Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5.4 Leopard [5-User Family Pack] Reviews

• Worth it for Time Machine alone... but there's lots more reasons to buy

  
  By A1RQYQO7CLYV54 on 2007-10-26
  The OS comes in a very small package with a little manual. Install took 45 minutes to confirm that the CD was in good condition, 45 more to install. This review is not going to be full of technical jargon... instead a brief first impression from a long time Mac user (circa 1984 Mac 512Ke vintage). For the technicals, go to Apple, read geeky blogs. For the rest of us, I'll try to keep it more straight-forward. They claim 300 changes... here are what I think are some of the more interesting ones... apologies for the length of the review, relative to the number of changes claimed, a moderate length to this review. Updated December 09, 2007 to reflect new experiences.
  
  Pro:
  -Time machine! OK, back up programs are available, but how many of them are sold versus the number of macs out there? This program is native, created by Apple for Apple. All I did was plug in a hard drive and Leopard asked if I wanted to make this my back-up drive for Leopard. I clicked yes, and that was it, all set up. It begins back up once the computer is left on and idle. The first takes a very long time, hours, subsequent back ups are hourly, however only files that have changed are saved, preserving storage space and computing power. Time machine looks like any open folder window when it gets down to it... like you went back in time and browsed around (hence the name). Similar to "snapshot" for those Windows XP users out there.
  -Install was very easy. Boot machine, insert CD, restart with CD. The computer verified that the CD is in good condition (a lengthy process of about 45 minutes that you can skip but which is recommended). The rest of the install takes about 45 more minutes, but it is basically all automated. It's a Mac, it's so clever that it's easy. Apple does what computers promised to do... automate smartly.
  -Price is very reasonable relative to other operating systems (e.g. Vista)
  -This OS includes the release version of Boot Camp. I've not used it yet as I have Parallels, but I like how Apple has included this feature... sometimes it's just best to get along as even programs offered on both platforms are just different enough to be annoying. So if you are using PowerPoint at work on a PC, you can use it at home on your Mac acting like a PC... thank you Apple.
  -The new "you can see the content of folders in the dock bar" feature is handy, especially if you have many projects going and you dump a lot of picture files into them. They call this new feature "stacks" and it works really well.
  -I find that movies too now give you a preview icon which is great.
  -New OS did not trash my preferences, such as my Son's photo on the desktop... very plug and play
  -Safari web browser is appears somewhat faster, perhaps 1x faster to load a page but I didn't really notice that much difference as I was using another browser up to this point
  -The widget-maker is really interesting... I made my first widget of a stock I follow, in about 30 seconds. This was really great. I expect future versions of the feature to add more punch (e.g. the ability to add a title bar to your new widget, improved ability to make very small widgets, ability to use arrow keys to get the widget just right, ability to resize the widget once made instead of deleting and starting all over, etc.), but is still great as is.
  -When I have multiple windows open I notice a slight shadow to help me identify which one is active, or on top. Apple continues to impress with their ability to tune into subtle usability features that are so obvious that they have been overlooked. Wonderful (although I would love a darker shadow, and perhaps a bold frame around the window too).
  -The Apple web site offers a very nice 9-10 minute introduction. Check it out, it's worth it (trust me).
  -Cover Flow is AWESOME! If you are familiar with flipping through album art on the new iPhone or iPods, you'll recognize the power of this feature right away. For those who've been on the sidelines, let me catch you up. There's icon view. There's list view. There's also a column view that's less popular. And there's now cover flow. Much like iTunes, you can flip through files like albums in a juke box, or turning pages in a picture book. The Mac lets you see the first page, so you don't get just a dumb icon, or even a tiny picture, you get a nice big image. It's nothing short of amazing. Cover flow does more (like you can play a video in cover flow without exiting the program or launching a player, fast and convenient), but again, this is a simpler version for the rest of us.
  -A further extension of file management is Quick Look. You can sort of open files without launching a program. It's designed to be a time-saver for the person with a lot of files.
  -Spaces. OK, this might be a little hard to describe. Essentially, are you someone who like to have 10 programs running at one time? If so, Spaces is ideal for you. You can open say a few photos in one space, a publishing program and Photoshop in another. You can toggle back and forth between the spaces and the effect is a less cluttered environment. It's neat.
  -Mail. THere's many new things here, most small. However, for those setting up a mail account for the first time, say on Yahoo or "another popular website", you enter your email address, password, and click OK. Leopard finds it and sets it up. This blows me away. Forever are gone are the days of entering POP and SMTP data, which I guess wasn't terribly bad, but again, this is 2007. Computers are supposed to be more intuitve, not less right? Mac delivers yet again.
  -I didn't mention the Notes and To Do features in Mail, which are excellent adds. Example of what these are: I often send myself an email so that I have a note: Well, instead of sending a mail to myself, which can, if hung up take a minute or an hour to return to me, I can write myself a note which sits in my inbox. I can add attachments like an email. I can also turn a note into a "To do", assigning a due date and getting a check box to check when it has been completed. Anywhere I can access my email, I can also get my notes. Weird and wonderful! To do events sync to iCal (which also syncs to my iPhone)... excellent.
  -Email contacts, addresses, phone numbers can be added to existing contacts, or a new contact with a couple clicks. This is very handy for the busy professional.
  -The teleconferencing features of iChat makes presentations really personal and also allows you to share desktops. I won't use this at home, and I can only dream of this at work when working remotely with our team/my boss in the UK. Words don't do this feature justice.
  -My existing programs seem to work ok. I did get a minor error with Parallels (see Cons section for more), but all other programs tried functioned fine.
  
