Inevitably approaching event, which have been waiting for a long time. Everybody is waiting for them - journalists of “about computers” magazines, people interested in computers, program developers, and, perhaps, every person who has seen more than one operating system.

And, of course, it is waiting for users of computers manufactured by Apple.

I'm talking about the release of the new version of Apple's operating system - MacOS 10.5, or, in a more human language - Leopard.
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However, if for “Macs” this is really an event with a capital letter and a product relating to them directly, then for everyone else this is just curiosity.

Meanwhile, new major versions of operating systems do not even come out every year. In some cases, you have to wait five years, and five years is a period for which even the most pragmatic and calm people get bored.

Therefore, since the first public story about the upcoming operating system, the curiosity of the public has only increased. People set themselves beta versions, people wrote reports, people discussed Leopard on blogs.

And now the opinion is heard more and more often - “10.5 does not offer anything fundamentally new, this is only a pleasant, but not a revolutionary update”.

With the help of this article I would like to clarify a bit the real significance of this “update”. For "macintoshnikov." For the curious. For the future of operating systems on personal computers.

Big things

After such a lengthy introduction, I want to dramatically change the style of presentation of the material and move from water to meat. So, let's start the conversation with things known to all, whose significance, it seems to me, has been somewhat underestimated.

Time machine

As you know, a real-time machine will be built into the Leopard. This application penetrates the system everywhere and allows you to roll back the state of any file or object to an arbitrary point in time.

Usually in this place they say that this functionality has been present in Windows for a long time and is called Shadow Copy. However, the fun of everything Apple does is that it never happened before them. The magic of this company lies in the fact that the products it produces can actually be used. So with Time Machine.

Absolutely everyone agrees that data backup is very important. And almost everyone never does it. The reasons? Very simple:

• it's usually unclear where to save the data. DVDs? Too much fuss. Extra hard drive? It usually seems too wasteful. And only the network storage of information more or less stuck.
  It is usually quite difficult to set up automatic backup. It does not require too much knowledge or experience, but it is just lazy, since the nuances are the sea.
  Usually the recovery of information, if it is still needed - a real flour. Even if you saved the information - it takes a lot of time to find it, make sure that this is exactly what you need and return it to its place. Speaking of system files is also dangerous. If we are talking about text documents, it can be very difficult to make sure that the file found contains exactly the version of the program, articles, letters.
  
  Time machine solves all these problems. In short:
  
  • Time machine can create backups not only on an external hard drive, but also on a network drive - be it a MacOSX Server or just a shared-directory.
    Installing Time Machine is very simple. If you want to save everything - just pressing a single button. And you never have to even remember to save information until you need to restore it.
    The backup process is completely independent. You can pull out the disk to save or lose connection with the network to which the data is currently being saved. As soon as the storage becomes available again, the backup will continue. And you will not notice anything.
    With one click of the mouse, you can order Time Machine to backup at any time.
    You can use Time Machine to make one computer - ten identical to it. Just restore (with one click!) Backup on these ten computers.
    
    Time Machine - the first ever human way to protect your information. And much more.
    
    And this is a revolution.
    
    

    Spotlight

    
    In the previous (current) system - MacOSX 10.4 Tiger for the first time appeared something called Spotlight. This is a mechanism for instant search for anything on any basis. Do you need a PDF document where it was written about ducks? You simply write "ducks" and instantly receive this document. Do you want to run an application that lies in the Applications directory among hundreds of others? There is no need to pick up the mouse and dig into this pile - write the first few letters of the name of the application and press Cmd + Enter.
    
    Spotlight changed the way people use computers. And Spotlight in Leopard will continue his work.
    
    Again, briefly, the list of new features:
    
    • Search by network. In the network of several "mac" you can search for files without thinking about where they are. Are you at work. You need a distribution of some application. Or a report on a topic. Or you want to see everything related to this topic. Just enter keywords and get what you want. Instantly.
      Serious query language. Now you can use Boolean logic - operators "AND", "OR", "NOT". Now you can search directly for metadata - “width”, “height”, “author”. Now you can specify ranges - “more than”, “less than”. Now you can use dates.
      
      That is, you can literally write the following “business report AND the date of change more than 10 October” or “photo AND width more than 1000”. And you will get the result instantly.
      Spotlight now also searches web browsing history. Including - on the content of these pages. As often happens this: yesterday you were on some site, but you forgot its address. Today you need to go there again. Google can help, but not always - it is too difficult to find what you are looking for in the entire Internet. But finding it in the history of your own queries is much easier.
      
      In Windows Vista, a similar search appeared. Automatically indexing the contents of your computer and instantly delivering results. I worked closely with this system for more than six months. And he could not train himself to use it. Because it is unbearable.
      
