The highly anticipated Mac OS X Leopard is finally here, and I can well say it was worth the wait. Needless to say, as an ardent Mac user, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on it the very moment it was released. After a swift installation process, the new Leopard roared successfully on both my Macbook and iMac.

Even before Leopard was released, we’ve all heard that it comes with over 300 new features – a huge leap from Tiger, no doubt. Undeniably, these features are impressive. So exactly what’s new in Leopard? From its interface (which is enough to make you gasp in awe) to major changes like Time Machine, Spotlight, Quicklook, Parental Controls, and Spaces, Leopard is also amazingly fast.

But of course, like all other Mac OS X releases before, Leopard is too big to review in just one sitting.

Today, we shall begin with the basics.

Let’s see now, basically every other review you’ll find on the web will cover pretty much the same technical aspects of Leopard. How it works, what is it, and what are the new features?

But exactly how does Leopard fair as opposed to every other OS when it comes to functionality for users?

Let me first say that I am a designer, for both print and web. Which means that speed and functionality would be everything. So what do I like about Leopard? One of my faves is QuickLook, which lets you play, view, and page through your files without opening them or the application that created them. Images 2, 3, and 4 captures how it functions and of course, let’s not forget how aesthetically appealing it is.

Image 2

Image 3

Image 4

Another favourite is how Leopard allows one to breeze through files, folders and documents, with mini thumbnails showing the front of these documents. (see image 5)

Image 5

One of Leopard’s most useful additions is STACKS. Stacks is basically a virtual stack of documents that sits in the dock area, giving you one-click access to files. (image 6). One click and the stack springs open, revealing items at a glance, which is truly a real time-saver.

Image 6

I don’t know about you, but I’ve a number of friends who for amazing (or perhaps, strange) reasons, tend not to know where their downloads go. Well, if that’s the case, your problems are solved with Leopard since all downloads are shown in a dedicated stack on the dock. (image 7) No reason to ever lose your downloaded files again!

Image 7

Another amazing feature about Leopard is that you can just drag a file, hover over any application in the Dock, and press the Space bar — the application opens instantly. If you drag a file and hover over a stack, pressing the Space bar opens a Finder window showing the contents of the stack. Apart from being useful, this is also very impressive.

And now, to the part where all Mac users will have to agree that Apple rules – Boot Camp.

Dear friends, gone are the days where you’d have to have 2 separate machines to run 2 different operating systems. With the new built-in Boot Camp in Leopard, you can now install a Windows operating system alongside it. To be specific –XP and Vista.

So congratulations, PC users, with this feature alone, you might want to turn in your PC for a brand new MacBook or perhaps a stunning new 20’ iMac anodized aluminum frame? You might want to go ponder over this question while I churn out the next write-up. Come back tomorrow next week for more insights into Leopard – from the stunning new look for Preview, Safari, Dashboard and more!