Mac OS X 10.5, Leopard, Arrives at UH

The long-awaited release of Apple's latest operating system, OS X 10.5 (better known as "Leopard"), arrived late last month.

UH faculty and staff now have the opportunity to upgrade to Leopard through a license agreement with Apple. However, due to restrictions in the agreement, Leopard can only be distributed to the campus via digital download; the master DVD issued to UH cannot be duplicated.

This restriction leads to distribution issues, which UH Information Technology (IT) is addressing through these three different installation methods:

• Leopard DVD Image Download Server (Download the image and burn it yourself)
• Leopard NetBoot/Netinstall Server (Install Leopard over the network)
• Leopard DVD Burning Assistance (DVD burning provided by the IT Support Center)

***NOTE: UH students or UH faculty and staff members wishing to install Leopard on their personally-owned Macs can do so by purchasing a boxed copy from the Cougar Byte for $99. For more information, call the Byte at 713-743-5310.

Before You Upgrade

Be sure to check with your college, department, or other local technical support providers BEFORE upgrading to Leopard.

System Requirements

Before choosing one of these upgrade methods, please be aware that there are specific system requirements associated with the Leopard upgrade:

• Mac computer with an Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (with 867MHz or faster) processor
• 512MB of memory
• DVD drive
• 9GB of available disk space

Installation Support Document

IT has created a comprehensive installation document to assist users with the various methods for downloading and installing Leopard. View the Leopard Installation Document for more information.

Installation Matrix

Once you've confirmed that your computer meets these requirements, check out this matrix to help you decide which method to use.

CougarNet Login Issue

The one major issue that will keep people from installing Leopard on their Macs right now is that CougarNet login is not currently supported.

This affects Mac users who use their CougarNet username and password to login to and use their computers daily, and lab Macs that require the use of a CougarNet username and password at login.

NOTE: This issue DOES NOT affect users with a local username and password on their Mac who wish to access CougarNet-related resources (email, file servers, etc.) after they're logged in.

Apple and IT are aware of this issue, and a fix should arrive very soon. In the meantime, it's recommended that you hold off upgrading to Leopard if you're affected by the CougarNet login issue.

Over 300 Changes with Leopard

The new Leopard OS, with over 300 changes from OS X 10.4 "Tiger"—the current Mac operating system—is the most advanced OS ever released by Apple. Some of the software's major enhancements include:

• A new Desktop and Dock with Stacks, an intuitive new way to organize files.
• Quick Look, an updated Finder featuring Cover Flow.
• Time Machine, a new way to easily and automatically back up and restore lost files or a complete Mac.
• Spaces, a powerful new feature to create groups of applications and instantly switch between them.
• Enhanced iChat and Mail applications.

For a complete list of all Leopard's changes and enhancements, go to new Leopard features.