent technology. But we’ll see how Apple will solve the community-sharing or “swarming” problem of content distribution with BT. Still, this idea is worth considering into Leopard and iTunes/iTMS in general.
Some rumors speak of collaborative document editing features. While these features would make more sense as part of the iWork suite, operating system level support could also be introduced. -Devanshu
Is this the second incarnation of OpenDoc and CyberDog? I loved the idea then but it never floated by mass acceptance. If Leopard has improved on the then-brilliant idea, that would be something, indeed!
And this “living elements” thing is intriguing. Even I can care, to some extent, a lesser degree on “eye candies” than most Mac faithfuls. Any good Mac scouts seen reports of such destructive weaponry?
I wonder what M$ is pondering with all its armies of industrial spies all over Cupertino campuses attempting to take a glimpse of this advanced GUI technology. Is this perhaps the reason for their Vista is delayed? and delayed? Just a thought…
Of these, #2 and #3 are the most interesting to me. But I have to be skeptical about OS X handling .exe files for reasons, including security. I’d be curious to see how they handle this.
And I agree with Ben about Bittorrent. Unless you made it available in the Windows iTMS as well, the bandwidth cost savings aren’t going to add up to much.
But I have to be skeptical about OS X handling .exe files for reasons, including security. I’d be curious to see how they handle this.-Beebx
You don’t have to worry about it, Beeb, because they won’t! Read up on my Parallels suggestions.
Unless you made it available in the Windows iTMS as well, the bandwidth cost savings aren’t going to add up to much.-Beebx
I agree that is why I said, ”...iTunes/iTMS in general”, general as in everyone, including Linux if they have time to support that system.
@Robotech Infidel, good points all around. I think I understand the resolution independence a bit better now. And I hope Mac OS X Cheshire catches on!
And I hope Mac OS X Cheshire catches on!-Devanshu
You got it, Dev! I’m for it for as long as the name is creatively simple for all Mac peasants to chew.
Resolution independence is exiciting. It means crystal clear text and images at any resolution. Currenty, LCD monitors have optimum resolutions and running them at any other resolution produces fuzzy text.
This is particularly appealing to people with poor vision - such as my Dad - who run their monitors at lower resolutions to get large text, which is then fuzzier.
Also some larger monitors demand resolution so high that even I struggle to read the text.
A question: We keep hearing that Parallels can run Windows and Linux on OS X, but can it run OS X on OS X? Does anyone know?
A question: We keep hearing that Parallels can run Windows and Linux on OS X, but can it run OS X on OS X? Does anyone know?-C.H.
No, Parallels Desktop does not give you a choice of installing OSX as a virtual machine, or in their parlance, the guest OS.
That is a thought though, but who would run OSX on OSX? And what purpose would that serve if I run the same aps I have on a guest OS on top of my main OS - which in this case OSX?
The only reason I could think of would be for the convenience of beta testers, debuggers, magazine editors, lab techs, or plain vanilla Mac fanatics who just gotta try that new build without whacking his main source of fun, for curiousity’s sake.
That would be fun for me, indeed.
Another note on Parallels. It “virtualizes” a garden variety BIOS-based x86 hardware (AMD-based boot sequences and drivers, actually, no surprises there) and not of EFI-based x86 hardware.
Now you and I know that only OSX and some Linux distros are certified EFI v.1.0 or newer compliant at this point, as far as released versions go. Vista may go the EFI at some point but perhaps not at release time (whenever Balmer stops toe tapping, I presume).
So, for Parallels Desktop to run OSX as host OS, it would have to virtualize an EFI-capable VM. This is perhaps the reasons for Apple to approach Parallels for this inclusion in their technology. Or Apple/Steve is so amazed at how Parallels efficiently emulates a genuine x86 hardware that Apple may be mulling to buy the company out right. Why reinvent the wheel when you can buy a F1 or Indy car because this is what they’ll get with Parallels.
Another use of a virtual OS X in Parallels is backup testing. That is restoring your backup to verify it all works.