So I’ve covered three of the top new features about Tiger, namely Safari RSS, Spotlight, and Dashboard. I haven’t tried out Automator yet–it seems useful, but I’ve never used macro-like features before, and would want to read very carefully about it and try it out several different ways before speaking on it.

So what else is there? Well, minor appearances, for example. The copy file pane is different from before. Quicktime 7 now handles larger, high-definition files–but my computer is not fast enough to display them in anything but a jerky stop-and-start way. And then there is an interesting appearance change which is both tiny and significant: in open windows, there is no longer a division between the title bar and the tool bar immediately beneath it; they appear to share the same area (at least in the brushed-metal style–classic Aqua style seems unaffected). The functional divide still exists, though–click and drag on the title area and it will move the window, while doing so in the toolbar area will not. A purely cosmetic choice, and one that could cause a bit of confusion.

And I should speak on smart folders sometime, I didn’t get to that. Essentially, they are a way to keep a specific search permanent and ongoing in the form of a folder; visually, it’s like a virtual folder where all items of one type will go to whether you save them there or not.

And then there’s the Oxford English Dictionary and Thesaurus, now integrated into the system. For example, when I’m drafting in Ecto, I can right-click on a word and select “Look Up in Dictionary,” which will open the dictionary and show me the definition, etymology and synonyms, if any. Very nice. Dictionary is also available in a widget, and as a stand-alone application.

There’s the new interface for Apple’s Mail program, with some other features, like setting mail priority (which in a quick attempt I could not make work). Many have complained that the new look is ugly, but I like it fine. I might even give it another try sometime soon, but frankly I like Eudora so much that I won’t make a full switch anytime soon.

You may have heard that Tiger has “200+” new features, and Apple lists them here. But a close examination will show that the list is artificially lengthened. For example, the Spotlight feature is represented as multiple features when it’s really just applied in multiple applications–Spotlight used in Contacts, Spotlight used in dialog boxes, Spotlight used in Font Book, Spotlight used in iCal, Spotlight used in Mail, etc. Also, each major new feature is divided into many parts; the Spotlight menu bar item, the spotlight window, smart folders, and so on. Dashboard is a single feature, but Apple lists individual widgets as separate “features.” Additionally, add-ons are counted as features–more fonts and more languages, for instance.

But then again, this is standard for the industry. While you may not find 200 actual new features in the sense of what you may consider a “feature” to be, you will find enough in Tiger to make it interesting and useful.

But is it necessary? Well, probably not, though that may depend on your needs. Is it worth the price of upgrade? It was for me, but again, it may not be for you. And that’s true of all upgrades.