By Josh Lowensohn, 9 June 2009 08:37
NEWS
...cut across the line, with one of the deepest coming to the MacBook Air with the solid-state hard drive. It now costs $1,799, down from $2,499.
Snow Leopard
Apple demoed OS X 10.6, aka Snow Leopard. It will be available as a $29 upgrade for Leopard users, and for $49 as a 5-user family pack this October. It's the first version of the OS X operating system that will not work on PowerPC-based Macs, meaning only people with Intel-based Macs will be able to use it.
The operating system installs faster and takes up less space. Apple says it's half the size of the previous version of OS X and installs 45 per cent faster.
A new feature puts Expose in the dock. If you hold an app's icon in the dock it will show all of the active windows in that application - similar to stacks, except it shows full previews just like it does in the current Expose. Users can do this with OS X's spring-loaded folder system to drag files into the dock, then add to precise windows they have open.
Finder, OS X's app launcher and file explorer, has been rewritten. It looks and functions the same but performance has improved. It shows previews and icons faster and includes a customisable search tool.
Apple announced long ago that Microsoft Exchange support will be built into Snow Leopard, but here it demoed it on stage. Exchange is now baked into the Mail, Calendar and Address Book apps. You can also search for Exchange messages that are on the server in OS X's Spotlight search.
All system apps in Snow Leopard have been rewritten to run in 64-bit mode. This gives them access to all of your system's memory. Everything also runs through "Grand Central Dispatch", which handles all the multi-core threading in apps.
Snow Leopard also uses a new graphics standard called OpenCL. Apple says it's more faster and more optimised than OpenGL. Apple's making this new graphics spec open, and is getting graphics card manufacturers to add support.
A new version of QuickTime (version 10) has a new UI that does away with most of the "chrome" in place of the same type of hovering controls you get when you watch videos in full screen in the current version. On the back end, it's got HTTP streaming that Apple says will work on "any web server". It also uses a visual editing system similar to the latest version of iMovie that lets you see thumbnails of each part of a clip in a timeline.
Handwriting recognition is now built into the OS. It can be used with Apple's multitouch trackpad, so that users can write in words and letters with their fingers. That's aimed at Chinese users but it could make its way into English apps as well.
Comments
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1. anonymous
Has someone told O2 ??
Their prices are still pretty horrendous on the old model, never mind the new 3GS which isn;t even mentioned yet.
I like the new functions Apple have just discovered called 'cut and paste' and a virtual keyboard :-)
Seriously looks like the software update adds even more great usability to an already pretty good phone.
Just a shame it is so damn expensive.....you need MP's expenses to run it on O2's shocking tarrifs.
2. anonymous
Ooh, the battery life and camera are slightly less terrible, its a bit faster and has a ... compass?
What a non-event.