OS X updates not only innovate novel applications — they also update the live programs build into the O with new feature and sweetening . Such is the case with Leopard , which offers across - the - board improvement for a number of the apps you already know and get it on .
In this article , we ’ll look at the changes to the iChat exigent messaging programme , the build - in Mail client , and other assorted O X program .
iChat
Apple ’s instantaneous messaging software , iChat , has made spry communicating easy with .Mac users or those on the popular AIM system . Each looping of iChat has added fresh capability with every major OS X upgrade ; the Leopard version is no elision , as iChat pick up a phone number of tools — some productive , others more fanciful
The big changes
iChat 4.0 tote up some utile feature , as well as some you might not normally tie in with a schmooze program . Many of them were first unveiled by Apple during the 2006 Worldwide Developers ’ league , with a few more contribute at this yr ’s conference . As a refresher , those major additions are :
iChat TheaterTo help you share visual information with others , Mac OS X 10.5 bestow iChat Theater , which lets you exhibit an iPhoto slideshow , a Keynote presentation , a QuickTime movie , or anything else that works with Leopard ’s novel Quick Look feature as part of your video schmoose . It ’s idealistic if you need to add media to their video chats .
Video EffectsWorried you ’ll look too “ normal ” in your video chats ? iChat add together core out of OS X ’s Photo Booth app so others can feel like they ’re see you through a thermal camera or XTC - ray machine , or with a comical bulge , twirl , reaching , or mirror effect added to your image .
iChat backdrops also pretend like a green screen to put a fake desktop behind you so you look to be float in the clouds , standing on the moon , hanging out underwater with fish , or traveling along a roller - coaster . you could add your own images or videos alternatively of just using Apple ’s built - in backdrops as well . so as to get the backcloth feature to work , you necessitate to step out of view of your iSight and select the choice you require . When you come back into thought , you ’ll see the coolheaded outcome in your trailer window . These result command a healthy CPU , however .
RecordingiChat has been able-bodied to redeem logs of your text Old World chat for some time , but the latest version adds the ability to record audio chat as AAC single file and picture chat at MPEG-4 filing cabinet . These transcription features could be useful for inserting audio or picture into podcasts , or just observe a disk of your conversation .
Multiple LoginsThe former version of iChat let you tally several different account in the Accounts pane of iChat ’s preference , but you had to prefer which one was dynamic at any give time by select the Use This Account alternative . iChat 4.0 lets you have multiple combat-ready write up at the same fourth dimension , and each shows up with its own buddy list . you may even drop behind - and - driblet buddies between leaning to move people from one to the other .
schmooze can now be collected into a exclusive tabbed windowpane in Mac OS X 10.5 .
Buddy List ChangesYou can now recreate buddy pictures . There ’s also an Invisible position choice that keeps you enshroud from eyeshot but still let you see your buddies and their status . The new edition also rent you manually reorder your buddies instead of relying on first name , last name , or accessibility .
Tabbed ChattingThe Messages pane of glass of iChat ’s preferences has two very useful addition . The first is Collect Chats Into A Single Window , which solves the trouble of having multiple claver windows spread out across your background when you ’re chatting with a few people at once . turn on the option mechanically grow your chat windowpane when you go from one chat to a 2nd one , with the name and image of each buddy you ’re engaged in conversation with in a blue - touch Elvis to the left of the substance window . While you ’re confabulate with one person , any novel replies from others will show up as voice communication bubble next to their icons in the side pane of glass — press that person causes the house of cards to vanish and bring you into an active chat with that person .
The other cool option found in the Messages Zen is Remember My Open Chats Across Launch , which saves you when you accidentally step down iChat mid - conversation . Once you relaunch iChat , the program will reinstate communicating with the slighted parties .
Leopard ’s iChat tot a screen - sharing feature that let you grant or bespeak shared accession of a screen . It ’s a great collaborationism tool .
Screen SharingTaking a pageboy from Apple ’s Remote Desktop software , iChat ’s Buddy menu gives you the option to share your projection screen with another drug user , or bespeak permission to get shared access to his or her screen . Once you have approach to a shared screen , you could control mouse effort and open leaflet and applications , to name a few activities ; you could even drag files between figurer .
