Got a tip for us? Share it...

Leopard Mac OS X 10.5 Screenshots and Features

ThinkSecret posts some more screenshots from the latest build of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard (9A283).

Meanwhile, Apple posted a Leopard Technology Overview document for developers. Apple details several features for Leopard which are drawing some attention:

Resolution Independence

In Leopard, the system, including the Carbon and Cocoa frameworks, will be able to draw user interface elements using a scale factor. This will let the user interface maintain the same physical size while gaining resolution and crispness from high dpi displays.


OpenGL Improvements

Leopard also provides a dramatic increase in OpenGL performance by offloading CPU-based processing onto another thread which can then run on a separate CPU core feeding the GPU. This can increase, or in some cases, even double the performance of OpenGL-based applications.


QuickTime Improvements

QuickTimes plumbing is receiving significant upgrades in Leopard. There have been significant enhancements in handling the H.264 encoding. Also, transparent alpha layers, an optional part of the H.264 specification, are now supported in H.264-based QuickTime movies. And finally, QuickTime supports 64-bit.


OpenGL Improvements were previously described in August after WWDC. This new Multithreaded OpenGL has already been incorporated in the Mac Pro's version of Mac OS X 10.4.8.

Top Rated Comments

(View all)

69 months ago
i suspect we'll see leopard released in january.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
69 months ago

i suspect we'll see leopard released in january.

That would be really, really nice. I'm looking forward to this release a lot, especially for the opengl improvements. But it still won't keep me from buying a new laptop now. This will definitely be worth $129
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
69 months ago
Minor features now, major consumer oriented "hidden from WWDC" features at MacWorld?
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
69 months ago
I still don't see anything too great that every user needs. The parental controls are looking really nice, especially limiting hours on school nights etc. I'm hoping some super-secret features will really make me jump for it next March.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
69 months ago

i suspect we'll see leopard released in january.


well i really hope that you are right. i guess we'll have to wait and see though
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
69 months ago
The Finder brushed metal will be the last surprise change to the UI. Brushed metal is so 2004. Probably we'll see a radical change to Finder?

My guess, we'll see buttons and soft gradients, like those on the Apple store (Mac Book Pro) pages.

Attachment 60541
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
69 months ago
QuickTime now 64-bit!!!

Even more of a reason to get the new MBP:D
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
69 months ago

i suspect we'll see leopard released in january.


No way...

Won't happen but it never hurts to dream.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
69 months ago

QuickTime now 64-bit!!!


So that'll be Quicktime 8.0 then.

Great, but Leopard just got £20 more expensive for Quicktime Pro users. :mad: :(

SL
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives
69 months ago

i suspect we'll see leopard released in january.


Not unless January is in the Spring, which is when Apple has officially said Leopard will be released.
Rating: 0 Positives / 0 Negatives

[ Read All Comments ]