Apple shows Leopard's spotsSAN FRANCISCO--Apple Computer on Monday introduced the Mac Pro, the company's first Intel-based professional desktop, and also gave developers a preview of Leopard, the next version of Mac OS X.
The Mac Pro offers a similar casing to the Power Mac G5 that preceded it, but it replaces the older PowerPC processors with two dual-core Intel Xeon chips, as well as space for two optical disc drives and up to four hard drives. The standard S$4,388 (US$2,791.70) configuration includes 1GB of memory, an Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT graphics card, a 250GB hard drive and a SuperDrive that can burn CDs and DVDs. "Today, the Power Mac is going to fade into history," said Jobs, wearing his trademark black mock turtleneck and blue jeans. At several points, Jobs handed off keynote duties to several lieutenants, including senior vice president Philip Schiller, who showed off the Mac Pro. Apple didn't offer a full look at Leopard but instead showed off a top-10 list of new features the operating system is set to sport upon debuting next spring. Among the features Jobs showed off are a Time Machine option that automatically backs up a Mac. Other features include enhanced videoconferencing options, improved Mail and the inclusion of the Front Row media software and PhotoBooth picture-taking programs that previously have been available on only new Macs. To take advantage of Time Machine, users need a second hard drive. The software records a copy of every change made to a file, which required Apple to add extensions to Leopard's file system, Brian Croll, director of Mac OS X development, said in an interview following Jobs' keynote. Users can virtually "fly" back through time by scrolling through different windows that represent days, looking for the file they need while appearing to travel into a black hole. Several improvements to the iChat text and multimedia conferencing software were also shown. Consumers will be able to add backdrops behind themselves, making it look like they were being interviewed for a cable news program. Those backdrops can also include video. Schiller drew perhaps the biggest laughs of the day as he pretended to ride a rollercoaster while video conferencing offstage with Jobs. Familiar applications such as Mail, Dashboard and Spotlight will also be improved in Leopard, Jobs said. Mail users will be able to personalize email messages with photos and create to-do lists from their email. Custom widgets can be created with Web Clip, which can take information from any regularly updated Web page and display it as a widget in Dashboard. And Spotlight will now allow Mac users to search for files across their networks and on workgroup servers. | ||||
- Talkback
-
There are currently no comments for this story.
To post comments, you need to become a member. It's FREE.