  Con:
  -Boot Camp requires reboot to run Windows
  -Changed the icons some, which is not a big deal, but which was unnecessary
  -With all this advanced file-sharing capability in iChat, I am concerned that a guest could inadvertently open sensitive files or emails. I get confidential materials sometimes, and I have little means of limiting access. It's too open and I'd love some locking features, both in iChat and in case I walk away from my Mac and someone decides to have some fun.
  - Parallels has become unstable and won't launch. A free patch fomr the Parallels website (build "5582") fixed the crash on launch issue, however an IP conflict gotten originally still persists. This IP error does not seem to cause any issues as far as I can tell, it is just a nuisance.
  
  Bottom line: Highly recommended. Sleek, smart, and straight-forward. The review title says it all, however there are obviously many reasons to buy, including staying current with the OS so that you have access to future releases and features.
  
  

• It has some noteworthy deficiencies

  
  By AN92S28RV1FQ4 on 2007-10-27
  It's premature to judge the value of many of 10.5's new features. I'm pleased with the improvements to Mail, iCal, and iChat. There are, however, some serious problems that should give a buyer pause. Apple has changed the Finder menus so that they are translucent. The lettering is no longer black-on-white unless you choose white as your wallpaper, which is hardly pleasing. I've compromised by choosing a solid light blue, but for the sake of efficiency and clarity nice designs and pictures are out. There is no corrective for the translucent pull-down menu: you always see a hazy semblance of whatever is behind it. This has introduced a lot of visual noise and may be a serious problem for individuals with vision impairment. In this case Apple has sacrificed clarity and performance for a dubious new aesthetic.
  
  There are instances when icons and buttons which are themselves grey are placed against a gray background. This is true with the Trash on the new Dock background (if you place the Dock on the right). This makes them more difficult to see at a glance.
  
  In changing many aesthetic features of OS X Apple seems to be addressing problems that don't exist. There is a reason why most books are not printed on translucent or colored paper, and that same reason is why the Finder should be black-on-white. Apple has added milliseconds to basic functions, thereby reducing productivity. Apple's habit of offering take-it-or-leave-it features which cannot be modified or turned off is frustrating.
  
  One of the few regular maintenance requirements of OS X is repairing permissions. In 10.4 this took less than a minute to accomplish, but after installing 10.5 I found that it took about 7 minutes, and then a cryptic message appeared. Each time I repeated the procedure the same thing happened, though it does report also that permissions have been repaired.
  
  When I click on the Applications folder in 10.4 the contents appear almost instantly. In 10.5 it takes more than 4 seconds for the contents to appear. It remains to be seen how many other basic functions of OS X have been harmed.
  
  In summary, Apple seems to have made substantial changes merely for the sake of change, rather than to improve productivity, and some of these changes have degraded both productivity and comfort.
  
  I installed Leopard on one of my three Macs, but I will not "upgrade" the other two until Apple eliminates the aesthetic drawbacks and brings speed back to parity with Tiger. It's nice to have eye candy, but productivity is my first concern. Some of the new visual features remind me of the clutter which is now standard on the screens of cable news channels.
  
  As for the family pack, in my opinion it should contain 5 discs, not merely the same lone disc that is in the single-user package with some different text in the user agreement.
  
  The installation discussed is on a MacBook Pro 2.2 GHz.
  
  

• The first Mac OS release to disappoint since 8.5

  
  By A1JFMBADLOSXKM on 2007-10-29
  I pre-ordered 10.5 Leopard. The disc was here before the general availability. The disc was damaged. It would read on my old PowerMac, but as it's so big and dual layer, the intel portion would not work. I had to call apple, wait 55 minutes on the phone and then drive to the nearest apple store to get a new DVD. Upon arriving, I was hassled by the employees about not having a receipt. I couldn't print it since my Mac wouldn't boot. The printer was not connected to the other system. 10.5 disabled booting my Mac. I could only get into single user mode which is a shell prompt (unix command line). After getting a new disc, I could do a fresh install. I spent several hours reinstalling and/or copying files around to get everything back together.
  
  Time Machine is nice. It does require several hours of syncing and when doing a lot of things, it will cause slowdowns using your Mac. You have good backups though.
  
  Spotlight has to re-index everything which takes some time.
  
  Mail.app now now has check box for INCOMING SSL/TLS certificate acceptance. This has been an issue for a long time. IF the certificate is self signed on your mail server, you had to go through a lot of hoops before. Those hoops are still required for OUTGOING mail. I had to set this up again.
  
  Safari 3 has some rendering issues on some sites compared to the old version. It is much better than the betas though.
  
  The transparency and new dock are ugly and harder to read. I have trouble telling if a program is open sometimes. (I use my dock on the left side) Transparency is disabled on old G4 PowerMacs, but enabled on newer Macs with beefy video cards.
  
  My wacom tablet randomly stops working in Leopard. No driver yet (other than beta). Everything else works fine. Adobe has not updated many of their applications yet and won't until January 2008.
  
  Test drive this before you buy it.
  
  

• Whiz-Bang? Kind of. Refined? Definitely.

  
  By A1ETFT7RJASMKR on 2007-10-27
  Each new major release of an operating system (OS) has to make a splash. We all expect to be wowed. We expect and demand that we are shown new whiz-bang features and enhancements. For example, Microsoft's Vista has lots of whiz-bang features when compared to the steady and stalwart Windows XP. But since Vista's debut, the afterglow has faded. ANd now, the 'whiz' is the sound of people flocking back to XP and the 'bang' is the sound of people's heads hitting their keyboards from the frustration of wrestling with their computer's operating system.
  