Apple tell the feature is good for collaborative oeuvre on intro or enquiry , but its also a somewhat easier way than the Finder ’s Screen Sharing lineament to help your less tech - savvy friends and family troubleshoot problems .
What you may not know
The heavy ticket variety in iChat have somewhat much been in topographic point since that August 2006 preview of Leopard . But if you poke around the app — or scanApple ’s list of changes , you may discover some other appealing enhancements . A Hide Local Video feature article , for example , removes the picture - in - word-painting opinion from iChat video conferences , in case you find the image of yourself too distracting . you could set your iChat position as Available from the moment your Mac starts up . And there are other minor tweaks here and there , from a file transferee manager to more smiley alternative .
What we think
iChat has always made ready work of visit with citizenry . The new variant is debauched and responsive , but Screen Sharing functions a piddling queerly — switched to sharing mode from a video Old World chat keep only an audio chat going , and finish the session cut off my chat altogether . And iChat backdrops do n’t work as well as you might hope ( although they are more fun than utilitarian anyway ) .
Heavy chatter will apprise the latest edition of iChat — those who post on multiple chats at once will specially enjoy feature article such as tabbed confab , multiple logins , and transcription alternative . And those looking to boom iChat ’s usance into collaboration and intro will also desire to take a close look at the new version .
Great or Wait ? : In some ways , iChat has grown outside of its puff zona , but the unexampled features make it a worthwhile update that brings it on a equivalence with third - company chat software in some areas , and beyond them in others . Great.—JONATHAN SEFF
The changes in Mail range from the functional to aesthetic , but they will all dissemble the way you use the lotion on a daily basis .
While not all of Mail ’s newfangled features will invoke to everyone , there are enough changes to guarantee users will find something to wish . Apple ’s previous public pronouncement about the Leopard variation of Mail focused on Notes and To - Dos .
Have you ever open up a blank tocopherol - mail subject matter to take note on and then save it as a draught ? I do that all the time , but no more . post now let in its own build - in Notes applications programme . Notes can handle colored text , graphics , and attachments , so you could keep everything you need to jot down nigh at hand . you’re able to also aggroup notes into Smart Mailboxes or folders , and access them using IMAP from a Mac , PC , or iPhone .
For many people , To - Dos are as important as Notes . Apple made it easy to add a newfangled task from an due east - post message or note within Mail . All you have to do is highlight a bit of text edition in the message and then tap the To - Do release in Mail ’s button row . you’re able to also set a due date , warning gadget , and priority if you wish well .
To - Dos get instantly added to iCal when you add an item to Mail . This integrating is great because it lets you do something in one place instead of shift back and onward or trying to recall to add it to your calendar later . When you check something as completed in Mail , it is similarly checked as completed in iCal . The reverse is also true .
Other antecedently herald features in Mail admit :
Leopard ’s Mail offers a To - Do feature of speech ; create a To - Do in Mail , and it ’s contribute to iCal , as well .
Data DetectorsA very cool new feature , Data Detectors automatically detect snipping of text within a Mail message that you may perform an action on . For illustration , if someone sends you an e - mail with an address in the body , you may get through on the pointer that appears when you mouse over the item and make a novel contact using that information . you may also add that information to an existing contact . This is a great time saver for those who wish to keep their Address Good Book up - to - particular date .
replicate a Smart MailboxMail now allow you twin a Smart Mailbox . This come in very ready to hand if you require another postbox similar to one you already made , but with a some different standard you could pluck .
RSSApple may be late to the RSS game , but the troupe has finally include a elbow room for users to check feeds in Mail . RSS feeds show up as a brochure in Mail and are suss out on an time interval you designate . New particular in the RSS list show up in a similar way to new post messages . with the total issue of unread stories display on the folder .
I ’m not sure how popular RSS will be in Mail because most people probably already have their preferred RSS reader set up . However , for those that want everything all in one place , RSS in Mail will be a good feature .
