Our Mock Draft of Leopard feature article took spot in a conference way far away from the unrelenting public eye of television cameras . But what if we had bring off to convert some upstart cable television net to put up mantle coverage of our OS ecstasy 10.5 draft ? What would that have been like ? believably something like this …
Welcome back to ESPM — the world leader in sports and Macintosh insurance coverage . Our regular coverage of the professional Jarts circuit will not be seen today , so that we can enclose up over coverage of the Leopard draft . I ’m your horde , Rob Griffiths — no , not that guy — and here ’s my take on the overall draft copy . I call up some of these team managers might be looking for Modern work next year , based on their draught day selections !
The overall draft
The draft copy display board was various , offeringmore than 300 featuresfrom more than 35 disjoined family , let in the major such as iChat , Mail , and Preview , and less prominent programs , such as Instruments , Front Row , and Imaging . When the dust settled , only 80 of the scene were on their way to the major league , leave a twosome of hundred disappointed prospects headed to the minor leagues .
The number one feature in this year ’s potation wasiChat , place seven of its prospects into the majors — including the number one overall selection ( Screen Sharing ) , and two more ( Invisibility and iChat Tabs ) in the top 20 . A tense battle for the second most pop feature vex the entire 10 rounds , finally ending in a tie , with six selection each , betweenFinderandTime Machine . I ’m giving Time Machine the edge , however , as they placed three of their choice ( Back up Everything , Go Back in Time , Automatic Backup ) in the top 10 ! in the end , iCal was nigh behind , just miss out on a three - fashion tie with five choice .
At the other death of the exfoliation , prospect from Fonts , Instruments , International , and internet all went home empty - handed — not a single one was take . One might think that matter such as fonts and the power to connection simple machine together is of import , and yet , that does n’t seem to be the case with theseMacworldteam managers . Really , not a single font or networking feature even rated a low - round pick . What ’s improper with this picture ? Do these coach even work in the real world ?
Team-by-team analysis
In looking at how each editor drafted , their strategies were as wide-ranging as their personalities — when I could discern a strategy , that is . Some of the excerption made were shocking , some were obvious , and many were simply … unusual . Here now a looking at one “ interesting ” selection by each of the manager , in alphabetic order .
Christopher Breen : With his fourth - round pick , Breen choose Photo Booth recording — OS X 10.5 ’s ability to record television make with the odd collection of background and effect find in Photo Booth . At the time , Breen explained his selection by stating that “ My daughter is going to love this feature . ” We in the media have try that excuse too many time to fall for it again . Expect to see a wide miscellany of Distorted Breen picture hitting YouTube shortly .
Dan Frakes : Frakes took Safari ’s new Reopen Windows sport in the sixth round — it countenance you to modify your mind and open up a windowpane that you ’ve just closed . This is a feature that should really only appeal to those who make mistakes on a regular basis , or whom just ca n’t seem to make up their mind . Neither characteristic is idealistic in a team manager , so it might be a rugged ride for Team Frakes this time of year .
Dan Miller : With his very first selection , Miller chose Safari ’s new Web Clip feature . Web Clip give up you to wrick any portion of a WWW varlet into a Dashboard widget . While this characteristic is useful , is it really suitable of a first - unit of ammunition selection ? With so many other key players still on the board , Miller ignored them all and contact for one that ’s mainly fun and visually interesting , but lack any real depth . If this is indicative of his team ’s strategy , Team Miller fans could be in for a long and painful time of year .
Jason Snell : Snell selected the improved iCal interface in the 5th round — Apple promises a “ clean look ” for the calendar app . With so many functional feature still useable , Snell chose one that ’s all about flavor , and nothing about performance . Sure , you may have all the looking in the earth , but if you ca n’t do , you ’re still going to wind up on the bench . lease ’s desire the rest period of Snell ’s squad shows a more performance - oriented focal point !
Jonathan Seff : With his 7th - orotund selection , Seff chose … a CRT screen saver ! ? In all my years of analyzing mock drafts of operating system features , this is the strangest natural selection I ’ve ever seen . Let ’s just move on .
Kelly Turner : Turner ’s 2nd pickaxe — the 11th overall — was iChat Invisibility . This lineament make you vanish from your friend ’s Buddy List window , yet you could still see them and their condition . Is it just me , or does this remind you a bit of Patriot - gate , where New England ’s NFL squad was descry on their opposite ? What does this say about Turner ’s misgiving as a squad manager ? What kind of squad is she building if her second pick is an invisibility cloak ?
The selection of Stacks , one of the many changes to OS X ’s Desktop , did not impress our draft expert .
Philip Michaels : Like so many others , Michaels was swayed by icon over substance , spending a third - round of drinks pick on on slews — that left characteristic wherein clicking a folder on your wharf presents a curved melodic line of picture , arch up into your desktop distance . What ’s with that curve , anyway ? Do n’t any of the designers at Apple have a straight edge ? And more importantly , what functionality is Team Michaels pull ahead through this Modern lineament ?
Rob Griffiths : With his second pick , Griffiths went uncanny , pick out AutoFS , a new multi - threaded engineering science to mount and dismount web effort . Huh ? In the second round , he chose something only a fistful of people have find out about , few than that infer , and few than that even give care about ? That ’s like taking a backup punter from a junior college with your first selection — not only will people wonder what you were thinking , but they ’ll set out to question Griffiths ’ power to manage his team .
He is devilishly handsome , however .
Now , not all the picks by all the manager were as ridiculous as those I ’ve highlighted above . As I look at each manager ’s overall draft carrying out , there were some clear success who did a neat job at filling their roll . If I were a betting man — and I am — I’d put my money on these two teams for foregather the best roster of Leopard feature .
The best and the worst
You ca n’t go untimely picking feature film from Time Machine .
Dan Frakes : With all 10 of his picks , Frakes focused on functional selections with proven ability on the battlefield . Look through his lean of picks , and you wo n’t regain a exclusive “ optic confect ” feature on the team . Three option from Time Machine mean he ’s got profoundness in the backup class , which will complement his power to Search Shared Macs , enable easy Folder Sharing in the Finder , and take advantage of Spaces to help manage his team .
Jason Snell : Snell ’s choice reverberate a focus on communicating with his squad — three of his picks ( iChat Tabs , Multiple Logins , AAC - LD Codec ) were from iChat . Boot Camp will help his team understand the contention by actuallybecomingthe competition . The Apple television - like interface on Front Row will make reviewing secret plan film much easier , and Spotlight ’s Search by Filename lineament will ease the troublesome task of look the team ’s data files .
As for the ease … well , it could be a hard 10.5 season for some of the managers , but it ’ll be fun to watch the topsy-turvydom unfold come out this Friday !
That wind up ESPM ’s coverage of the Leopard Feature Draft . stick around tune for exciting action from the National Foosball League .
[ When not conduct Mel Kiper Jr. , senior editor Rob Griffiths writes the Mac OS X Hints web log . ]
