Pluses and Minuses of Apple's Leopard

MICHELE NORRIS, Host:

You're listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News.

Apple has unveiled an update to the Mac operating system. It's called Leopard. Unveiled in October and updated last week, Leopard has more than 300 new bells and whistles since Apple's last operating system which was called Tiger. Now while Leopard's definitely a fat cat, is it worth the hefty price tag? It cost $129 for one user or $199 for the family pack.

For more, we return to Omar Gallaga who writes about technology culture for Austin American Statesman. He's had a few weeks to play with the system and he says Leopard's greatest strength is its simplicity.

OMAR GALLAGA: It follows along with what Apple's doing with the iPhone and with - also with the Apple TV. They're trying to make the computer operating system interface more intuitive, easier to use. With these 300 new features, the ones that really standout are a Time Machine. It's one of the easiest and most intuitive backup solutions yet for people that typically don't back up their computers or their data.

NORRIS: Because - usually, a big hassle.

GALLAGA: It usually is. Usually you have to have third party software or you have to figure out how to use the software and windows to do it. This is a program where it really it's just as easy as it could be to back up all of your data, your photos, any sensitive information you have.

NORRIS: Other features?

GALLAGA: There is a now an official version of Boot Camp, which allows you to run the Windows operating system under a Mac. There's also features in mail that allow for to-do lists and notes that can sync up with iCalendar and, eventually, with the iPhone. At $129, it seems like a hefty upgrade, but it's actually cheaper than most of the versions of Windows Vista.

NORRIS: Now, from what I understand, Omar, one of the big features here is it also helps you organize some of your data. So when you turn the computer on, you don't necessarily see all these icons all over the screen.

GALLAGA: Right. Apple has made some improvements to just the basic user interface. The Finder, which is the main part of the operating system where you find your files and look through everything on your desktop, there's a program called Stacks, which sort of organizes your files in folders that fan out. There's also Quick Look, which allows you to view files like PDFs or Microsoft Word files without actually opening those programs. So you - if you see an icon, you could just use Quick Look and that brings up a view of it, and you can actually flip through pages of the document without actually opening it.

NORRIS: Now, you've had a chance to play around with it. Do you like it?

GALLAGA: I really do. I've been using Tiger for a really long time and I've just recently upgraded to a Mac, a new MacBook. It's not perfect. By any means, there are some, kind of, weird user interface glitches that I think Apple's going to need to work on and patch in the future. But for a brand new operating system of this size, with this many new features, it's pretty stellar.

Apple is sort of seizing the moment where there's a lot of confusion and uncertainty about Vista. This was Apple's attempt to really kind of fire a shot at Microsoft and say, you know, we have a much easier to use, much more polished operating system, and Windows Vista is kind of a mess. And they're really, kind of, seizing the moment.

NORRIS: Is it possible that Mac, at some point, could take over Windows as the leading operating system based on the strength of the iPod and the iPhone and, and now this roll out of Leopard?

GALLAGA: Well, it seems like Apple has a lot of momentum right now, especially in music and especially in the phone market where they've made a really big splash with the iPhone and in music where they're very dominant in downloads. Their market fare rose in the last quarter from 6.2 to 8.1 percent. But that's still kind of a drop in the bucket compared to how many Windows Vista and Windows XP computers are sold. But Apple does have momentum, and they are growing their computer market had a time when a lot of PC makers are seen either declines or slower growth.

NORRIS: Okay, Omar, what's the deal with the names for these systems? The big cats - the Tiger and now the Leopard. What's next? The Panther?

GALLAGA: I think Steve Jobs just really digs cats. I don't know. I'm guessing Puma, maybe (unintelligible).

NORRIS: Thank you, Omar.

GALLAGA: You're very welcome.

NORRIS: Omar Gallaga covers technology culture of the Austin American Statesman.

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