Stationery and Rich FormattingI’m not a big HTML Es - mail sender , but if you are , the newfangled stationery feature in Mail was made for you . Apple has included more than 30 professionally designed stationery templates in Mail that make transport an HTML eastward - get off a picnic . The guide include font and the ability to drag - and - dip photos — a must for personalizing your e - mails . Most significantly , the templates use received HTML , so all of your Windows using friend can say them too .
With Leopard now out in the wild , a few more notable Mail features have emerged .
The new accounting apparatus in Mail lets users of democratic due east - mail services get started just by type in their e - mail savoir-faire .
Simple Account SetupOne trouble that many users have when starting off with an Es - mail software is getting their explanation setup . Knowing all of the SMTP , POP , and IMAP server can be frighten off , especially if you have several accounts .
Apple ’s new account apparatus will allow many users to start using Mail by merely typing in their e - ring armour address . post already bang the configurations for 30 of the most pop e - mail service include Yahoo , AOL , Gmail , Verizon , AT&T , and Comcast . After you typewrite in your e - chain armour speech , Mail convey care of everything else for you . If you do n’t have one of the services that Mail mechanically recognizes , you will have to set up the history manually , just as you would with the former version .
Archive MailboxesThe ability to archive a postbox is something I ’ve wanted for several eld . I stress to keep my most crucial mail in a folder so I can search through it , but there are time when I need to go back a year or two to bump an particular subject matter .
The problem is that I have four years deserving of atomic number 99 - mail that I just do n’t require to throw away . Archiving gives me the arrant option and it ’s very promiscuous to apply . All you have to do is spotlight a mailbox or folder you want to file away and select Archive Mailbox from the Mailbox menu .
Improved SearchApple say the hunt has been better with smarter relevance for everything in Mail include To - Dos , Notes , and e - chain mail message . The hunting sure is a circumstances quicker in Leopard and the relevancy of the messages has always been expert for me .
PreferencesApple included a few handy detail in the preferences , too . You now have the ability to make Mail show you the total tally of unread subject matter in the dock for all folders , just the Inbox , or the Unread Smart Mailbox . This is a heavy for me because I have 10 or 12 folders for filtering my vitamin E - mail as it hail in . My dock count was never correct because it only showed the issue in the Inbox .
The RSS tab in preferences is Modern , letting you choose your default app , when to contain for new tale , and when to remove articles .
And those using Notes and To - Dos can set their preferences on which account to create the item in the Compose preference pane .
I ’ve been using Mail for years and have watched it fledged with each new version . In addition to all the new features in Mail , Apple has done a mess to serve out user with twenty-four hours - to - daytime body process .
For instance , Mail ’s Modern Connection Doctor helps you name a problem with send e - mail . This is n’t exactly the most meretricious feature in the world , but it shows that Apple understands the importance of e - mail and the need to guide us through some situations .
Overall , Mail has become more utilitarian while maintain its repose of use . Using To - Dos and Notes is fall - stagnant simple and syncing to iCal happens automatically — just the elbow room it should be .
Great or Wait?The accession of things like Notes , To - Dos and deeper desegregation make Mail more useful . Users that get less e - mail than I do every day will still apprize the features that Mail has to bid . The stationery and rest of place up invoice will deliver the goods a lot of people over right away . Great.—JIM DALRYMPLE
Other apps of note
PreviewThe newest rendering of Preview , OS X ’s image and PDF viewer , adds a act of image- and PDF - manipulation tools . For instance , you may reorganize PDF Thomas Nelson Page or mix multiple PDF document . Preview also features improved annotation shaft for comment on documents . Of the programme ’s imagery tools , one of the most useful is an Adjust Size alternative that bring up a dialog box similar to what you ’d detect in Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements . There you’re able to adjust an image ’s solvent , set dimensions in inches and pixels , and resample it to make a large image — a feature I ’d love to see iPhoto take vantage of .
The Extract Shape tools lets you paint a borderline around the edge of an object to select everything within , while the Instant Alpha tool take disguise arena based on look , exchangeable to Photoshop ’s Magic Wand tool.—KELLY TURNER
Font BookAt first coup d’oeil , Leopard ’s Font Book look nearly identical to its Tiger counterpart . But Apple has made some significant changes to the OS X font manager that greatly enhance its public-service corporation .
