This has been around for awhile, but I finally got around to testing it and have to agree that this does make music even more enjoyable. The link is courtesy of MacOSXHints. If you use iTunes (and if you arn't, why not?) I would recommend setting this up.
I have been running the last developer's release of Leopard for 3 days now. It is basically feature complete but I have been waiting for the public release before blogging about what I like and don't like with it. I realize somethings might be different in the final release, but in general, the developer release and the public release are the same, so let's get to the features.
Spaces - I didn't think I would care about this at all. I have tried to use virtual desktops with third party programs on Windows or built into Linux, and never got too far with them. The two things that change that in Leopard are the navigation between spaces and the ability to always have an application open in a specific space. This means that Mail can have it's own space and stay all by itself while I browse in a different space. It is very cool and going to be one of those unexpected great features.
Stacks - Again, a small part of the new Dock, but really neat. The fan and block view look cool and the Downloads stack not only provides a single location for downloads but also organizes them for me. I also added Applications to the dock as a Stack and that works well for launching programs. I didn't think it would replace Quicksilver, and it really doesn't. What does though is the upgraded Spotlight
Spotlight - Spotlight is my new application launcher. It works as well as Quicksilver and the new Top Hit is accurate almost all the time. Quicksilver, I loved you, but now the same functionality I used you for is in Spotlight.
Finder & Quick Look - The Cover Flow view is neat, but ends up being not that practical when going from folder to folder. I imagine people will play with it, but stick with the 3-column view. The impressive new feature is Quick Look. From the Finder, the Space Bar opens a ton of files in a Quick Look view instantly. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, music, movies, etc, all open up in the Quick Look view. Quick Look also works from Mail so you can Quick Look attachments. Very very cool stuff there.
Those are the biggies so far. I havn't tested Time Machine yet, that will have to wait for the home machine when that gets upgraded. A couple odd things, wireless seems quirky. I was on fine at work, but there are reports that the final release is having problems. It also sometimes cannot find the home network, causing me to turn the radio off and back on to pick it up.
The other odd thing is that there is no rounded corners to the screen anymore. As was typical from a CRT where the display could not fill the entire rectangular screen, previous versions of Mac OS X had rounded corners for the display. Now the OS takes up the entire rectangle of my screen. A very small thing, but interesting nonetheless. If you have features you like or are curious about, feel free to comment and I can see what information/experiences I have with them.
As the year progresses, I realized that I have listened to more music that actually came out in the current year than in the last 5 years. Because of this, I am feeling somewhat compelled to do a top 5 or 10 list at the end of the year. Since that is still a couple of months away, I wanted to get help from the world to make sure that I did not miss any good albums that I should check out. To help out, here is a list of albums I have listened to:
Please add your recommendations in the comments and near the end of the year you will see my top albums.
I decided to take the Who should I vote for for president in 2008? quiz on the new site PoliticalBase.com, and here are the results. Feel free to post or link to your results in the comments.
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Chris Dodd - 70 match Dodd is a liberal democrat who consistently receives somewhere between a 95-100% approval rating from Americans for Democratic Action and the National Committee for an Effective Congress. Unlike his Democrat counterparts, he believes that same-sex marriage and civil unions should be an issue left to states and supports free trade agreements. As a legislator, he is known for his work on expanding health care coverage to the uninsured, particularly children. |
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Barack Obama - 70 match You must be ambitious and idealistic, like Barak Obama. Obama is a liberal democrat who, unlike his rivals, opposed the Iraq war from the start. With only 8 years in the Senate, his inexperience worries some and sometimes reveals itself in the debates, but he also has the charisma and popular support that the others lack. |
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Bill Richardson - 69 match You're looking for a moderate Democrat like Bill Richardson. Experienced in state, national, and international politics, Richardson has been a Congressman, an ambassador to the United Nations Security Council, and is now the governor of New Mexico. He is pro-choice, strongly favors rights for the LGBT population, advocates for affirmative action in government contracts, and even championed the idea that Congress should revoke the original authority it gave to go to war with Iraq. Richardson also supports the death penalty and gun ownership rights. |
Just about a month aga, I asked for recommendations for good "entertaining" music and the comments delivered. I then promised to comment on the said recommendations, and here they are:
Sigur Ros - Derrick's recommendation is to be selective, and I agree with that. There are definitely some good tracks, but I don't think I could play an entire album the entire way through. I did enjoy the music though, so that is a bonus.
Explosions in the Sky - This was the big winner out of all the recommendations. This music is right up my alley as is and it works as good background music. I pounded out a couple hours of the Dark Tower V Sunday listening to it.
Christopher O’Riley - Didn't listen to. I don't need to hear Radiohead transcripts.
Chicane - Unable to find any to get, so I will keep hunting.
Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Right up there with Explosions in the Sky as a top recommendations. A different vibe as it is a little speedier and up tempo, but it is some cool guitar work.
Gotan Project - Chris said I will love them, unfortunately I didn't. There are some cool tracks, but overall I couldn't get into them. Too much accordion work for my liking, but it is interesting.
So there you have it, Explosions in the Sky and Rodrigo Y Gabriela are the big winners. If others have further suggestions, feel free to pass them along and I will check them out.