Analyst: Leopard May Help Apple in the Enterprise

Mac OS X Leopard -- the "best upgrade" Apple has ever released, in the words of Steve Jobs -- will be available on October 26, Apple announced Tuesday. Deemed version 10.5, Leopard will go on sale at 6:00 p.m. that day.

In a poke at Microsoft's Windows Vista, Jobs said "everyone gets the 'Ultimate' version, packed with all the new innovative features, for just $129." A five-pack license costs $199.

Apple said Leopard boasts a 64-bit architecture and some 300 new features, including Stacks, a feature for quickly finding files from the desktop; a redesigned Finder that supports sharing files between Macs; Quick Look, which allows users to preview file contents without running an application; Spaces, an application-grouping feature; and Time Machine, an automatic backup feature.

Completion of Leopard was delayed earlier this year when Apple pulled developers off of the operating system to work on the iPhone. OS X 10.5 will be compatible with all Intel-based Macs, G5s, and G4s, running at 867 MHz or faster.

Many New Leopard Features

With Stacks, users can fan groups of desktop files into an "elegant arc." QuickLook provides something quite different than the current generation of thumbnails; it provides "full-screen, high-resolution files of virtually anything, even media files, from any view in the Finder."

Spaces, meanwhile, offers virtual workspace environments where users can set up different desktops for different projects, so that only the files and applications needed are available.

Time Machine provides automatic daily backups. Used in conjunction with QuickLook, users can locate and restore deleted files and previous versions of files.

Other user features include improved parental controls, an official version of Boot Camp, the utility that lets users install Windows on their Macs, and improved versions of iCal, iChat, and Mail.

From a developer's perspective, Leopard is notable as a full 64-bit operating system. "Now the Cocoa application frameworks, as well as graphics, scripting, and the Unix foundations of the Mac, are all 64-bit," Apple said.

Apple also announced Mac OS X Leopard Server, which includes a system for publishing podcasts to iTunes. Server automatically configures client applications, including file sharing, Mail, iChat, iCal, Address Book, and VPN, from user information stored on the server. Leopard Server is priced at $499 for a 10-client edition and $999 for unlimited clients.

Room for Growth in Enterprise

Resistance to Windows Vista in both the enterprise and consumer markets might provide an opening for Apple to gain more traction with Leopard, Greg Sterling, principal analyst at Sterling Market Intelligence, said in a telephone interview.

According to Sterling, Apple has been gaining ground in the enterprise because of the perception that Macs are less susceptible to viruses and because of the ability to run Windows, Sterling said. "The resistance of I.T. departments to Macs has been diminishing and the transition to Intel processors has been a key driver to that," he said. "Frustration with Vista may help them continue that momentum."

Apple actually is proving to be quite cost-competitive in the enterprise, Sterling said. "When you're looking at the higher-end machines, Apple does pretty well at competing with comparable machines from Dell and other vendors."

Apple's iPods have "clearly driven sales of iBooks and iMacs," Sterling said. "I don't think the iPod was intended as a Trojan Horse, but it's had a strong secondary benefit for Apple." Sterling also pointed out that company's "I'm a Mac; I'm a PC" advertising campaign has deepened perceptions that Macs are easier to use and less prone to virus infection.

By
Richard Koman, news.yahoo.com