Us Mac users may have teased Windows lovers because it took Microsoft 5 years in between the releases of Windows XP and Windows Vista, but now we’re a little guilty of lengthy releases too. Mac OS X Tiger was released on April 28, 2005, and now Mac OS X Leopard will be released on October 26, 2007. Exactly 2 and a half years, which is half of the length of the interim between XP and Vista.

In preparation for the upcoming release of Leopard, I will be doing a 5-part series on my blog this week taking a look back at everything that has happened over the last 130 weeks. I was originally going to make this a single article, but after getting so many ideas, I have decided to split it into five posts covering five different categories of events. If you have any additional ideas of significant things that have happened during the last 910 days, leave them in the comments. (Although note that I will be out of town for a portion of this week; I have this full series pre-scheduled.)

In this first part of the Tiger-to-Leopard series, I cover the significant events affecting Apple themselves since Tiger came out. Be sure to check out the other articles in the series.

When Apple released Tiger on April 29, 2005, the idea of Intel processors inside Macs seemed like blasphemy. The PowerMac G5 still only maxed out at Dual processors, although Dual-Core G5s would show up later in the year, with the high-end PowerMac G5 model including two of these dual-core processors (for a quad-core machine). These processors ran so hot that the higher-end models included a liquid-cooling system! The iMac G5 was only about 8 months old, and the iBooks and PowerBooks were still stuck as G4s.
Apple would announce that they were beginning a transition to Intel processors six weeks after Tiger was released, to the amazement (and in some cases, horror) of Mac lovers. The Joy of Tech did a long series on the Intel transition. However, that dissent quickly diminished after reports of how fast the computers were came in. 2006 saw the release of updated iMacs and Mac minis which first got Core Duo processors and then later Core 2 Duo processors. Apple’s laptops were replaced with the MacBook and MacBook Pro, first with Core Duo and then Core 2 Duo processors. The PowerMac was replaced with the much-much more expandable Mac Pro with Quad-Core and 8-Core Xeon processors, along with the XServe, getting Quad-Core Xeons.

Apple’s iPod line was much different when Tiger was released. The iPod shuffle was still a few months old and was still the shape of a traditional flash memory stick with a cap on the bottom; a 512 MB version was $99 and a 1 GB version was $149. Apple’s website still warned users not to eat iPod shuffle. The iPod mini had recently been upgraded with more vibrant colors, offering a 4 GB for $199 and a 6 GB for $249. The regular iPod and iPod photo lines would shortly merge so that only the mini had a black and white screen; the new fourth-gen iPod sold as a 20 GB for $299 or a 60 GB for $399. Apple also sold a version of the iPod with U2 colors, but other than that, no other black iPod existed.
The iPod mini would be replaced by the color screened, photo-viewing, smaller/slimmer iPod nano (1, 2, 4 GB at $149, $199, $249) later that year, and the fifth-gen iPod with a larger screen and video capabilities (30 GB and 60 GB for $299 and $399, later 30 GB and 80 GB for $249 and $349) as well. These were the first models to offer iPod in a black variety.
In 2006, the iPod mini would be replaced with a new, almost-all-metal version that looked more like the mini and sported colors, and would later also include a PRODUCT (RED) version (2, 4, 8 GB at $149, $199, $249), and the iPod shuffle replaced with the new, laundry-proof (as discovered by Larry) iPod shuffle which was 1 GB for $79, which later also got colors.
In 2007, Apple’s iPhone was previewed, released, repriced, bricked, and unbricked a couple of times, along with a lot of advertising to see a million sold in 2 and a half months.
In 2007 (actually, like a month and a half ago), the iPod nano got reshaped with video at 4 and 8 GB for $149 and $199. The iPod got a ‘classic’ suffix, an all-metal design, and a rediculous 80 GB and 160 GB storage for $249 and $349. And the iPod touch was introduced, essentially an iPhone but without the phone and with a lot of missing iPhone features.

When Tiger was released, iTunes was only in 15 countries; it is now in 22. About 1.5 million songs were on its shelves, now there are over 6 million songs. Only around 400,000,000 songs had been sold, but Apple would cross the 500,000,000 mark in July 2005, the billion mark in Feburary 2006, and has now sold over 3 billion songs. In the last 2 and a half years, the iTunes Store (then called the iTunes Music Store) has grown to include podcasts, purchasable music videos, TV shows, movies, ringtones, and iPod games on top of music. iTunes 4.8, the latest version of iTunes as of Tiger’s release, was followed by versions 4.9, 5, 6, 7, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, and now 7.4. These releases included two full refreshes of the iTunes interface, Apple’s darling Cover Flow, a real iPod management interface, a download manager, and plenty more. Apple also went on the offensive against the DRM’ing of music, and announced “iTunes Plus”, a higher quality, DRM-free download available for selected music. Originally priced at $1.29/song, iTunes Plus was recently reduced to the same $0.99/song price. DRM-free music videos have always been $1.99.

Apple announced its iPod Recycling Program in June 2005, where customers could recycle their old iPod and get a 10% discount on a new one. Apple also pledged to produce more environmentally-friendly products, and has begun that path by using aluminum and glass in its iPhone, iMac, iPods, and also by including a mercury-free LED screen in its latest 15″ MacBook Pros.

The iPod Hi-Fi was introduced in February 2006 and has recently disappeared. The Apple TV was previewed in September 2006 and released in February 2007. Apple and Nike introduced Nike+iPod in May 2006.

The new Intel Macs earned the ability to dual-boot into Windows XP (and later Vista) with the release of Boot Camp in April 2006 and the concurrent release of both Parallels and VMWare. iLife ‘06, iLife ‘08, iWork ‘06, and iWork ‘08 were all released in the last two and a half years, bringing with them the brand new applications iWeb and Numbers. Apple’s pro apps have seen the new suite Logic Studio and also Final Cut Studio 2, and Apple also introduced a product for professional photographers called Aperture.

Apple finally introduced a multi-button mouse. The Mighty Mouse still only has one button, but is touch-sensitive to act as two buttons. The sides also squeeze and a scroll ball can scroll and act as a button itself. This was later followed up with a wireless version. A new style of keyboard debuted with the MacBook and the design was later ported into thinner, separate wired and wireless keyboards.

Apple also fell under the spotlight of a stock options backdating scandal in the second half of 2006, and they also changed their name from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple Inc. in January 2007. Their website also was dramatically redesigned in June 2007.

Without a doubt, Apple is not at all the same company that it was when Tiger was released two and a half years ago, and has changed in so many different ways. Where will Apple be when Mac OS X 10.6 comes out?

Be sure to check out the other articles in the Tiger-to-Leopard series and all of the Webmacster87.info Mac OS X Leopard coverage.

Tags: announcements, Apple, article, history, iLife, iPhone, iPod, iWork, Mac, Mac OS X Leopard, Tiger-to-Leopard