Mac OS X Leopard (1-User) (Mac) (DVD-ROM)

Can't upgrade Tiger to Leopard Whilst I am sure that in common with all Apple-MAC software; Leopard will be a fine operating system, "Mac OS X Leopard (1-User) (Mac OS X)" won't upgrade my very recently purchased Apple Super Mini Mac that came loaded with Tiger (Mac OS X 10.4.11) so I have no way of knowing how good it actually is. I believe I should have purchased an upgrade version of Leopard, but this is not obvious from the review of all the Leopard versions on Amazon and there is no upgrade version available on Amazon, so I only found this out from the long time user of MAC OS X operating systems, who recommended me to move from Windows to MAC, which I have no regrets in having done as Tiger is far superior to Windows Vista.

The good and the bad I am currently using a Mac Pro and Leopard to write my PhD thesis. Writing up isn't a pleasant experience to be honest but I felt compelled to write this review because Leopard has made it as close to an enjoyable experience as can be expected. It is simply a very very good operating system. It's very stable - the OS itself has never crashed (much like Tiger before it in fact) - and everything is seamlessly integrated which I love. Once you get the hang of the keyboard and mouse shortcuts in particular you will be working like a demon! One of the best features is the search function and how it interacts with the Finder. Spotlight finds names and words in pdfs which is incredibly useful and the quickview lets me scan hundreds of documents lightning fast without opening them...tip: all you need to do is tap the space bar when the icon is selected. The downside: lots of older programs aren't geared towards the intel chips so they need to run in emulation mode. For my computer, which is quad core, that's not such a problem but for some of the entry level Macs it could be a drag. Having said that Universal Binary versions of Office and Photoshop are available. These downers aren't significant enough for me to award less than five stars because this OS has saved me so much time...better get back to work.

The Best Thing For me the best thing about Leopard is Boot Camp, and the best thing about Boot Camp is Windows and the best thing about all of this is being able to play PC games on the Mac. And, played on something like a top of the line iMac they play well indeed. A clear case of being able to have your cake and eat it too. Let's face it, Apple has always been the poor relation when it comes to games and would continue to be so if it wasn't for Boot Camp, but with Boot Camp, Apple has, in one stroke, put themselves into serious gaming territory. On that point I rest my case.

Leopard's starting to roar Apple's Leopard 10.5 has to rate as one of the most successful operating system launches of all time. It is a truly stunning piece of software which enables you to maximise productivity: using your mac to do what you want it do straight out of the box. Simple, intuitive and with easy to navigate menus, the visual environment is the best I have encountered and infinitely better than any Windows OS. The real joy of Mac OS X, in fact the real joy of all Apple systems, is that you don't have to spend days or months studying manuals before you're up and running. Any major release of a new operating system is always bugged by initial gremlins. When you think of all the possible commands and multiply them by different applications, printers, digital cameras and other add-ons, the potential for problems is massive. Actually, this latest release of OS X was remarkbly stable and bug-free from day one. (Microsoft's Vista, by contrast, still isn't stable or bug free after more than a year in the wild.) Of course, there were inevitable glitches with Lepoard that needed to be addressed. Apple released the first patch 10.5.1 before Christmas and then this week (February 14th, 2008) they issued 10.5.2 which fixed all major issues. The latest update now makes Leopard as reliable as you would expect. So you should now feel free to buy it with total confidence. Once you have loaded Leopard onto your machine, Apple will automatically download the latest software updates at no extra cost. Anyone who is using an intel-based Mac should purchase this upgrade. Everything about it will enable you to store and work with documents and programs better than you ever have before. In summary, then, this is a fantastic achievement. if you're not already a Mac fan, you soon will be after using this.

Leopard Unstable WAIT 6 MONTHS UNTIL MIDDLE OF 2008! Purchased iMac Dec 2007 supposedly with Leopard. Actually it had Tiger installed and an upgrade DVD for Leopard was provided. Very untidy if you take the upgrade route. Probably better to erase and install directly from the Leopard DVD immediately if this happens to you. However Leopard appears to be relatively unstable (version 10.5.1) with the following problems that I have noted: 1. Bluetooth. Regular failures of the Apple wireless keyboard & mouse. Attempting to access bluetooth preferences creates a lockup leading to a hard reset of the iMac. I appear to have got around this by turning off the bluetooth wake from sleep facility. 2. Airport. Regularly losing internet access via a Netgear wireless router requiring either turning airport off & on or occasionally rebooting of the router. This used to happen approx. once every 2 months with my old powerbook/Tiger now I get it nearly every day. (did see comments that the bluetooth may be causing this) 3. Shutdown. Several problems shutting down/restarting. Today couldn't restart because Safari wouldn't close. Safari was not open. Recycled Safari then Preview woudn't close. Preview wasn't open. Eventually had to do a hard reset. I hope these are just teething problems. For instance there is a lively discussion on the Apple UK forums about the bluetooth glitch. So I strongly recommend waiting a few months while Apple iron out the bugs. On the plus side when it is working the iMAC/Leopard combination is brilliant. Just be patient a little longer.