Mac OS X 10.1 Betas Leaked
Recent development builds of Mac OS X 10.1, code-named Puma, have begun leaking onto the Internet. Thus far, three different builds, 5D15, 5F7 and 5F24, have appeared on IRC and various locations on the Web. Rumors about a fourth beta build are surfacing, just days after the latest leak.
Many of the new features announced during Steve Jobs' Macworld keynote are available in the recent betas. The most visible change is a speed increase throughout the entire OS, including application launch time and menu responses.
One potentially useful new feature is the ability to move status icons, such as those for battery level and Airport signal strength, to the menu bar. This saves space on the dock for open applications and quick access to other programs.
These builds also showcase one of the most requested improvements for OS X: the ability to relocate the dock to the sides of the screen. Since many documents and Web pages are designed for a fixed width, moving the dock off to the side allows more of a document to be seen at once. Data CD burning and on-screen overlays for changing volume and brightness are included as well, but currently buggy.
Because these development builds are a work in progress, there are still bugs and unimplemented features. Despite being demonstrated at Macworld, DVD playback is not available in the latest betas. Also missing is the built-in SMB client for connecting OS X to Windows and Samba servers.
The most recent leaked build is reported to have serious problems with the installer, but improvements have been apparent as the beta progresses.
The Mac OS X 10.1 update will be available this September for $20 USD to cover shipping and handling.