Mac OS X Leopard

Mac OS X version 10.5, known as "Leopard", is the 6th version of the OS X line of Mac operating systems. Apple introduces over 300 new features in the upgrade from Tiger to Leopard including substantial changes to the desktop. It released today with only one version, in stark contrast to Vista's approach. The biggest new features according to Apple are the new Dock, the new Finder system, the Time Machine feature, and Spaces. The OS in general remains somewhat similar to Tiger so if you're familiar with OS X at all, then you'll be able to use Leopard right away.

Pros & Cons
Pros:

•Spaces for virtual desktop management
•Improved Spotlight UI & performance
•Screen sharing for controlling other machines remotely
•Built in parental controls are very powerful
•iChat Theater for sharing screens/presentations/etc over video chat
•Evolutionary upgrade
•Time Machine makes back ups a no-brainer
•Better performance than Tiger

Cons:

•New Dock removes useful features from Tiger version
•Spaces is buggy
•Not enough major improvements

More information

Pricing

Single license - $129
Family 5-pack license - $199

The new Dock has a change in look and is more 3D, with the "stand" portion reflecting in real-time what is above it, including program windows and wallpapers. Stacks are a new feature of the dock that work similar to smart folders. Leopard will automatically group similar files together and put them under one icon in the doc, you then click on the icon to have the files fan out or appear in a grid view.

Finder undergoes significant changes to its look featuring a more streamlined and accessible side bar. The biggest change is the introduction of a new view named "Cover Flow". This view works similar to iTunes' album view where you flip through the icons. Apple is also introducing a new technology named Quick Look which lets you do an in-depth preview of a multitude of files before fully opening them. Combining Quick Look with Cover Flow lets you easily perform mini slide shows with images, or view videos in quick succession. Quick Look even lets you page through PDF or Keynote presentations.

Spaces is a virtual desktop management system that lets you keep four different virtual desktops, each with their own set of programs running. You can switch between the desktops easily, and rearrange their positioning relative to one another.

Time Machine is an automatic backup, and quick recovery system for your files. With a few clicks you can specify which folders you want to keep backed up, and where they should be stored. Storage can occur on the local drive, or for better backup reliability on an external, or networked drive. The system then keeps a record of every single file that is in those monitored folders, and lets you recover a lost file, or return to a previous version.

As opposed to other recent Operating System releases, Leopard comes in one form that includes everything for all users. This includes 64-bit support, as Steve Jobs said "Leopard is 64-bit top to bottom".

Official site: www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/

Halo 3

Halo 3 is one of the most anticipated games for 2007 as the series that defined the Xbox makes its debut onto the next generation successor. This third installment marks the conclusion of the Halo trilogy and ending of this particular story arc. Bungie has been developing the game for over 3 years and in a marked difference from other Microsoft Game Studios titles is using their own engine as opposed to Unreal Engine 3. Bungie is also incorporating a large number of substantial new features such as saved films, the Forge system, and 4-player online co-op while keeping all of the old game modes of Halo 2.

Pros & Cons
Pros:

•Extraordinary replay value in single player
•Online co-op with 4 people
•Tons of features and value for your money
•Satisfying conclusion to the series
•Massive scale in battles and environments
•New weapons and equipment add more depth to already deep gameplay
•Perfectly balanced multiplayer

Cons:

•Doesn't innovate very much
•Forge mode can be frustrating.
•Causes some 360's to crash, and must be sent in for repair
•Graphics are Halo 2 in HD
•Single player taken by itself isn't very compelling

More information

Gameplay

The Halo series revolves around the design concept of an extremely refined 30 seconds of gameplay continually repeated. This gameplay involves giving the player tools and environment to fight against their enemies. With Halo 3 Bungie is expanding the core mechanics introduced with the first two games by expanding the range of tools at your disposal and the kind of tools that are available. Players run, jup, shoot, use vehicles, and use elements in their environment to move around the levels and kill their enemies. The player has a rechargeable shield that automatically refills after a few seconds have passed without the player being hit by enemy fire.

Weapons, Vehicles and Equipment

All the trademark weapons of the Halo franchise return with new weapons being added that represent the Brute enemy's arsenal. A new class of weapons is being added known as "support" that are heavier tools of destruction that put the player in a 3rd person view, and cause the player to move slower.

A new class of tools is introduced with H3 called "equipment". These items can support you and your teammates, or hinder your opponents. Shields, portable lifts, RADAR jammers, are examples of equipment that can be deployed in the field.

Vehicles make a return in Halo 3 with the classic warthog once again taking a prominent role. Similar to the weapons new vehicles are added that represent the Brute's arsenal.

