By Katie Marsal
Published: 08:00 PM EST (05:00 PM PST)
New builds of Apple's Mac OS X Tiger operating system are beginning to surface with dozens of previously unpublicized features.
The first external builds of Mac OS X Tiger to leave Cupertino in recent months are packing new features. Sources have already provided details on Jabber iChat support, parental controls, and RSS feed customization. Additional enhancements are said to include Address Book sharing, PDF bookmarking, and incremental Energy Saver settings.
The latest developmental versions of Address Book--the centralized repository for contact information in Mac OS X--have revealed support for both sharing and backup of contacts. Through a new preference panel, users can add or send invites to other users, allowing them to view or edit contacts present in their address book. Likewise, the addition of a second preference panel will aid users in backing up their contact listings on a daily or weekly basis.
Tiger's version of Preview is another Mac OS X application that is reflecting significant changes. According to sources, the new version sports text annotation capabilities and PDF bookmarking. A text annotation tool will encapsulates PDF content in red ovals and let the user record comments, while a new Bookmarks application menu provides instant access to specific PDF document pages.
A revised version of Tiger's Energy Saver application now displays six new settings buttons, each capable of retaining its own set of customized power management preferences. Users may reportedly use the new feature to denote incremental energy saver preferences, ranging from "Better Battery Life" to "Better Performance."
The latest builds of Mac OS X Tiger also include file sharing capabilities for host machines running off Dynamic DNS or Apple's Xsan Network file system. Meanwhile, additions to Tiger's "Screensavers" and "Security" preference panes have unveiled a new iTunes album art screensaver and an option to encrypt memory when its being swapped to disk, respectively.
Among several other noticeable additions, the new Tiger builds reveal a brand new Mac OS X Graphing Calculator application, iCal calendar groups, and an enhanced dialog that provides bug report and safe relaunch options following an unexpected application crash.
