BlogHer - Apple disappoints some, but excites developers at WWDC - Comments

A lot of folks didn't get what the WWDC is about

jwelch — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 19:11:26 -0500

I'm still not sure why people were disappointed at something that just wasn't going to happen. The WWDC is simply not an appropriate forum for iPods.

No indication that iChat will support Yahoo Messenger

Jan Kabili — Thu, 10 Aug 2006 01:18:43 -0500

Elisa: Neither the WWDC keynote broadcast nor the Leopard info on the Apple site indicate that iChat in Leopard will support Yahoo Messenger. However, a recent Apple press release says that the new OS X 10.5 Leopard Server will include "iChat Server 2 with instant message federation that lets users communicate with GoogleTalk and other XMPP instant messaging systems".

Of course most individuals are unlikely to have a server. As an alternative, you might try Adium, a free Mac OS X IM application that works with Yahoo Messenger. I haven't used it myself, but I've read that a lot of Mac users like it.

Jan Kabili
Blogher Contributing Editor Technology-Web-Social Media
Also blogging at The Unofficial Apple Weblog

Leopard looks awesome, iChat supporting Yahoo Messenger?

Elisa Camahort — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 09:28:08 -0500

Hey Jan: great recap. Leopard looks pretty sweet. The iChat enhancements are amazing. Time Machine is kind of mind-boggling. These are the kind of enhancements that make entire software applications obsolete. (Bye-bye Retrospect for us...and if the world was on Macs, then bye-bye WebEx and the like too!)

My question is: I heard rumors that iChat would support Yahoo Messenger IDs, but I don't recall hearing them say that once it got right down to it...did you?

Elisa Camahort
BlogHer and Worker Bees
elisa@blogher.org/elisa@workerbees.biz

Yes, very Microsoft in timing

Laura Scott — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 09:01:38 -0500

But it does look like an ambitious step. And the new 64-bit Macs are already starting to come out, which will mean more ambitious softwares will be possible.

Laura Scott
design, snap, blog ... admin

Apple disappoints some, but excites developers at WWDC

Jan Kabili — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 08:25:22 -0500

Yesterday was a disappointment for some Apple enthusiasts, who had been awaiting new product revelations from Steve Jobs at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). There was no sexy new iPhone, iPod, or tablet Mac, which some had hoped for. But there was a new Mac Pro desktop computer that rounds out Apple's Intel Mac line, and big news about Leopard, the OS X 10.5 operating system currently under development at Apple.

Apple announced that it won't release Leopard until Spring, 2007 -- a delay that some have challenged as a Microsoft-type move. At the same time, Jobs' team offered a sneak preview of ten features that will be included in the new operating system. From a developer's perspective (and WWDC is a conference for developers), there was some exciting news. To judge for yourself, watch Jobs' WWDC keynote at apple.com. The ten new Leopard features revealed yesterday include:

Time Machine - a new built-in backup system that will back up your entire system and allow you to restore the whole thing or just selected files.
Enhancements to iChat -- including a tabbed interface, custom still or video backdrops for your video iChat, iChat Theater (which lets you mirror your desktop during an iChat, so you can show the person on the other end what you're working on), and Photo Booth effects to make yourself look silly during a chat. Other iChat enhancements that were mentioned but not demoed include video recording (yes!), invisible mode, and animated buddy icons. The Apple site also shows the ability to share your desktop during an iChat. Now just let me figure out how to use these features to do screen recordings and machinima -- hmmm.
Two dashboard additions -- Web Clip, which allows you to build dynamically updating widgets from any Web page (examples -- a cartoon or bestseller list that updates every day); and DashCode for widget development, complete with modifiable widget templates (for RSS, podcasts, and more), and a library of parts to pop into your widget.
Additions to Mail.app -- a To-Do list made automatically from emails and that ties into iCal and other apps; Stationery (rich HTML email templates); and Notes (to replace those reminder emails you've been sending yourself).
Universal Access features - natural sounding voiceover, closed captioning in QuickTime, and braille support.
Core Animation - with features like keyframing and tweening to help developers create animations.
Spotlight enhancement - Spotlight will be able to search other machines on your network, do Boolean search, and will launch your applications for you.
Virtual desktop Spaces - letting you combine task-based applications into separate logical desktop configurations. That means you can have one group of apps running for Web design, another for print production, and yet another for podcast creation and editing. You'll be able to drag items between Spaces.
Complete package - of built-in apps, including Boot Camp, Front Row, and PhotoBooth.
64 bit processing.

But that's not all. Steve Jobs promised some more top secret features, but didn't say when they'll be revealed. Perhaps at Macworld in San Francisco in January?