# Leopard - 1 week to go?



## andyhargreaves (Sep 23, 2007)

Well, Leopard is _arriving in October_, so I make that a week away.  Well, technically at least although I doubt we'll be queuing up outside the Apple Stores on the 1st October.  Any ideas/suggestions about when it will be available?  Or at least when we'll find out??

Andy


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## nixgeek (Sep 23, 2007)

I would say by 10/31, at the latest.


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## ScottW (Sep 23, 2007)

I bet the 26th, but could be wrong. Hopefully they won't delay it beyond Oct.


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## Giaguara (Sep 23, 2007)

I'd say a Tuesday.


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## malox (Sep 23, 2007)

xche' di martedi' ?
(why on thuesday ?)


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## fryke (Sep 23, 2007)

Tuesday has been their favourite day to introduce stuff lately, but I think the last sales-day of October will be it. It hasn't been declared final yet (from what I hear). From previous releases, we know that it takes about a month from golden master (the release candidate that turns release) to the actual release. The current build seeded to developers has two _mentioned_ issues, so it's not the final build of 10.5.0.

Certainly, Apple will _not_ release it in the first week of October. It'll be the last.


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## DeltaMac (Sep 23, 2007)

The iPhone was sold starting on a Friday, so, I like Oct 26, at 6PM 
I expect Apple to make some announcement soon, probably by the first of October


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## Giaguara (Sep 23, 2007)

Tuesday has been the day for unannounced product updates and product releases for years. Thursday as a second alternative. Just never on Monday (and software never on Friday either... except 10.4 was released on a Friday if I remember correctly as I was working until 1 AM that night). Wednesday is too mundane.
So a bit like an ideal day for a job interview... pick Tuesday if you can choose.


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## icemanjc (Sep 23, 2007)

I say the second week of october, and friday of that week, all I can say is I know what I want for christmas.


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## Lt Major Burns (Sep 23, 2007)

there will of course be the time from the announcement date to the actual release date...

is it a fortnight usually?


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## icemanjc (Sep 23, 2007)

I wonder if it will be labeled as just a keynote or as the keynote for the release of leopard, because I'm sure stocks will fly at that announcement.


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## symphonix (Sep 23, 2007)

icemanjc said:


> ... because I'm sure stocks will fly at that announcement.



I doubt it. Its not like it'll be a surprise to anyone watching Apple.

Leopard looks great, though. I'll certainly be ordering it.


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## Qion (Sep 23, 2007)

Just _more_ money. My checking account is begging for mercy after a new Nikon, a new scanner, and an iPhone. I might be using Tiger for a while longer; it's not like there's anything glaringly bad about it!


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## Satcomer (Sep 23, 2007)

I say it will be at least November 16th. The scuttlebutt going around the developers is Leopard's beta release is way behind the curve compared to Tiger's beta release cycle. Leopard's beta development has way to many "bugs" in it at this development stage. This news to me is very troubling.


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## Qion (Sep 23, 2007)

I wonder why this is...?


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## Anim8r (Sep 24, 2007)

Satcomer said:


> I say it will be at least November 16th. The scuttlebutt going around the developers is Leopard's beta release is way behind the curve compared to Tiger's beta release cycle. Leopard's beta development has way to many "bugs" in it at this development stage. This news to me is very troubling.



Forget scuttlebutt,
the latest releases have actually cleaned up a huge number of bugs. From display driver issues to stability this latest release looks and feels really good.
So far the only issues I have found are related to 3rd party apps and not Leopard.
End of "safe to talk about without violating NDA" post.


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## Thank The Cheese (Sep 24, 2007)

rumor has it Leopard is nearing final candidate. I seem to remember reading the 29th of october somewhere, but I can't remember where.

Do you think they will have a keynote, or just release it? I mean, they have talked about Leopard at length in two prior keynotes -- I don't think i can sit through an iChat demo *again*! 

unless, of course, there are new aluminum macbooks to go along with the release...oooooooo.....


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## fryke (Sep 24, 2007)

Satcomer said:


> I say it will be at least November 16th. The scuttlebutt going around the developers is Leopard's beta release is way behind the curve compared to Tiger's beta release cycle. Leopard's beta development has way to many "bugs" in it at this development stage. This news to me is very troubling.


