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Mac OS X 10.5.2, due early next year as a free maintenance and security release for Leopard users, will pack a plethora of bug fixes and code corrections, but also include revised version of the system's Stacks feature.
A stack is a Mac OS X Dock item that aims to provide users with fast access to a folder of files. When users click a stack, the files within spring from the Dock in a fan or a grid, depending on the number of items or the preference set by the user.
The feature was conceived as a means of tackling the ever-growing problem faced by users when file downloads and general system usage rapidly results in a cluttering of the Mac OS X desktop. The implementation of the feature, however, was been met with some harsh initial criticism.
"There's just not enough room in a single Dock tile for a stack of icons to convey any meaningful information," wrote ArsTechinca's John Siracusa in his in-depth review of Leopard following its release. "Only the top one, two, maybe three items have any visual impact. And those few items may be misleading (e.g., the home folder appearing to be the Desktop folder) or completely generic (e.g., the Pictures and Movies folders showing up as plain folder icons.) Seriously, Apple, this is a bad idea."
A screenshot of the revised Stacks interface published by Macenstein.
Mac OS X 10.5.2 will reportedly add a missing "list view" to stacks that many pundits argue should have been there from the start. In addition, users will also reportedly be presented with the option to display a stack as a plain pile of files — as Apple originally intended it — or as an icon "so you know what you’re looking at."
The first private builds of Mac OS X 10.5.2 began making their way into developer's hands earlier this week. Rumblings around the Web have suggested the software could arrive mid-January, complete with support for a new wave of Mac systems based on Intel's upcoming 45-nanometer Penryn-based processors.
For more on Stacks, please see An Introductory Mac OS X Leopard Review: Meet Your New Desktop and Road to Mac OS X Leopard: Dock 1.6.
Bon Adamson
Wesley Hilliard
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
AppleInsider Staff
Amber Neely
40 Comments
Indeed a welcome change.
And now, please give me the old iCal back.. the new one is a PITA to use and is packed with bugs.
Does this mean we can once again view the regular old folder icons?
I don't see why Apple doesn't make the Fan view scrollable with a mouse's scroll-wheel.
I guess that would make too much sense!
I haven't had a problem with it as it is. I've always simply had a large folder open in the Finder anyway, and I go through it that way. But, removing features, as jobs once said in response to a question about iPods, is almost impossible. Once a feature is there, even if few use it, it's more noticeable by it's removal, then it ever was by its inclusion.
I don't see why Apple doesn't make the Fan view scrollable with a mouse's scroll-wheel.
DING! DING! DING!
We have a winner!
The only stack I really use is the downloads stack.. I thought I'd use one for my applications folder, but instead I've just been using spotlight.. It really is a killer app launcher.
The list view on stacks would just be the old tiger right click on a folder type of thing right? I guess it should've been left in Leopard in the first place but I haven't missed it. I guess some people just love navigating lists...