Apple has seeded the usual technology reviewers with early copies of Mac OS X Leopard for review. The reviews were published tonight. Overall, Leopard is described to be a solid upgrade with only minor bugs encountered in the testing by the reviewers. David Pogue specifically states that he was using the final version of Leopard for a week prior to the review. Compatibility with existing applications is also described as good, and upgrades from existing Tiger installs appeared to go smoothly.
NYTimes - David Pogue
"The most serious misstep in Leopard is its new see-through menus. .... Often, Apples snazzy graphics are justifiable because they make the Mac more fun to use. In this case, though, nothing is gained, and much is lost."
"Otherwise, the only cause for pause is the usual minor set of 1.0 bugs, which Apple generally fixes with software updates after a major release."
"Leopard is powerful, polished and carefully conceived. Happy surprises, and very few disappointments, lie around every corner."
Wall Street Journal - Walt Mossberg
"I did notice a few drawbacks, but they were minor."
"In fact, every piece of software and hardware I tried on two Leopard-equipped Macs -- a loaned laptop from Apple and my own upgraded iMac -- worked fine, exhibiting none of the compatibility problems that continue to plague Vista."
"Leopard isn't a must-have for current Mac owners, but it adds a lot of value."
USA Today - Edward Baig
"I migrated to Leopard from the last OS X version, Tiger, without pain on a MacBook laptop and my own iMac desktop"
Apple is launching Mac OS X Leopard on Friday, October 26th at 6 p.m. There have been a few scattered reports that Mac OS X Leopard has already arrived in the hands of some lucky customers today, but no unboxing photos have yet been published or submitted.