  Enter Mac OS 10.X:
  10.1 - not a great debut. 10.2 was admittedly undercooked. 10.3 was getting there. And 10.4 finally delivered on the promise of the Mac OS in the modern age.
  
  So with OS 10.5 - where's the whiz-bang? Ah, as they say the devil is in the details. 10.5 won't jump up and clamor for your attention out of the box. It's new features are to be lauded, but the real benefits here are in the easy way that 10.5 builds on the solid foundation of 10.4 and delivers as the best Mac OS to date.
  
  I won't go into massive detail about each new feature, you can just check out the product info or peruse [...] for the sales pitch. Suffice to say that the additions and enhancements are indeed very cool. And perhaps more importantly worth the cost of the upgrade.
  
  Instead of belaboring the fine points of each nook and cranny and application, I am going to touch on how impressed I am with the way that Apple has worked to ensure the continuance of a good thing.
  
  10.5 is certainly evolutionary. The departure from Tiger is not drastic. But this is a good thing. Unlike the jolt of moving from XP to Vista - the transition from Tiger to Leopard can be best defined as "refined". At each turn there are subtle enhancements and features that may not trumpet for attention but work to take the "interference" out of using a computer. You can expect Leopard to work as advertised. Simple in its promise, but steadfast in its mission: 'it just works'.
  
  During the past couple of years, more and more people have moved to Apple systems for the first time. With more people hopping on board, I'm glad to see that OS 10.5 is a mature refinement to an already fine OS. More than anything, I'm encouraged that this new version allows me and my family to actually use our computers with minimal interference from the OS.
  
  So where's the whiz-bang? It's in getting an easy to learn, easy to use, and as-powerful-as-you-need-it operating system perfect for use in your home.
  
  On a final note - this review is for the 5-user family pack. It is hard to beat the idea of getting the best OS on the block for $40 a computer. In my case, to upgrade each system averaged out to $67. And there is no strange upgrade path to follow. Each version of leopard is the same. No Leopard home, or business, or ultimate or penultimate. Just leopard. Everything you need, when you need it. No strange add-ons or deluxe editions needed.
  
  For those interested - I have Leopard running on a 12" Powerbook G4 (1.25Ghz - And it will run - trust me), a MacBook and a Core2Duo iMac. Leopard is running well on all of these systems. It took about 45mins-1hr per system to upgrade.
  
  Here's the upgrade path: Put in the DVD, walk through the the setup menu and wait for your "new" computer to restart.
  
  Post-upgrade, all of my existing programs work. All of my files are in tact and I'm off and running with 10.5.
  
  How's that for Whiz-bang?
  
  

• Worth the wait

  
  By A32O5FZH994CNY on 2007-10-31
  OK so I was out in front of the Apple Store waiting on the release of Leopard. There were lots of geeks and very few lawyers. But speaking as a lawyer, which in this case means non-geek consumer, the wait was definitely worth it. so worth it in fact that I returned Sunday to buy a Mac Mini for my assistant and tell her we were through with all the office PCs. And three days into the new world she's very enthusiastic.
  
  But what is about Leopard that makes me giddy? First its the refinement of overall functionality. That seems almost impossible, but its really true...my Mac is more intuitive, more flexible, and in a business environment this all enables me to be more productive. It also enables my secretary to be more productive.
  
  So here are my thoughts on the big changes:
  
  Spaces-The idea is radicalkeep what you use together and close at hand. I use different programs at work, at home, and on the road.Why not declutter the desktop quickly and get right to the programs you need?
  
  Time Machine: the jury is still out because I haven't needed to restore anything.
  
  Stacks- Very cute, but it remains to be seen if will be be more efficient thatn folders. I my be missing something here.
  
  Quick look- Great! A quick look cuts down on desktop clutter, and keeps RAM available (I think)
  
  Shared Desktops- I can see what my secretary has on her desktop and can solve problems quicker.
  
  Dashboard-MNow you can create your own widgets saving whats n a screen to your dashboard. This one still is a mytery to me.
  
  Finder-Cover Flow is the big new thing here. Its handy but sometimes feels a bit too cute.
  
  Safari 3- Auto-click is great...all your work stuff or play stuff in one click, then they are set out in tabs, not windows.
  
  
• Not for Power PC Macs
  By A3KGKHYB8ROABO on 2007-12-02
  Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard [5-User Family Pack]
  
  This may work well for Intel based Macs but is close to a disaster for Power PCs or at least for the PowerBook G4s we use in our company (1.5ghz and 1GB SDRAM). Speed has slowed to a crawl. E.g., to restart takes 10-15 minutes even after deducting for numerous timeouts. There is a pronounced delay when saving, opening files when changing applications etc. Stay with the old OS or trash the hardware and buy a new Intel based Mac.
  
  
• Great OS!
  By A255E11IQHVSAM on 2007-10-30
  This is an amazing upgrade on my Intel Macs! I won't cover all the details as it's on Apple's website. My only complaint is that the sidebar text and icons are too small. Hopefully Apple will fix this. Remember this is 10.5.0, as soon as we have 10.5.1 or 10.5.2, I'm sure it will be great.
  
  People who are complaining about the new features on an older Mac should stay with Tiger if you don't have the horsepower. There were many articles prior to release describing the memory and video requirements of the new features. My Intel iMac is faster under 10.5 then it was under Tiger (10.4) NOT slower!
  
  If you don't like the menu then open an Apple desktop pattern and add a gray, white or black bar at the top. The new desktop pictures have a built in guide when you open them in Photoshop. I added a gray bar and voila, no more translucent menu. It is a quick and easy fix, so do it and stop complaining!
  