IIRC, developers were saying similar things about the Tiger builds shortly before GM. You have to look at it this way as well:

Apple does _not_ hand out the very _latest_ builds to developers. They're a few builds ahead most of the time, at the seeding of a build. If (if!) 9A559 is a first release candidate, has two known issues (consider them fixed, that means) and you have outstanding bugs, it might mean those have been postponed to 10.5.1.
When Apple said "October", they had a clear plan on how it was going to play out. They knew that any postponing made "bad news" in the press. I'm pretty sure they didn't just say "October" and think "could be November or December as well". If they, at the time, thought it might take longer, they'd have postponed it until January instead. So at the time they _said_ October, they had a deadline. Ever since, they've been working towards that deadline. Leopard was already feature complete back then AFAIK. We'll see Leopard in October. But it'll be at the end of October.


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## Veljo (Sep 24, 2007)

I can't wait to get my hands on this big cat. I think they will release Leopard some time after the 20th October, so not long at all to wait.

I don't think they can afford another delay, otherwise people will start whinging about it being Vista-like. Apple promised October, and October it'll be. Hopefully just not too late


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## Satcomer (Sep 25, 2007)

fryke said:


> But it'll be at the end of October.



I sure hope so. I just hope without any major bugs. I can take some unknown minor bugs, but no major ones after the first delay earlier this year.



			
				Anim8r said:
			
		

> End of "safe to talk about without violating NDA" post.



Well I have NO NDA with Apple so I feel safe talking about. I think from what I have seen with my own eyes and from other real beta testers, Leopard's beta cycle seems behind at this point compared to what Tiger looked like a month before release.

I sure hope the beta cycle picks up and after the first delay, Leopard better be almost bug free when released to the public. They will be "put out to dry" if Leopard releases with some major bugs that company any x.0 releases, especially after the first delay.


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## symphonix (Sep 25, 2007)

Satcomer said:


> They will be "put out to dry" if Leopard releases with some major bugs ...



If recent history is anything to go by, the major media outlets will hang Apple out to dry if there are any reports anywhere on the Internet of anyone not being completely happy.

CNN aired their first iPhone complaint story only 10 minutes after the official release (the story claimed that "many users have not been able to get a response from the registration server"). They showed footage of the crowds lining up to buy their iPhones, with the voiceover "Angry customers gathered at Apple stores around the country to complain about problems with their iPhones".

Other major outlets have started carrying "defective iPod touch screen" stories already. 

When the Wii was released, the major outlets were carrying stories about breaking wrist straps and people injuring themselves. Microsoft can't release *anything* without getting the same treatment. Admittedly, I don't much like Microsoft for _some_ of their business practices, but I would prefer news stories about them to be fair and balanced. 

In fact, it seems that the news outlets have the bizarre notion that a "balanced approach to news" means that every tech story that begins  "Company X today launched a device that ..." _must _include the comments of unsourced websites complaining about the device.


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## fryke (Sep 25, 2007)

To be fair, it seems like iPod touch in the initial 2 weeks of production had more than 33% faulty screens. That's not a small blunder, I'd say, and it was not expected, since everyone outside of Apple thought it'd just be the same screen the iPhone uses, hence problems should certainly not have arisen there. I think that _does_ warrant a little bad press.


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## Rhisiart (Sep 25, 2007)

I have two questions for anyone in the know:


Will it also be available on CD installers?

Will my hardware cope (see specs below)?
P.S. Do I get to qualify for the first Leopard problem solving query thread on this site?


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## icemanjc (Sep 25, 2007)

I doubt it will be on cd installers, it will probably take 8 cd's if they do, and I bet it will work with those specs, because I can run 10.4.10 perfectly on the 333mhz Blueberry iMac G3. Here's my questions, will they make a dual layer one?


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## Lt Major Burns (Sep 25, 2007)

rhisiart said:


> I have two questions for anyone in the know:
> 
> Will it also be available on CD installers?
> Will my hardware cope (see specs below)?
> P.S. Do I get to qualify for the first Leopard problem solving query thread on this site?



minimum specs for developers has recently been changed to:

Minimum 867mhz processor.


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## Rhisiart (Sep 26, 2007)

Lt Major Burns said:


> minimum specs for developers has recently been changed to:
> 
> Minimum 867mhz processor.


I have long suspected that 10.6.0 would require a post 2005 manufactured Mac.

However, it's a bit disappointing that I am only 67 MHz short on processing power to use Leopard efficiently! But that's progress I guess.


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## Rhisiart (Oct 3, 2007)

I wonder whether Leopard's eye candy will make us nostalgic for Mac OS 9?


