“Many functions in Mac OS X are only exposed to the user via System Preferences, so as you might guess, a lot of new things in Leopard show up there. Among them are a few of the ‘secret new features’ that have never been previously announced in demonstrations of Leopard, laying to rest the hopes of certain critics that Steve Jobs somehow failed to deliver upon his assurance that the new system would deliver a variety of other new features Apple was keeping under wraps so that competitors wouldn’t copy them before they were released,” Prince McLean reports for AppleInsider.
McLean covers:
• The Origins of System Preferences
• Control Panel Evolution
• Control Panel Items
• The Control Strip
• Control Panel Overload
• NeXTSTEP Preferences
• Mac OS X System Preferences
• New in Leopard: System Preferences
• .Mac Settings
• Accounts Settings
• Parental Controls
• Other New Settings
• Bluetooth Controls
• Sharing Controls
• Desktop Controls
• Network Controls
• System Cleanup
McLean takes a look at the origins of System Preferences and what’s new in Mac OS X Leopard in the full article here.
It seems to me AppleInsider is the only site (apart from Apple) that is covering Leopard in any detail.
I’ve really enjoyed their ‘Road to Leopard’ series, can’t wait for Friday 6pm!!!!
MW: peace
Dad was asking me just this morning about the family pack and if there was an education discount to tack on (family are either in school or are educators). Sadly I had to say no, but still it’s a good sign.
Friday cannot get here soon enough.
I just wish that I could turn off the startup chime, and the throbbing bright white light on the front of my macbook when it’s asleep (that keeps me from being asleep). Why these two things are user-adjustable, and instead are shoved down users throats, i’ll never understand…
Family pack? Isn’t that what that movie “The Aristocrats” was about?…
TowerTone, you witty bastard!
I can’t wait for the 10.5.1 Update!
Jim,
I agree. Great coverage of the new features.
My high regard for Prince McLean is due to the effort and detail he has put into the series. I noticed a few like dictionary got his hands slapped by Apple lawyers.
Thanks MDN for providing links in.
“laying to rest the hopes of certain critics that Steve Jobs somehow failed to deliver upon his assurance that the new system would deliver a variety of other new features Apple was keeping under wraps so that competitors wouldn’t copy them before they were released,”
Ummm, I think the whole point of the “critics” that were searching for the “secret features” was that they wanted something more than new icons or redesigned system panels. All of that crap could be lumped into one new design feature.
If 280 of the “new features” are new icons and new system pref panes, then we once again have hyperbole working in overdrive.
Wow. You must be the most sensitive person Gawd ever created. The “stand-by/sleep” light on your Macbook keeps you awake at night? Damn. Tell me: Can you hear a bee fart in the next county? How about the full moon? Does it give you insomnia too?
Here’s an idea or two for the nonce: TURN YOUR DAMNED COMPUTER OFF AT NIGHT AND GET IT OUT OF YOUR BED! Has that never occurred to you?
” . . . shoved down users [sic] throats”? You’ve got a real problem, st. You might want to run, not walk, to your nearest psychotherapist. You simply do NOT have enough to complain about!
“Why these two things are user-adjustable, and instead are shoved down users throats, i’ll never understand…”
shoved down users throats? you are talking about a couple LED’s and a startup chime. Take a chill pill already.
Or you could: Turn the volume down before shutting down your system
OR
never restart the system and just keep it in another room or cover the led with something before you go to bed.
Pretty difficult stuff.
you guys are too easy to bait
and i meant to type “not” user-adjustable, of course.
TT:
Touché! (tush • ay!)
(So, what do you call YOUR act?)
To st:
There’s an easy solution for both of your problems.
Duct tape.
@ st
You’re kidding right? You must be.
In case you’re not, here are some things you might want to consider:
1. Shut it down
2. Turn it around so the blinking light doesn’t face you
3. Put it under your bed
4. Turn YOURSELF around so YOU don’t face it
5. Sleep in another room (leave the MacBook behind)
Let me know if you need more. You’re welcome.
