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| Mac OS X Version 10.5.4 Leopard | 
 enlarge | From: Apple
Category: Software
List Price: $129.99
Buy New: $90.00
You Save: $39.99 (31%)
New (38) Used (10)
Avg. Customer Rating:  387 reviews
Sales Rank: 7
Format: Dvd-rom
Platforms: Mac Os X, Macintosh
Color: 1-user
Media: DVD-ROM
Edition: Standard
Shipping Weight (lbs): 3
Dimensions (in): 19.7 x 19.7 x 19.7
MPN: MB576Z/A
Model: MB576Z/A
UPC: 885909167876
EAN: 5050053026040
ASIN: B000FK88JK
Publication Date: October 31, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Leopard Installed Successfully on PowerBook and Intel-based Mac mini November 1, 2007
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
I have been lucky so far. I was able to upgrade (not clean install) to Leopard on both my G4-based 12" PowerBook and my Intel-based Mac mini. The install took about a little more than an hour.
I like the new 3D dock simply because it looks good. However, the light blue "ball" that indicates that an app is running isn't right away noticeable to the eye (unlike the black arrow in Tiger).
On my PowerBook, I noticed that the menu bar was solid gray. I am not bothered by this because I prefer it over the translucent menu bar. The translucency makes it harder to see the menu items.
Performance on both machines are snappy. I am surprised that Leopard performs fast on my 12" PowerBook (1.5GHz G4, 1.25GB RAM) since the PowerBook is an older machine.
Spaces is very useful, especially if you have a small screen. It makes it more comfortable to work on multiple applications.
The Terminal application has been improved. It now supports tabbed windows just like the Safari browser. This makes it easier to work with multiple shells if you have a small screen (like a 12" PowerBook).
Some applications, however, misbehaved on my Mac mini. This includes Last.FM's startup application, and Yahoo! Widgets. Firefox and Thunderbird, however, work fine on both PowerBook and Mac mini. They seem faster too. iTunes 7.4.2 worked fine too.
Time machine works well with my Mac mini. I have an external Firewire drive to which TM saves the backups. However, if you use FileVault to encrypt your home directory, TM only backs it up whenever you log out.
What's also good about Leopard is that the development tools are included in the installation disks. You don't have to pay extra for those. The GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) is the compiler used on Leopard (as in the past versions too). Objective-C has been updated to include a garbage collection facility.
Java is included but the version is Java 5. Java 6 has not been released for this released version of Leopard (though it was available in previous beta releases of Leopard). If you are looking to run and program in Java 6, you're out of luck until Apple releases the SDK and runtime for Java 6.
Overall so far, my experience with Leopard has been very good. I am quite happy with its features and performance on both my PowerBook and my Intel-based Mac mini.
 installation blue screened October 31, 2007
5 out of 18 found this review helpful
The installation blue screened for me. As Apple suggested, I deleted ApplicationEnhancer.bundle in single-user mode and it still blue screened. Apple claims page 7 of the documentation that came with the Leopard DVD gives an alternate method of installing but that's not what's on page 7 of my documentation. It just doesn't work. Fortunately, I have a CopyCatX backup of the previous operating system that I can restore.
 Good, but problematic for many users October 31, 2007
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
I've been using OS X since the first beta version. For years I still used OS 9 for many tasks. 10.4 Tiger was finally a great OS X delivering huge improvements in terms of speed and stability. Prior to using 10.5 I was using 10.4.10.
Installing:
Installation experiences will vary but remember to always BACK UP YOUR DATA.
I did not have a bad experience during installation, but many users had a very tough time with Leopard. This even made the news, and Apple acknowledged that they had a problem. More information can be found at Apple's own discussion boards, Fortune/CNNs blogs, and another good source of information is MacFixIt.
One recommendation in order to avoid potential problems is to do an "Archive and Install" installation. I chose this option, and got some error message at the end of the installation. I was able to restart and Leopard was working, but none of my settings had been preserved. The Migration Assistant was useless in this case, since importing my data was impossible. According to the program I needed a lot more disk space. Based on my hard drive's size this did not make much sense.
I proceeded to restore the backup I made prior to upgrading using Prosoft's Drive Genius. I then did an "Upgrade" install which is not the one recommended with Leopard 10.5 but it worked for me.