  
  
• Wait a few months - the wait is over!
  By A2N225FBATHGLD on 2007-11-10
  Apparently the folks at Apple have decided to follow the lead of Microsoft - release a product that is not quite ready for prime time. Leopard is full of new features and updates, Safari 3, Time Machine and Stacks just to name a few. Some are very good (Safari 3 and Time Machine) some are just OK (Stacks). Over 300 new goodies according to Apple.
  
  But there is one problem - wireless connectivity. Upgrade now and enjoy the plethora of new features, just be prepared to lose your wireless connection every 5-10 minutes. Thats right, there is a major bug in Leopard. At first I thought I was doing something wrong, but within a week of the release message boards were flooded with people experiencing the same problem. Thankfully I limited Leopard to my PowerBook G4 only, but unfortunately that is the main Internet PC in our family.
  
  A few weeks have passed and we are still waiting for a much needed fix. Until then, I have to warn anyone that uses a wireless connection as their exclusive connection to the Internet to avoid Leopard.
  
  NOTE - Nov 17 - Installed 10.5.1 this morning. 12 hours later and no problems with the wifi! Unfortunately I can not increase the star rating.
  
  
• Most Advanced and Useful Operating System Yet
  By A31RQA3M9KKJVU on 2007-11-01
  Mac OS X Leopard is a feat of software engineering and usability. Nowhere else will you find an operating system that can hide its advanced underpinnings beneath a gorgeous and intuitive user interface. Here are some of my favourite features:
  
  1. Screen Sharing
  
  Unbelievably easy and fast. I've used Microsoft Remote Desktop, Chicken of the VNC, etc., but none compare to the simplicity of screen sharing in Leopard. Also, I am not sure how Apple has done it, but the speed of screen sharing is astounding over my Airport Extreme Base Station network.
  
  2. Time Machine
  
  I bought a third internal drive for my Mac Pro to use Time Machine. It is incredibly simple and useful. For example, it works not only with files, but also with e-mail. Much has been said about Apple's decision to pull network support from Time Machine (e.g., backing up to an Airport disk,) but those statements are not entirely true. You can back up over the network to any hard drive connected to another computer on the network. So, for example, I can back up my wife's Macbook to a 300 GB Firewire drive attached to my Mac Pro. Of course, it's not nearly as fast as a local connection, but it works. I suggest you complete the initial sync locally and then perform the updates over the network.
  
  3. Stacks
  
  Leopard's most maligned feature is Stacks, a way of seeing specified folders fly out of your dock in a fan or grid. The primary complaint has been that users cannot drill down through subdirectories in Stacks. This is true; it is not possible right now. I don't know if Apple plans to change this, but for my purposes, it's absolutely fine, because I never used the Dock as a file manager. Instead, I find Stacks to be an incredible way of keeping clutter off my Desktop. It includes a Downloads folder that receives files from Mail and Safari. You can easily open the Stack for this folder and see what files you have downloaded; you can drag them to the Trash, open them, and delete them. You can expand a Stack to show the folder in the Finder, which essentially makes it a file launcher. Finally, contrary to what many have said, you can drag and drop into a Stack as though it were a regular Mac OS X spring-loaded folder. Doing so simply opens the folder in the Finder and you can continue there as you would have done in Tiger.
  
  4. Spaces
  
  Spaces is the new feature that gives users almost as many virtual desktops as they want. If I recall correctly, the whole concept was developed by a Mac developer a few years ago. Since then, many Mac and Windows applications have imitated the concept. In the case of Spaces, however, Apple has finally done it right. Spaces switch fast and remember application preferences perfectly. You can assign applications to one space or make them viewable on all spaces.
  
  Before I purchased Leopard, I had two displays attached to my Mac Pro. With the advent of Spaces, I am now down to one display, because I feel I don't need the second display. Spaces keeps my workspace organized and uncluttered.
  
  These are the primary features from which I have benefited. There is also a noticeable speed and responsiveness increase in Leopard, probably because it works with multi-core processors much better now. Thankfully, all new Macs come with dual-core processors, so everyone will benefit.
  
  You can see unbelievable polish and attention to detail in Leopard, as well. For example, when you add a new GMail IMAP account to Apple Mail, you will see a little link to GMail's help center appear at the bottom of your new account page. Also, when you download a file and try to expand it, Safari will tell you exactly when it was downloaded and give you a link to the site so you can make sure the file is safe before proceeding.
  
  It is this kind of detail that really sets Apple out from other companies. You will see it in Leopard and enjoy your computing experience thoroughly.
  
  
• Huge incremental improvements, little 'wow'
  By AXZYE3DCN8ORM on 2007-11-03
  In a nutshell, Leopard has a huge number of incremental improvements that make it worth getting, especially at a reasonable price. Tweaks to drivers, the interface, and stability all make it worth getting. Leopard even consumes less RAM than Tiger.
  
  But, to be honest, there are very few, if any, jaw-dropping new features that are going to change the way you use your Mac in a major way. Bootcamp has been around for a while (and arguably less useful than VMware Fusion or Parallels), while Time Machine is not such a big deal for anyone who has been using rsync or another backup method. And the new shiny Dock and Stacks are of questionable value.
  
  That being said, get Leopard. If you keep your expectations modest, you'll be happy.
  
  
• Should not be sold till it's ready
  By A34ILO73OK01S2 on 2007-11-03
  The Leopard "improvement" should not have been sold or recommended by Amazon untill the interface with AOL was fixed. One cannot attach documents and if one is responding to an Aol Tech Support Email, the program crashes. Apple should have done better than to put this on the market with what is for many of us some woeful glitches.
  