      There is no need to get used to Spotlight. It just works.
      
      

      Quicklook

      
      A small, but very serious innovation Leopard - a system of quick preview files Quicklook. Being in the file browser window, you press the "space" and instantly see the contents of the selected file.
      
      This would not be anything special, if not for one moment - it is a modular system. The developer of any application that uses its data type can (and obviously does so) write a special plugin that integrates into the Quicklook system. Thus, the Leopard user is guaranteed a very fast and easy way to look at any file without launching (often long and painful) the application itself. This applies to images, videos, documents, music files - anything you like.
      
      

      Web clip

      
      In MacOSX 10.4 Tiger, there was another, really serious, innovation - the Dashboard. In fact, this is the second “desktop”, which is displayed by pressing a single button and can contain small widget applications.
      
      For many, Dashboard has become an indispensable tool. It was not useful to many. However, there is hardly a more suitable place where you can put information about the current state of the system (iStat Pro), weather, calendar, small notes.
      
      In Leopard there will be a new simple and ingenious widget - Webclip.
      
      This is a small button on the Safari browser control panel. By clicking on it, you can select a part of any web page, literally “cut out” a piece - and place it in the Dashboard.
      
      Think a minute - from all the sites that you visit regularly, how much could you move there? "Business Lynch" Lebedev? Easy. Popular posts from blogs.yandex.ru ? Is your current karma with habr.ru ? Schedule favorite cinema? Weather with gismeteo.ru (whom you trust the most)?
      
      WebClip is a great example of little things that is as simple as it is ingenious.
      
      

      "Little things"

      
      The leopard also includes dozens of “trifles”, some of which are innovative, some are bug fixes, some are just an evolution of old opportunities.
      
      I will try to list some of the things that interest me without adhering to a special order.
      
      

      Addresses in Google Maps

      
      Every time you see an address - in the Address Book or in a letter in the mail, you can view it on Google maps with one click.
      
      

      Strongly improved AppleScript

      
      AppleScript is a simple scripting language that allows you to operate on almost everything that happens in MacOSX. If you want something strange, and the application itself does not allow this, there is a very high probability that (if you have a basic programming experience) you can write a script that implements this oddity in ten minutes.
      
      In the new version: full support for Unicode. Many system settings can now be used in scripts - Dock, Security, Expose, Accounts, Networking, iChat. Changed system error messages. The Folder Actions system has been greatly changed - now a separate server is responsible for this.
      
      

      Very advanced Automator

      
      Automator is a simple application that allows people who are not familiar with programming to easily create simple scripts with the mouse. For example, you can easily create a script that will take a screenshot, resize it, save it to a file with the desired name, upload this file to your FTP and put a link to it on the clipboard.
      
      In the new version, Automator has learned how to directly record user actions, so that they can be used later in the script. Variables appeared. Now you can run the script on a schedule - once every 5 minutes, for example. There is a large set of new actions - to work with RSS, built-in video cameras, PDF and many others.
      
      

      Dashcode

      
      A new application has appeared - Dashcode, with which you can create your own widgets. Very simple and convenient. In fact, anyone familiar with Javascript can easily learn how to design and develop their own widget. For a couple of hours you can do quite a complicated thing.
      
      

      Springloaded dock

      
      Now, if you take a file with the mouse, hover them on the icon in the Dock and press the spacebar - the application that you hover with the mouse will start. Accordingly, it will be possible to throw this file somewhere there. Perhaps only real MacOSX users will understand the importance of this. Drag'n'drop in this system is truly 100% used.
      
      

      Wikipedia in Dictionary

      
      Together with MacOSX comes the standard Dictionary application. Now this dictionary is able to load articles from Wikipedia.
      
      

      New DVD Player

      
      The interface of the standard DVD Player has been greatly changed. New fullscreen interface. A convenient mechanism for selecting scenes during full-screen viewing. The mechanism of zooming the image to full screen - in order to get rid of the black fields. The system reads even heavily scratched discs. Improved image quality thanks to new deinterlacing algorithms.
      
      

      New Finder

      
      Finder has been greatly reworked - the main MacOSX application, analogous to Explorer in Windows. First, it now looks like iTunes - with a well-crafted Sidebar. Secondly, it supports CoverFlow. Thirdly, for .Mac subscribers, you can access your home computer's files from anywhere, no matter where you are.
      
      Added "bread crumbs" - displaying the full path to the current file. Finally, you can safely open the network access to any directory in the system.
      
      

      New FrontRow

      
      Leopard has a built-in interface called Frontrow, a full-screen system for accessing your media library. Now it looks more like Apple TV and can, in particular, show content from any iTunes on the current network.
      
