Pace Paw Print

Media Credit: google.com Apple's newest operating system for Macs met generally good reviews.

Walking past the Apple store at the Westchester Mall last Friday night, shoppers probably would have noticed more commotion than usual taking place inside, as well as busy Apple staff members, working at extra registers to accommodate the growing lines.

The extra activity was due to the large number of customers waiting to purchase Leopard, the newest operating system, in the Mac line. The system includes over 300 new features, many of which expand on familiar applications such as iChat and Safari. Prices started at $129 for a single license and $199 for five licenses.

Some new features include Time Machine, an automatic back up system that enables restoration of documents, music, and basically your whole computer, Spaces, which allows the user to split their screen into up to four sections, making it easier to perform multiple functions at once, and Finder, a new way of looking through all of the files on the computer, similar to the way one browses through their music library through album artwork in iTunes.

The iChat has been upgraded to allow users to view presentations and other documents with each other while still being able to have a face to face conversation, it also provides the ability to share control of a single desktop from two locations using the screen sharing feature. The Safari under the Leopard has also been updated with innovations such as faster speeds and increased security.

The price of the new system is listed as the same as the previous one, called the Tiger.

Leopard's revelation was originally scheduled to be released in June, but in April Apple announced it would be delayed in order to devote attention to releasing the iPhone.

The Apple Store at The Westchester closed down for two hours on Friday, from four to six in the evening to prepare for the Leopard's unveiling. Anticipating a high influx of customers, who started lining up around noon, Apple employees cleared out their help desk, the Genius Bar, to make room for more registers.

The anticipation by the employees was well predicted it seemed: the first five hundred people in the store were given free Leopard tee-shirts and they were gone within forty five minutes.

Leopard has been given generally good reviews so far by the public. A review by cnet.com gave the system an eight out of ten, saying "the grace of Leopard's interface enhancements makes productivity more pleasurable with a Mac." The reviewer took points away, however, claiming "some new features, such as geotagging, aren't obvious to find; users with older Macs can't run Leopard."

Another criticism, voiced by pcworld.com said that the new see through menu on the desktop makes the features hard to see.

"The areas of light and dark behind the menu bar can severely decrease the readability of menu items."

The rest of the review, however, seemed generally positive.

"Mac OS X Leopard is a sweeping update with so many new features that it's hard to keep them all in perspective. What is clear, however, is that it's a solid upgrade."

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