  
• Not perfect, but close
  By A2IBZEFMRIIG7B on 2007-11-24
  First, let me list the reasons I'm happy with my Leopard upgrade:
  
  1. Spotlight is finally fast enough that it's usable a program launcher; it's a huge improvement. It's still not as usable and powerful as QuickSilver, but for 90% of what I need, it's now good enough that I've turned QS off.
  
  2. TimeMachine is as fast and convenient a backup system as I have ever seen on a personal computer. We have a system like this on our expensive network-attached storage system at work, but Apple has actually has made this accessible to anyone who knows how to plug in an external disk drive.
  
  3. I use my aging 12" Powerbook fairly heavily, and with all the applications I typically have going at once (Safari, NetNewsWire, iCal, Mail, Pages, iTerm, ...) I was used to seeing the spinning beachball under 10.4, especially when using Safari and Mail. With Leopard, even if these applications themselves aren't faster, I only rarely see the beachball anymore, and as a result they're significantly more responsive.
  
  4. Screen sharing between my laptop and our family iMac was possible before, but it's simple and seemless in Leopard. Before, it was something I'd set up every now and again when it was especially useful - now it's always available.
  
  There are only a couple of things I actively dislike about Leopard.
  
  1. The colors in the new user interface are darker less colorful, and this often makes things harder to read. The labels of tabs in Safari are particularly hard to read now.
  
  2. The new Dock (when you put it on the side of the screen) is also darker and less attractive than the old Dock, and the little glowing dots are less easy to see than the triangles the old Dock had.
  
  3. It's more awkward to edit event information in iCal, because the side panel, where that information was previously displayed, was replaced by a popup window, that needs to be dismissed and reopened when you move from one event to the next.
  
  There's more to say, but these are the things that most affect my day-to-day use of my Powerbook. All-in-all, it was a great upgrade for me.
  
  
• Update-Mixed Blessings (if you currenty use Adobe PS/CS3)
  By A2L0F2T1DLTNT8 on 2008-02-10
  A happy ending to a rocky start - At long last and sooner then I had ever expected, on 2-11-2008, Apple released the 10.5.2 update for Leopard. I eagerly downloaded and installed it and was delighted to find that the CS3 issues are resolved and in fact, it seems CS3 PS and Bridge as well as other apps I am using on Leopard seem to load much faster. Some of the other quirks other users have reported like the Mac Mail app hanging or not shutting down (and that I also experienced), now appear to be fixed as well. Finally the stability that I always had in Tiger now seems consistent as well in Leopard. At this time, I'm definitely going to keep my Leopard software rather then return it.
  
  
  10.5.2 Info and installation details of the update are here at this Apple link:
  
  [...]
  
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  We've purchased our 3 Macs (Mac Pro, Mac Mini and MacBook) from Amazon and all had Tiger OS X installed. Tiger has been bug free on all of these system s with few updates or fixes ever being needed to be downloaded. I use Photoshop CS3/Mac on my Mac Pro. We just recently decided to give Leopard a go and purchased the 5 system family pack. I chose to use my Mac Pro as the first system for upgrade. Well, unfortunately and only after installing Leopard did I realize there exists some major issues using PS CS3 within the Leopard OS. There is a known issue with most all of the tools in CS3 when using Leopard and a lot of instability when entering numerical values for crop as well as many other CS3 tools. After seeing this and doing some web research, it seems that Adobe and Apple are working on a fix ASAP which will be in the next upcoming update for Leopard (referred to as 10.5.2). In fact I know only too late that Apple plans over 150 "fixes" to the existing bugs in its latest OS with the Photoshop CS3 being only one of them. My rating is less about the new features in Leopard and more due to having taken the plunge into what I thought would be a safe and stable new OS for the MAC only to find that the most often used piece of software I use almost daily, limps badly in the new OS. Shame Apple for releasing Leopard either too soon and perhaps without having fully tested it on some of the most often used software on the Mac, and CS2/CS3 on a Mac should have been a super high priority. We'll be returning our DVD of Leopard to Amazon and for the meantime, staying with good ol' stable Tiger until we see what owners are saying about the "fixed" issues, later this year. This is certainly no fault of Amazon's, but, buyers need to be aware of this issue, especially those who depend on using Adobe and other SW products on their Mac! By the way, all of our Macs were purchased from Amazon since they beat the best price out there and using our Amazon PRIME account, we got our systems either in 2 days with FREE shipping or in one case, overnight for just $3.99. If you routinely shop at Amazon and want free 2 day shipping from Amazon, Go PRIME! They have never failed us yet on an order and we do a lot of shopping there. Well done Amazon!
  
  
• Aesthetic improvements + Generally faster
  By A17DX5NAUWNIRJ on 2007-11-24
  I really like Leopard's new look, with the iTunes-style windows, 3D dock, improved Spotlight, etc. Also, Quick Look is an amazingly useful feature that enables me to view documents without having to open their respective programs.
  There are also a number of setting tweaks that I really appreciate, such as the ability to share specific folders. This allows me to share certain files without having to dump them into my public folder, or provided access to my entire computer,
  
  Overall, what sold me on the OS was the fact that, despite these graphical improvements, the system itself is faster. Because its so speedy, I now use spotlight as both a file finder and an application launcher. Navigating file folders is quick, and everything from changing preferences to opening programs seems more responsive. This is no revolutionary OS like Vista, but unlike Vista, it is a solid system that improves upon the previous edition without sacrificing speed or security. I would definitely recommend it to all Mac users.
  
  
• Good OS/application/feature set
  By A2VPH77IT25KAZ on 2007-12-07
  I upgraded two machines from 10.4 to 10.5 (Leopard), and bottomline, I am pleased. If you already have 10.4, its ok to wait a while since 10.4 is good and quite solid, but I took the plunge and have enjoyed the nice enhancements.
  
