Resolution Independence Support in Snow Leopard? [Update]
Roughly Drafted claims to have knowledge of some of the possible new features coming in Snow Leopard. Unfortunately, the article appears to include some degree of speculation making it difficult to tease out what might be actual features.
One of the more interesting possibilities includes the introduction of full Resolution Independence. The groundwork for this feature was included in Leopard, but full implementation was not expected until a later release. The author speculates that the dramatic size reductions in the application sizes could be, in part, due to resolution independence. Besides file-size reductions by eliminating large bitmaps, Apple's research into resolution independence opens the door to ultra-high resolution displays. This could pave the way for Apple's previously rumored high resolution Cinema displays.
The benefit of resolution independence would be the ability for the operating system to scale its user interface smoothly to accommodate higher resolution displays. At present, most displays are around 100 dots-per-inch (dpi), meaning 100 pixels for every inch of screen display. If Apple were to introduce an ultra-high resolution display, it could have a dpi of 200 or 300. The same image viewed on these higher resolution screens would appear 2x to 3x smaller. Simply scaling up bitmapped images to fit the display would result in blocky/jagged images. If instead, they are described as vectors, as Apple is proposing, larger displays could smoothly scale the user interface to the size of the display.
The article also suggests that 3rd party support for the multi-touch trackpads, expanded data detectors, auto activation of fonts, and ZFS support (which is listed in features for Snow Leopard Server) are also coming.
Update Some have suggested that the reduction in Snow Leopard's filesize is simply related to languages and interface builder (nib) files, and that resolution independence does not play a role. Pipian demonstrates this effect.
One of the more interesting possibilities includes the introduction of full Resolution Independence. The groundwork for this feature was included in Leopard, but full implementation was not expected until a later release. The author speculates that the dramatic size reductions in the application sizes could be, in part, due to resolution independence. Besides file-size reductions by eliminating large bitmaps, Apple's research into resolution independence opens the door to ultra-high resolution displays. This could pave the way for Apple's previously rumored high resolution Cinema displays.
The benefit of resolution independence would be the ability for the operating system to scale its user interface smoothly to accommodate higher resolution displays. At present, most displays are around 100 dots-per-inch (dpi), meaning 100 pixels for every inch of screen display. If Apple were to introduce an ultra-high resolution display, it could have a dpi of 200 or 300. The same image viewed on these higher resolution screens would appear 2x to 3x smaller. Simply scaling up bitmapped images to fit the display would result in blocky/jagged images. If instead, they are described as vectors, as Apple is proposing, larger displays could smoothly scale the user interface to the size of the display.
The article also suggests that 3rd party support for the multi-touch trackpads, expanded data detectors, auto activation of fonts, and ZFS support (which is listed in features for Snow Leopard Server) are also coming.
Update Some have suggested that the reduction in Snow Leopard's filesize is simply related to languages and interface builder (nib) files, and that resolution independence does not play a role. Pipian demonstrates this effect.
Apple has updated its enterprise iOS configuration tool, Apple Configurator. The Mac app, originally released last year, allows anyone to mass configure and deploy iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch...
Mountain Sheep's Bike Baron has been chosen as the Starbucks App of the Week, making it available for free for the first time ever for customers who have downloaded the Starbucks app.
...
Apple today released updated versions of Java 6 for OS X, bringing additional improvements to security, reliability, and compatibility. This is a standard update to Java 6, which is distributed by...
FiftyThree, the company that created popular iPad sketching app Paper, today announced that it received $15 million in funding for future projects, which will focus on both collaboration and...
Apple's Messages app for OS X has received a significant amount of criticism since its introduction last year as the evolution of iChat. The app has suffered from a number of issues including...
Just a couple of weeks after rebuilding its iPad app as a universal app, Shazam has released another update, this time adding a music discovery feature called Pulse, a new-look tab bar, and more.
...
Following the launch of the Jony Ive-led streamlining of the iOS user interface, the designer himself has seen his job title receive a redesign as well. Ive is now the Senior Vice President of Design...
In Apple's ongoing antitrust case with the Department of Justice, Apple's SVP of internet software and services Eddy Cue once again took the stand today, where he revealed several small...
