Filed under: OS, Software Update, Apple, Snow Leopard
Snow Leopard is out of the bag
For the ultra low price of $29 (for existing Leopard users), Apple gave a deeper look into the upcoming Snow Leopard release -- slated for some time in September.
"We've built on the success of Leopard and created an even better experience for our users from installation to shutdown," said Bertrand Serlet, Apple's senior vice president of Software Engineering. "Apple engineers have made hundreds of improvements so with Snow Leopard your system is going to feel faster, more responsive and even more reliable than before."
Here's more highlights of the Snow Leopard release...
- Quicktime 10: Has a post of its own, but will sport a redesign and the ability to integrate with MobileMe, YouTube and more. There's also word that the Pro version of this application will be dropped.
- Safari 4: Available now. Initial reports say that the tab bar has dropped back below the address bar. It too will be getting its own post.
- Exposé integration: Exposé is now embedded in the Dock. Click and hold on the application, and all the documents you're working on within that app will be exposed so you can pick one. Nice bonus for Photoshop/Illustrator/InDesign etc. users. Stacks will also now be scrollable and can navigate through the folders (and this wasn't in Leopard, why?)
- Tweaks to Finder, including faster Quick Look and Spotlight. This will be beneficial for the later-mentioned Microsoft Exchange support. All system applications (Finder, Mail, iCal, iChat, Safari) are 64-bit, and will also remain compatible with 32-bit applications
- Grand Central Dispatch: Takes advantage of multicore processors through a process called threading. OpenCL for graphics
- Microsoft Exchange support built into Mail, Address Book and iCal. Exchange data can also be accessed via Spotlight and Quick Look.
- A slimmer OS: You'll reclaim 6GB of your hard drive with Snow Leopard, and it installs faster to boot.
- Multi-Touch trackpad integrated with VoiceOver so different parts of the desktop/open window are heard when moving a finger around the trackpad. Also has built-in support for wireless Bluetooth braille devices. You can also draw draw Chinese (kanji) characters on the trackpad. What I'm curious to know is if you can also draw Japanese hirigana/katakana on it as well.
- 640x480 video resolution for iChat and iChat Theater. Only 300Kbps bandwidth required as opposed to the current 900Kbps. If iChat fails to make a connection to another user for a video chat, it will reroute the request through the AIM relay server.
- Enhances to PDF text selection in Preview. The need for Adobe Acrobat grows dimmer by the day ...
- Snow Leopard + Airport Extreme/Time Capsule = The ability to share files over a network while your computer is asleep.
Snow Leopard requires at least 1GB of RAM, 5GB of available hard disk space and -- in a day long dreaded by PowerPC users -- is only available for Intel processors.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Andre said 4:53PM on 6-08-2009
I don't suppose the $29 upgrade would include iLife...?
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YodaMac said 5:03PM on 6-08-2009
$29 if you already have Leopard - which means you already have iLife. (whatever version came with it)
Andre said 5:04PM on 6-08-2009
So if I did a clean install of the $29 Snow Leopard, will I lose the iLife I already have?
James Madley said 5:17PM on 6-08-2009
After a clean install you can just slap your old discs in (the ones with Tiger/Leopard and iLife) and install iLife separately.
xmuskrat said 5:00PM on 6-08-2009
No marble news?
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canyonblue said 5:01PM on 6-08-2009
No Andre, no iLife, and how you think a new OS and iLife would ever be sold together for $29...
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SSteve said 5:09PM on 6-08-2009
Didn't I see in Ars' liveblog that Finder has been rewritten in Cocoa? All you mention is faster Quick Look and Spotlight? I was expecting marching bands and fireworks. Siracusa must be doing a leprechaun jig of happiness.
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SIP said 5:16PM on 6-08-2009
I bought a Mac Pro (2008) with 10.5 pre-installed, so I assume (and hope) that I qualify for the £29 upgrade.
Interesting page here:
http://www.apple.com/uk/macosx/uptodate/
Mac OS X Snow Leopard refines the elegant Mac OS X user experience with lots of little touches and performance improvements that will make using your Mac even more enjoyable. It also includes a few big foundation technologies designed to tap the power of today’s computer hardware and provide a strong base for innovation. If you purchased a qualifying system or Xserve on or after June 8, 2009, that does not include Mac OS X Snow Leopard, you can upgrade to Mac OS X Snow Leopard for £7.95.*
Please check back on June 16, 2009, for additional information.
I wonder what they mean by this:
"If you purchased a qualifying system or Xserve on or after June 8, 2009, that does not include Mac OS X Snow Leopard...."
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Flor said 5:32PM on 6-08-2009
The current tab handling in Safari is awesome. It would be very un-Apple to give its users a new feature and then take it away again. Let's hope there will be at least an option for the current setup.
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who said 5:33PM on 6-08-2009
Thanks for the news,...
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Fredrik Bränström said 5:50PM on 6-08-2009
"Qualifying" must mean that the system you bought would be shipping with Snow Leopard if it was available. Right? So if you bought any system with Leopard you'd get Snow Leopard for 8 quids.
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SIP said 6:18PM on 6-08-2009
Yeah, I know, but could it also mean that some Macs will ship with SnoLeo before it's released as an upgrade for the rest of us... (speculation on my part, and a bit of wishful thinking...
Scogman said 6:57PM on 6-08-2009
When you walk into the Apple store and want to buy the upgrade box of DVD for $29, how do they verify if you have Tiger or Leopard. I own Leopard so I am not worried, but what is stopping someone who has Tiger from purchasing the $29 box instead of the $129 box.
Will the Upgrade version look for Leopard on your hard drive then give you the option of doing a full install?
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George said 6:43PM on 6-08-2009
Re: Preview & PDFs: "The need for Adobe Acrobat grows dimmer by the day ..." - not so fast.
Preview renders PDFs form Adobe apps with transparency in them horribly.
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EvanO said 7:06PM on 6-08-2009
Some of these "small" features are going to right out kill some software developers. For example:
- text expanding will make TextExpander obsolete,
- video screen capturing will kill several screen capture makers,
- and even Snow Leopard's ability to easily sync with Google Calendar is going to take out at least two companies that offer just such software
All for $29.
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Jash Sayani said 7:19PM on 6-08-2009
For $29 ? SOLD !!
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appletechsup said 7:32PM on 6-08-2009
Still putting it off Apple:(
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Aaron said 7:48PM on 6-08-2009
No Power PC support. Bummer. I have a dual 2.8 G5 with 4GB of RAM. Still a fine machine for home use. I know, I know. It's like 7 years old. Time to upgrade if I want the new hotness. Still...
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James Peck said 9:54PM on 6-08-2009
If i installed snow leopard onto my mac, will i need to re-install all my other applications and will my product keys be deleted thus requiring me to buy new licenses?
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Mick Dann said 7:55AM on 6-09-2009
If you choose the "upgrade" option during install all your apps, docs, music, video settings etc will be fine.