Mac OS 10.5 Leopard

Mac OS 10.5 Leopard, is the fifth significant update to Mac OS X, Apple's UNIX-based desktop operating system. It became available in stores (including the University's Computer Connection) on October 26, 2007.

Information Systems & Computing (ISC) supports Mac OS 10.5 Leopard for its clients, including off-campus students, only on new Macintoshes that ship with Mac OS 10.5 pre-installed. ISC strongly recommends that all other users adopt a "wait and see" approach, continuing to use previous versions of the Mac OS (including Mac OS 10.3.9 and 10.4.x) until the initial bugs in Mac OS 10.5 are identified and fixed.

When ISC does recommend an upgrade, it will be for systems with a 1.1 GHz or above processor (PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, or Intel) that has at least 1.0 GB of RAM. The full install of Mac OS 10.5 Leopard uses at least 9.0 gigabytes of hard disk space, depending on the type of Macintosh and choices made during the install.

The full version of Mac OS 10.5 Leopard is available from the Computer Connection for $69 (educational pricing).

Issues

There are a number of known issues with Mac OS 10.5 Leopard, several of which are especially relevant to Penn's Macintosh users:

Supported Applications

• Since this update includes a significant revision to the file structure of the OS itself, ISC anticipates that there may be problems with the current crop of disk utilities. Because of this, ISC strongly recommends that users wait until further testing determines which utilities will and will not work with Mac OS 10.5 Leopard.
• Mac OS 10.5 Leopard does not include any version of Mac OS 9 and previously installed versions of Mac OS 9 such as Mac OS 9.2.2 (Classic) will not function under Mac OS 10.5.
• The Internet Connect 1.1.0 installer available on the supported products web-site and the PennConnect DVD does not work correctly with Mac OS 10.5 Leopard because Apple has significantly revised the network interface. Draft instructions for connecting to AirPennNet or AirSAS are located here. ISC intends to release a Mac OS 10.5-specific installer as soon as possible.
• FileMaker Pro 9.0 and FileMaker Pro 9.0 Advanced have issues that may be significant to some users. The Instant Web Publishing feature does not work and each specific language version of FileMaker Pro works only when the preference for "International Formats Region" is set to the matching region. FileMaker intends to release updates on November 19, 2007. See FileMaker's Leopard compatibility page for more information.
• Norton AntiVirus 10.x for Mac OS X is not fully functional with Mac OS 10.5 Leopard. Specifically, automatic updates of virus definitions for Norton AntiVirus 10.x do not occur in LiveUpdate. As a temporary workaround, users can download the latest definitions for NAV 10.x here.
• The Network Applications Installer on the PennConnect Fall 2007 DVD installs correctly, but, as stated above, Norton AntiVirus does not function correctly. ISC intends to release a Mac OS 10.5 Leopard-specific Network Applications Installer as soon as possible.

Other Applications

• Thursby Windows-compatibility middleware (ADmitMac and DAVE) are incompatible with Mac OS 10.5 Leopard. More information is available here.
• Current versions of MarkSpace's The Missing Sync do not work with Mac OS 10.5 Leopard. MarkSpace will be releasing updated versions as soon as possible. See MarkSpace's Leopard support page for more information.

What's new in Mac OS 10.5

Mac OS 10.5 Leopard has an extensive list of improvements and new features (a list of 300 is available from Apple). Below are some that may be of interest to the Penn community:

1) Time Machine

Mac OS 10.5 Leopard includes an integrated backup solution called Time Machine. After designating an external backup device, Time Machine can provide automatic backups of personal data files, applications, system files, and user preferences. Recovery of previous versions of documents, as well as restoration of entire Mac volumes, is simple and seamless.

2) Spaces & Updated Desktop

Spaces is a new way of organizing activities by creating virtual workspaces. Applications can be assigned to a specific space; moving between spaces is done through the bird's-eye view in Spaces or through Exposé.

Improvements to Mac OS 10.5 Leopard's Desktop include a redesigned Dock, and a new feature called Stacks. A stack gives users fast access to files or a folders in the Dock. Files within a stack "spring" from the Dock in a fan or grid, giving you instant access.

One other improvement in Mac OS 10.5 Leopard's Finder is the integration of Cover Flow, which is a viewing technology first introduced in iTunes. Searching for documents in the Finder is just like flipping through album art in iTunes.

3) Boot Camp

Released as a public beta in Mac OS 10.4 Tiger, Boot Camp is built-in to Mac OS 10.5 Leopard. Users can create a separate boot volume and run 32-bit versions of Windows XP or Windows Vista natively on Intel-based Macs.

4) Quick Look

Quick Look allows the user to preview contents of files--images, texts, Microsoft Word or Excel documents, even full-screen video--all without ever opening them.

5) Updated Mail

An improved built-in Mail application includes new features such as Stationery, a new Notes application, iCal integration, ability to create to-do items from email, "smart" data and detection by analysis of text fragments in email such as contacts and addresses, and Safari RSS integration within Mail.

6) Updated Safari & Preview

The Safari web browser has been updated with new features, such as an enhanced search feature within a web page, moveable tabs, browser window merging, and resizable text fields.

A new user interface in Preview includes better zoom and scroll, relevancy ranked PDF searching through Spotlight integration, support for new annotations in PDF documents, and better imaging through image manipulation options and automatic white/black level controls.

7) Parental controls

An improved Parental Controls contains new features such as web address filtering, limitations on email and chat, more granular time limits, and robust logging.

8) iChat

Besides new and improved features such as invisibility, tabbed chats, and multiple logins, iChat includes significant new features: screen sharing and iChat Theatre. Functionality that was originally present in Apple Remote Desktop is now included in screen sharing, most notably the ability to control another workstation by request or invitation. iChat Theatre allows for remote presentation of content such as PowerPoint, videos, or any other media available through Quick Look.