Apple announced today that Leopard AKA OS X 10.5 will be released next Friday (what is it with this ‘release at 6 p.m. Friday’ shtick anyway?) and published the list of 300+ new features. The ones that most interest me:
- Time Machine: This is a complete backup and restore application (wonder if it will be better for me than iBackup) with an allegedly simple as pie user interface.
- TextEdit: Read and write Word 2007 and OpenDocument formats, makes me wonder if it will replace the majority of my use for NeoOffice. Since I don’t have iWork, I’ll still be using Neo for spreadsheets and presentations. Unless I can get by with Google’s online tools…
- Terminal: Tabbed windows, and movable at that. Save the configuration of all open windows as a workspace. Sorry iTerm.
- Mail: Improved search (w00t!). Detects text fragments like appointments and addresses, and lets you choose smart actions with a click: create a new contact, map an address, or create an iCal event.
- Spotlight: Web history searches, hopefully works with Firefox. Now where was that hot naked chick I was ogling yesterday?
- Preview: Edit images in Preview. Crop, rotate, resize, and save images in a range of image formats. Selection tools make it a snap to cut and paste images from Preview directly into other applications.
- Automator: I keep thinking I should use this scripting app and maybe now that it will be “easier than ever” I actually will.
BillSaysThis 