I just finished watching a Leopard demo and one of the biggest features is virtual desktops!! This is absolutely ridiculous because I’ve been using virtual desktop on Linux for a really long time now. And it is funny because I’ve been also been using virtual desktops in Tiger for quite some time now. I really hate how Apple markets their products claiming that there innovated everything, especially when it comes to virtualization.
#1 by Chuck on November 8, 2007 - 2:39 pm
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Well, to a Mac user, it is an innovation. So are you saying we Mac users aren’t supposed to have virtual desktops built-in to OS X because Linux had it first (Not! Solaris had it before Linux)?
And how is it that you were using them in Tiger? Third-party software? In that case, it was an add on.
Apple didn’t say they innovated anything. They just said, “here is a new feature that will allow you to work more efficiently, called Spaces.”
Enough said.
And it’s “they” not “there.”
#2 by none on November 8, 2007 - 2:52 pm
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read and learn: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/mac-os-x-10-5.ars
#3 by veggiedude on November 8, 2007 - 4:15 pm
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The way it is implemented, is a breathe of fresh air. I have used numerous others in Tiger and earlier Mac OS’s. They have the best.
Virtual Desktops go back to the Mac in 1986 – before Linux. Leopard is Apple’s first attempt to bring it into the OS, and yes, it is a big feature in Leopard – why shouldn’t Apple mention it? Because it is part of the OS, it is the best ever implementation of a virtual desktop, simply because now all the apps have to play nice with it, and they have made it easier for novices to grasp.
#4 by Brett on November 8, 2007 - 7:44 pm
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There is very little that hasn’t already been done or suggested in some form or another outside of Cupertino. But Apple has a way of taking existing ideas (like file backup, or multiple workspaces) and presenting them to users in a unique way that makes them particularly inviting and usable. This is where Apple’s innovation comes in.
Other companies (Microsoft comes to mind) have been copying Apple’s ideas wholesale for decades while claiming to innovating. They are more deserving of scorn than Apple.
Each Leopard feature in isolation may not seem like a big deal but there is something there for everyone. Taken together they add up to a significant release.
#5 by Don on November 9, 2007 - 12:32 am
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Hmmm. So of 300 new features you pick out one that hasn’t been readily available on the desktop before and because techies used it on a system usually relegated to servers, Apple isn’t innovating? I guess that because they still use monitors and don’t plug directly into the brain they’re not innovating, either.
Look in the dictionary under “doofus.” You’ll find your picture there.
#6 by don on November 9, 2007 - 6:27 am
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Hah, let’s see here, how about Linux? Beryl, XGL, etc. you name them, they are all rip offs from OS X! They add a dock, they add transparency, they add animation, they add OS X’s Expose feature, its cube effect, etc., and Linux fan-boys act like Linux came out with all this cool innovation! Linux started copying Apple with Compliz in 2006 when this all goes back to 1999 in OS X server. Bull shit – its the other way around!
While were at it, how about the trash can, drop down menu’s, etc. Where, pray tell, did you guys steal all these and more from? Hah, I thought so…. Apple, that’s where!
#7 by Synthmeister on November 9, 2007 - 8:36 am
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From what I can tell from the Ars Technica review, (which is not always flattering, btw.) most of the real innovation in Leopard is under the hood, in how you build programs and how they interact, etc. and we won’t really see the fruits of that innovation till the next few years.
Steve Jobs himself said that Leopard has given Apple the foundation to build a stream of innovative products—software and hardware—for the next decade. Now THAT should scare the crap out of MS, Sony, Nokia, Moto,Real, et al. You certainly don’t hear them
#8 by Neil Anderson on November 10, 2007 - 5:04 pm
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Spaces is implemented very well in Leopard. I never used virtual desktops before because they were too much hassle. Not any more. I’m sold!