Many of you might assume, given the fact that this is New Zealand’s largest Mac website, that I get my hands on a few Mac goodies now and then. So it might surprise you to learn that today (November 29) I finally got to see two things I hadn’t seen in action at all....the new(ish) slimmer iMac....and a new(ish) operating system called Leopard.

Yep...I finally saw a new iMac today, whilst trying to set it up for a client. I say trying, as we seem to be having issues with Leopard that at this stage, points to a possible hardware issue.

The iMac
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OK....so the black surround looks cool, but the gloss screen still gets to me, in the same way that the iPhone got to me when Jens loaned me a copy. With that I was forever getting out the handy cloth to wipe the screen. I fully intend to buy a new Mac after MacWorld in January (hoping that there’ll be a new version) but all I could see today were the smudges on the screen.  

Based on my Mac environment and location at home, the gloss screen may not be an issue, but I can see how it would be for some people. Set it up in the wrong location and the glare could be frustrating. If the option of a matte screen came out, I for one would jump at the that option. 

I didn’t see Leopard...at first
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So a brand new iMac Mac (kindly purchased a week ago by a friend that used my Apple affiliate link) that arrived in an impressive 3 days, finally saw me turn up to run the Leopard update DVD included with the iMac...only it didn’t happen.

In a very strange quirk, the DVD took around 5-10 minutes to start, only to be faced with the starry background and a spinning beachball *before* the installer application launched (it never got to this point). In others words, there seemed to be no way to get the installer to work.

In the end, after trying various activities, including making sure the hard drive was functioning, we put a call through the Help Desk at Apple.

The chap I dealt with was as stumped by the issue as I was (as I type, it is sad to say that it points to a possible hardware issue in an iMac that is less than 2 weeks old) but what struck me was both his laid back attitude (maybe it’s an Australasian thing?) as well as his willingness to stay on the line for numerous minutes as we tried things to solve the issue. And let’s put it in perspective....the reboot into the DVD was taking up to 10 minutes at times...a lifetime on the Help desk I’m sure, but he stuck in there and chatted with me at the same time.

In the end (after ‘fessing my Mac experience and affiliations) we agreed that it was either (we hoped) a DVD issues or a (we hoped not) hardware issue. After discussing this further, we agreed the best bet was to try the DVD disk on my MacBook Pro, which is my work machine.

So, despite Massey University not yet having the media for us to install Leopard (a month after its release!!!!) I came home and installed Leopard. Sadly it worked...which means tomorrow they have asked me to run hardware tests on the iMac in question.

I see Leopard...but on the wrong machine
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So after all that talk on the Apple phone line, I came home and ran the instal DVD on my work Mac Book Pro (hello Massey...yes, I do owe you money, but we’ll sort that out later) and my reaction to it was a little like my first ever install of OS X....I didn’t like it!

OK...I write this after having spent no more than an hour with the OS...and like my reaction to the initial OS X, I fully believe I’m being a tad too precious...but it takes some getting used to.

Translucent menus...no problems....although the starry background has a few bright dots in it that are off-putting within the top menu. Folder icons grate with me at this stage and I’m still at a lost how to stop things going to the download folder instead on the desktop like I want, but it kinda feels like some distant second cousin to me at the moment...strangely familiar, yet somehow slightly uneasy.

I have no doubt that I will warm to it. At the moment I’m struggling with Dashcode, as I seriously want to sort out the issues with the NZMac.com widgets, but I’m a bit confused by it all. I think I need to spend more time figuring out what I am up to (go figure!).

In a strange way, I’ve taken little notice of what has been said of Leopard to date, but that’s understandable. Why try to appreciate something that has little relevance for you?

So, whilst I now have Leopard for all the wrong reasons (ie, a test of issues with an install DVD) I’ll soldier on in the next few days an try and understand the software more. I think I’ll be referring more and more to the review that Darryn wrote for us all in 3 parts....

http://www.nzmac.com/reviews/apple/mac-os-x-leopard-part-1.html

http://www.nzmac.com/reviews/apple/mac-os-x-leopard-part-2.html

http://www.nzmac.com/reviews/apple/mac-os-x-leopard-part-3.html

As to the whole ‘evolutionary versus revolutionary’ debate that Darryn raises...I’ll get back to you on that :-)