Now that they dust has settled a bit from yesterday’s keynote, I think it’s time to give my opinions of it. First of all, it seems that the general consensus is disappointment. Speculated products weren’t announced, and neither were some of the speculated Leopard features.
Part of the problem might be our mindset. It’s easy to think that the Worldwide Developer’s Conference is for consumers. While consumers certainly benefit from the conference, the main focus is developers. If you look at it from that sense, Apple delivered everything developers wanted. They released professional-grade machines and showed off features of Leopard which are important to developers. Leopard features like a new Finder or virtualization technology are things which can be added later with very little effect on developers, and the existing Macs can easily get a Core 2 speed bump with just a simple press release.
The Hardware
Now that we’re in the right mindset, it’s time to talk about what was announced. Apple released some amazing new hardware. The Mac Pros are insane powerhouses, with the Xserves getting a huge speed bump over previous hardware. While I won’t be purchasing a Mac Pro, the prices are perfect. Apple’s standard configuration is perfect for just about anyone’s needs, and it doesn’t break the bank either. What’s even better is the price when you downgrade some components. If you change the dual 2.5 GHz processors to dual 2.0 GHz processors and only get a 160 GB hard drive, combined with the student discount, it’s only $1950. That’s not bad at all considering a slower MacBook Pro is right around that price.
Finally, I’m very impressed with Apple’s build-to-order options on their new machines. Apple has always stuck with pretty much standard configurations across their product line since there wasn’t very many options with the PowerPC chip. Now that Apple is on the x86 platform, they have a more room for flexibility, which is showing through in the amount of configurable options on the new machines. I’m looking forward to seeing what other options Apple will provide for their other machines in the future.
Leopard
While nothing too groundbreaking was announced with Leopard, I’m still very exited. First of all, I can’t wait for Time Machine. I don’t backup enough, and when I do backup, I don’t have a great method. I’m dragging files to an external drive or CD, just like Steve Jobs mentioned. Having a Subversion-like solution for OS X will just be amazing. There have been times where I have accidentally overwritten files, so selective restoring will be perfect for me. There has also been times where I’ve wanted to do a complete restore, so that functionality of Time Machine will rock also. Apple seems to have created the perfect backup solution for anyone with external storage.
The other major feature that Apple has announced is Spaces. I’m not too excited about Spaces at all. I’ve always found multiple desktops confusing, so it’s a feature I probably won’t be using. However, Apple does seem to have a couple of great ways to try and prevent it from getting confusing. Spaces exposé seems like a great way to easily see where everything is, and if you’re really lost, clicking on the application’s dock icon is perfectly for jumping to the “space” which contains that application. Maybe Apple’s approach will finally get me to use multiple desktops, but for now, I’m not jumping for joy.
Finally, hearing about updates to Mail, iCal, Spotlight, Dashboard, iChat, Front Row, and Boot Camp is certainly getting me excited. I’ve tried Apple’s Mail in the past, and never could switch to it. This upcoming version looks like it will finally bring me onboard. In regards to iCal, that’s another application which I haven’t really touched. Depending on how well it integrates with Mail, I might find myself using that application also.
Advanced searching and application launching with Spotlight is something that should have been there from the beginning, so it will be a welcome addition. The new ways to create widgets are looking great for Dashboard, especially how easy it will be for anyone to create a widget. The new iChat also sounds great, especially sporting its new Unified interface. From the previews of it, it looks like it will finally have a combined buddy list for different services, a welcome addition. Finally, while we don’t know what’s coming for Front Row and Boot Camp, just hearing that they’re going to be updated is music to my ears.
Conclusions
While this year’s WWDC Keynote was a disappointment for many people following the rumor sites, if you were trying to stick with reality, I think it was perfect. The new professional-grade hardware is blowing the competition away at a cheaper price, and Leopard’s new features are already ahead of Vista. Things are only going to get better from here.
Apple has laid the frameworks for a great operating system, and when they report on Leopard at Macworld in January, I’m sure they’re going to have some more great features and enhancements to tell us about.
