Unless you’ve actually got a life or have been living under a rock, you know that the webosphere is abuzz with news of Apple’s impending delivery of their next operating system Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Everyone’s giving their 5 cents on the best and worst features of the new system. All in agreement that Leopard is packed with great new features and Apple once again has raised the bar on powerful, useful features packed into deceptively easy-to-use interfaces.
Personally, I’m really looking forward to Leopard. Time Machine alone is worth the upgrade price. Quick look and Stacks are gonna be super cool and Spaces will pretty much do away with the need for a second monitor (I think this will most likely be a consumer favorite). But for me, personally, my money is on iChat and screen sharing. Let me explain.
I go for Steve Jobs’ reality distortion field marketing gimmicks just like everyone else. The mac is easier to use, your IT department will need to look for new jobs, things just work, etc… etc…
This just isn’t reality. Sure Macs need 10x less tech support then PCs running Windows/Vista and when something software-related goes fubar on the latter, you don’t need tech support, you need a new computer. Apple has made the OS so simple that someone with a pretty good knowledge of the OS can solve 99% of the trouble-shooting questions your average user has*. This means that if you’re a recent switcher, a mac novice or a technophobe and your friend is a savvy mac user, chances are s/he can fix any little problems you have. For most of the mac-centric people in my little corner of Mexico, I’m that person (the nearest Mac Genius is 3000 miles away). In addition to the people close to me, I have several friends in far away places that hit me up on a near daily basis over iChat/email to get quick help with some of Mac OS X’s “undocumented features” (read: idiosyncrasies). And in turn, I have a friend or two who I rely on when I get stumped.
At home I use Apple Remote Desktop, which is a heavy-duty version of the screen sharing capabilities that are built into iChat and the Finder in Leopard. I troubleshoot my wife’s computer almost daily, usually having something to do with MS Word/Excel. We have a mac mini that acts as our “entertainment hub”. I administrate both using Remote Desktop, over our home network, the screen controlling features are insanely useful and once you try it, you’ll never understand how you did without it.
Years ago, my good friend Steve showed me a new feature of Windows (back when he was confused and walking the desert alone), where you could share and control the screens of your friends’ computers, over the internet. I nearly shat my pants. If I’m not mistaken, this feature has since been removed from Windows because it was a security nightmare. Well, this feature has finally come to the Mac (albeit with a better security implementation). iChat and the new Finder now have built-in screen sharing capabilities and I think this is one of the “creeper” features of Leopard. Once I’ve had my fill of the glossy, marquee features, this is the one that’s gonna be the most life-changing.
The screen sharing capabilities of iChat will allow me to dip into a friend’s computer 2 blocks away or 5000 miles away to fix problems, show someone how to properly use and dispose of dmg installers or just to set my grand dad’s desktop to change images randomly every once in a while. I’ll have the ability to help a friend in San Francisco with a kerning problem in Adobe InDesign or a friend in New York City with organizational problems in Apple Aperture. This kind of screen sharing will be commonplace inside of 6 months. Your computer will no longer be an isolated piece of machinery, connected by text/audio/video chat and email. You can now share your computer with friends. Troubleshooting and asking for advice/help will no longer happen over a text chat or lugging your iMac to a friend’s house or the nearest Apple store. I’m really super excited about this feature. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take a fiber connection to work properly.
For an example of iChat screen sharing, check out Apple’s Leopard guided tour video. What I’m referring to starts at the 24 minute mark. This video is like crack for mac nerds. As I watched it, I was hooting, hollering at the screen in giddy anticipation. Reality distortion field, you are my friend.
For an added bonus, totally awol from the 300+ features page is the .Mac feature called “Back To My Mac”. This feature is gonna be killer. It allows you access and control your home computer (or other computers), over the internet, through .Mac. For instance, if you’re traveling and a client needs a tweak to a certain file. Instead of having to jibe a workmate into doing the change, you can access and control your work computer, make the change and send it off, viola. This feature gets super interesting when you think about how it could be integrated with iPhone or what happens when someone stupidly steals your macbook and tries to use it. Again, not even on the 300+ features list. but why? Right about now, I’m glad I renewed my .Mac membership.
So, what’s your favorite feature?
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