Leopard Loaded

So I went to the PSU computer store to pick up the latest OS. There was a good crowd and they were actually giving out free copies to those who showed up dressed as leopards. Me, I payed for my copy (but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have dressed up if I had known). So, first impressions after 30 minutes with Leopard.

    Installation – Went smoothly. I had already back up my drive to another, just in case, so I went with Archive and Install. The whole thing took maybe an hour and it all came up just fine.
    Programs – So far, only Butler isn’t working properly and the developer is promising an update.
    Visuals – The use of Cover Flow in the Finder and the Quick Look feature are great. BUT… I hate the new folder icons and the stacking for the same reason; no visual indications of function. The folders are the same, flat blue and you have to look carefully at the “indented” images to determine what each folder is. And whereas I had folders with different icons on the Dock for easy access, they turned into “Stacks” which only show the first item, with the rest layered below, and if the first item is a folder, well, see my previous comment. This is a real step backward in my opinion. It is not a “feature” but it impacts heavily on my work flow. Bad Apple.

See for yourself:
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I will try and find time to try out the other features and report back. Namely Time Machine and Spaces. I think the latter will be a real boon for those of us who use apps like Accordance and a word processor on a single monitor. On my desktop I have two 23″ with Accordance on one and NisusWriter on the other while I work. With my MacBook it is more awkward with a lot of cmd-tab action. Hopefully this will reduce that. I can also foresee creating a “news” space and a internet space (Safari, which looks good, and Entourage, for example).

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