Automatic baptistry energizing in Leopard enables baptistry in document on - the - fly .
While Font Book still can not compete with the various third - party font managers on the platform , the melioration in Leopard — which let in print functionality , language specification , auto activation , scheme font protection , and Braille backing — will be welcome additions for many drug user . In summation , new WYSIWYG icon and instant Get Info previews are helpful because now you do n’t have to found Font Book to get a quick flavour at your case .
This ascent approach the printing functionality of some third - political party programs by letting you print out prevue of your face via the Print command . You get a nicely format sample distribution of the baptistery you select in all of the useable characters . It also makes it gentle to identify and disable unwanted build - in foreign language font so they do n’t show up in your font menus . And a novel Braille font now crop with the VoiceOver app to assist visually spoil Mac user .
Potentially the most useful raw feature of Font Book is automatic font activation , which enables fonts in a peculiar papers on - the - tent-fly . Say you have a display font disabled , and someone sends you a document that require it . start the papers should automatically launch the baptismal font . In my tests , however , this feature was glitchy . It work as bear with some face and some written document , but mysteriously , not with others.—JACKIE DOVE
DictionaryWith Leopard , Apple has added a few simple — but notable — features that turn this canonic dictionary into a more serious and practical source pecker .
To begin with , the computer menu particular have been revamp and renamed . The History computer menu choice is gone . you’re able to , however , navigate to Dictionarypagesyou’ve antecedently regard via the back button in your toolbar . In this way — and in many others — the fresh Dictionary is more like using a web internet browser than perusing a dictionary .
For example , nearly every word you see in Dictionary occasion like a hyperlink ; press that word , and you ’ll be taken to its dictionary entry . Also add to the browser app - like look is a bookmark bar , just as you would find in Safari . Each bookmark represents your unlike dictionaries ; select one , and you ’ll exclude all of the others .
In addition to this new navigation schema , you have more dictionary choices . A young Apple dictionary provides ledger entry for computer - related term , although it is extremely limited . Also included are a Japanese dictionary , a Japanese - English lexicon , and a Japanese Synonyms dictionary . It ’s a secure stakes that additional language lexicon — and perhaps extra credit tools — will pop up in next updates to Dictionary .
While searching for just the right-hand word , you’re able to scour specific dictionaries accord to your Preference preferences , or you’re able to seek all of them at the same time to get a comprehensive page of upshot . Perhaps most interesting , though , is the power to research the online , user - edited Wikipedia . You ’ll necessitate to have an net connection to apply this feature , but all of your Wikipedia searches happens powerful in the Dictionary program , not your web web browser . This is very quick and ready to hand , and it elegantly turn this simple dictionary program into an amateurish encyclopedia.—ERIC SUESZ
DVD PlayerOS X ’s DVD Player app has a pretty elementary purpose — let you watch DVDs on your Mac — but it has quite a few option and feature article that make it deserving a smell . Most of the change in Leopard are user interface - orient , but there are some raw features as well .
DVD Player 5.0 ( the version in Leopard ) add and changes some of the familiar diligence menus . In Tiger , the menu were File , Edit , Video , Controls , Go , Window , and Help . Leopard changes things to File , Edit , Controls , Features , Go , View , Window , and Help .
DVD Player ’s unexampled time slider let you cancel frontwards or feebleminded with your mouse , allowing you to find the exact shot you require .
Within these menus are some changes as well . For example , the File carte ’s Get Disc Info option adds more data about audio and media and lend a Parental Control tab ; the Go menu lend Skip Back 5 Seconds and Skip Ahead 5 Seconds command to DVD Player ( as well as the keyboard shortcuts option - command - right field arrow and option - command - left arrow , respectively , to control them ) . The View fare adds a Viewer Above Other Apps selection to keep your film from being swallow up under window ; and the Controls menu adds a Slow Motion option as well as a stead to localize slow apparent motion rate ( 1/2 stop number , 1/4 hurrying , or 1/8 speed ) . To start playing in wearisome movement , you pick out Slow Motion from the Controls menu , and pressing the space legal profession turn back the playback to normal speed .
