WWDC Keynote: August 7th

Tuesday, August 7th, Apple introduced its new Intel-based Mac Pro and Xserve systems at its Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, completing the transition of its computers to Intel processors. The company also showed off the next major Mac OS X release, Leopard. 

The Mac Pro is available exclusively in dual configurations of the dual-core Intel Xeon processor, for a total of four cores across the board, and is priced at $2,299 for 2GHz cores, $2,499 for 2.66GHz cores, and $3,299 for 3GHz cores! The new system features a similar external case as the Power Mac G5 but with dual optical drives and a front-mounted FireWire 800 port. Inside, the case has been completely overhauled, with standard support for up to four 3.5-inch hard drives, in addition to the extra 5.25-inch bay. Looks good too. Still the same body, but I've always thought they looked sleek.

The next upgrade to Mac OS X was demonstrated for the first time at WWDC (see video on the Apple website), comprising the bulk of the keynote address. Previewing Leopard for the crowd, CEO Steve Jobs said that the firm would not reveal all of the upgrade's new features today but announced several of them, including 64-bit application support, a seamless backup feature dubbed "Time Machine", virtual desktops called Spaces, new Spotlight functionality, Core Animation, enhancements to Mail, the DashCode widget creation utility, robust new iChat features, and more. A sneak peak is available at Apple's Web site. Check it out!

I was only hoping for a new iTunes or movies at ITMS. Or maybe a series of new iPods. I'm really upset over this keynote. Next time...