By Jeffrey Tsang

Officially called OSX 10.5, Leopard is the sixth incarnation of Mac's Unix-based operating system, and more feature-full than ever.

While Microsoft Vista now has "gadgets", OSX introduced "widgets" a generation ago. In Leopard, Apple has tried to up the ante with new eye-candy and some out-of-the-box computing ideas. Over the next three instalments, Digital Life brings you up to speed with the latest OSX goodies and some insider tips on taming Leopard.

If you are new to Leopard, the first thing to do is to upgrade to the latest 10.5.3. This is a snap. Just select Software Update under the Apple logo on the top, far left of the menu bar. The latest version sorts out many of the issues - such as menu bars that were too transparent and hard to read - that users brought up when Leopard first escaped the Apple cage in October last year.

Now, for a feel of the new environment.

Firstly, those who like Expos', a system for sorting through the open windows on your desktop, will love Spaces.

If you are the sort who opens more than six applications and 20 windows during the workday, you will love Spaces. You can organise Leopard so that Word and all its documents opens in one space while Excel and its spreadsheets open in another, while your e-mail and Safari are in a third space. To set up, go to System Preferences under the Apple logo, select Expos' & Spaces and click Enable Spaces in the Spaces tab.

Then there's Stacks, a new approach to maximising the Dock. While the Dock started life as an on-screen launch pad for commonly used applications, its role was expanded so that folders could be put in it. So it is possible to keep the Dock uncluttered with just, say, 10 of the most frequently used apps.

Then, drag the Applications folder into the Dock so any app can be easily accessed through the Dock by clicking on the Application folder.

Stacks is the new way in which Leopard allows the user to view the contents of docked folders. If the stack is small, the files can fan out. Bigger stacks are better displayed as a grid or a list.

Select "automatic" or pick any of these views. Just control-click (or right-click) a stacked folder in the Dock. Then, choose the Sort By, Display As and View Content As options to fine-tune.

Next up, Quick Look and Cover Flow, which allows you to search files more quickly.

Quick Look enables the user to peek into the contents of any file without actually opening it up. Just highlight the file, right-click and select Quick Look.

Alternatively, highlight the file and hit Command-Y. The first page appears - whether it is a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet, pdf or jpg. Just drag the handles to resize the view. Smart.

Cover Flow uses this Quick Look technology but allows the user to scan through the various files in a folder. It basically gives a Quick Look of each file so it is easy to flip through the files in the folder. To access Cover Flow, call up any folder and hit the Cover Flow button.

With Cover Flow, Leopard allows the user four choices to view a folder: as icons, list, columns or Cover Flow.

Next instalment: Digital Life inspects some of the improvements in the apps that come with Leopard ? like Parental Control, Boot Camp, Dashboard, iChat, Safari and Mail

This article was first published in The Straits Times on 17 June 2008.

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