What If There Are No Top Secret Features in Leopard?

Apple says Leopard is still on schedule for a spring 2007 launch. But when you do the math, you see that as the number of days until the end of spring (even the U.S. spring) decreases, the likely impressiveness and significance of the “top secret features” also decreases.

Apple wants you to believe that whatever these features are, because they are top secret, they must be revolutionary. Vista has been in the hands of consumers for a couple of months now, so it’s not like Microsoft can do a last minute upgrade to it, copying Leopard’s amazing new top secret features. So it kinda makes you start to wonder about just how great these features really are and why it’s taking so long to reveal them.

There are two types of features Apple could have up its sleeve: those that need long beta testing and those that can get away with a very short beta testing. The latter is greatly limited, and would suggest merely cosmetic changes.

The hottest tip for secret features is a revamped user interface. But is that nothing more than a skin? ShapeShifter can already do that for you. Predictions are that glossy black and bright colors, such as seen on the iPhone, will spread across OS X.

But is that a feature? Sure, it looks good. I’m running Opera with its glossy black color scheme (lix 1.5) and it certainly makes the rest of my GUI look out of date. But a feature? That’s borderline.

Wouldn’t you expect something that is top secret to be a bit more than a new look? Something that revolutionized the way you use your computer, that would be worth calling “top secret.” Yet I haven’t heard of any suggestions since Leopard’s preview that even come close to needing to be kept top secret.

Apple is planning a launch of something at NAB on the 15th of April. This would also be a good time to reveal these top secret features and give beta testers enough time to test them out before a WWDC launch. Although, I’d be disappointed if Leopard slipped out to WWDC, as I think it will take the edge off WWDC. Developers need some time for shipping Leopard before WWDC, or at least as close as possible to it. Launching at WWDC would kill that off and there’d be no momentum going into WWDC.

Even a new user interface, though, would require a fair amount of beta testing, even if it is just a skin. There are plenty of ShapeShifter themes that still have problems. So again, Apple needs to reveal all soon if it wants to make a spring launch. You can imagine Apple staff will be working themselves into the ground. But Steve is fond of thanking their families for putting up with their long hours, so I guess that justifies it.

Could OS X go live without ever showing a new user interface? Never. But how late could they go without showing it? What other secret features could Apple release this late? What if there are no top secret features?

What if it was merely a marketing ploy to keep Leopard talked about favorably compared to Vista. Everyone has expected the top secret features will make Vista look so last year. It’s resulted in many reviews of Vista saying, “Vista is all well and good, but we’ll see how it compares when Leopard comes out.” If all the features of Leopard were already known, that comparison could already be made, which wouldn’t be good for Apple or Leopard, as the comparison would be based more on hearsay.

Instead, Apple has staved off those comparisons with its “top secret features” line. And yet, they may be nothing more than a glossy black user interface and a tabbed Finder. Hardly worth keeping secret.

Spring may have only just begun, but the way time is slipping away, there’s nothing Apple could add this late that could top Time Machine for being revolutionary (by Apple’s standards).

So, again, doing the math, it all adds up to…maybe no top secret features at all and nothing to get excited about.