  Most people say do a backup and then a fresh install. That is probably the best approach, but I was innocently hopeful, and went ahead with an upgrade on both machines without backing them up. One machine (MacBook with Intel) upgraded with zero problems, and I have not had any problems with it. Very pleased. By the way, immediately after the install, there was a system update (10.5.1) that I immediately did which addressed some known some bugs. The second machine (iMac with PowerPC) installed but froze on the reboot. Thank goodness I had a second Mac to look up the problem/solution and a Firewire cable to hook up the two, remove the application enhancer file remotely, and reboot. That fixed it, and I have had only one problem in the last three weeks (a freeze).
  
  It's the little things that make Leopard a joy. I don't mind the reflective dock, and it nicely shows what is running. The Finder windows are improved with the sidebar. Quick Look is excellent and quite productive. The Spotlight search is excellent. iChat with the screen sharing is FANTASTIC -- it paid for itself in one use, it is so easy to use, two of us edited a document together and I gave a tutorial remotely on how to use pivot tables in Excel. I've always enjoyed the Dictionary, and it is improved with Wikipedia results. It is all these little things here and there that make it an excellent OS/application/feature set...whatever it is.
  
  
• worth the upgrade
  By A13TMZ7XF6XZ4C on 2007-12-08
  Biggest concern was how all the major applications would react to the new OS X, mainly MS office and CS2 software. They seem to work well, sometimes an unexpected quit here and there but not that frequent. Navigating through files has been streamlined, great for those of us who work on the computer all day. There are so many thoughtful new features with this upgrade, that when you discover each new one, it confirms that upgrading was the right choice.
  
  
• Stable Platform
  By A16ZU3YJ4X4SGK on 2008-01-02
  I have found OSX 10.5 to be a stable platform. The new features of the system that I use are the stacking and the stationary for Mail. The COMMAND + F feature is upgraded and very useful. The one problem I had was easily solved by updating the software immediately after loading the program. Without this update my Mail program didn't work. When you begin to upload the new OS the computer verifies the integrity of the DVD. I skipped this step without incident and saved 45 minutes. I can't say that the new system is that much better than 0S 10.4 to justify the expense. To me it was a matter of keeping up to date with features and security. I am satisfied with the new OS.
  
  
• MAC OS X Leopard 10.5 - The New Wave in technology
  By AZFNMERFWRP9F on 2007-10-26
  Installing Leopard (What to expect for first time Leopard users): You pop the CD in your CDROM Tray as a window pops up telling you to restart your system, as your computer restarts, an installation window will confirm your drive for consistency, this will take roughly about 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the system. Once the CD Drive consistency check finishes, it'll ask you to choose your features that you want to install by selecting custom install, once you've selected your features, it'll ask for you to agree to the service agreement, after you agree the installation will begin, at this point just sit back and wait as for this also takes 45 minutes to an hour to finish (90 minutes to 120 minutes for complete install to finish). Once installation is done, all your existing files will still be intact and you'll be on your way to seeing what's under the hood of the new leopard. Speaking of features, I would like to tell you about a few of them.
  
  Time Machine: Enables you to backup your system to an external hard drive in case of system crashes, accidental deletion of a file, etc. This tool will enable you to back track through a time line of windows that you can browse through, complete with realtime visual preview of the files you wish to restore.
  
  Dock: Dock has been completely revamped in style, the bar is translucent along with reflective icons that sit on the dock.
  
  Stacks: Stacks enables you to view the contents of a folder without actually opening it, You single click the folder and it flutters out giving you a preview of files, documents or sub folders that the folder contains. This feature can help minimize space on your dock.
  
  Coverflow: Coverflow enables you to easily flip from content to content in a matter of seconds using a visual icandy interface. This tool will also help assist locating your file/files more efficiently. This feature works in iPhoto, Finder, and more.
  
  Finder: Finder has been re designed to let you access what you need a lot faster and more effectively.
  
  Safari: You can tell that Safari has been tweaked a little, because the internet browser operates a lot faster than before.
  
  Expose: If you have multiple windows open at once, you can use expose to visually see every window on your screen as it auto fits and shrinks everything for you, once you can see all your windows that are open, just click on the one you wish to view and it will bring your window back to normal size.
  
  Menubar: The Menubar has been changed to a translucent face, some users may not like this feature due to it being that way, but for users that like the iCandy then I think they definitely will. Note: Users who don't have a newer mac will more than likely not see the translucent face on the Menubar due to not having a powerful graphics card, this would more than likely apply to PowerPC G4 users. I have been to many forums and read a lot of reviews stating that users are not too happy with the translucent Menubar, if you would like to actually disable this feature through Leopard, answer is you really can't do it at this time, but through a third party application called LeoColorBar made by MD Software, it enables you to disable the translucent Menubar. If you would like to download LeoColorBar, visit the following link http://homepage.mac.com/mdsw/md%20softworks.html
  NOTE:
  LeoColorBar is freeware
  
  Software Compatibility: I say anywhere from 85% to 95% of Mac Software works, but of course since Leopard has just been released, there's a lot of software companies that just haven't made their software compatible with it yet. in due time the percentages will rise as updates, patches will start to come out. Some users might receive error messages saying that this software is not compatible with your OS, I myself only had one software that did that, but the rest of them worked, this will differ from each mac user for they are using different software than others.
  
