LoopRumors has inside information about the upcoming Apple Macintosh Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard release slated for late 2006 or early 2007.  This article is the first of a 4 part series that will outline the features Mac users can expect to see.  Please keep in mind that the release is still more than a year away and any of the features we tell you about could be changed at any time between now and then, but here’s what we have for you:

1. PowerPC and Intel compatible.  The first and most obvious feature will be the fact that the entire operating system will be available for both PowerPC and Intel processors. Builds since 10.0 have been written for both processors, but never publicly available as a retail product until Leopard.

2. More Transparency. The control panel will feature a customizable transparency control that allows users to change the opacity in which the menus and dock are displayed. A slide control allows these items’ backgrounds to go from fully opaque to completely transparent.

3. Animated icons!  Those bouncing icons in your dock will come alive.  Reports suggest that the dock icons will have much more life to them when opening an application or alerting users about an application. Alert sounds that accompany the animation are also being developed but may not be included with the final release.

4. Dashboard improvements. The dashboard will see major speed changes in Leopard.  Widgets will load and run in the background so when Dashboard is launched, there is no delay or load time before accessing the widgets.

5. New desktop pictures and screen savers.  Although every new release of the Mac OS has seen new desktop pictures and screen savers, we’re learning that these two items may be combined into one, allowing a screen saver to run on the desktop, behind windows and applications.

Stay tuned for the second installment of this four part series of articles outlining Leopard’s upcoming features only at LoopRumors!

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