Leopard: The Art of Balance

David Schatsky | October 25, 2007, 09:41 AM

Mossberg's review of Leopard, Apple's new operating system version, is in today's Wall Street Journal.

He highlights all of the features Apple emphasized to me in a demo this week, plus some results of his speed and compatibility tests. He pronounced it "an evolutionary, not revolutionary, release" and "better and faster than Vista."

One of the biggest challenges in product development, especially software development, is determining what features to include and what features to leave out. While Apple touts some 300 new features in Leopard, the execs I spoke with were especially proud of the company's judgement about what to leave out of a product.

The features Apple is emphasizing in its in demonstrations fall into three main categories, which present an attractive, balanced meal to users:

- Aesthetics (and usability). Adding coverflow to the Finder is a prime example. Makes it more enjoyable to browse your files, and maybe easier too.
- Conscience. Time Machine, an attractive and simple backup facility; and networked parental controls are good examples of providing features that people -should- use but maybe don't.
- Connectivity. Apple has added a number of features to exploit network effects and make your mac more valuable if your family and friends have them too, such as elegant video iChat.

Global availability of the product is set for 18:00 on Friday, beginning in New Zealand.