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December 31, 2007

Using Apple's Leopard Operating System at UMBC

In late October, Apple released "Leopard", operating system version 10.5. This is my review after using this for 60 days.

OIT has purchased 500 Apple operating system licenses. This means if you have a Macintosh purchased with institutional funds you can upgrade to Leopard through OIT's license. If you have a departmental IT staff person they should be able to get you a copy of the DVD; otherwise contact the helpdesk and we will work with you to get a DVD.

Before installing this you should note that many of the features in Leopard benefit from additional RAM. We recommend having 2 gigabytes of RAM, though 512MB is the minimum to install. In addition, you must have at least a 867 Mhz G4 or G5 or Intel system to install Leopard. Finally, you need nine gigabytes of disk space to install the DVD. Installation takes about 1 hour.

Leopard is a major upgrade for Apple and like other major upgrades it has many good features but also has some new issues you should be aware of. I would say that if the negatives don't matter to you then you should upgrade to get the new features.

Negative Features of Note:

  • The Java environment has changed and the VPN software we distribute does not work properly. OIT is testing a fix but this is an important issue if you need to use the VPN.UMBC.EDU. ,/li>
  • The firewall utility is off by default and doesn't provide the flexibility found in the prior version 10.4 (Tiger). Those worried about security should make sure you enable your firewall after installing Leopard.

    • Positive Features of Note:

  • The File Viewer has added many additional features, two I like are the cover view. In this setting you can view your files as images to visually see the file. This helps if the name doesn't provide enough meaning. The second element is they have improved the spotlight search feature for looking at files, this is faster than before and allows you to add boolean conditions such as AND, OR, NOT.

  • Spaces is a new feature that allows you have a number of virtual desktop screens. This can be very helpful on a laptop if you want to work with many different windows open.

  • Time Machine provides a way to back up a Mac to another device. The first time you use this it will take a while to make an initial backup and then after that it works incrementally. Time machine understands that it doesn't need to back up system files and does a good job.

  • Finally, a number of applications got new versions. Mail, Preview, iChat, and iCal all have new versions with some improvements.

    For me, I would rate the features in Leopard as a positive and believe it is worth the effort to upgrade so long as you don't need the VPN. If you are a home user and have to pay to purchase the upgrade I would base my decision on how long I planned to keep the machine. If I planned to keep it for another two or three years it makes sense to upgrade. If the machine may only last another year or so then I would save the money for purchasing the upgrade to Leopard and get Leopard when I purchased a new machine.

    For more information here is a more detailed review by MacWorld

    • Posted by Jack Suess on December 31, 2007 9:13 PM |

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