This is probably the worst thing to happen to someone today after patiently waiting 6 months for the iPhone to come out and then standing in line for hours to buy it.
EDGE for Internet instead of 3G or that HSDPA thing
No GPS
Storage Capacity
Price
We all know that software won't really be a problem because Apple will release updates even for the current iPhone based on user feedback (not having Flash in Safari? That will be a big deal for a lot of people). However, the things above are things that will only come in the next iPhone which will probably come in another year or so. As usual, memory will become cheaper, so I'm hoping for something like a 32GB solid state memory option in the next iPhone.
Let's also keep in mind that today is only the US release. All the rest of the world doesn't see the iPhone until 2008 and Asia is the biggest phone market anyone knows of. I don't know about other Asian countries, but in India at least, phones are usually not tied with service providers and so Asia should be a source of unlocked iPhones (of course once the iPhones are released today, hackers will get busy and there will be a hack before long, just like with the Apple TV hacks).
Also, Apple has some work to do before they release an Asian version. I don't know if their Asian development divisions (do they exist?) have been working on internalization in parallel or not but you have to realize that, for example, their really intelligent keyboard is really intelligent only for English. That won't be a lot of help if you're trying to input Japanese or Chinese (at least not until it's been adapted for them). So, in most probability, they should have a decent bit of internalization/localization work to do.
Today, Apple's home page is iPhone and only iPhone. I don't remember ever seeing those four rounded rectangles at the bottom disappear from apple.com before, so I guess this is important to them. =]
I'm sorry, but it a-sucks. You hear Mac people saying all the time how those Windows developers don't know what they're doing when they're porting applications to the Mac and make these fake Mac applications that're actually straight Windows programs with Mac title bars? Yeah, well, that's exactly what's Apple's done with Safari and iTunes and I've honestly never enjoyed using them on Windows. What they've made is merely the exact same Mac software with a Windows menu and title bar slapped on. Unfortunately for them (but mostly for us), that is not a Windows app!
But the look is not all. Since all the UI widgets used in Apple software is custom made and all their frameworks are custom made and loaded (keyword: custom), Safari is dog slow on even the fastest computers (and I am using a very fast computer, by the way). Now, some of you may say that, well, actually, it loads pretty fast. Yeah, so they've somehow managed to optimize the base loading time for Safari such that "something" shows up on the screen pretty reasonably soon. However, the time it takes for it to become responsive to keyboard and mouse events both after a fresh launch and after Alt+Tab-ing to it is unbearably high (anything that's not instantaneous is unbearably high). Also, Windows+Tab, Alt+Tab and other keyboard commands don't always work the way they should, and Safari doesn't do the Windows animations while minimizing, maximizing or restoring (key visual cues in Windows, the lack of which makes a program seem foreign). Safari also doesn't respect a lot of Windows HIG's such as the fact that windows in Windows are meant to be resizable from all sides and corners instead of just the bottom-right. Not only that, but the resize triangle doesn't disappear and continues to work when the window has been maximized. Lastly, and most irritatingly, Apple has forgotten all about "magic corners", the four corners on the screen that are easiest to reach with the mouse, which is why the Start menu is on the bottom left and the X button while in maximized mode, is on the top-right. If you use Apple software on Windows, you will notice that Apple has left a neat amount of margin in its X buttons such that you can't simply take your mouse to the top-right and click to close. No, you have to pin-point the mouse to the small X button (smaller than the standard Windows X buttons which are larger in both XP and Vista by default) to click it closed. Sigh...
In all, it's not a terribly satisfying experience. I know that a lot of people have got used to using iTunes on Windows, but honestly, I would be a very sad person if I were asked to use the current iterations of iTunes or Safari on Windows for the rest of my life. I like the font smoothing and all, but really, Apple needs to start making Windows applications for Windows instead of trying to make odd-looking and odd-behaving Mac apps for Windows.
Now that Leopard is up on Pirate Bay, it's only a matter of time before most of the Mac ultra-aficionados get their sweaty paws on it. Meanwhile, for those without the broadband muscle for the 6.07GB torrent, ThinkSecret has screenshots to quench your thirst.