  Since there is over 300+ features in this new Operating System, I can't tell you all of them. If you want to get an idea of what Leopard is all about, visit the following site to watch a 45 minute video guided tour at apples website. Here is the link if you want to check it out: http://www.apple.com/macosx/guidedtour/
  
  Apple MAC OS X Leopard 10.5 is a solid operating system with new and improved features that have been implemented to stimulate the user experience. This Operating System is good for productivity use, entertainment, etc., I recommend this for everyone: Families, Children, Individuals, Developers, Musicians, artists etc. For those who need or want an upgrade, then I highly recommend that you do.
  
  If you're skeptical or don't know much about computers, I hope my review helped, if not ask a Genius at an apple store and have them show you what this thing can do, ask a friend, a co-worker or people who have already installed the upgrade, its always good to research before you buy, especially if you're a skeptic or a newbie.
  
  For the Newbie, here are the System Requirements for you to consider before you upgrade:
  
  Processor must be any Intel, PowerPC G5 or G4 (at 867 MHz or faster)
  DVD drive (for installation of the operating system)
  Built-in FireWire
  At least 512 MB of RAM (additional RAM is recommended for development purposes)
  A built-in display or a display connected to an Apple-supplied video card
  At least 9 GB of disk space available
  
  End note:
  This is absolutely the best operating system that is available today, do yourself a
  favor and upgrade to the new wave in technology - MAC OS X Leopard 10.5 is a 5
  star winner and 100% fully Recommended for everyone.
  
  
• Back up first!
  By A1PMW352KZTQUQ on 2007-11-22
  I installed Leopard on two separate computers. Both times the install failed. I had to redo the installs and manually transfer user files and preferences. Once I cleaned things up, the OS has run without problems. However, be sure you have a complete back-up of your disk before starting. I used my back-ups for recovery of some user files lost when the original install failed.
  
  
• Outstanding OS for fun and work
  By A3P2JENZ6RSJ05 on 2007-11-29
  Mac OS 10.5 is an outstanding update to an already great OS. Beyond the rock-solid UNIX underpinnings, the new features that I find most useful are:
  
  1) Automatically add events to iCal from Mail. This is a huge time saver for those who get appointment notifications by email.
  
  2) Time Machine works great and it is no longer necessary for me to use my old ad hoc terribly unsafe backup scheme. This feature alone is worth the upgrade.
  
  3) Mail & iCal. The new version of mail is very fast, and the ability to have nested and smart folders is a plus. iCal's changes are great and the app. is now ready for prime time.
  
  4) Apache2 and PHP is included, which isn't going to help most users but if you are web developer you'll appreciate that.
  
  5) Spaces. Having multiple working desktop spaces is great for multitasking.
  
  6) New Look and Feel. It's very polished. I like the black dock on the side better than the default, and it is absolutely necessary to turn off the default "preview" desktop icon view, but overall look is great.
  
  7) iChat screen sharing is awesome for collaboration over the internet. Going to meetings is going to be obsolete if they keep this up!
  
  Overall, it's worth the upgrade price, especially since they've already released 10.5.1, which ties up a few loose ends that were in the original version.
  
  
• Great overall. Careful...not compatable with some older apps...yet
  By A26JHI30X5JVG2 on 2007-11-29
  Time machine backs up my macbook pro without me even thinking about it. Lo and behold...I actually needed to find a file I accidentally deleted and works as advertised.
  
  In the finder, quickview and coverflow are much more practical than I expected...more than eye candy. Great for sorting through images, and GREAT for figuring out what version of a doc I'm looking at. Coverflow may take a while to generate previews, especially if looking at video files. Not a big deal.
  
  DVD player has better controls and a very practical scene thumbnail browser when you move pointer to the top of the screen.
  
  Some of my apps, like system tweakers such as Onyx and Maintenance, or open source apps like Gimp, doesn't seem to work, which may be a drag if I used them more frequently. Again, not a big deal for me, but make sure your key apps are Leopard compatable or have upgrades available before installing.
  
  Over all, a great upgrade. The features I first thought to be gimmicks actually enhanced my productivity quite a bit.
  
  
• OS upgrade worthy of my money
  By A8YD30AWIJB12 on 2007-11-29
  I have installed Leopard on 2 MacBook Pro Core Duos, 1 Core Duo iMac, 1 G4 1.25 single proc Tower and bought a new MacBook with it preinstalled.
  I have done both upgrade installs and fresh ones. Both methods worked flawlessly. I enjoyed using SuperDuper to clone my existing drive to an external then doing a clean install of Leopard and transfering my user info and applications. (Take notes M$!)
  I can say that it performs just as well on all of these machines as long as you have 1 gig or more of RAM. I had 512 on the G4 and the iMac and I noticed a performance boost once I went to 1+gig of RAM.
  
  I find Leopard to be more stable than Tiger and by that I mean I am seeing WAY fewer spinning beachballs of doom and the few that I have seen have been cleared by a force quit. I found that force quit was not always successful in Tiger.
  
  I have not yet worked with all of the new features such as Time Machine, but from what I've seen so far in stability improvements, the Family Pack has already paid for itself.
  
  My fav features are Spaces (linux has had this for years), QuickView and it's ability to EASILY talk to Windows shares. Before I had to run a script to map Windows shares and now I can simply browse them by storing my authentication info in Keychain.
  
  
• Mac OS Upgrade to 10.5 Leopard
  By A3KB796L2EFYXH on 2007-12-01
  It worked flawlessly in 3 of my computers. It did not work on the 4th which was a 2003 Mac G4. Its speed was below the minimum speed required for Leopard. I knew about this before purchasing, so no problem for me. However, this information was not on the box.
  
