Leopard, Off the Cuff
So, today was Leopard release day. Showing up at work this morning and seeing a shrink-wrapped copy on my desk was a nice surprise.
Some initial reactions:
* It’s snappier. I’m sure cleaning out my 10.4 cruft helped, but it sure is faster than I expected.
* Spaces is a big deal. Multiple desktops are something I really missed from my days as a Linux junkie (Virtue Desktops didn’t perform well enough for my tastes)
* Cleaner UI. Very happy to get rid of the clunkier brushed-metal look. The window shadowing is definitely better in this release as well.
* Web Clips are sweet. I do wonder, however, how this will affect ad-driven sites who rely on people coming to view changing content (which now can be docked ad-free on Dashboard).
* Cover Flow in Finder is neat, at least for some types of media (especially with video Quick Look); it’s useless with text, of course. The default blue folder image is disappointingly drab.
* Lots of small features to find (tabbed windows and better Google Talk support in iChats, an improved Spotlight, etc); some of these might reduce my currently fanatical need for applications like Quicksilver and Chax.
I think the thing that most excites me about Leopard is the fact new applications are sure to come out that will leverage technologies like Core Animation (and various nifty XCode improvements). The next version of TextMate, which will be Leopard-only, for instance, is something I can’t wait to get my hands on.
All in all, very happy with this release so far.
