Since upgrading my computers to the latest version of Apple’s OS X 10.5, Leopard, this past weekend I’ve been involved in a process of making order from chaos.
This isn’t due to a fault of Leopard. Yes, it has some bugs but I remember when they first released OS X Tiger (10.4) it also its share of bugs that were soon corrected in follow-on updates. I’ve not experienced anything severe with Leopard, but I am concerned with some of the conflicting information I’m reading about security in Leopard.
The chaos I’m speaking of is simply those adjustments that are needed with any large OS change. Having new features, new capabilities and in some cases new standards, presents opportunities for changing and hopefully improving the way I am doing things in my daily computer workflow.
All things must change to something new, to something strange. – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
I find the processes of exploring new avenues and possibilities in computing most enjoyable. I like to approach new methodologies, exercise my problem solving skills and apply these new methods to improving my own processes (I wish I handled changes in my personal life as well ~smile~.) Looking back, problem solving has always been a strong suit and enjoyable for me.
Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives. – William James
So what activities have my post-upgrade chaos consisted of:
Upgrading a slew of applications with new releases that are “more” Leopard compatible. Even some of those applications I upgraded prior to the Leopard install are being upgraded again to increase their compatibility with Leopard. This process will probably go on for a while as Leopard increases it’s install base. This application upgrade process is made much easier if you use applications such as AppFresh or VersionTracker.
Adjusting my normal daily workflow to be more efficient using the new features of Leopard. For example:
- I have my routine each morning and often several times during the day where I may check certain sites, such as Statcounter and Techmeme, for current information. Normally I would have to navigate to each site and find the information. Now using Leopard’s Safari Clip-it feature I have created dashboard widgets of the information screens I want and with a single F4 key press all the information is updated and presented on the dashboard screen.
- I use Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to manage my digital photos. During the process of off-loading those photos for use on the web or some other application I normally export them to a temporary folder and then use them from there. Where I normally would view this folder at icons/thumbnails to visually identify which photo I was choosing I now can use Cover Flow to quickly flip through those I’ve exported. I can also use Quick Look to view the contents of files with a single click without opening any application.
- I’m Integrating the much improved Spotlight back into my work flow. The Tiger version of Spotlight, Apples’ desktop search application, was next to useless in my opinion and I’ve used a couple of similar “replacement applications” in it’s place. With the release of the Leopard version of Spotlight there’s been vast improvements, so I’m retiring my replacements and again using Spotlight.
Then there’s the use of Stacks and Spaces that I haven’t even begun to explore yet.
Change is the process by which the future invades our lives. – Alvin Toffler
So while many people may hate going through a major software upgrade and the chaos that follows, I find it to be exciting and enjoyable.
..the geek in me I guess.
There’s alway a gain, even if only in my own knowledge and understanding.