All thoughts on the switch to Intel aside, and the solid performance of new Macs like the Mac Pro and the MacBook Pro (which are some very substantial thoughts), I was reflecting lately on the new strides made in the application front.
Apple and its third party developers have usually been at the forefront of software development, particularly in terms of UI and aesthetics. But there's some really cool things happening specifically right now. Web development is making some huge strides, for example. Being a UNIX-based system, OS X has been able to run industry standard software like Apache for awhile, but there's some interesting new additions coming up, notably built-in support for Ruby on Rails in Leopard. But there's some amazing apps that define web development gaining prevalence. Here I'm speaking mostly of TextMate (which just blows my mind every time I use it), although a case could be made for Panic's Transmit, too. Panic's Coda is the newcomer to what might be the "next big thing". With apps like these, it's no wonder that a lot of developers are starting to switch. I'm told that at most RoR conferences, you're in the distinct minority if you're toting a laptop not made by Apple.
It's not all for developers, though. Adium is perhaps the gold standard for IM clients, and, as of yesterday or so, I'm finally happy to throw in my support for a BitTorrent application: Transmission. Transmission has always been a decent application, but with the new update that came out, it doesn't have issues with trackers anymore and the UI has really evolved into something really slick. And, while I haven't had a chance to play with the new version yet, HandBrake's looking really nice. Oh, and how can anyone forget possibly the best app ever created: Quicksilver.
New app releases like the past couple of weeks keep me pretty optimistic about the future of OS X, and the future of Apple in general. I can't wait to see how the iPhone turns out (and the 3rd party apps/widgets that will be developed even without official support for it).