So, you guessed it, I am still awake, working away here, getting things all lined up to bring the iMac back to full production status, I am about 1/2 way transferring back over from the Linux box 47.3GB of “Music” which includes iTunes purchases and such, slow going, but it’s going the big one to worry about is Pictures, lots of digital negatives there.
I have been playing with Leopard for about a day now, like most folks out there toying with new features, though unlike a group of folks out there, I can’t really say I have found any “quirks” that are show stoppers. Granted while copying from a NFS mount I can’t seem to unmount disk images of installs, so I have a LOT on the desktop right now waiting for the data to get copied over but so far everything is running smoothly, all my common apps like Textmate which I am blogging from, Transmit for FTP works fine, I have honestly yet to find a application that gives me any problems, and most folks report that CS3 is working fine, so when that bridge comes up here, I’ll cross it without fear!
New features are nice
Spaces - It is pretty spiff, I enjoyed it on the MBP however on dual monitors, each “Space” is split into 2 sections (one for each monitor) so if I have 4, there are 8 windows to drag apps into, it’s pretty clever
Stacks - Some people are finding this very troublesome, but I think its just another feature you can take or leave, and for me, I enjoy it, for downloads and documents (the defaults) it works great, but for me I also have my stock photo purchases, projects folder, and “Desktop” as files get dropped/saved there all the time, it’s pretty handy.
Time Machine - While I don’t “hate” it, I am not 100% in love with it, the use of a NFS mount would of been better, but just means I need to get a good sized drive to use on my iMac, and I need to clean off the portable drive for the MBP.
Mail - Lovely - the new features aren’t a “MUST” for me, granted the To-Do’s will most likely sync into the Dash via Missing Sync (or so is my hope) but it’s speed has greatly increased, so much so that I imported my Thunderbird email, and have 1 less app to install.
Frontrow - Looks good, apparently it shares the layout of the AppleTV device, but it’s workable - not that I use it that much, as I tend to use VLC and full screen it on the secondary monitor, but its a nice touch up none the less.
Overall UI- Seen a number of complaints about this, folks upset about the transparent menu bar, or the dock, “blah blah blah” people are entitled to their opinion, don’t get me wrong, but at the same time aren’t Mac folk supposed to be this super “progressive” thinkers I mean come on the ad is “Think Different” but instead some folks have been spooked by the new look - all I can say is, deep breath people, it’ll be okay.
But so far so good, I am sure there’s a slew of features I could go on about, and in time, maybe I will, currently doing Software Updates for iLife06, just finished the last one, but it all is looking super good, more later I am sure, more to do while the copy continues it’s long journey of copying
So it is done, with only 1 casualty to speak of, the Movies folder, which thankfully doesn’t usually contain anything of monumental importance, so not a loss just a “Doh!” moment as I realized it wasn’t there.
So far so good - got Adium moved over and it moved without a hitch, included logs, settings, themes, icons, the works, same with Mail, Firefox, Textmate - and now just need to get the LARGE data moved over, going to leave the big one rolling here in a minute once I get the other random downloads/reboots done - but it has gone super well - very very happy indeed.
More later on an “official” review from me, really not any complaints thus far, but I wanted to gage it on the iMac’s speed since it is my primary workstation, though the Laptop is very chipper now and may be getting some more loving use soon
So tomorrow I think I will give the full treatment to the iMac - on the MBP it’s going smoothly, heck even Firefox runs a world quicker, all apps seem a lot more chipper, the big things like the Adobe CS3 Suite are still on the “To Install” list along with other apps, but all in all, it’s going well with no burps.
I do like the new features, and the tabbed terminal, awesome. I can’t wait to see what it does in dual monitors with things like Spaces - but time will tell, must get a backup done fresh tomorrow on the iMac and see about clearing off one of the 250GB drives I have to use in the USB enclosure for Time Machine.
Anywhoo - live from my bed, Captain Sleepy Signing off.
