Apple seeds disk image allowing developers full read/write access to ZFS in Leopard

Just before WWDC Sun Microsystems CEO, Jonathan Schwartz touted that ZFS would become a usable file system in Mac OS X and that Apple would announce it at WWDC. This never happened but Apple senior director of Mac OS X Product Marketing, Brian Croll confirmed that ZFS would be present but read-only.

Now Apple has published a disk image on its ADC site allowing developers to use full read/write capabilities of ZFS.

In a PDF released with the seed Apple writes:

ZFS is a new filesystem from Sun Microsystems which has been ported by Apple to Mac OS X. The initial (10.5.0) release of Leopard will restrict ZFS to read-only, so no ZFS pools or filesystems can be modified or created. This Developer Preview will enable full read/write capability, which includes the creation/destruction of ZFS pools and filesystems.

Desktop in Build 9A466 of Leopard | Image Courtesy Think Secret

Think Secret offers a gallery of screenshots from build 9A466 of Leopard as well as some details on applications included;

Safari 3, which has been part of Leopard since day one, sees a further rev in Leopard to version 3.0 (5522.8.3). For those keeping score at home, the beta of Safari 3 for Tiger is at version 3.0 (522.11).

Leopard also continues to grow considerably in size: build 9A410 was roughly 5.4GB in size, while 9A466 tips the scales at almost 6.1GB.

Apple says that the iPhone offers the following for websites:

• Most desktop class websites will work on the iPhone
• Browsing the web is easy
• Pan around page using one or two fingers
• Two finger pinch used to zoom in and out
• Page view feature allows multiple websites and documents to be viewed by scrolling through them one after another
• New telephone links allows you to integrate phone calls directly from your webpage
• Full PDF support

Also listed are Safari’s capabilities and limitations on the iPhone:

• Support for all the latest web standards
• WHATWG (Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group)
• HTML5
• 10MB max HTML size for web page
• Javascript limited to 5 seconds run time
• Javascript allocations limited to 10MB
• 8 documents maximum loaded on the iPhone due to page view limitations
• Quicktime used for audio and video

It has been officially confirmed that the iPhone will not have Flash or Java.

Apple spoke about good design practices for websites designed to be viewed on the iPhone:

• Separate html and css
• Use well structured and valid html
• Size images appropriately don’t rely on browser scaling
• Tile small images in backgrounds
• Don’t use large background images
• Avoid complicated framesets, better yet don’t use framesets at all
• iPhone supports both EDGE and WiFi. EDGE pipe is smaller then WIFI pipe so think about bandwidth when developing
• XHTML mobile documents supported
• Stylesheet device width:480px
• Apply different css for the iPhone. For example displaying a one column page for iphone vs a 3 column page on a desktop
• there are no scroll bars or resize knobs. the iphone will automatically expand the content
• Scrollable frames are automatically expanded to fit the content
• Frames exploded to the full scale and then fit to the screen

Apple Design Awards are given annually at WWDC, they are described as recognition for “technical excellence and outstanding achievement in OS X software design and development”.

Below are the winners of this years Apple Design Awards, congratulations to all who won from World of Apple.

Best Leopard App Winner: Delicious Library 2.0
Best Leopard App Runner Up: iBank

Best Mac OSX Developer Tool Winner: CSS Edit 2.5
Best Mac OSX Developer Tool Runner Up: rooSwitch

Best Mac OSX Dashboard Widget Winner: Bart Widget
Best Mac OSX Dashboard Widget Runner Up: Pemdas

Best Science Computing App Winner: Papers
Best Science Computing App Runner Up: Single Crystal

Best Mac OSX Game Winner:WOW Burning Crusade
Best Mac OSX Game Runner Up: Wacky Mini Golf

Best Mac OSX Student Product Winner: Picturesque
Best Mac OSX Student Product Runner Up: Pathway

Best Mac OS X User Experience Winner Coda
Best Mac OS X User Experience Runner Up Sandvox

Apple has posted today’s WWDC Keynote online.

The video which is only available as streaming at the moment is typical of Apple but at Macworld 2007 Apple offered a Podcast video of the Keynote for download from iTunes.

Leopard Site Reveals Extra Features, Lack of ZFS

Although Steve Jobs revealed a few more features during today’s Keynote, Apple has updated the Leopard section of its online website with a few more hints at what is to come.

In particular Boot Camp now allows users to “freeze” the system state and switch between OS’s.

Apple describes the feature as follows:
Leopard brings a quicker way to switch between Mac OS X and Windows: Just choose the new Apple menu item “Restart in Windows.” Your Mac goes into “safe sleep” so that when you return, you’ll be right where you were. It’s much faster than restarting the computer each time. Likewise, a “Restart in Mac OS X” menu item in the Boot Camp System Tray in Windows makes for a faster return to Mac OS X. With Windows hibernation enabled, you can pick up where you left off.