Those who are used to DVD Player ’s keyboard shortcut for changing the sizing of the playback windowpane will have a few change to contend with . antecedently happen under the Video menu , Half Size used command-1 , Normal Size used Command-2 , Maximum Size used Command-3 , and Enter Full Screen used Command-0 . The new app puts these command under the View card , with Half Size using Command-0 , Actual Size using Command-1 , Double Size using Command-2 , Fit To Screen using Command-3 , and participate Full Screen using Command - F. Although the command have change , users may recognize these same crosscut from another Apple app — QuickTime Player . It makes sensory faculty for Apple to wreak these commands for video playback in step with each other .
When you ’re watching a videodisk in all views other than full screen , pausing it brings up a progress slipper , like to the one in QuickTime or even iTunes . Adding a slider is a great musical theme , since it entail you no longer have to just use chapters or the fast onwards or rewind options to get where you ’re going . It makes watching a videodisc more like look on any other video within QuickTime .
In Full Screen mode , mousing to the bottom of the screen makes on - screen controls pop out up just as the dock does . ( Entering Full Screen also mechanically removes the blow remote , which in Tiger required you to press the escape key or wait until it faded away on its own . ) This pier includes some controls and Menu and Title buttons in a box seat on the left ; volume , fast forward , rewind , play / interruption , halt , previous chapter , next chapter , streams / closed captioning , player preferences , eject disk , and expiration full screen button in the middle ; a toggling display of chapter information , elapsed time , and remain time on the right field ; and a progression slider on the bottom . ( This dock is similar to the Navigator in Tiger ’s DVD actor , but with some different information ) .
Mousing to the top of the screen , which lend up only the OS menu bar in Tiger , does that in Leopard ; it adds the ability to display chapter , bookmarks , and video clip . Both pop - ups are very similar to those in iPhoto ’s full screen redaction mode .
Just like in Tiger , DVD Player lets you define bookmarker and video clip . bookmarker allow you set your own chapter marks , while telecasting clips lets you define and toy back custom clips . The windowpane still establish you preview , but in Leopard it has an update look .
The video clip user interface is much improved from Tiger . alternatively of a bed sheet that drops down with a mere path to opt your cartridge clip , Leopard has a Video Clip window with current telecasting , commence video , and cease video window in it . you’re able to scour to your startle and end stage easily , and play and fast forward or rewind the current video as well as stone’s throw back or fore one second for more precise aspect excerpt ( all without switch your start and end points ) .
The same windowpane also supply a Chapters option with thumbnail prevue , similar to what you get at the top of the silver screen during full filmdom playback ( Tiger let you choose chapters , but without visual cues ) .
There are also a few changes in DVD Player ’s preferences . In the High Definition tab , it removes the section on Hybrid Discs that was in Tiger ; the Windows pane loses its Status And Navigation Windows area , and the Full Screen pane adds a Use Current Video Size In Full Screen option.—JONATHAN SEFF
Photo BoothIn the unexampled translation of Photo Book , you ’re no longer limited to just taking photos — you’re able to apply your Mac ’s built - in photographic camera to record videos with sound . When you cluck on the camcorder icon , you’re able to choose to use any of the visual effect available to pic users , including image distorted shape and colorization effects .
Like iChat , Photo Booth also now offers background signal effects which seek to give the magic that you are on a roller - coaster or in Paris . When you pick out one of these backgrounds , Photo Booth asks you to step out of the chassis so it can see what ’s behind you . It then masks out this selective information , leaving just you and anything fresh that you bring into the scene . It ’s a fun melodic theme ; however , it does n’t work flawlessly . The program often identified persona of my tomentum and clothing as background and disguise them out .
Photo Booth ships with eight backgrounds . you may also drag your own images in to make new backgrounds . There ’s also a multi - photo option that will take four photos in quick chronological succession , founder you a true photograph - cubicle experience.—KELLY TURNER
[ Jonathan Seff is senior news program editor program ; Jim Dalrymple is on-line director ; Kelly Turner is senior lineament editor ; and Jackie Dove is senior brushup editor . Eric Suesz is associate reassessment editor . ]
