Mac OS X Leopard

New stuff

Well, most Mac users probably don't care about the new stuff I'm going to write about, but for those that are interested, it can be good information.

Apache 2

the apache (1) web (http) server has been replaced by the version 2.2. It has many modules, like "SSL" and "DAV". Most configuration starts in "/etc/apache2/httpd.conf". The way to administrate this http server is quite different in Mac OS X from Debian Gnu/Linux, because the configuration files are not organized the same way. Well, the core is still the same, I mean it's still Apache 2. User directories are disabled by default, I don't know why, probably a mistake as we can't turn them on without touching the configuration files (or I haven't found the right button to click)! As a conclusion: we can do a lot more, but it requires quite a lot more skills in Apache administration.

SVN

As I said, there is the "DAV" module in Apache2... Well, now there is SVN in Leopard. ;-) (In Tiger, there was CVS but not SVN, now there's both.)

Quick Look

Well, I didn't know whether I would like it or even use it. After a few days, I can tell it's a really good thing. But damn Apple: why can't they read AVI files in Quick Look? That's really stupid, isn't it? Or is it this hard to take a good video player such as mplayer or vlc and do the same? ...

Emacs 22

The builtin Emacs 22 is quite welcome! (this builtin version is a no-window application)

PS to PDF

The Preview.app application is quite enhanced! The conversion of PS files to PDF files is way better now! With the new Preview.app, when you have bitmap fonts in the PS file, and you convert this file to PDF format, the original text information of the PS file is kept in the PDF file, so that you can select the text inside, even if it's bitmap fonts. And the antialiasing of bitmap fonts is better.

Dock and Stacks

I couldn't wait to have Stacks until I had them... Now I don't make intensive use of them because I don't have enough place on the Dock...

Spaces

Spaces is ß-quality. That's not good, I mean Spaces is good but the ß-quality is not good. The only really good feature it "adds" to "virtue desktops" is the exposé of the desktops so that one can move any window to any other space. There is the same bug than with Virtue Desktops when using Adium: when your mouse is over the contacts list that is on another desktop, it shows their pictures... (those who already know easily understand...). Another bad point is that *sometimes*, when you switch from an application to another with Command-tab, the application windows are not well brought back to the front. (maybe corrected with 10.5.1)

Terminal.app

The tabs features was really missing. But I have "wrong habits" not to use tabs, so I still have dozens of Terminal windows... The advantage now is that they all are in the same desktop... Well, even though, it's quite better because of the small enhancements, like the automatic LANG environment variable exportation...

Internet Connect.app

it has just disappeared because it was merged into network configuration... (System Preferences > Network) The problem is when you have configured what you wanted with Internet Connect.app, you don't always want to understand the new way to configure the stupid wifi 802.1X parameters...

Safari

The Safari 3 of Leopard is quite better than the Safari 3 of Tiger! I didn't expect that difference... In Leopard, it's faster and handles better Javascript, still I have to admit I haven't compared with the Final version 3 of Safari for Tiger. I will when I think of it and have time.

Apple Mail and iCal

I can't edit todos descriptions in Mail. I can only create one, and edit titles and dates (and to which calendar it belongs). But there are these new "Notes" in which you can manage notes, some parts of the notes can become (other) todos... It's a little bit confusing and ß-taste. Well, I admit merging a Mail feature and an iCal feature is not quite easy...

RSS in Mail or in Safari?

Now we can read RSS feeds in Mail and in Safari, so which one to chose?

CUPS

CUPS has changed, and now I can't print at my lab... Well, maybe it's just a few things to do, but I still don't know what. (France is on strike, I can't go to my lab and search for a solution)

LBP5200

I can print on my Canon LBP5200 using my old powerbook with a Tiger + Apple printer sharing... It's quite bad because I put Leopard on that powerbook and so know it has two systems! Which one to chose? What's surprising is that it works better with powerbook/tiger<->macbookpro/leopard than with powerbook/tiger<->macbookpro/tiger. Anyways... To print or not to print? that is the question...

System Memory

While the system works faster (which is surprising to me as I'm a Mac user since Tiger, so it's my first major OS X update), it uses more memory - like 10% to 30%, I don't know (which is not surprising, as it's the "same" with other systems).

Hot screen corners

Now a hot screen corner can put the display to sleep.

Multiple windows, one application

I don't know why, the good window is not always taken to to foreground. Surely a bug... :-( It happens with Preview, Carbon Emacs, Adium, Mail, ... So when you switch to another application, and you go back, you're not sure the layers are kept in the same order! (checked in 10.5.1)

2007-11-21