It’s been a computer day for me, what with Macworld Expo 2008 in San Francisco and a flood of memories, not to mention Apple’s vision of a world of light and information where the hardware eventually disappears. That’s where they’re headed, whether they know it or not.
This short post is about the latest operating system, however: Leopard, now updated to v. 10.5.1. Leopard came out in October, and I finally have it up and running on this MacBook. You’d think that Cupertino was paying me to say this, but they’re not, obviously. I just want to say that I am really grateful for all the work that went into this OS upgrade. That’s it, I’m grateful. I don’t even mind much that I ended up paying for it twice.
This isn’t a software review. I’m just giving you my impression, and that impression is “wow, this is really good.” On my MacBook, it’s obviously faster and snappier than Tiger. The latest version of Safari is the fastest browser I’ve ever used. Speaking metaphorically, I can’t believe the power that’s packed inside this thing. The MacBook running Leopard, I mean. Incidentally, I’ve been absolutely flogging this white plastic wonder for 18 months. Hours and hours, every day. The center of the trackpad is polished smooth as mercury. My right thumbnail has almost worn a hole in the space bar. Through all of that, the hardware has never, ever failed — er, once I sent back the first one I got, defective in just under a month (chalk that up to Early Adopter Syndrome). Stuff happens.
But Leopard just feels different from Tiger. Deeper and smarter, but lighter on its feet. And I love the 3-D Dock: if I pull a window down close to it, I get a reflection on the horizontal “surface.” It’s a whole danged virtual world. I haven’t heard anyone else mention this, which I think is indicative of a higher order of design than most people are aware of, but you can sense it. That’s what makes Apple different, and what I never could explain to my heating oil delivery guy back in Maryland. He made his own PCs, you see, like folks can do with PC components. They were probably decent computers, but everything I told him I was doing at the time on my Macs seemed awfully complicated in his world. He also measured everything in dollars and cents, and gallons for the oil. That made it all worthwhile to him, I suppose, but how do you describe the taste of a fresh, ripe peach to someone who’s never tasted one?
Anyway, it’s a great upgrade. I’ve only been using it for less than a week, but I would freaking DIE if I had to go back to Tiger. ‘Nuff said.
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