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Snow Leopard performance improvements are there, but small


Snow Leopard is purported to provide many small but much-needed tweaks to its predecessor, Leopard. One oft-touted tweak is a speed boost, but according to tests by Macworld the performance and speed of a few different computers improved only slightly with many native tasks, and some took even longer.

Macworld installed Leopard and Snow Leopard on even-sized partitions on the drives of three different configurations: a 20-inch 2.66GHz iMac Core 2 Duo with 2GB of RAM, a 3GHz Xeon 5300 eight-core Mac Pro with 4GB of RAM from April 2007, and a 15-inch 2.8GHz MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo with 4GB of RAM. They charted simple tasks like start up, shut down, PDF scrolling, and more complicated ones like iMovie import/export and Photoshop CS4 filters. You can see the final results here.

The chart is a bit confusing about the actual speed improvement, and it is important to note that a mark of 100% on the chart indicates that the task performed was the same on both operating systems; likewise, a mark of 103% means it the task was 3% faster with Snow Leopard, and so on.

The improvements were small on most fronts, and the only significantly improved tasks were shut down, JavaScript, and Time Machine. The MacBook Pro with Snow Leopard inexplicably saw a huge improvement of 42% over Leopard when it imported movies into iMovie, while the the other two computers barely budged. A few of the benchmarks were even slower with Snow Leopard, such as waking the computer up and opening duplicate Finder windows. While the tested computers only represent a small part of the spectrum, it appears that now Leopard's speed improvements for native applications are there, but not mind-blowing.

Filed under: Multimedia, Odds and ends, iPhone

iPhone 3GS video vs. Flip Mino HD

It was an inevitable face off. The iPhone 3GS and the Flip Mino HD. One of our readers, Adrienne, did just such a test at the Dayton airshow July 18-19, and held the two cameras together to see how they compared.

Turns out both do well, with the Mino having higher resolution, of course, and the iPhone getting smoother video with less pixels to push around.

I've had similar results in comparing both cameras. The video from both is a bit shaky, and neither camera hosts an image stabilizer, but iMovie can fix that if you want to take the extra time.

I think the 3GS video is quite good, and for someone who wants to carry one device, it fills the bill. There's no question that the Mino will give you more detail, and it is wrapped up in a seductively small and easy to use package.

Follow this link to an explanation of how the test was run, and the video.

Thanks Adrienne.

Filed under: Software, Reviews

Lightroom vs. Aperture - What's Best?

Now that Adobe has officially shipped Lightroom (as we recently mentioned), the natural question is: which one is better, Lightroom or Aperture? Of course folks have been playing with the Lightroom beta for quite some time, so this is not new question, but Derrick Story over at MacDevCenter posts on two new series by professional photographers writing for O'Reilly comparing the two software packages. He links to the first post Micah Walter's series for the Inside Aperture blog, and to the start of Michael Clark's initial comparison between the two on the corresponding Inside Lightroom blog. Neither has yet revealed their final conclusions, but it should be interesting to see where they both go. On a related note, Macworld podcast 74 features a discussion of the relative merits of the two packages by Rick LePage (as does this earlier post on TUAW).

From what I can tell so far in many of these discussion, the answer to the question is not going to be entirely straightforward, with one package clearly better than the other. It is more likely that the answer will be something like: it depends on what you want your workflow to look like, and how you want to interact with your images. So TUAW readers, what's your take? Which one do you prefer and why?

Filed under: Hardware, Humor, iPod Family

BBspot's iPod vs. Zune showdown: "Now that's what I call planning"

Forget all the spec comparisons, VP interviews and rumor mongering that the internets have been obsessively producing since we all first learned about Microsoft's truly groundbreaking foray into the DAP market. BBspot has cut through the red tape and endless speculation, pitting the Zune against the market-leading iPod in an end-all showdown. They compare all the hard-hitting features that everyone else has so far missed, such as Domain Names, Curative Properties and whether it would hurt if Chuck Norris rammed each player through one's spine with his fist of fury. It's a true grudge match the likes we have never seen - and as with all matches of this caliber, only one player can emerge alive.

You've seen the rest of the iPod and Zune reviews and comparisons - now go read the best to see which player wins BBspot's Technical Award of Excellence.

Filed under: Hardware, Mac Pro

System Shootouts: Mac Pro vs Dell Precision 690

System Shootouts has pit a Mac Pro against a Dell Precision 690 workstation in an in-depth feature-for-feature comparison to see who gets to go home with the prom queen. This match is of particular interest in part because of how detailed the feature criteria is (it included extra drive/bays like a floppy or memory card readers, as well as any included backup solutions and even web authoring software), but also because of how ultimately mismatched these two machines are. One machine is so overpriced that System Shootouts opted to break traditional policy and include a display and/or extended warranty program in the name of mercy for the losing contender.