I haven't seen the keynote yet but I do like Leopard. And here's what I'm really waiting for:
The new UI I think the videos on apple.com are almost childish about mentioning how cool it all looks but it does look a mite cool and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on that Stacks-enhanced, unification-filled, StarCraft 2-ready user interface in Leopard.
Boot Camp I really like the sound of "Leopard brings a quicker way to switch between Mac OS X and Windows: Just choose the new Apple menu item “Restart in Windows.” Your Mac goes into “safe sleep” so that when you return, you’ll be right where you were. It’s much faster than restarting the computer each time. Likewise, a “Restart in Mac OS X” menu item in the Boot Camp System Tray in Windows makes for a faster return to Mac OS X. With Windows hibernation enabled, you can pick up where you left off."
Front Row 2.0 Just looks cool.
DVD Player Sure, it might not sound like an awesome new feature but they've really worked on this one and taken some nice cues from NicePlayer.
Automator You can simply record stuff instead of typing AppleScripts!
»I was really looking forward to Leopard's Boot Camp's way of switching by a 'safe sleep' but I just found out (while reading an article on Macworld.com) that Apple has removed this bit from their site!! Are they still trying to keep some features 'secret' or was it never meant to be?
»Wow, that's really odd. I hope the feature is still there and they just don't want to advertise the exact implementation? Maybe they plan to change it?
»i agree the new UI is what i'm interested in... stacks..
i am glad they didnt take the whole transparency thing over the edge like in vista... but i have a question, does the menubar become opaque when you hover over it, like in menushade?
and as long as frontrow launches the same way, i am happy.
My thoughts are that even if this is not the actual transcript of tomorrow's keynote, it is a very likely candidate, and, if this is all that is introduced tomorrow, I will be more than satisfied. Go WWDC!
Coherence mode will be called Unity mode in VMWare's Fusion when it comes out.
As of now, Unity looks a lot slicker than Coherence mainly because
I didn't see any of that Windows wallpaper show up behind windows when they will manipulated on-screen (except once when one was being de-minimized).
The windows (as mentioned in the videos) have drop shadows which is a neat effect.
These windows act like real Mac OS X videos, so the user can select them individually in Exposé and minimize them individually to the Dock. Heck, this is even more than you can do with Classic on OS X (Classic windows cannot be minimized to the Dock).
I've always found VMWare's Fusion to have a more Mac-native feel than Parallels (native Cocoa widgets, etc.) and that continues to draw me.
VMWare Fusion is promised to have accelerated 3D graphics support in the final version even though their alpha was pretty sad and buggy regarding this and didn't run even Warcraft III.
I absolutely love how Parallels and VMWare are going head-to-head about capturing the Mac virtualization market because they are doing some awesome innovation here.
One of my two favourite browsers hits the crucial 1.5 mark. And, by the way, I love the design of the Camino website. It's so beautiful and elegant. The other is Safari of course.
2GB RAM (2 DIMMs) is now standard across the line (thank heavens!) and is now upgradeable to 4GB.
8x SuperDrive is now standard across the line.
Apple claims up to 6 hours of battery life on the 15-inch model as compared to 5 hours on the previous one and 5.75 hours on the 17-inch as compared to 5.5 hours.
On the 17-inch model only, it is possible to get an extra high-density display with a resolution of 1920x1200 as compared to the regular 1680x1050.
The graphics engine is now powered by a NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT.
The physical dimensions of the machines haven't changed at all except for the 15-inch model's weight which is 5.4 pounds as compared to 5.6 pounds on the older models.
LED-backlit displays that are lighter and conserve power (I want to see if these feel any different in real life).
I'll wait for the benchmarks and see how this compares to the current line-up especially in graphics horsepower where Apple has always been criticized for keeping its high-end laptops underpowered.
Well, it's coming on June 29 and Apple has posted some ads about which I'm sort of on the edge, but..., anyway, I wonder if the iPhone is going to have GPS of some sort because that would be incredibly useful in giving you live directions if you don't have a GPS unit in your car. I know that some phones from Verizon (and possible other carriers) already do this and it's incredibly cool.
