What's the overall consensus on Leopard?

I was following the leopard threads on a couple of forums when it just came out. My understanding was that half the people advised against switching to leopard, and half the people recommended it. It was sort of a very mixed feeling.

Now that a couple of weeks has gone by, can someone give an update on the overall consensus on the leopard? My school is finally selling it, for $99CAD, which is a decent price.

 

Well, keep in mind that the 10.5.1 update just came out, which addressed a lot of the things that people had issues with, and many of the people advising switching to Leopard were generally saying to wait until that 10.5.1 update came out.

-Zadillo

 

10.5.1? So soon? Was it a major update? I guess I'll go read about it now...

Sort of off topic here: is it better to upgrade from Tiger to Leopard, or should I format my HD and then install Leopard?

 

10,5,0 is not good to me.
One of the guys at the office installed it and it was terrible. Not only it was slower (against what I've been reading in reviews), but also it had several compatibility problems. Some printers don't work and Vectorworks 12.5 had terrible usability problems. I believe that last issue has been adressed by vectorworks though.
Anyways, he had to switch back to tiger because he had to go on working with VW, and there's no easy way around it. You would imagine that you have an option to go back like in windows, but you don't... He had to backup everything and do a clean install of tiger. Quite inconvenient (and so much for the mac vs pc ads that cash in on people switching back from vista).

 

Err, pointless Apple ads aside, there's no *real* option to revert back to a prior version of Windows XP from Vista.

Anyway, it's almost always best to do a clean install. You can lose quite a bit of compatibility and performance otherwise (this applies for both Windows and OSX).

Short of specific application compatibility, there isn't really a reason to intentionally boycott Leopard if you're willing and able to spend the money of course. Leopard probably isn't really a giant step forward, but it's also probably not a step backward either.

So the real question is whether any applications you absolutely must use are fully Leopard compatible or not. If your apps will be fine, then you might as well upgrade whenever you feel like it.

 

Well, no specific applications I can think of. There's just my printer, HP Laserjet 1018, which is not automatically compatible with macs and I had to go through this whole crazy process that I couldn't quiet figure out at first. My printer works find now, but I'm afraid it might stop working once I upgrade, and that the old installation process won't work on Leopard.

Does anyone have any comments on the printer installation process (check out both links)? Do you know if (username) Wooky is still around?

** UPDATE: Apparently it works on Leopard, or so I read on the apple forum.

 

Works great for me.

MBP 2.16 C2D
Adobe CS3
Cinema 4d XL 10
sees my old HP 6MP fine

Just check your major apps for compatibility.

The main things I heard were "obscure workflow issues" the CS3 video apps (After Effects and Premiere). I use After Effects "normally" and it works fine.

Acrobat Professional does not work and is awaiting a January update.

The UI is noticeably "snappier" for me.

 

Works great for me too. Sure, there are a few annoyances, like the too translucent menu bar and stacks, but it also has a high number of improvements. On my C2D Macbook it runs great, even with 1GB of RAM.

 

Leopard > tiger imo. Pretty much just as stable but tons of cool new stuff.

 

I would say definitely upgrade to Leopard. Its not as revolutionary as Apple marketed it to be, but its still a great upgrade with lots of new features that will be really helpful and convenient.

I'm only still on Tiger because I'm broke .

 

i feel you, brother. I feel you!

 

Leopard has very little issues with compatibility. This has been exaggerated greatly because of Vista's nightmares. My Canon scanner of 2 years of age worked perfectly in Tiger and scans faster in Leopard.

The key to the best results is to use Disk Utility and do a reformat and install. If you choose any other option you may have issues. Even though other options are there DON'T do anything but erase, reformat and install.

 

How is this different from choosing erase and install on setup?

 

Basically they are the same however I am not certain but I think the erase and install option only does not actually reformat. I know for certain that Disk Utility does all in one shot and when it comes to a major OS upgrade I would just go for the Disk Utility option, it's an extra step that takes less than 10 seconds.

 

You mean the disk utility option during setup? (I was never aware that there was one; I know this sounds silly.)

 

Yes, when the install screen for Mac OS X comes up you can select Disk Utility from the menu bar, highlight the main hard disk and choose the erase tab and then click erase. After you are done then exit out of Disk Utility and it will return to the install screen and then go from there. The fastest installation will happen if you uncheck the all those useless languages in the customize option unless you speak all of them.

 

I hate to sound like the odd one out, especially when I do not even own a Mac, let alone Leopard, but here is a view point from eweek.

He sure sound very disappointed..

 

without wanting to sound like to much of a fanboy, that eweek review is saying that leopard is a major step backward because of

1) the firewall (doesn't Tiger have the same issue anyway?)
2) some stuff I cant even follow about download speeds
3) some software which isnt fully compatible yet

Real problems for sure (apart from the one I dont understand lol), but it doesn't seem like enough to write off the whole OS

 

I have to say, that eWeek column is really over-the-top, even for them (and eWeek still specializes in sensationalistic pieces which are designed to get lots of clicks and reader e-mail). This part especially:

That single line there practically invalidates the whole piece - Leopard WAS in fact a big jump, especially from an architectural standpoint. His notion that it wasn't even supposed to be as big of a jump as SP1 to SP2 really calls into question the rest of the piece.

Again, it's senstionalism. Yes, OS X 10.5 was not perfectly flawless - but pretty much every issue mentioned in that piece was actually just resolved with the 10.5.1 update that just came out.

The idea that these problems amount to a "rotten" release is just really out there though.

-Zadillo

 

I wonder how much has to do with putting every "new" release down (not like they contributed to the development of the software); take for e.g. Vista, there have been endless criticisms about it ever since it was released. [and rightlfully so, IMO, it is really a step back from XP...will elborate later]

Even Ubuntu Gutsy, with the enormous user functionality improvements it has, still gets carrots from people.

I guess it all depends on how far you want your OS to go.

S

 

well then I've made up my mind ... time to find the dollas!

 

Darn, another Mac user gone to Leopard...and I'm still stuck on Tiger .

 

No no no no ... I've made up my mind to SWITCH, but I'm still ... umm, poor. I mean, i've spent thousands on air fares, and have to buy a new watch, a new ipod, and Leopard. I think leopard is at the bottom of my wish list.

 

Ah. Then we're on the same boat!

 

I'm so happy i was able to do the Up to date upgrade. My stuff was definitely not inside the window. I bought it though amazon though so i guess they let it slide a bit .

 

Well, considering I got this MacBook in May, and I didn't even buy it (I didn't steal it either , I won it), I don't think I stand a chance trying to get into the Up-To-Date program .

 

Sam, you've got to splurge and just get Leopard. Who are we gonna count on for tech support if you are not up to snuff on the latest OS?

 

http://digg.com/apple/Stolen_MacBook_Photos_Have_you_seen_these_people

Are you on that list?

Liar!

 

So I guess, stealing a Mac without also stealing Leopard disc is a no go. How daft could one be...LOL!

 

Don't worry Sam, I am still stuck with Tiger too! Probably will be for some time!

 

I don't have a black MacBook, hah!