In case you can't tell, I'm trying not to spoil this particular match because I think it's such an interesting upset, especially in light of how Apple did their own hardware match-up on stage at WWDC 2006. Check out the shootout for yourself to see whether the Mac Pro or the Dell wound up spending prom night home alone.

Filed under: Enterprise, Xserve

Could new Intel-based Xserves tip the IT scales for Apple?


Apple, of course, boasted how fantastic of a deal they're offering on stage with these new Xserves, but it's always prudent to hear it from the actual community these products are targeted at. Fortunately, reader Jonathan Fingas pointed us towards just such an article from IT Jungle that analyzes the offering and opportunities of new 64bit, Intel-based Xserves that can run Not only Mac OS X and Linux, but now Windows as well. They do their own price breakdown between other Enterprise server software offerings, as well as a hardware match up with a (somewhat) comparable HP server. They conclude that Apple has quite a killer offering on the table, no matter how you slice it.

Check out the IT Jungle article for yourself, and since most of us aren't exactly Enterprise gurus, keep tips like this rolling in, as they're a great window into how this particular community is reacting to Apple's big changes.

Filed under: Software, Freeware, Internet, Internet Tools, Widget Watch

Widget Watch: Earthlink Shopping

One of my favorite things about the web is how it enables anyone, with even the slightest bit of effort, to become an educated consumer. Whenever I make a significant purchase (new camera, phone, etc), my first stops are sites like PriceGrabber, which allow you to search for things using specific criteria such as megapixels for cameras, carrier availability for phones, or speed for computers. This helps me get an idea of what my options are. The added benefit of these sites is the fact that they provide pricing quotes from hundreds of stores around the web, as well as ratings and customer reviews for those stores.

While on the topic of smart internet shopping, lets take a peek at the new Earthlink Shopping widget. While it doesn't allow for the refined searching interface that I enjoy so very much, it does make it quick and easy to check prices on things. The widget searches eBay, shopping.com, and amazon.com for your search term, and displays the results in familiar search engine form. Earthlink Shopping also displays store and product ratings when available.

Filed under: Hardware, iBook, Apple, MacBook

MacBook vs. iBook



Everyone has gone MacBook crazy (or is it just me?)! However, let us not forget the honorable iBook that the MacBook has replaced in Apple's product matrix. System Shootouts hasn't forgotten. They have, in fact, pitted the MacBook against the iBook in a point by point comparison. Who comes out on top? I'm not telling, but I think you might be a little surprised.

Filed under: Hardware, Portables, Macbook Pro, MacBook

Don't know what Mac laptop to get?



There are a veritable plethora of Intel based Mac portables for you to choose from now, thanks to the just added MacBook. What's a consumer to do? Why, check out this comparison chart to see which model has what gizmo. This is very handy (and notice that the MacBooks ship with 2 256 RAM chips, so keep that in mind if you want to update the RAM).

[Via Red Sweater Links]

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Apple, MacBook

The MacBook compromise

macbook compromiseThe big difference between a MacBook and a MacBook Pro? In my opinion, and the one thing PC users will be quick to point out: the absence of a dedicated video card. The video cards on the MacBook Pros are fantastic, and bring a lot to the table when doing graphically intensive tricks like 3d animation or, say, games. I priced a MacBook Pro to my liking about a week ago, 120 GB drive, 1 GB of RAM, 2 GHz duo. Guess what? A similarly configured MacBook is a lot cheaper, but keep in mind the graphics compromise you're going to make. The proof will be when someone runs World of Warcraft on their MacBook... One thing I'm glad they added back in though: audio input, and they added digital I/O!

Filed under: Portables, PowerBook

MacBook Pro Value Proposition

NotebookReview.com has an interesting article on the new MacBook Pro that at once takes a preview look at the Powerbook replacement (albeit a non-hands on preview) and compares it to other PC laptops running the same Intel chipset. It's interesting because it is the first time that Apple laptops have been so easily comparable to PC laptops due to the shared technologies between the two devices. No more special magical algorithms to determine the proper PPC to Intel Mhz conversion. The article is basically tackling the age old question—are Macs overpriced?—and seems to be asking a lot of the right questions. If you're considering getting a MacBook Pro, it's definitely worth a read. Check it out.

Filed under: iPod Family

iPod nano comparison shots

ipod nano lineupI just wanted to write up a quick post and let everyone know that I took some shots of our contest winner's iPod nano in its box and alongside the bag I'm sending with it. I also took pictures of my already scratched up iPod nano next to the box and on the box to show how the design on the packaging is actual size.

I also did a size comparison shot with a bunch of other gadgets. As you can see in the picture accompanying this post, I've lined up a Nokia 3650, a Treo 650, a Motorola Razr, my iPod nano, and my 60GB iPod. Click on the picture to see the Flickr photoset of all the pics I snapped.

Oh, and by the way: we picked a winner. The winner will be announced in tomorrow morning's podcast, going live at 9 a.m., and there will be a contest recap post tomorrow night at 7 p.m.. Thanks to everyone who participated!

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