mac os x 10.5

Leopard looks great. But what if you can't see?

Leopard is Apple's best-looking operating system yet, from its breezy Cover Flow file browsing to the starry-looking Time Machine backup. It's no wonder visual artists love Macs.

But how well does Leopard work for blind users?

"[Vision-impaired] people who use Macs are mostly in the category of, "My boss says we have to use Macs," or "I'm a teacher and that's what I'm stuck with,"" said Crista Earl, director of Web operations at the American Foundation for the Blind.

Among 10 million visually impaired people in the United States, … Read more

One thing Leopard doesn't have: Default Folder X

Leopard has now only been available for a week, so even if you waited in line to purchase the latest Mac OS, you're probably still getting used to all the new features. My personal favorite at this point is probably Spaces, because I can split up my work into different areas and quickly switch between them. The addition of Stacks is a welcome change, too, because I now have all my articles in the same place--right there on the Dock. One surprise for me, though it probably shouldn't have been, was that I soon realized I missed a certain program immediately when I went to save a document.… Read more

Rain, wind don't deter NYC's Leopard hunters

NEW YORK--On Friday afternoon at the hour that Apple launched its latest operating system, Mac OS 10.5 Leopard, it was pouring rain in Manhattan. It was also windy and chilly. That didn't stop several hundred people from lining up outside the Apple Store on Fifth Avenue to get their hands on the new software, huddled underneath Gore-Tex jackets and umbrellas.

"It's the cult," commented another reporter who had also been covering the water-saturated event.

The line for Leopard appeared to be divided fairly evenly between rabid Apple fans and shoppers who'd figured they could … Read more

On Fifth Avenue, no Leopard fans spotted yet

NEW YORK--At about 1 p.m. EDT in midtown Manhattan, I overheard a group of suit-clad thirtysomething men talking as they waited to cross Madison Avenue.

"You know, leopards are solitary animals," one of them said. The other three or four continued musing on the characteristics of the large exotic felines, and I figured that it was actually part of a conversation about Apple's latest operating system, which launches Friday at 6 p.m. I thought, wow, if fratty midtown office types are talking about Mac OS X 10.5, there must be a huge line of … Read more