Campaign

The campaign mode sees you playing through the last chapter of the Halo arc started with the games, and the three novels. The tag line of Halo 3 is "Finish the Fight" with the ending of Halo 2 seeing Master Chief heading back to Earth to defend humanity from a full scale Covenant invasion. Being the ending in the series many fans expect H3 to answer many of the questions involving the Forerunners and the purpose of the Halos and the Ark.

The campaign is mission based seeing the player traverse the landscape accomplishing the assigned mission objectives, usually in the form of destroying something or rescuing something else. Story is relayed through cutscenes and in-game acting and dialog.

Similar to both of the previous games, the entire campaign can be played cooperatively with another player on the same Xbox 360. And for the first time in the series up to four players can go through the campaign cooperatively over Xbox Live.

For the first time Bungie is creating what they call a "meta-game" around the campaign mode that tracks the player's accomplishments through a particular level and assigns them points and medals. Performing more advanced maneuvers such as double kills, and head shots result in more points. Leaderboards will be available for the overall score, and leaderboards for individual level scores are also available.

Multiplayer

Multiplayer is a large part of the Halo franchise and Bungie is expanding the mode for Halo 3. Similar to Halo 2 multiplayer games can be found by joining a friend's custom game, or through the Matchmaking party system. New for Halo 3 are public custom games which let you join other custom games similar to a server list that don't affect your ranking. The party system sees you joining your friends in a group and going through the matchmaking process together, so you always join the same games.

All the new vehicles, weapons and equipment introduced will be available for multiplayer. And similar to H2 there will be a multitude of game modes available for customization for custom games, alongside an ever changing playlist of ranked matchmaking modes.

The ranking system which tracks your kills and other accomplishments gets factored into the Matchmaking system to try and match you up with similarly ranked players so people get a "fair" game. People who continually drop out of a game will have their rankings negatively affected reducing their ability to find games with "good" players.

Forge

Forge is a new kind of mode that has a significant impact on the multiplayer game. With Forge mode activated players can take on the role of an entity outside the game and manipulate the level and rules of the game in a variety of ways. Spawning weapons, vehicles and other items is already confirmed. At any time players can switch between the Forge mode and normal playing resulting in new ways of playing multiplayer.

New levels can not be created from scratch, and level geometry can not be modified. Forge simply allows you to create and move items around existing multiplayer maps and change their settings. Modified levels and rules can be saved and played through as a normal multiplayer game. Custom creations can even be shared with other players on your Friend's list and beyond. Bungie has stated they'll have a website dedicated to the best Forge games and levels and let people download new Forge levels to play on their own system.

Saved Films

Halo was an extremely popular title to use for Machinima, films created using video games. The popular video series Red vs Blue is an example of Machinima, though others also exist. Bungie is supporting these kind of film makers by integrating the film making capabilities into the game itself. Players can record, save, and playback any of their gaming sessions either in the campaign or multiplayer modes. Saved films aren't actual video files, but instead scripts that playback within the game engine itself. This allows you to watch a saved film from any angle and even manipulate the camera on the fly. Saved films can be shared with friends, and uploaded to Bungie's servers with the best films being available for anyone to download.

Editions

Halo 3 will be offered in three different editions in increasing forms of fan service.

Standard Edition ($59.99) - Game disc and manual

Collector's Edition ($69.99) - adds an Interactive Xbox 360 disc containing new themes and gamer pictures, and the Beastiarum which is a hard cover book detailing the flora and fauna in the Halo universe

Legendary Edition ($129.99) - adds Legendary DVD which contains even more exclusive content, and a Master Chief Helmet to hold all three discs.

Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ85U - LCD

The 85U series is at the mid range of Panasonic's consumer plasmas for 2008, which is their 11th generation of plasma offerings. Positioned above 80U series and below the 800Us, the 85Us feature the same core technology as the more expensive sets but sacrifice some of the more advanced features such as THX Certification and the 4th HDMI input. It first became available in the late-February and retails for $2200.

Pros & Cons
Pros:

•Single pane of glass design reduces haloing of white text and improves aesthetic
•Very solid price/performance ratio


Cons:

•Plasma technology is being phased out, so long term support is shaky


More information

Features

- 1080p native resolution
- 30,000:1 contrast ratio
- 24p film mode
- Game mode
- VIERA link
- One-sheet glass design with anti-reflective screen
- 100,000 hour half life
- Inputs: 3 x HDMI 1.3, 1 x VGA, Component, Composite, S-Video
- price: $2199

85U, 800U, and 850U features

One-sheet glass - The one-sheet glass design is similar to the Sony XBR4's, and Pioneer Elite and Kuro televisions where a single pane of glass covers the entire front of the television, including the bezel. This design reduces/eliminates the "halo" effect that can occur around lettering and logos with traditional 3-pane designs.