@ st
You can never be too “careful” you know, there are always some idiot online (not saying you are one) that’ll say something too dumb to be true, but turns out they are that dumb.
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I guess even the great McLean doesn’t know the terms Blue Box, Yellow Box, Green Box and Rhapsody. Oh well.
Did McClean ever deconstruct his development? $10 says he is a Trekkie.
Just my $0.02
@ST…I fully understand you. That throbbing also keeps me awake in bed at night too…my wife doesn’t want to hear about it though…..
@ST
“I just wish that I could turn off the startup chime”
You can hold down one of the Fx keys during startup to avoid the chime. Sorry, cannot remember which key it is.
@st. Whether or not you were serious, the startup sound can be a problem in some situations. I use StartupSound.prefPane from Arcana Research.
As for the throbbing light, I’ll have to endorse Dextro’s duct tape.
“Dextro’s Duct Tape”. Now, there’s a good name for a band.
“As for the throbbing light, I’ll have to endorse Dextro’s duct tape.
‘Dextro’s Duct Tape’. Now, there’s a good name for a band.”
Interesting.
But . . .
Come on! I mean . . .Dextro’s Midnight Blinders?
Couldn’t you just put a Barney sticker over the “throbbing” night light or something. C’mon, is this really hard?
Also, just buy a mini jack adapter from Radio Shack and stick it in your analog audio out jack. That will shut up things.
Of course, you can stick it other places as well.
“Couldn’t you just put a Barney sticker over the “throbbing” night light or something.”
But, do not make the mistake I did and buy the throbbing Barney sticker. Now I can’t sleep regardless. We must end the purple reign.
Rough crowd in here today.
Keep it coming Dex, some of us appreciate it!
If you really want to give nighttime throbophobics a hard time plug in a Griffen PowerMate. Turns your room into silent disco light show. The computer sleeps, but they can’t.
I hate you, you hate me,
We’re a dysfunctional family,
A shot rings out and Barney’s on the floor,
No more purple dinosaur!
y’all don’t get it. the problem is that apple apparently wants to force us to hear the chime and see the (quite bright) light turning on and off endlessly. why wouldn’t they make those two things user-configurable? so many other things are. it’s just kind of dumb. talk about whether or not they should make them user preferences. not about what you can do with duct tape. that’s useless.
Beryllium and Daner:
I wear a mask and plugs. Which coincidentally also comes in handy later in the evening.
it’s just kind of dumb. talk about whether or not they should make them user preferences. not about what you can do with duct tape. that’s useless.
So is everyone else that even comes to this site. Welcome to reality st….
It’s okay though, I’ll hold your hand, and your head…. No, not that one, the other one.
“not about what you can do with duct tape. that’s useless.”
Useless? Guess again, Lee Harvey.
I’m much more interested in duct tape than your question.
Entire nations were built on duct tape and bailing wire.
Yes, the blinking light can be annoying… I used to put something over it at night.
But the MOST ANNOYING item in OSX is the PASTE WITH STYLE default.
PLEASE let us TURN IT OFF as default! I have to keep something like BBEdit around so I can paste without style, if the app does not have it at all.
@ Dextroamphetamine,
I like bondage too, but I’m not sure how a butt plug comes in handy here.
Maybe st has his head in his ass?
@st,
I agree, particularly about the blinking light on the MacBooks. I wish they provided a system control to turn it off. I don’t *want* to shut off my notebook at night, and that thing is bright. Waking up in the middle of the night with that thing blinking in the room is a bit like one of those old noir films with the neon sign flashing outside of your one-flight-up boarding flop-house bedrooms.
Wow, do you guys live in a closet or what?
“Wow, do you guys live in a closet or what?”
Only at night, when they deflate us. In the morning they take us out and inflate us and we’re ready for another round of rib-splitting humor.
Wow!! I thought I was the only one who slept with my Macbook Pro in bed with me at night.
No, I really do.
Seriously
you guys are ridiculous. think of students in dorm rooms. it doesn’t take many brain cells to figure out examples like that.
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