WWDC: New Mac Pro, Xserve; Leopard previewed -- to leap into stores next spring
August 7, 2006 | by Staff
Apple CEO Steve Jobs opened the World Wide Developers Conference this morning by unveiling new Intel-based Mac Pros and Xserves, and gave attendees a preview of some of the new features in the company's upcoming OS (but not the 'top secret' ones.) Those waiting for an iPhone will apparently have to keep waiting.
On the hardware front, Apple introduced the expected Mac Pro line of PowerMac G5 replacements. Using the same basic enclosure as the previous line, the new Mac Pros sport dual Woodcrest processors (each with two processors ont he chip) at up to 3GHz, twice the bus speed as the G5s and up to 2 Terrabytes of storage space using "snap-in" drive carriers. The new Mac Pros are available starting today from $2,499. Also new are quad-processor Intel Xeon-based Xserves with up to 5TB of storage.
Next, Jobs gave a preview of Apple's next-generation operating system, Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. Jobs said he would be announcing only some of the OS's new features -- some "top-secret" features were being kept under wraps for competitive reasons. Among the features discussed were a new backup feature aclled "Time Machine" that allows deleted or overwritten files to be restored to any specific date; "Spaces," that provides a virtual desktop feature; enhancements to Boot Camp and VoiceOver; major enhancements to Mail, including HTML tempates, system-wide "To-do" notes; new Widget creation tools; new features to iChat that allow presentations to be displayed and video effects to be applied, including a promising one called "Backdrop" that lets you replace the background during a chat session.
Not included in the presentation were rumored products like new iPods and the fabled "iPhone."
Jobs said Leopard is expected to ship next spring.
Although RandomMaccess was not on hand for this year's keynote, several other Mac outlets provided live coverage:
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