Front Row in Mac OS X 10.5

Front Row has also received an update, sporting a look similar to that of Apple TV. Also iTunes Top 10 lists have been added to Front Row.

Video capture is now supported in Photo Booth, a timeline navigator has been added to DVD Player and a macro recording feature has been confirmed for Automator.

However missing is any mention of ZFS. In a post just days before WWDC we reported that Sun CEO Jonathan Schwart touted ZFS has the next generation file system in Mac OS X.

Jobs also said that developers attending today’s WWDC will take away a near-complete Beta copy of Leopard.

Desktop and Finder

Mac OS X Leopard features a significantly updated Desktop, including Stacks and enhanced Dock.

• New menu-bar, translucent but otherwise unchanged
• Enhanced 3D dock, slimmer and more functional
• Stacks, similar to a stack of paper, allows anything to be collected together into one Stack, once clicked the content either spreads out into a grid or fans out (this had previously been rumoured as “Piles”)
• Brushed metal has been dropped for a new consistent look throughout Mac OS X

Mac OS X Leopard features a new 3D, reflective Dock

The Dock features a default Stack called “Downloads”, this Stack, when a Download completes in Safari the Stack signals that a new item has arrived. When you want to see the files in a Stack, all you have to do is click — Stacks spring open from the Dock in an elegant arc for a few items, or in an at-a-glance grid for more.

Mac OS X Leopard now features Stacks

Leopards new Finder with Cover Flow on show as well as the new Sidebar

What’s new in the Finder:

• The new Sidebar looks similar to the iTunes Sidebar, items are grouped into categories; places, devices, shared computers and searches.
• Sidebar Searches, searches can now be saved into the sidebar for convenient searching over and over again.
• Spotlight now allows Boolean logic to narrow search results by entering “and,” “or,” or “not” into a search request. You can also search for exact phrases (using quotation marks), dates, ranges (using greater than [>] and less than [<] symbols), absolute dates, and simple calculations.
• Shared Computers automatically display in the sidebar, whether they’re PC or Mac. By clicking on a connected Mac, you can see and control that computer as if you were sitting in front of it. You can even search all the computers in the house to find what you’re looking for.
• Users with .Mac can now use “Back to my Mac”. With this you can connect to any of your Macs at home from any Mac on the Internet. Your home computers will appear in the shared section of the sidebar just as they do when you’re in the living room.
• Coverflow now in the Finder.

Other

The rest of the features demonstrated had been previously demonstrated at WWDC 2006.

Jobs did note that iChat will include a new audio codec called AAC-LD (Low Delay), which is said to increase the quality of audio in iChat conversations.

Shipping

Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard is scheduled to ship in October and will be available through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $129 (£89) for a single user license. The Mac OS X Leopard Family Pack is a single-residence, five-user license that will be available for a suggested retail price of $199 (£139).

Developers can create Web 2.0 applications which look and behave just like the applications built into iPhone, and which can seamlessly access iPhone’s services, including making a phone call, sending an email and displaying a location in Google Maps. Third-party applications created using Web 2.0 standards can extend iPhone’s capabilities without compromising its reliability or security.

“Developers and users alike are going to be very surprised and pleased at how great these applications look and work on iPhone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Our innovative approach, using Web 2.0-based standards, lets developers create amazing new applications while keeping the iPhone secure and reliable.”

Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that Safari 3.0 will be available in a public Beta on Apple’s website today.

Early benchmarks show the Apple browser to render both HTML and JavaScript at speeds more than twice as fast as Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser. Under iBench’s HTML benchmark test, Safari rendered the page in 2.2 seconds compared to 3.7 for FireFox and 4.6 for Internet Explorer.

• 7:00AM - Hawaii
• 10:00AM - Pacific
• 11:00AM - Mountain
• 12:00PM - Central
• 1:00PM - Eastern
• 5:00PM - GMT
• 6:00PM - London
• 7:00PM - Paris
• 2:00AM - Tokyo (June 12th)

Go here and bookmark the page.

This year has been different to other years for a few reasons, firstly there are a lot of rumours still regurgitating from Macworld and WWDC last year. And secondly, well there is no second reason, lets see how a “slimmer” roundup goes…

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard - Chance of seeing a complete Leopard - 10/10

The biggest news at last years Worldwide Developers Conference was Leopard, Jobs took the stage with several other executives and showed off 10 features of Apple’s newest operating system.

See the future. Then take it home with you.

At the same time Steve said that “Top Secret” features are in the pipeline, to this day we still do not know what these features are and with an almost guaranteed shipping schedule of October it’s about time Apple took the time to show off a finished Mac OS X 10.5. This is bolstered by a promise stated in an email to developers that WWDC attendees will leave with a “near-final” Beta copy of Leopard.