  
• Leopard for Dummies (like me)
  By A1UBV6BXQSXO2B on 2007-12-04
  Probably I won't be original in my comments at all...
  I was an "all times Windows user/supporter" but after suffering Vista for a while, I decided to buy a MacBook (4 months ago), full of "fears"... but I have to tell that I found a whole new World... performance, GUI, applications, and general easy of use... then Leopard came in and this new World became close to the "Cosmos" definition.
  Just using the TIME MACHINE application that comes OOB with Leopard pays far the price for the investment.
  If you're running on Tiger, not decided yet to move it forward, go ahead, no doubt!!!
  If you're running on Windows (any), go ahead, give Apple a try not just with the iPhone or some of the iPods...
  
  
• OS X 10.5 Leopard
  By A2D6BMGSLU4S9X on 2007-12-06
  I bought the family pack and installed Leopard on my iMac PPC & intel MacBook. Both installations work flawlessly. I have had no problems, I upgraded to 10.5.1 through Apple software update and that fixed original problems. I highly recommend it and after all this time it still blows me away.
  
  
• I would not upgrade without research.
  By A372RWVCB2RT3V on 2007-12-08
  I've never owned a PC. I feed the PC is a rope holding back technology. Not that Apple is any crowing glory of achievement - they're just better that PC's.
  I am a loan officer and I own three Mac's - 2 Mac Mini's and 1 MacBook - both Intel. I spend at least 8-10 hours/day weekdays using my computer. The program I need to conduct my business is called Calyx Point, and there is no Mac equivalent. Before, I had to use my company computers for Point, but since Parallels, I operate Point strictly from my Mac. It's the only thing I need Parallels for.
  
  When I bought OS X 10.5, from previous experience, I installed it first as a fresh install on my home Mac Mini, and reinstalled only iLife '08 and Parallels. Parallels kept crashing and giving me errors. I reinstalled the OS X 10.5 as a fresh install in reinstalled iLife '08 and Parallels to no avail. There is now a beta patch for Parallels that seems to fix the problems, but I will not install 10.5 on my two work computers until a hard patch for Parallels is available, and I test it out on my home Mac Mini.
  
  If you only need the core programs for your Mac - Mail, iTunes, iCal, Safari, iLife - then upgrade away.
  
  But if you need Parallels to function, I would not upgrade until the hard patch from Parallels exists.
  
  As far as all the cool new things for 10.5 - I don't like the fact that Sherlock in gone. I rarely used it, but it was definitely handy when I needed it. And, how the heck can you specify page size in Safari before you print? I'm sure it's there, but it's not where it used to be, under Page Setup. I can't rate any features of 10.5, because I rarely use my home Mac. When I can finally upgrade, I may post my opinion.
  
  
• Bells and whistles do not a better OS make
  By A7KQQYVJ32C1B on 2007-12-08
  I have run OS X in all its incarnations, on both PowerPC machines, and for 20 months on a Core Duo MacBook. Tiger was a dream. It never caused me a concern, was quick and reliable.
  
  Leopard takes up an additional 4 gigabytes of space on my HD than did Tiger. It loads more slowly, much more slowly. Sometimes I think I'm running Windows again.
  
  And speaking of Windows, my version of Parallels does not work well with Leopard, forcing me to make a decision to upgrade to 3.0, or go to Fusion (my likely choice).
  
  Adobe still hasn't issued a version of PhotoShop Elements that will run natively on the Intel chip, and whereas PhotoShop Elements 2 ran well on Tiger under Rosetta, it will not run at all on Leopard--and I really miss it.
  
  SuperDuper!, which I have used for back-up, and would prefer to continue using since you cannot boot from a TimeMachine back up, still hasn't issued a Leopard-compatible version. I'm sure it will come, but I miss it. It was quick and ultra-reliable.
  
  I had to download a couple of drivers for printers I use.
  
  The iPod-iPhone mods to Finder leave me cold, and stacks don't mean much to me, either.
  
  I can still go back and restore Tiger with a SuperDuper! back up, and I think about doing that every day.
  
  
• great .... but need enhancements
  By A3MG0KR2S2WV3M on 2007-11-06
  this the 3rd OS i have upgraded since 10.2 jaguar.. the finder is completely new, file management also
  new & its look eye candy, but this version will be stable after some updates like tiger , tiger now is more stabled
  since 10.4.6 update ..... but in general its worth for Time Machine feature. I recommend buyers to wait after Apple release 10.5.1 update .
  
  
• Looks and runs great
  By A11HWS9ZWXZM7Y on 2007-11-21
  I like the eye candy a lot in that it does look a lot nicer than tiger; however, Leopard would be nicer if apple would have utilized open source by utilizing Beryl, a linux 3d desktop project, within mac osx--would have to port it over from x windows over to OSX, but it would be a beautiful thing.
  
  The operating system is organized well, I just wish it would boot as fast, if not faster, than tiger.
  
  
• Solid Upgrade
  By A3EEHBSRQBQZUK on 2007-11-24
  I have installed family pack on three machines (new iMac, eMac, and 1.4gHz iBook) and all has been good. No show stopping issues so far. It took a little effort to get the eMac to print through a shared printer on an old iMac running 10.3, but all is good now. Overall, I enjoy the new features, and my wife says her iBook runs even faster than before the upgrade.
  
  

• Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual
• Teach Yourself VISUALLY Mac OS X Leopard (Teach Yourself VISUALLY (Tech))
• Mac OS X Leopard Pocket Guide (Pocket Reference)
• Switching to the Mac: The Missing Manual, Leopard Edition (Missing Manual)
• Apple .Mac 5.0 [OLD VERSION]

• Apple iLife '08 Family Pack
• Apple iWork '08 Family Pack
• Mac OS X Leopard: The Missing Manual
• Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Home & Student Edition
• VMware Fusion [OLD VERSION]