Apple has just posted the WWDC ’06 Mac OS X state-of-the-union address on iTunes, accessible to those with an ADC online or better account (i.e. everyone who wants one). The ADC login page can be found here. The session lasts a little over an hour and a half (~500 Mb) and makes for some good background listening if you’re into OS X.

My favourite demonstration is by Andreas Wendker (at 49:55), who is the senior manager in charge of XCode, Core Data and Cocoa Bindings. His demo shows a no-code photo viewer that exploits the combined power of Core Data, Cocoa Bindings, Core Animation and an NSGrid (new in Leopard.) The demo is, quite simply, amazing. The most impressive moment is when he uses bindings to hook an NSSearch field up to the Core Data array controller, allowing him to filter his selection of photos based on title. NSGrid uses Core Animation to provide animated transitions as the selection diminishes. All code-free. Wendker also demonstrates the new ability to configure NSToolbar items in Interface Builder.

The availability of Core Animation and NSGrid goes some way toward explaining why so many developers are going Leopard only. Of course these features are only a small part of the reason; garbage collection and properties in Objective-C 2.0 spring to mind as two other major driving forces in this direction…