Mac OS X Leopard should hit CU in fall 2008
Friday from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Apple stores across the nation release and demonstrate the wonders of Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard.
Leopard is the newest Macintosh server operating system, able to work on any Macintosh computer meeting system requirements found on the Apple Web site.
According to the Apple Web site, “Leopard is packed with over 300 new features, installs easily and works with the software and accessories you already have.”
The Leopard comes with many new changes. The desktop is updated with a cohesive look to all of the programs and the hard drive, easier navigation with Quick Look and a handy application called Time Machine. This program keeps deleted programs just in case the user needs them later.
Leopard costs $129 for the Single User, and is $199 for the Family Pack. The Family Pack allows for five downloads of the program.
CU IT Professional II, Glenn Blauvelt, 57, said the university will receive Macintosh OS X v10.5 this year. The operating system must be tested first and most likely make it into the more than 20 Mac Labs on campus by next fall, he said
Blauvelt said CU buys maintenance from Apple in three-year increments and Apple upgrades the computers accordingly.
It will take some time to find if all of the programs on the computers will work with Leopard, but once all of the kinks have been worked out it will take about 5 to 6 hours to update a 20-computer Mac Lab, Blauvelt said.
“Users in the labs will see the new features will make for easier use, like Quick Look, and Spaces (another new program on Leopard),” Blauvelt said. “There will be no degradation in the lab’s ability.”
With the release of Windows Vista on Jan. 30, the IT department spent the last year testing it on the Windows computers and has it installed in some of the labs on campus. IT plans to have all the computers updated by next fall, Blauvelt said.
“I love my Mac, and I will definitely check out Leopard, but I will probably not upgrade,” said Jimmy Watt, 20, a junior business major. “I used Windows for so long, and I will never go back. Once you go Mac you never go back.”
Contact Campus Press Staff Writer Zach Keller at zach.keller@thecampuspress.com
