To purchase Leopard, or not

October 23, 2007 / Filed under: Apple, Mac OS X, Operating System

I have been considering purchasing Mac OS X "Leopard," when it hits the shelves this Friday evening. Although the new features are nice, there are pretty considerable reasons why I may not need any of them.

A lot of the new features involve aspects of desktop computing that I no longer use.

  • I don't use the dock, so the new desktop features are almost worthless.
  • I don't retain files on my local hard drive, so Time Machine is irrelevant.
  • I don't use Mail, iChat, or Safari.
  • Spaces looks useful for managing clutter, but I fear it will just cause more clutter in the long run.

So, truthfully, the only reason I'd be upgrading is for the new Finder enhancements and Quick Look.

Is that worth the $109 price tag (at Amazon)?

You tell me. What else would I benefit from by upgrading?

Comments/Mentions

# Andy at 10/23/2007 4:36 pm cst

How about this? List your current Mac on craigslist since new Macbooks are rumored to be coming out soon, then buy one of those with Leopard installed on it.

You make some interesting points though. How about using iChat though for video chat and sharing your desktop. There are other applications to do this, but I'll bet none look as good or run as smoothly as iChat.

I'd love a all-mac family for tech support in the future, and the ability remotely control their machines and video conference simultaneously with iChat.

Maybe there will be some compelling reasons for iPhone interaction down the road, but right now I haven't seen anything beyond syncing Notes (meh) new in Leopard.

You could also wait in line with the hardcore Apple nerds and either let one of them try to convince you, or maybe start hating on Leopard and telling them you're happy with Tiger.