Despite the fact that it has been nearly a year since Jobs revealed that Leopard contained secret features, none of these features have been revealed with any certainty.

One particular feature that popped up in Leopard builds late last year was ZFS. The revolutionary file system is being developed by Sun Microsystems.

The presence of ZFS in OS X was effectively confirmed last week by Sun’s CEO Jonathan Schwartz claimed during a speech “this week you’ll see Apple is announcing at their Worldwide Developer Conference that ZFS has become the file system in Mac OS 10.”

The other potential big feature is the Finder, during WWDC 2006 Steve showed off Core Animation a new technology that helps reduce the amount of code required to make a more “animated” application. For example when moving an object from one to point to another the programmer would only have to specify the start and end point, Core Animation would take care of the movement in between, thus creating visually easier to understand applications at no expense to the programmer.

The Finder in Build 9a410 has also been redesigned

The Finder is rumoured to gain much of the enhancements of Core Animation, as of Build 9A410 of Leopard the Finder featured a new skin, a minor enhancement but a potential sign of a complete overhaul.

iPhone / SDK - More feature of iPhone - 7/10 | SDK - 6/10

Many believe that the iPhone we all know is not quite feature complete and that Apple could reveal a few more features.

Since the inception of the iPhone in January it has been a big discussion point that the iPhone lacks any method of third-party application development.

Jobs recently stated that Apple could allow developers to build for the iPhone.

iMac - Line Refresh - 5/10

It’s not every Keynote that you have two big rumour sites going to head-to-head with each other, but this year we have Think Secret and AppleInsider “almost” firing on opposites.

AppleInsider categorically stated that the iMac would not receive an update at WWDC or anytime soon.

Think Secret on the other hand originally reported that Apple would release a new brushed metal iMac at WWDC but then updated the story stating that they could come in “ensuing weeks”.

Mac Ultra-Portable - Release - 4/10

Details are thin but no AppleInsider has recently weighed on the device claiming it is delayed until Late 2007 / Early 2008.

Yesterday purported spy shots from the WWDC Keynote featured an ultra-portable computer specification.

Following the revealing of the banners on the ground floor of Moscone West it appears Apple has also placed banners on the second and third floors but these ones are covered in the famous black cloth.

During past WWDC’s Apple has given away bags of gifts for attendees, this year is no different and one Flickr user has revealed the contents of the goodie bags. The included T-shirts read “Power to the programmers.”

WWDC 2007 Goodie Bags

Purported shot of WWDC Keynote slide

The slide shows a typical specification list, for those who can’t read all the image, the text is retyped below:

• 120GB Flash based drive
• Intel Core 2 Duo
• 10″ LED widescreen
• Programmable LCD keyboard
• 3G, HSDPA, 802.11n

You, the reader can make judgement on this one but from our eyes this is fake.

The report states that the machines will benefit from the same upgrades as the MacBook Pro’s earlier this week. Including the implementation of Santa Rosa, although the report doesn’t mention LED screens.

As previously reported the site mentions that the 17-inch model will not be included in the line-up anymore.

“There’s no compelling rationale for [Apple] to pre-announce new iMacs months in advance of availability,” said another contact familiar with Cupertino-based Mac maker’s consumer product strategy. “The current iMacs appear to have some life left in them.”

The rumoured iMac update was first mentioned in March of this year when a re-design was said to be on the table. The plan was fortified in May, and finally it was rumoured that the 17-inch iMac would be scrapped.

“In fact, this week you’ll see that Apple is announcing at their Worldwide Developer Conference that ZFS has become the file system in Mac OS 10,” spoke the CEO. (Real Player Video Link)

Rumours of ZFS in OS X first began in April 2006 when a OpenSolaris mailing list mentioned porting the file system to Mac OS X.

World of Apple then exclusively reported an appearance of ZFS in builds of OS X 10.5.

The New York Times reported at the beginning of the week on the upcoming iPhone. The article focuses on the development of 3rd party applications for the device. The article cites Steve Jobs speaking last week at D: All Things Digital Conference as well as sources within Apple. The source purportedly disclosed information regarding a 3rd party development kit for the iPhone that will be made available at WWDC next week.

A person briefed on Apple’s plans said that at its software developer conference this month, Apple intends to announce that it will make it possible for developers of small programs written for the Macintosh to easily convert them to run on the iPhone.

AT&T Improving EDGE Network?

Gizmodo reports that AT&T has begun making improvements to its EDGE network ahead of the iPhone release. The article states that AT&T is attempting to improve specific areas. The main aim of the mission is to improve EDGE speeds from 40Kbps to a new minimum of 80Kbps.