12 Comments
Good well thought out opinion, Ron. Though a lot of the features in Leopard certainly aren’t new, seen for quite some time in *NIXes, the way Apple is implementing is unique and done well. The Time Machine seems to tote a little too much eye candy, but the interface seems to be done very well. Though I wouldn’t use a CVS based analogy–I think the Volume Shadowing seen in Vista and 2k3 Server is closer–though Apple’s way does make more sense–however one would still need external media of some sorts to do a full restore. If the hard drive fails and that drive fails you’re still fucked.
As for the hardware, I am a little disappointed they didn’t mention anything about a new iPod but as you said it’s for 3rd party peeps and that is just an AAPL thing. As for the case, I do wish they changed it slightly, but the industrial/modern cheese grater design I do love a lot regardless. A lot better than the G3 tower, that is for sure. I do hope that they do make a Performa Series-like machine, following their naming conventions, a Mac; however I really don’t seem them marketing it. That is why there are iMacs, Mini Macs, and Mac Pros. I personally will go with a Mac Pro, minimums with student discount and get the rest on New Egg.
I won’t use Boot Camp I think, unless I want to eventually put Vista on it so I can run additional games…Though I rather not reboot, I would like to have a Parallels like solution; though for some games, that may not be the best idea…As for video cards, I do see some ATI offerings so I do not know what to get.
I think they mentioned something about a second application to compliment Spotlight. They’re calling it ‘Launchd’ as far as I know. I think it’s basically a QuickSilver replacement. If they do put ina launcher, I don’t think I’ll use QuickSilver anymore. I’d probably install TuneKeys for the iTunes shortcuts, if Apple don’t add that functionality themselves.
Yeah, nice article Ron. I’ve dugg it.
Jonathan, how could you have expected Apple to launch a new version of its mp3 player at its developer conference? Makes no sense. The 3rd party guys have nothing to do with the iPod.
I too think a Mac Pro makes a lot of sense. They’re super fast machines capable of running OS X, XP and Vista. What more could a gamer, film maker, audio engineer or graphic artist ask for?!
Simran,
That is why i said after realising it is a developer conference i knew the iPod wont be there…as for the mac pro–i cant wait to get it!
When you do get your Mac Pro, why don’t you post back here and everyone subscribed to the comments will get an e-mail notifying them.
Whee! Nigerian spam! (this comment will look really lame once the spam above is deleted)
I wrote back to one guy but he never did write back. I guess he didn’t want to talk to me afterall. As for when I get the Mac Pro, it won’t be for a while — I am saving up so I reckon by end of the year I will have one, hopefully!
…but I am getting one for the Office, since the office needs it and is paying so I can tell you about it when that arrives!
The Mac Pro looked pretty “pimped” out.
Haha, I said pimped.
I agree with the mindset issue whole heartedly.
I will say that there has been a flaming debate about the price comparison to the Dell Workstation 6** (forgot the actual name). Anyway, apparently it isn’t close to what Apple says.
*ouch* That’s way too much money even with the student discount…
1x BenQ 16X DVD±R DVD Burner $30.25
1x Broadway Com Corp 204-4HA Beige Steel ATX $25.00
1x SAMSUNG T133 Series HD400LJ 400GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $149.99
1x DCLCD by Sceptre DCL9C Black 19″ 12ms LCD Monitor $175.99
1x ABIT KN9 ULTRA Socket AM2 ATX AMD Motherboard $109.99
1x G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 $209.99
1x AMD Athlon 64 x2 4000+ $379.00
1x LITE-ON 16x DVD-+R Burner $27.99
TOTAL: $1,187.19 (no discounts, god I love newegg)
Better and almost half the price, ouch…. I really hate the prices on macs, they rape you more then Microsoft, but are still better then Adobe (1.2k for CS2, more then this computer ouch)…
O i forgot to add type Video Card in…
MSI RX1300Pro-TD256E Radeon X1300PRO 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card
That’s included in the above total…
my thoughts exactly (regarding the post, not comments).
We should wait until MacWorld Expo for all of the consumer surprises
- Richard
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