Apple Unveils Near Final Mac OS X Leopard
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SAN FRANCISCO, June 11 /- WWDC 2007 -- Apple(R) today unveiled a near final version of Mac OS(R) X Leopard, the sixth major release of the world's most advanced operating system. Scheduled to ship in October, Leopard introduces over 300 new features, including a new Desktop and Dock with Stacks, an intuitive new way to organize files; an updated Finder featuring Cover Flow(TM) and a new way to easily browse and share files between multiple Macs; Quick Look, a new way to rapidly preview most files without opening an application; Time Machine, a new way to easily and automatically back up and restore lost files or a complete Mac(R); Spaces, a powerful new feature to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them; and enhanced iChat and Mail applications, which easily allow users to communicate even more creatively.
"Leopard is the best release of Mac OS X to date, surpassing even Tiger, and will further extend Mac OS X's leadership as the most advanced and innovative operating system in the world," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "We think current and prospective customers are going to love Leopard, and that it will help make the Mac even more popular."
Leopard includes a completely new Dock featuring Stacks, which can help manage a user's desktop clutter caused by browser and email downloads. With the click of a mouse, users can instantly fan out the contents of a stack to easily see each item. Leopard's Finder has been completely redesigned, adding Cover Flow as an innovative way to quickly browse and locate files and applications. Finder's new Sidebar simplifies the organization of files on a Mac, and adds easy access to shared Macs and PCs on a home network. Subscribers to .Mac can also use the new "Back to my Mac" feature to browse and access files on their remote Macs over the Internet. Also new in Leopard is Quick Look, an innovative new way for users to instantly preview almost any file, and even play media files, without opening an application.
With its unique ability to let users travel back in time to find deleted files, applications, photos and other digital media, Time Machine is a revolutionary way to protect your digital life. With just a one-click setup, Time Machine automatically keeps an up-to-date copy of everything on the Mac. In the event a file is lost, users can use Mac OS X's Spotlight(TM) to search back through time to find and then instantly restore the file. Time Machine can automatically back up a Mac to an external hard drive connected with a FireWire(R) or USB cable, to a server, or wirelessly to an AirPort Extreme(R) base station with an attached hard drive.
Leopard also includes three new technologies that take full advantage of the latest developments in processor hardware: full native 64-bit support to enable applications to take complete advantage of 64-bit processing while still running side by side with existing 32-bit Mac OS X applications and drivers; easy multi-core optimization and scheduling to take advantage of the latest Intel hardware; and Core Animation, helping developers easily create animated user experiences as amazing as Leopard's Spaces and Time Machine in their own applications.
Other new features in Leopard include:
-- Leopard Mail, offering more ways to customize and add personal style to
email than ever before, with more than 30 beautiful stationery designs
and layouts that look great on a Mac or Windows PC; Notes, making it as
easy to take and organize notes as it is to compose and read emails;
To Dos, for creating lists viewed directly in Mail and automatically
sync them with iCal(R); and data detectors that automatically sense
phone numbers, addresses and events so they can be easily added to
Address Book or iCal;
-- Leopard iChat with iChat Theater, letting users present photos,
presentations, videos and files in a video conference; Photo Booth
effects, enabling users to transform their iChat video in real time
with fun distortion and color effects; and video backdrops that allow
users to choose any photo or video that makes them appear to be
anywhere in the world, or out of it;
-- Leopard iCal, introducing powerful group calendaring features based on
the open CalDAV standard that make it easy to organize and coordinate
schedules with other people;
-- Spaces, giving users a powerful new, clutter-free way to create
customized spaces on the desktop with only the applications or files
needed for each project, and the ability to quickly switch between them
with one click of a mouse or keystroke;
-- Web Clip, bringing anything that a user wants from a web page to
Dashboard as a live widget;
-- Boot Camp, making it possible to run Windows natively on Intel-based
Macs*; and
-- new development tools, including Xcode(R) 3 with a next generation
editor; an all new Interface Builder for easier integration of advanced
animation effects into an application; simpler debugging; and support
for Objective-C 2.0; DashCode, a better way to create new Dashboard
widgets without writing a line of code; and Xray, a new application for
optimizing application performance.
Pricing & Availability
Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard is scheduled to ship in October and will be available through the Apple Store(R) (http://www.apple.com/), Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $129 (US) for a single user license. The Mac OS X Leopard Family Pack is a single-residence, five-user license that will be available for a suggested retail price of $199 (US). Volume and maintenance pricing is available from Apple.
*Copy of Windows XP or Vista required.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and will enter the mobile phone market this year with its revolutionary iPhone.
(C) 2007 Apple Computer, Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, Cover Flow, Spotlight, FireWire, AirPort Extreme, iCal, Xcode and Apple Store are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact: hoover1@apple.com
Source: Apple
CONTACT: Anuj Nayar, +1-408-974-8388, anuj@apple.com, or Lynn Fox,
+1-408-974-4300, lfox@apple.com, both of Apple
Web site: http://www.apple.com/
