The next in the series of safari-themed OSX releases, Leopard, is due out next week. As with any pending Apple release, the world of the Mac user has been abuzz with conjecture. Will it support virtualization? Will it incorporate virtual desktops? Some of these questions were answered at WWDC with the release of the Developer Preview and this new tutorial available on the Apple web site. But just what do these things mean and what could Leopard provide that has yet to be mentioned? Here are just a few of the things Leopard does and does not have to offer and what they mean to the average Mac user. Keep in mind that I am myself the "average Mac user" and by no means some sort of technical expert.

The concept of the virtual desktop is nothing new. For instance, Linux has long had this feature. Truthfully, it's surprising that virtual desktops haven't come to the Mac platform sooner. In layman's terms, a system of virtual desktops is the greatest way to evade getting busted for doing non-work-related things on your computer during work hours. It allows you to have 4 completely separate desktops that you can switch between with the press of an F key. For instance, you could have Scrabble and the three letter word lists on one desktop; Songbird browsing MP3 blogs and some freelance articles you're working on in another desktop; iPhoto with pictures from the weekend's out-of-control house party and the Flickr uploader on another desktop; and Salesforce with various meaningless Excel spreadsheets on the "Here comes the boss!" desktop. And few bosses in the corporate world are savvy enough to catch onto it. For more serious Mac users---like a creative professional---the benefit is having separate desktop environments for related projects.

Fiction: Leopard comes with a built-in solution to space limits on your dock

Distributed under General Public License, Todos is a Mac utility which allows you to pull up one screen that shows the icon of every single program in your applications folder, sort of like a second dock. Like your regular dock, it comes and goes as needed, but unlike the regular dock this oneaccommodates everything in your Applications folder. So instead of opening the Applications folder in the finder and double-clicking on the program you want, you press a couple of buttons and Todos displays all your applications folder as a window of lovely Mac icons. According to OpenSoft's web site, "All of us have a plethora of programs, and the Apple dock just can't fit them all. Don't worry. Bring Todos up when you need to get to any of your apps." The utility is free for download at www.dbachrach.com/opensoft/index.php?page=Todos

Fact: Apple has created a fun and interesting way to access your hard drive as it was in the past

It's true. Time Machine allows you to back up your hard drive periodically and access those separate moments in hard drive history. But forget the function, let's talk interface. The diving-into-outer-space user experience design is something out of a 1950s science fiction novel. While it won't allow you to go back in time and park outside of the high school dance with the hot woman who will become your mother several years later, it will let you access those pictures of Lea Thompson you deleted 2 months ago so your significant other wouldn't find them.

Fiction: Leopard comes equipped with support for Windows Media

You will still need to download either Windows Media Player or (even better) a utility by Telestream called Flip4Mac which allows you to play Windows Media files in Quicktime. Perhaps it's some kind of proprietary issue, but that extra built-in support for WMV would make sampling porn a lot easier. Now that iTunes supports video, why should I have to switch between players just for a couple WMV files? And while we're at it, can somebody please figure out a way to make a RealPlayer extension for iTunes?

Fact: Leopard allows you to turn your favorite web site into a Dashboard Widget

With Web Clip, any web page can become a widget and any widget can be submitted to the community of widgets on Apple's web site. I can't imagine what sort of amazing---literal and sarcastic---things are going to result from this feature. The catch is that you have to use Safari. For those with more computer skills than just Advanced Web Surfing, Leopard includes Dashcode, a program complete with everything you need to make your Widget slightly more upscale than ones from a Safari Web Clip.

Fiction: Apple has finally included a "launcher" in its latest OS

I was recently introduced to a program called QuickSilver by BlackTree Inc. A friend swears, "Your Mac is not complete unless you have QuickSilver." Basically the program allows you to program keysroke shortcuts to launch and control various functions in any program on your Mac. I tried to use it for basic functions in iTunes but stupidly programmed it with the same keyboard shortcuts I use for editing text and got really sick of changing songs three times in four seconds so I gave up. But there are people who really love this kind of program and I think that Apple is advanced enough to incorporate something like it into the OS. Something perhaps more idiot-friendly than QuickSilver for people like me.

Fact: iChat finally has with tabbed chatting

Since I frequently have more AIM/Google Talk/Yahoo! Messenger conversations happening at once than I am comfortable admitting, I downloaded Chax for iChat a while ago in order to have tabbed chats. Keeping track of all the IM windows just got ridiculous. Chax was great but I wanted support for Google Talk and Yahoo! Messenger as well so I downloaded Adium and use that religiously. Apple is finally building tabbed chatting into the new version of iChat but I still don't think I'll use it. I like the little Adium duck icon too much. Oh right, and the program does exactly what I need it to do.

The new iChat comes with other features, too, some more novel than useful. The kind of goofy effects available in Photo Booth can be used in video chat (novel) but now video chats can be recorded (useful). You can choose from a variety of built-in backdrops for your video chats (novel) and take virtual control of a willing Mac with screen-sharing (useful). And sharing a presentation orslide show ? Now you can sit on the couch and watch Law and Order reruns muted in the background while you show your boss the Keynote presentation he's been driving you insane with for three months. (Just remember to be presentable from the neck up and resist the urge to turn on a Jacques Cousteau backdrop.)

Fiction: Transit comes free with Leopard

This is somewhat non sequitur, sorry. Transit just happens to be my favorite FTP client that I don't want to pay for.

Fact: The new version of Mail will allow you to make your own stationary for emails.

Have you ever opened an email and thought, "Man, this email would look so much better on unicorn stationary?" Well Apple has good news for you. One of the improved features of the Leopard version of Mail allows you to create customized email stationary for your correspondence. Unicorns, paw prints, Gundam characters, or whatever else you're into can now spruce up that boring white background.

Fiction: Stephen Hawking is in ur computer readin ur stuff

Okay, so no Stephen Hawking. However, Apple has made some serious advances in terms of accessibility. For those who have always wanted to feel like Hawking is reading on screen text to them, the dream comes as close to true as it ever well in Leopard. Alex, a "synthesized voice," works in any application that uses Apple's speech synthesis and not just VoiceOver, the accessibilty utility introduced in Tiger. Alex's clumsy electronic voice can be turned on in iChat and TextEdit too. For the average user this is a mere novelty. But for users with disabilities, these improvements show that Apple wants to make it easy for everyone to use without having to buy a bunch of additional hardware and software.

Could some of these fictions end up being fact when the full version of Leopard is released on October 26th? Of course, and that's why the Mac community gets excited for releases. But speculation is also part of the reason we love Apple.