I think that this is the longest I've spent on upgrading OS X. So my experience was not a smooth one, but also not a nightmare.
New (old) features:
I love Apple, but each year I'm less of a "fan." With 10.4 Apple gave us Spotlight and Dashboard. Interestingly they did not give users an easy way to disable these features. Since the pre-OS X days a thing I loved about the Mac experience was the level of individual customization I had as a user. Apple offers great computers and a superb OS, but other developers often offer superior products when it comes to software. Sadly the superior software can't compete with Apple. In the past we had Audion (vs iTunes), Watson (vs Sherlock), and with 10.4 Dashboard looked very similar to Konfabulator, which is now called Yahoo! Widgets.
Some of the new features that are great for boosting my productivity include:
-Quick Look. Similar to what Path Finder and WorkStrip have offered for years. It's great to have this functionality as part of the OS.
-Spaces. I used CodeTek VirtualDesktopPro in the past, and there are a few other programs that enable the user to have multiple desktops. Again, great to see this as part of the OS.
-Time Machine. I don't think I'll ever use this. May be good for people who would not make a backup otherwise, but it seems a bit inconvenient for my needs. I prefer other backup programs, as well as programs which can "clone" my hard drive so that my information is backed up and the hard drive is bootable.
-Stacks. I don't use the Dock. Stacks gives me another reason to avoid the Dock. It's a shame that WorkStrip is no longer being developed. Their "dock" is really a productivity enhancer, well designed, with a lot of functionality and power.
User experience:
I don't use Dashboard or Spotlight. (Houdah Spot is a much better interface for using Spotlight, for example).
I also don't use the Dock, Mail, or Safari. Apparently Apple has improved these applications/features in 10.5. I know many users who don't know that there are alternatives and use whatever Apple gives them. I'm not one of those users so I can't elaborate on those programs.
I prefer functionality over Eye Candy. Visually I don't like many aspects of the new interface. This is not really a big deal. What is a BIG deal is that some applications will not work under 10.5. Apple does not provide developers with the final version of the OS until it is actually made public. That means a delay of days or weeks or months before some software is Leopard-ready. In some cases the software will never be compatible with 10.5. There are also a few issues with Java under 10.5.
CHECK FOR SOFTWARE COMPATIBILITY BEFORE UPGRADING.
Conclusion:
Overall I am underwhelmed with Leopard. Does it add anything significant that I didn't have with 10.4.10? Not really. As I mentioned before I already had a lot of the functionality I'm interested in by using shareware programs such as Path Finder, WorkStrip, FileBuddy, Houdah Spot, etc.
It is not a bad OS. For many users the 300+ new features may be worth it.
My advice is to wait a couple of weeks, wait for Apple to release upgrades and fixes, and give time to developers to address Leopard compatibility. Then decide whether Leopard is worth it for you. No sense in upgrading and finding out you can't run your programs, particularly if you use your Mac for work.
Even though people are rating reviews that criticize Apple as not helpful, there is a lot of good information on those reviews. In addition to the aforementioned websites, also check VersionTracker and MacUpdate for user reviews.
Evolutionary but very well-designed upgrade. October 31, 2007
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
1. Leopard is an evolutionary upgrade like every upgrade of OS X since 2001. Feature-wise, it's somewhere in-between modest and major.
2. It's a good one. It's got a good deal more hits and misses. Quick Look, Time Machine, Spaces, a better Finder, and a ton of polish everywhere stand out as stars. Even Stacks (which frankly still need a little love from Apple) have their pleasures.
3. If you like software, you will want this. Leopard-savvy apps coming out over the next year or two will take advantage of Leopard's very snazzy CoreAnimation toolkit, and they will be very, very cool.
4. Bottom line: it's pretty hard to go back to Tiger after using Leopard for a few days.
Nothing but frustration October 31, 2007
13 out of 23 found this review helpful
I installed Leopard on my intel Mac Book and noticed immediate problems. Apps were not closing even after force quitting, the machine did not shut down, at all. After downloading and installing the first update the desktop stopped working entirely. It is currently at the Mac store and I was told the problems were not hardware related. They are attempting an erase install to see if it will work. Thank goodness I archived everything before installing, otherwise an entire novel that I have written would be gone. Overall, the most frustrating experience I've ever had with a computer. I wish I had just stayed with Tiger.
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