Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard

A must-have OS for anyone who’s running a Mac

Review of Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard. There have been a lot of reasons (among other things) thrown back and forth between Apple Mac supporters and Windows supporters as to why their chosen operating system is better. With the release of OS X 10.5, though, it seems that a major breakthrough has been made in support of the Mac users’ arguments. Leopard is leaps and bounds above just about anything else on the market, and is definitely the version of OS X to use if you have any interest in using a Mac at all.

Even if you’re happy with your current Apple Mac OS X version, you should seriously consider upgrading… and if you’re still using Windows XP, Vista, or Linux, then you might want to put a little thought into switching sides and joining the Mac camp.

There are so many features that come native with Leopard which you would expect to be third-party programs that it’s unreal. Probably the two most talked-about of these are the Time Machine and Boot Camp, both of which can make your life a LOT easier. Time Machine is a great backup utility which can make backing up your system and files a breeze… you simply plug in an external drive, tell Time Machine to use it as a backup drive, and let it do the rest.

Boot Camp, on the other hand, lets you run PC programs in an emulated PC environment without the need for buying any additional emulation or virtualization software (aside from having a copy of Windows for them to run on, of course.) Both of these are major pieces of software that could easily have just been sold separately but Apple decided to include them in with the core installation of the operating system.

Of course, Boot Camp and Time Machine aren’t the only interesting features that Leopard offers… from an intuitive and mostly automated email system to an easy-to-use widget creator it has a variety of things that you’ll find yourself using again and again.  If you’re into multimedia, there are a variety of picture options, movie editing, and Front Row to put all of your media options at the touch of a button.

Finder can locate any files that you might be looking for, while Quick Look will let you see the file’s contents without even having to open it. You’ve got Spaces, Widgets, iChat, and a number of other great features that are easily accessible in an interface that’s truly amazing to behold. Leopard really does have it all.

Best of all, though, since it’s an Apple product you’ll also find easy integration with your iPod and iPhone, to the point that you can even sync up your calendar with your iPhone using iCal. Everything is seamlessly integrated, existing features such as the Safari web browser and the Automator are noticeably improved and faster, and everything works just like you’d expect it to (but often works so much better than you were expecting.)

Installation Apple Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard is easy and won’t mess with most of your existing settings, and once you’ve started using it you’ll wonder how you ever went so long without it.

Review by Peter Greyson