TaoSpace

WWDC06: The showdown

OK, so here is how well I did on the predictions:

Hardware

• Mac Pro: Check. A shoe-in but OK. I guess the price is the most surprising thing. Its not extremely cheap, but then, the whole line is quad core and the entry level model is way more powerful then the previous high-end one. Not bad. Shame about the unchanged enclosure though.
• New Cinemas with built-in iSight: This should have been for certain. No dice though. Stop presses: After the keynote a price drop for the Cinemas was announced.
  Half a point then.
• Updated Nanos: Maybe wishful thinking on my part. Why would Apple debute something like this on a developer conference in the first place? Wait until Apple Expo Paris or in any case something consumer centric for this.
• New device in iPod form factor: Foiled again! Damn you Steve!

Leopard/MacOS X 10.5:

• New Finder: Nothing was said about the Finder, other then support for the next item. Very disappointing, but perhaps we'll see more in a later beta of Leopard.
• Versioning in the filesystem: Haven't seen any other predictions about this, but I got it right. Wow, what an ego-trip, etc. etc. Anyway, Time Machine does pretty much what I thought this feature would do. Holy crap though, I just show the movie here. Wow, this rocks!
• Collaboration framework: Not only are "iChat-enabled" application mentioned, there is also a screen-sharing mode. Sure, some of this has been in NetMeeting for ages, but Apple pulls it off with its trademark style and ease of use. Full points.
• Preview improvements: We now have "Quick Look" as part of Spotlight. No screenshots, so no idea what it looks like. It is however a definite "Preview improment". Spotlight is integrated with Finder, so got this right enough.
• Resolution independent graphics: Not shown either, still pretty sure it will be there. Update! This list confirms this feature. An extra point.
• New unified UI: Still nothing. However, what else would Apple want to keep under wraps to prevent the photocopiers from being started early, as Steve said?
• Other apps: No points here.
  

Other stuff:

• Aperture 1.2: Nothing, nada, zip, zilch. Sucks monkeyballs.
• .Mac overhaul: Nothing again. A missed opportunity IMHO, but anyway.

OK, so 4.55.5 out of 13 (at a stretch) is really dead poor. Anyway, I really dig the features that were shown (Time Machine, iChat and the todo framework most) and will probably blog some more about them later.

WWDC06: My predictions

Hardware

• Mac Pro: This is certain. Apple will want to complete its transition. I do expect a few surprises in this machine. No idea what, but it has to be more than just a PC. Otherwise, why did it take so long? It should have been the easiest machine of all to build.
• New Cinemas with built-in iSight: Slightly cheaper too, to appeal also to Mac Mini buyers.
• Updated Nanos: More scratch resistant. Could be metal as rumoured before.
• New device in iPod form factor: My bet is on an eBook reader. Nobody could be bothered by buying music online before iTunes/iPod. Nobody can be bothered with eBooks today, yet books are a large market and Apple wants to own a big chunk of it. Also diverts attention from the lack of an iTunes Full Length Movie store. The eBook reader could also be a new feature of the iPod, but it might be better with a separate device or as an iPod with a new form-factor. Bet on it that any device Apple produces will look like an iPod.

Leopard/MacOS X 10.5:

• New Finder: Will take a lot of cues from Aperture. Stacks (Stacks are "Piles" as patented by Apple yonks ago, in case you haven't noticed), shuttle-dial, time-based spacing of files, semi-transparent overlays etc.
• Versioning in the filesystem: This is not that hard to implement, it's a Vista feature, and can easily be presented visually using stacks, as Aperture does. Perhaps ZFS will be used, as a recent job-posting suggests.
• Collaboration framework: Instant collaboration regardless of network conditions, firewalls etc. Vista has one of these and it makes sense. iWork will use it for shared document editing, but certain applications built in to the OS will use it too. Expect fancy combinations of video conferencing, whiteboarding and filesharing. The ability to quickly send large files between users will be something that is very long overdue.
• Preview improvements: Can be embedded in the finder. Uses (more of) CoreImage for speed.
• Resolution independent graphics: Plenty of hints have been given that support this.
• New unified UI: Another low overdue feature. Currently the Finder is the most visible metal app and if that changes, the rest really has to as well. In any case expect all traces of the old metal look to disappear (Safari, iCal, calculator, etc.).
• Other apps: iCal, iChat, Safari, Addressbook and Mail will all of course have new features. Mail will likely integrate presence information from iChat, as will addressbook. Perhaps iCal invites via iChat.

Other stuff:

• Aperture 1.2: Aperture has been showcased in most recent Apple presentation. Don't expect that to stop now. Digging inside the Aperture package has uncovered evidence of future support for offline storage and the ability to edit only certain regions in the image (masking). Not sure these things will make it in now though. My guess is more bugs will be squashed in this release, performance will be even better and one or two new image processing tools will debut (vignetting correction and better noise reduction are at the top of my list).
• .Mac overhaul: Not much reported on, but long overdue. Expect it to be needed for the collaboration stuff and have lots of web 2.0 goodness.

In general it must be said that usually the information available so shortly before a major event like this is more solid. The rumours right now are all over the map, with no real specifics. Yes, the Mac Pro will be there, but no specs have been reported. Sure, Leopard will be demonstrated, but not a single feature has been predicted with any real certainty. And the list goes on. In any case, the chances are there will be a few big surprises as well as some major disappointments in terms of expectations.

Just get ready.