EDGE is slow, but at least at AT&T, the implementation isn’t limited by the protocol itself. Rather, the limiting factor is, according to our source, the data backend and the way the towers are configured to allocate bandwidth to data and calls. And according to an internal doc, they’re dropping in more T-1s in their poorest performing towers, hoping to get that paltry 40kbps performance to a new minimum of 80kpbs. (EDGE’s real world max is about 200kbps.)

According to the report Apple placed its first order for LED displays in mid-April, the order for 100,000 displays went out to several manufacturers including Samsung. The ordered displays are on track for a May delivery, allowing 3-4 weeks to manufacture and ship new machines.

The report notes that Apple has not placed an order for 13.3-inch displays but has been in discussions with multiple manufacturers. Apple is said to be aiming for a third-quarter roll out of the lower-end laptop.

LOOPRumors have previously speculated on black iMac models. The new machines to be released at WWDC are said to be significantly slimmer, be faster and have larger displays.

The site goes onto report that the release will most likely be a “One More Thing” surprise at the end of the WWDC keynote.

Apple also confirmed in the press release that attendees will be able to take away a beta copy of Mac OS X Leopard, with Leopard still being scheduled to ship in October.

The five-day event, scheduled to run from June 11 to June 15, will deliver more than 150 sessions and labs aimed at getting the most out of Leopard. The conference will also include new content to serve a wide range of developers, including Mac OS X Immersion Monday, designed to quickly get developers who are new to the Mac up to speed; a content and media track that shows developers the best ways to integrate animation, motion graphics, video, rich-media and web-based content into their applications; and dozens of hands-on labs that offer a unique opportunity to work directly with Apple engineers.

Other activities at Apple’s WWDC 2007 include:

• presentations from Apple engineers who will provide an in-depth look at Leopard, from its open source foundation to new technologies and innovations like Xcode 3.0, Dashcode, Core Animation, Time Machine, iChat Theater and more;
• practical hands-on sessions where attendees can learn Apple’s own coding strategies and techniques for creating Cocoa bindings, building Automator actions and integrating iCal events into an application;
• technology labs where attendees can work one-on-one with Apple engineers on topics such as Cocoa, Open GL and AJAX; and
• special events, including the Apple Design Awards and Stump the Experts.

Apple confirmed that the Keynote will run for the traditional 90 minutes, from 10.00am to 11.30am on Monday June 11th.

Apple’s WWDC 2007 pages have been updated with charts displaying a block 3 hours in length set aside for the Keynote presentation to be held in The Presidio room on Monday June 11th starting at 9am PST.

Although no official announcement has been made it is widely expected that Apple CEO, Steve Jobs will give the presentation.

World of Apple will naturally be providing full coverage of WWDC and a live text feed of the Keynote presentation, if any readers are in attendance and could lend a hand then please contact us.

Apple Hints at Resolution Independence

Apple has sent out an ADC email confirming the existence of resolution independence.

Screenshot of an email sent out by Apple to ADC members

The email reads; “We’ve always valued access to Apple engineers, and WWDC is the best place for that. Leopard’s new resolution independence capabilities look sharp, and with the help we’ll get at WWDC, our products will too. -Alykhan Jetha, Marketcircle”

“For Alykhan, that means he’ll come away with the knowledge he needs to use Quartz and Cocoa to make his products completely resolution independent.”

It should be noted that this is not the first time Apple has mentioned resolution independence. The technology was first mentioned on Apple’s developer website back in October 2006, as well as being relevealed in a patent application in November, and was eventually seen in a Leopard build.

According to the site Leopard was scheduled for release towards the end of March but has been moved back.

“Leopard is shaping up to be a more significant release than anyone expected, with much more to come than any of the developer builds have led on,” sources revealed to Think Secret.

The article also mentions that new iLife and iWork suites are likely to ship in the same timeframe. The site claims that Apple is toying with the idea of bundling at least one suite with Mac OS X.

Naming conventions on iLife and iWork could also take a change moving from using years in the name to being called “Leopard Edition”. Freeing Apple from yearly refresh constraints.

Email sent to ADC Members on Tuesday

“With over 100 sessions devoted to Mac OS X Leopard technologies, spanning six technology tracks, and personal access to the engineers behind them, WWDC will be a critical stop for any developer on the road to a killer Leopard application,” stated Apple.

The six sessions announced are as follows;

• Mac OS X Essentials - Learn the essential ingredients needed to build world-class products for Mac OS X.
• Graphics and Imaging - Add advanced audio, video, imaging, and graphics capabilities to your application.
• Information Technologies - to use, develop for, integrate, and manage Mac OS X Leopard and Mac OS X Leopard Server.
• Leopard Innovations - Transform your application with powerful new Mac OS X Leopard technologies.
• Developer Tools - Reach new levels of productivity using ground-breaking development tools.
• Content and Media - Learn best practices for production and development of rich-media for desktop, devices and the Web.