I grabbed my computer and inserted the DVD and clicked "install." My computer rebooted to the DVD. I made a couple of selections, and the installation began. One hour later I was staring at the new eye-candy in Leopard, Apple's latest OS.

We got the family pack, so it was only $40 for me to upgrade. At first I was questioning whether it was worth the investment or not. I think now I'd be willing to pay the $130. There's a bit of a learning curve, especially with Spaces, but once you round the bend, you'll be floored!

Leopard boasts 300+ new features. While some simply improve the look, others could have been left off. I preferred the old version of Front Row. The new one looks like something off the Microsoft product line. Oh, and that semi-transparent menu bar at the top - totally Vista... But here's a few of my favorites:

• Quick View
• Cover Flow
• Spaces
• Time Machine
• Data Detector
• Notes/reminders
• and a nifty little progress indicator for outgoing mail.

With all the work that I do with photography, large numbers of photos (I have more than 20,000) are sometimes difficult to manage. Quick Look is a digital photographer's dream-come-true! With Quick Look I can instantly see any photo without the need to open a program. The best part is that it works seamlessly with Cover Flow.

If any of you have iTunes, I'm sure you're familiar with Cover Flow. This is a GREAT feature for scanning through large quantities of files. You can see a small small version of the files, and when you think you've found what you're looking for, simply hit the space bar to bring it up in Quick Look to see all the little details. This is a HUGE time-saver and very intuitive way for me to browse and find pictures.

Spaces is great for organizing your work. For example, right now I have Pages and iTunes open in this space. I have Photoshop and all my other photo editing programs in another space. Mail and my calendar are in the third space, and Safari and my web-development apps are in the fourth space. This enables me to work more efficiently in the space I have without getting confused by having too many applications open simultaneously.

On the down side, I need a faster Mac now because I can manage so many more applications simultaneously.

Then there's Time Machine. If I accidently delete a file, or decide I really did need that file that I deleted three weeks ago, Time Machine allows me to go back and restore it. It's better than simply backing up your files. Unfortunately I accidently lost a bunch of pictures a week before I got Leopard instead of a week after... Oh well.

The Data Detector is genius! Whenever I get e-mails announcing important dates, it recognizes the date and gives me the option of adding it as an event to iCal! Apple says it best:

Say you get an email invitation to dinner. What if Mail recognized the address of the restaurant and let you map directions on the web? Or let you click once to add the date to your iCal calendar? With Leopard, it does. - Apple.com

Notes and reminders fit right into Mail and work seamlessly with iCal. I can add a reminder in Mail and it will make a note of it on iCal - I can even set an alarm to remind me of the event or deadline.

I'm still feeling my way around Leopard, but I'm really happy with it. I'd recommend anyone who uses their computer for more than just e-mail get Leopard. Steve did it again. I wonder how long they can keep this up. In the words of Jeffrey: "Are they going to release another operating system? There won't be anything to add to it - Leopard already has it all!"

That's right, Leopard's got it all, even a sweet new screen saver.