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## Ferdinand (Oct 3, 2007)

I still use OS 9 every second day - and it can cope well with OS X printers etc., which I wouldn't have ever thought.


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## eric2006 (Oct 3, 2007)

Lt Major Burns said:


> minimum specs for developers has recently been changed to:
> 
> Minimum 867mhz processor.



Quite a jump from a "G3, G4 or G5" processor, for Tiger.


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## eric2006 (Oct 3, 2007)

hmm..


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## elbolao23 (Oct 3, 2007)

baaaah its probably nothing.!!!!!!! gosh why dont they just say a freakin day and thats it....Apple likes for its customer to suffer


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## Lt Major Burns (Oct 4, 2007)

eric2006 said:


> Quite a jump from a "G3, G4 or G5" processor, for Tiger.



proof of modernisation.  being as leopard will save an instance of every file in every state ever, presumably, on the fly, while also making live previews of all of these files, while also allowing the graphical impressiveness of supposed core animation possiblities, it's showing hallmarks of a modern system: using the power of modern computers to their fullest, exceeding the possiblities of what a computer can and/or should do.

i'm all for it.  i have a 7 year old ibook.  the fact that it can run the latest and greatest at the moment is very impressive, but it had to stop at some point.

i'm sure apple could have got leopard running quite happily on it, but tiger runs _better_. so there's no point.

the newest mac that fell off the cut off point for leopard was discontinued over 4 years ago (eMac/Powerbook 2003).  it's progress.

all we have to hope is that it is progress, and not bloat.


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## Thank The Cheese (Oct 4, 2007)

I don't know, Major Burns, 4 years is not very old; right on the cusp of acceptability IMO. I agree 6+ years is fair enough, but the eMacs/Powerbook 800Mhz should be able to run it. Still, I do agree that in order to push the new features it does make sense. Particularly core animation, time machine and of course the love-it-or-hate-it cover flow view. 

So, these "top secret" features they have been touting for 2 years had better be spectacular. Anyone have any guesses? 

My guesses:

1) A BluRay drive with all new macs, thus BluRay support in Leopard. 
2) Some special Mac-only integration with the Touch/iPhone
3) Steve will wear a Hawaiian shirt, and it will be the default wallpaper


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## Qion (Oct 4, 2007)

Secret feature? That's easy.

Apple will place five golden tickets in the first shipment of Leopard-having Macs. The winners will get a grand tour of Apple, Inc. and have dinner with Steve Jobs.

(Seriously, they could move some product with that incentive.)


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## Lt Major Burns (Oct 4, 2007)

what secret features?  they've revealed them all... there's no mention of any more...


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## icemanjc (Oct 4, 2007)

So when do you think they will release the release date for Leopard?


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## nixgeek (Oct 4, 2007)

icemanjc said:


> So when do you think they will release the release date for Leopard?



According to AppleInsider, October 26th seems to be the rumored date.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/10/04/apple_announcements_brewing_for_late_october.html


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## icemanjc (Oct 4, 2007)

Whats the point of the family edition? I mean, in my house we have like 4 computers that were reformated off of the same disc.


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## eric2006 (Oct 4, 2007)

icemanjc said:


> Whats the point of the family edition? I mean, in my house we have like 4 computers that were reformated off of the same disc.



legality


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## Lt Major Burns (Oct 5, 2007)

yup.  the standard edition has one legal licence for one mac.  the family edition has licences for up to 5 macs.


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## Qion (Oct 5, 2007)

icemanjc said:


> Whats the point of the family edition? I mean, in my house we have like 4 computers that were reformated off of the same disc.



I'm calling the cops.


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## elbolao23 (Oct 5, 2007)

hahahahhahahaa


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## eric2006 (Oct 5, 2007)

don't laugh..

&#8220;License may be terminated at any time. _User may also be terminated at any time._&#8221;


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## eric2006 (Oct 10, 2007)

Reportedly, Leopard has reached a "Gold Master release. Expected to release in the week of oct 22, probably the 26th.

http://news.google.com/news?ie=UTF-8&oe=utf-8&um=1&tab=wn&q=leopard+gold+master&btnG=Search+News


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## elbolao23 (Oct 10, 2007)

cool. i went to the apple store today and asked if i could get a copy of leopard free if i were to buy an imac this weekend and was told that apple has not realease any info regarding this, and that most probably wont happen lol...god!!!!!!!!! dat sucks


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