Note: 85U doe NOT have a one-sheet-glass design.

PC-input - usually a staple among HDTVs, in Panasonic's 2008 offerings only the higher end televisions retain a dedicated input for computers.

24p support - the details are still unclear if this means the television changes the refresh rate to match content that comes in at 24 frames per second, or if it just means the TV can accept 24FPS content and does a conversion. As of January 2008 the only consumer grade Plasma with native 24p support is the Pioneer 5080HD. Most likely this feature simply does a conversion from 24FPS to the set's native 60Hz.


Common to all 2008 Panasonic Plasmas

Anti-reflective screen - created by Fujitsu these screens reduce the amount of ambient reflection that can appear in a brightly lit room.

100,000 hour half life - Panasonic rates the panel to last 100,000 hours, which is about 30 years of regular usage, or 11 years of non-stop, before the brightness of the display is halved.

Winamp

Winamp is a popular media player developed by Nullsoft that was first released by Justin Frankel in 1996. Version 5.5 was released on October 10th, 2007 marking the 10th anniversary of the software and includes many upgrades includes a new Bento skin. Winamp first gained popularity in 1997 when the new mp3 format of compressed digital music first made its appearance on the Internet.

Pros & Cons
Pros:

•Extensive plugin support
•Great UI, with easy to access library, playlist, EQ, visualization, etc.
•Not a computer resource hog like WMP
•Slick look with cool visualizations
•Shoutcast support
•Highly customizable look and feel with skins
•Excellent Internet radio integration
•Customizable visualizations are great
•Multiple sound card support: listen on your hi-fi card while Windows gets the onboard chip.
•Auto-Tag feature: good for roll your own mp3s and to correct these collectors items.

Cons:

•Windows Only
•Still somewhat bloated compared to Foobar2000 and other players aimed at expert users

Features

Audio formats: MP3, AAC, Ogg Vorbis MIDI, MOD, MP1, MP2, M4A, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, WAV, WMA, Chiptunes, and more

Video formats: AVI, MPEG, NSV (Nullsoft Streaming Video)

Includes many visualizations with full-screen support

Keyboard shortcuts

Extensive plug-in support for input/output, sound and visual effects

Skinnable with many freely available skins

Free access to streaming media including: Internet radio and XM Satellite radio (powered by AOL radio)

Ripping, encoding, burning in Winamp Pro version

Support for portable media players

t is currently the second most popular media player to Microsoft's Windows Media Player. As of 2005, Winamp had approximately 55 million user worldwide. It is available in two versions: 1) a fully-functional free version, and 2) a Pro version available for $19.95 that adds extensive ripping, encoding, and burning functionality. See www.winamp.com for more information and to download the player.

OpenOffice

OpenOffice.org is a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute. To help build the community, join us. StarDivision, the original author of the StarOffice suite of software, was founded in Germany in the mid-1980s. It was acquired by Sun Microsystems during the summer of 1999 and StarOffice 5.2 was released in June of 2000. Future versions of StarOffice software, beginning with 6.0, have been built using the OpenOffice.org source, APIs, file formats, and reference implementation. Sun continues to sponsor development on OpenOffice.org and is the primary contributor of code to OpenOffice.org. CollabNet hosts the website infrastructure for development of the product and helps manage the project. The OpenOffice.org source code includes the technology which Sun Microsystems has been developing for the future versions of StarOffice(TM) software. The source is written in C++ and delivers language-neutral and scriptable functionality, including Java(TM) APIs. This source technology introduces the next-stage architecture, allowing use of the suite as separate applications or as embedded components in other applications. Numerous other features are also present including XML-based file formats based on the vendor-neutral OpenDocument standard from OASIS and other resources.


Pros & Cons
Pros:

•Free
•Simplified, more lightweight word processor (Writer vs. Word)
•Very closely mimics the interface and functionality of Microsoft Office
•Open-source software
•Uses and helps promote the OpenDocument standard

Cons:

•Not all Excel charting functions supported in Calc
•Not as much support as MS Office (books, manuals, training)
•No support for Excel macros (does support Word macros)

More information

Office Suite Applications

Writer - word processor similar to Microsof Word
Calc - spreadsheet software similar to Microsoft Excel
Impress - presentation program similar to Microsoft PowerPoint
Base - database program similar to Microsoft Access
Draw - vector graphics editor comparable in features to early versions of CorelDRAW
Math - A tool for creating and editing mathematical formulae, similar to Microsoft Equation Editor

Releases

The current stable release of OpenOffice is 2.4. In September 2008, OpenOffice.org 3.0 is expected to be released, and will include Office 2007 file format support.