Leopards

In the process of recently reviewing the new Leopard operating system, I conducted an iChat video interview with Chris Bourdon, senior product line manager for Mac OS X. After going over Leopard's key new features, I asked him about a few issues that have arisen since the product's release. On security: Many security experts have accused Apple of making security worse in Leopard, primarily by going with a new firewall and perplexingly turning that firewall off by default. The old firewall is still there, but deactivated.

Because Apple pre-announced most of the marquee features of the latest version of its Macintosh operating system more than a year ago, the arrival of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard seems almost anti-climactic. But the more time I spend with Leopard, the more convinced I am that it is the most significant upgrade to Mac OS X since Jaguar (version 10.2, for those keeping track). As Leopard is the sixth version of Mac OS X, major change was not likely. At the same time, almost every part of OS X has been revised - cosmetically, with new capabilities, or both.

As expected, thousands of eager Mac users rushed out to buy and install the new Leopard version of Mac OS X over the weekend. And for some it did not go well. The most common Leopard install problem, in all its cruel irony, is a Windows-like Blue Screen of Death as the Mac nears the end of the install process. Affected users report a system hang with a blank blue screen. Ugh. The finger of blame has pointed mainly to third-party software from Unsanity, specifically its Application Enhancer (APE)

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- With all the hoopla surrounding the iPhone and the new matchbox-like iPods, it's easy to forget that Apple remains at its core a computer company. Chief executive Steven P. Jobs and company are set to remind the world about their first love in coming days with the release of Leopard, the newest version of the Macintosh operating system, which will update the current Tiger. Apple, which prefers not to announce anything in advance, has made an exception with a promise to let its latest cat loose this month.

When Apple releases Leopard this month (we hope), owners of older PowerPC-based Macs will have a tougher-than-usual decision to make. Unlike new versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system, which invariably require much more robust hardware to run acceptably than the previous version, every successive version of Mac OS X has actually run faster on existing hardware. Because of this, I have always advised Mac users to run the latest supported version of OS X on their Mac. But Leopard promises to be a cat of a different stripe.

HELEN ELAINE FREEMAN, 75 Advocate for leopards Helen Elaine Freeman, known to many as "the Jane Goodall of snow leopards" for her advocacy on behalf of the increasingly rare central Asian big cats, died yesterday of lung disease, according to the International Snow Leopard Trust, which she founded in 1981 after becoming fascinated with two of the creatures at a zoo. She traveled to Asia, Europe and around the United States to drum up support for protecting...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Microsoft's Windows Vista may be getting all the buzz, but it's not the only operating system update that will hit store shelves this year. This spring, Apple Inc. plans to release Leopard, the fifth revision of its rival Mac OS X software. As with previous updates, Leopard will add new features to the operating system, most notably a backup program called Time Machine, which puts a 3-D interface on the process of searching through archived files. The new features could prove important for Apple.

NGALA PRIVATE GAME RESERVE, South Africa -- A leopard, it is said, never changes its spots. But veteran tracker Richard Khosa knows that's bunk in one regard. Today's perfect hiding spot - a cozy den for a mother and two big-eared cubs, say - is often tomorrow's Bushveld version of a vacant lot, abandoned with no forwarding address. Khosa, like some khaki-clad bill collector of the bush, sets out daily on foot, unarmed, to see where the stealthy leopards have crept off to next. If all goes well, he'll find one by the afternoon game drive, payoff time, when wowed tourists fire away with digital cameras from the Land Rover.

With Howard (1-4) up by one with 10 seconds left, Oakland Mills (2-2) ran a pick-and-roll from David Pearman to Kevin Cureton, scoring with 4.3 seconds left and held on for the win, 71-70, yesterday. Cureton (23) and Pearman (22) combined for 45 points. No. 4 Walbrook 43, Southwestern 32 -- Kevin Thompson grabbed 11 rebounds and Daniel Rowlette scored a game-high 14 points as the Warriors (3-0) held the visiting Sabers (1-2) to nine second-half points in the first round of the Function at the Junction tournament at Walbrook High School.

Navy encountered somebody its own size yesterday and experienced its best Patriot League performance of the season at Alumni Hall. Without a dominant presence inside, Lafayette was no match and suffered an 89-69 defeat to the Midshipmen, who are jockeying for position in the league's postseason tournament. Navy (10-13, 3-7) shot 54.8 percent in the second half and 50.8 percent overall, out-rebounded the Leopards by 11 and controlled the Lafayette offense, which is centered on the perimeter.