Computer solutions providers have reported that preorders for the Apple's Mac OS X Leopard have doubled, as compared to the release of the previous OS Tiger. The supposed culprit? Overall dissatisfication of the consumers over Windows Vista.

"More than anything, it has to do with the biggest growth coming from 'switchers' - people switching from the Windows platform," said Chirs Gore, a marketing director for Macforce, an Apple specialist.

The release of Apple Leopard was actually scheduled for last Spring, but was pushed back to this month to make way for the iPhone. Computer suppliers said that the delay didn't affect the expected sales of the Mac OS, however.

Other suppliers reported having a hard time ordering stocks of Leopard, while the rest of the solution providers are excited about the unveiling of Apple's newest OS, with some even giving out computer mice covered in leopard skin-prints.

Even with the release date of the new Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 already finalized, rumors still abound surrounding this highly anticipated operating system. 

TheStreet.com's informer Scott Moritz revealed a juicy little tidbit about Apple releasing a little added bonus alongside the new operating system - a brand new 13-inch laptop installed with the Leopard.

According to Moritz, the aluminum-clad laptop will have an ultra-portable, sleek new design similar to the MacBook Pro and will have Leopard built-in into it. If this is true then Apple may have the perfect package of hardware to go along with the much awaited software everyone has been talking about lately.

Considering the hefty requirements and the numerous features the new OS X will be sporting, we're crossing our fingers that this new laptop will solve any hardware trouble the new operating system might have. In the meantime, you can access the video with the "insider information" through the Read link below.

 

The cat's out of the bag, folks. Apple has just sent out a press wire announcing that their much-awaited Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard is now being readied for sale this Friday, October 26, at an expected retail price of US$ 129. Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 is further expected to host a total of 300 new features - we've listed some of the more interesting ones below:

• Stacks: A new way to easily access files from the Dock
• Redesigned Finder: Lets users quickly browse and share files between multiple Macs
• Quick Look: A new way to instantly see files without opening an application
• Spaces: A new feature used to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them
• Time Machine: An effortless way to automatically back up everything on a Mac.
• Improved Parental Controls
• The complete Boot Camp release: Previously available only as a beta, making it possible to run Windows natively on Intel-based Macs
• Web Clip: Bringing anything that a user wants from a web page to Dashboard as a live widget
• New Photo Booth features: helping users create animated iChat buddy icons or fun effects and backdrops with still or video images
• An enhanced Dictionary with Wikipedia built in: Allows users to access up-to-date information
• A newly updated iCal with multi-user calendaring based on the new CalDAV standard
• An updated version of Front Row, making it even easier to play music or watch movies, TV shows and photos on a Mac using the ultra-simple Apple Remote.
  

Mac OS X Leopard 10.5 will require at least 51 2MB of RAM, and is designed to run on any Mac computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or G4 (867 Mhz or faster) processor. Set your calendars, and double-check with your resident Apple stores.

A lot of people who are the proud owners of an iMac aren't satisfied with just serving one master, so to speak. Thanks to the Boot Camp utility developed by Apple Inc., iMac users are given the opportunity to run Windows based applications through a separate partition on their hard drives.

Unfortunately, a lot of problems have been surfacing when it comes to running their dual-OS iMacs properly. These were most commonly found on computers that used NVIDIA's MXM slot format for the 24-inch iMacs. However, word from AppleInsider is that testers from Apple are validating a small patch that can solve these hiccups in the system.

Customers are having an especially hard time convincing customer support that these glitches in their systems were inherent to the iMac and not just a glitch within Boot Camp. Also, because Boot Camp is considered a beta when run under Mac OS X Tiger, it receives no official technical support from Apple.

The new patch confirms that the system failures can be controlled through software alone and its success depends largely whether the testers can isolate the remaining bugs in the system. Labeled as "iMac MXM Updater 1.0," the new patch has yet to have a release date, but with the advent of the new Mac OS X Leopard this October, the MXM updater will have the opportunity to be tested on the newer operating system as well.

For those of us waiting on pins and needles for the release of the highly-anticipated Mac OS X Leopard, here's some good news that should put to rest some nagging worries: Apple has recently rolled out a new seed update to developers, one that takes care of a few bugs in the system as well as test some new features for the Mac OS itself.

The seed update, named 9A557/9A559, contains fixes to the wireless networking and RAW image viewing in the development build of Mac OS X Leopard. Not only that, but it also tests some new features in the Software Update Mechanism itself. This is a great follow-up to the last seeded update, 9A559, that included a host of bug fixes and UI tweaks. Note that this update does not change the Leopard seed number.

While we have yet to see an actual retail build of the Mac OS X Leopard, it's certainly great that Apple's taking steps to eliminate any and all bugs.