So promptly (okay it was 6:02pm) CompUSA staff got us all our copies of Leopard, I was out the door by 6:07pm, and of course then traffic was horrible, etc. etc. but I got home before 7pm, and now I am backing up the MBP which really doesn’t have a LOT to work with, as the iTunes library is backed up on the linux box into a mt-dappd server, and most movie work is done via the desktop, photos are a few, but nothing major - so I am using my external USB drive to back up the few GB of info.
I did have a good laugh with a few Mac nerds loafing around waiting for 6pm, but no major crowd and no one fighting one another, but there was a Mac Prophet spouting Mac propaganda, mac this, mac that - dude was all over the place, he even whipped out his MacBook and showed people things - and the people were all trying to find a way to escape - were Mac users, not Mac Fanatics.
The plan is a backup of this rig, then a clean install of leopard. More later - if it goes smoothly, then the iMac gets a upgrade later once I get the MBP stable with all the apps I need
So it seems you can save $20 off the retail price of 10.5 if you purchase via Amazon.com - not a horrible deal, but still means you run the gambit of getting 10.5 late, as some delivery companies aren’t prepared for the massive pre-orders, like with Harry Potter, some folks saw their pre-order days later.
I am not sure of my purchase plan as of yet, as one Canadian asked if I was going to get the family pack, I think I am going to hold off in general, or simply goto my local CompUSA in the AM and just pick it up then as I imagine they’ll have it, if not, there’s always the 2hr drive to visit my brother and his local apple store but time will tell.
So 300+ new features, do I rush out now and pre-order? Do I wait for it locally and just pick up a disk? Will it install on both my MBP and My iMac or do I need the family pack? So many questions, 10 days to find the answers - honestly it looks like a lovely upgrade, some of the functionality I am excited about (re: Stacks) some others (re: Time Machine) not so much, just unsure how it’ll affect performance.
So we shall see how it goes, plus I need to drum up $129 at the very least ah the joys of Mac ownership.
I miss gaming sometimes - WoW is nice, but the downside to it is even after a $50 purchase, your stuck with a monthly - the Wii is nice, and I enjoy playing the games I have, but I’d love me some multi-player, I played some Halo3 the other night and it was indeed fun, heck I’d almost say I am used to the 360’s controllers, but thus far not to it’s price.
Just keep trying to find ways to relax/unwind but also have some level of interaction, because as it stands, no one is usually up for my randomness, not because it’s not fun ideas, it’s just that movie theaters are closed at 3am, and everyone else is usually asleep so I am leaning towards saving up for a 360, sure sure, I could put it on a card, but I want to just be done with cards again, just have everything paid off, and a place - I’d really trade a gaming life for a place to call my own.
Anywhoo - day 3 of FH specials, and things seem to be going slow, I see traffic poking thru, but as compared to years past, I don’t have that same “Youth” group who did my marketing for me by posting banners and what not, but my hope is that with more billing system upgrades the Affiliate system will become viable, as I’d love to reward folks, while the system is built for “Payout” I want to make it into “Credit” and apply it to folks accounts, so if someone was to stay busy enough, and could pull in valid referrals they could save up monthly savings or free months, but it’s a dream.
Apache2 + PHP5 is right around the corner, had a 17 minute blip as I recompiled on Bubs, but I am going to schedule a nightly roll out for next week, and I am going to re-install with PHP4 & PHP5, leaving PHP4 as the default, but give folks the option to utilize PHP5 should they want to start merging that way now, but so far most main-stream apps work without issue, so hopefully that trend will continue.
Anywhoo - I am going to go zone out in front of the TV, a busy day, but I am trying to stay positive, and trying to stay awake so I can fall asleep tonight and not have another 7am bedtime. Ah life.
but so far everything is running smoothly, all my common apps like Textmate which I am blogging from, Transmit for FTP works fine, I have honestly yet to find a application that gives me any problems, and most folks report that CS3 is working fine, so when that bridge comes up here, I’ll cross it without fear!
- not a horrible deal, but still means you run the gambit of getting 10.5 late, as some delivery companies aren’t prepared for the massive pre-orders, like with Harry Potter, some folks saw their pre-order days later.