      

      New iCal

      
      The iCal application, a calendar with advanced scheduling options, has been greatly modified. There are so many changes that it does not make much sense to list. The main thing, perhaps, is the support of shared calendars through CalDAV.
      
      

      New iChat

      
      An application that has received more innovations than any other. iChat is a MacOSX embedded IM client that supports multiple protocols — from Bonjour (a protocol that automatically connects people on the same network) to Jabber. The brightest innovations are the use of Photobooth effects, the ability to show each other your screen (for example, demonstrate how to use some application), the ability to record audio and video conversations, iChat Theater is a system for demonstrating almost any content (more precisely, everything, that supports Quicklook) interlocutor - from video to Excel files.
      
      

      Russification

      
      Leopard is the first version of MacOSX, which flaunts a complete Russification of the system, including tools for spell checking. In addition, a new keyboard layout of a Cyrillic keyboard has been added to the system that will save the switchers, such as in Windows.
      
      

      New Mail

      
      The standard mail client of the system, Mail, is now much smarter. He learned how to create HTML letters (and several dozen pre-made templates are suggested). From the letters you can now create To-Do objects (which will greatly help Adherents Getting Things Done). Also, Mail is now able to read RSS feeds, create brief notes (Notes), create archives of letters.
      
      

      New Airport menu

      
      The ancient dream of MacOSX users - now the Airport menu (wi-fi network) displays which networks are closed and which are not.
      
      

      Parental controls

      
      In Leopard, a very well developed system of control over the actions of children compared to the old one appeared. Now, poor kids can be limited to filtering "unwanted" content on Wikipedia.
      
      

      Updated PhotoBooth

      
      One of the funniest, and maybe, useless recent applications is PhotoBooth. This thing imitates a photo booth and makes it funny to play around with the built-in (or external) webcam.
      
      In the new version: support for new funny effects, support for backdrops - background images, video recording, photography in serial mode, the ability to display a slideshow and export the recorded video to an animated GIF (on avatar).
      
      

      Brand New Preview

      
      With the introduction of Quicklook, this application will be used less frequently, but, meanwhile, it is important. This is a simple program that allows you to view images and PDF files. Much has changed:
      
      • New user interface
        Smooth zoom and scroll
        You can add annotations attached to a specific point to images and PDF documents. PDF annotations are saved inside the PDF.
        More options for image manipulation, for example, you can quickly remove the background from a photo, leaving only the central object.
        Ability to edit PDF: reorder pages, delete pages, merge multiple PDFs into one
        Bulk image operations
        Supports GPS data in photos
        
        

        Spaces - virtual desktops

        
        Linux users are no stranger to this. However, both in Windows and MacOSX it was. As separate applications.
        
        Now it is built into the system - a mechanism for creating and managing multiple desktops. You can:
        
        • create new desktops, call them and move between them
          look at all of them at once in realtime. Approximately as Expose.
          tether applications to your desktops. Toys always run on one, Photoshop - always on the other.
          Easy to move applications between desktops.
          
          

          Search by application menu

          
          Now, painfully remembering where this or that team is in the Photoshop menu - you can just use the quick search and find this command very quickly and easily.
          
          

          New Terminal

          
          Terminal - an application known to all * nix'oids to access the text console of the operating system. In the new version:
          
          • normal support for various languages ​​(there used to be problems with Russian, for example)
            Full support for tabs - creating, merging, converting tabs to windows and back
            All settings of a specific terminal can be saved in Workspace, which you can use later
            
            

            New TextEdit

            
            This application is in some way analogous to Notepad. However, much more decent - can Rich Text, can read .doc files and all that. In the new version:
            
            • Autosave. Saves documents on schedule.
              Supports OpenDocument and Word2007 formats
              Converts web addresses to links.
              Automatically converts quotes to "correct"
              Clever copy-paste - allows for spaces around cut and paste text
              
              

              Ruby on rails

              
              The system is now built into the framework for the development of web applications - Ruby on Rails. Together with Mongrel (special web server) and Capistrano (remote control and deployment mechanism).
              
              

              Conclusion

              
              I have not listed everything. A complete list of improvements is described on the dedicated page: www.apple.com/macosx/features/300.html
              
              I hope this description has given some insight into what Leopard is. This is indeed a serious step forward, and some of its capabilities will definitely change how we use computers. Now backup is available for lazy people. Desktop Sharing is available to non-administrators. Not only geeks, but also ordinary people will start using virtual screens. Widgets will be really useful - because of Webclip. Russian will work out of the box.
              
              Best regards and until October 26 :)