Apple's OS X Leopard appears to be in the release candidate stage, based on a recent rumor that's in circulation. In software-speak, the release candidate stage happens right after an app's Beta stage, and comes just before the application goes gold. This means that if there are no major bugs spotted on Leopard, we could be looking at a retail release coming out (or getting announced) soon.
 
As blogger Glen noted during our previous report, Leopard contained two issues: The first was an upgrade issue from Tiger to Leopard on Power PC system, while the second was an incompatibility issue with HP printers. These are all the details we've got for the moment - stick around in case we hear Apple's take on this bit of speculation.

 

Here's another Apple for gravity to toy with. If your love for Apple's industry-spurring MessagePad in the past decade or in 2004's D: All Things Digital exposition, then this bit of news might rekindle that flame. CEO and creative spark Steve Jobs once hinted at that same event how they were proud of an unreleased product he simply named "an Apple PDA."

Newton MessagePad. If there's anything new to develop in the days that the Apple iPhone is enjoying much success in Western hemisphere, then it would be Apple's PDA with multi-touch technology. AppleInsider reported that they were clued in about the PDA project inside Apple, and it was said that it experienced a few halts due to development focus on the iPhone.

But now that the iPhone's out and successors are already in development, engineers have returned to the PDA development process, or that's what is believed. Sharing similarities with the iPod Touch and iPhone, the new PDA is said to have an integrated version of Mac OS X Leopard.

Other claimed features include a 720 x 480 liquid crystal display, covering almost the entire surface of an ultra-thin "slate" about 50% larger than the iPhone. And pushing further into multi-touch technology, the PDA would promote drag-and-drop and cope-and-paste mechanics, to spur the features' adoption.

This might be a hit or miss for most of you, but for the Mac enthusiasts (StrmnNrmn and myself included), this leaked video is one geekgasm you wouldn't want to miss. The short clip we are about to see is the introductory video for the new Mac OS X Leopard. Introductory video? What's that, you ask? Basically it's what fires up (in full screen, mind you) once you finally install Leopard into your system.

As introductory videos go, this one has familiar elements from previous OS versions' introductions, but generally, it's way better. The video is simple. It runs for thirty seconds with the word "Welcome" flashing again and again in different languages. Velkommen. Welkom. Bienvenue. Willkommen... You have to see it for yourself to appreciate it:

What everyone's asking though is what song is used in the video. If you happen to know, give us a holler, why don't you?

As the next-generation Mac OS X Leopard prowls closer, Apple Inc. is making sure that all major bugs are killed and that general stability is at an optimum level.

To do this, Apple asked for the assistance of their development community through a survey that the developers must fill up based on the experience they've had with a near-final build of the software.

The near-complete Leopard was tested under six categories, specifically Mail & Web, Graphics & Media, Setup & Mobility, Desktop & Interface, Productivity & Communication, and Sharing & Devices.

Results have yet to be brought back in, but Apple is confident that there will be positive results after they issued a 505MB system update called the Mac OS X Leopard 9A500n build. The update is geared towards creating the most stable OS environment possible as well as a general bug fixer.

Apple made no announcement as to whether or not the results will be made public, but it said all is going according to plan, and the October release of the much-anticipated software should happen barring any more delays.

A lot have been said on Apple's Mac OS X Leopard, especially when the consumers finally got to see it running during the recently concluded WWDC. The new operating software wouldn't be arriving officially until October but those in the know are already saying that a number of useful small updates will come with the commercial version.

Apple is quite known for doing this to its products - never really telling the consumers everything that has changed. Just think of it as a finders-keepers game from Steve Jobs and the rest of the crew. And when you really think about it, it's not really harmful. If anything, it encourages users to play around with the software, learning it fully in the process.

Anyway, until the official release date comes, we're still tagging these under Rumors. But it would really be appreciated if these turn out to be true:

• A new version of Quicktime included with Leopard will reportedly allow full-screen mode without a QuickTime Pro key, echoing the feature added months before to iTunes.
• DVD Player will also see a major update with an HD options pane for Blu-Ray and HD DVD discs as well as the opportunity to add DVD cover art and change movie region support on the fly.
• Sun's unique file system will appear as a non-default, read-only format out of the box with write support possibly arriving as a separate update in the future.
• ZFS in Leopard will support some of the trademark features, such as instant and low-storage "snapshots" of a disk volume, and cloned copies that can be modified with only a small penalty in terms of disk space.
• iChat may also have received a substantial upgrade: Those contacts with mobile phone numbers can be sent an SMS text message.
• Google's influence is also allegedly present in the instant messaging app and will let Google Talk accounts mix with today's AIM, Jabber, and .Mac users.
• Users choose the default IM program, similar to the way Safari is used to choose the default browser, and will also be able to explicitly share more than the Public folder on a network.
• Even Dictionary will have the choice of switching from the Oxford dictionary to Wikipedia.