Leopard

Apple unveiled a near final version of Mac OS X Leopard, which is scheduled to ship in October for $129. According to Apple, Leopard will introduce over 300 new features. Leopard includes a new Dock featuring Stacks, which can help manage a user’s desktop clutter by allowing users to instantly fan out the contents of a stack to see each item. Leopard’s Finder has been redesigned, adding with a similar look to iTunes, including the integration of Cover Flow to quickly browse and locate files and applications. Subscribers to .Mac can use the “Back to my Mac" feature to browse and access files on their remote Macs over the Internet. Also new in Leopard is Quick Look, way for users to instantly preview almost any file, and play media files, without opening an application.

Leopard also includes three new technologies that take full advantage of the latest developments in processor hardware: full native 64-bit support to enable applications to take complete advantage of 64-bit processing while still running side by side with existing 32-bit Mac OS X applications and drivers; easy multi-core optimization and scheduling to take advantage of the latest Intel hardware; and Core Animation, helping developers easily create animated user experiences.

Safari 3.0 Beta for Mac and Windows

Apple has released a public beta of the new Safari 3.0, and in a surprise announcement, is also expanding Safari over to the PC. Apple claims Safari is the fastest browser running on Windows rendering web pages up to twice as fast as IE 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2.

The free public beta of Safari 3 is available immediately as a download at www.apple.com/safari, and is preview software licensed for use on a trial basis for a limited time. The final version of Safari 3 will be available as a feature in the upcoming Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard, and will be available as a free download to Mac OS X Tiger and Windows users in October.

iPhone to Support 3rd Party Applications using Web 2.0 Standard

While probably not the SDK kit that developers were looking for, Apple announced that its iPhone will run applications created with Web 2.0 Internet standards when it begins shipping on June 29. Developers can create Web 2.0 applications which look and behave just like the applications built into iPhone, and which can seamlessly access iPhone’s services, including making a phone call, sending an email and displaying a location in Google Maps. Third-party applications created using Web 2.0 standards can extend iPhone’s capabilities without compromising its reliability or security.