OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard"

[Bearcat]

Kiko is an ADC Developer, and has access to all the latest builds of stuff that we can't get our hands on.

That might be true if Snow was on ADC, but I just checked, and it's not.

[iScott]

I am posting from 10.6. It is slow to start up on my 20" 2.4GHZ iMac with 4 GB of ram. I am running it off of a second partition.

[superchase]

It'd be nice if the PPC were to be supported in the next OS release. I bought a G5 just as they were going out of production. It works fine. Tiger works great. Very stable. Very nice. No problems at all. If the next release of Snow Leopard works on the PPC, that'd be good news cuz it would mean that most of the mainstream apps will still work on it and be released for at least 2-3 more years to come. It's difficlt to see how Snow Leopard couldn't support the G5. I mean, the cutoff for a lot of memory intensive graphics apps still being released is still at the 64-bit G5. And they still work like a charm. If Snow Leopard comes in a 64 bit flavor, it'd only work better on the G5, wouldn't you think? Because the OS will finally be optimized for a chip was is native 64 bit and in many cases, dual core--a technology which Snow Leopard addresses. So Apple, if yer reading this, please continue to support the G5. If you come out with a 64 bit version of Snow Leopard, I will buy because I think it will work great.

 

If Apple does decide to drop support for the PPC, it'll be a business/political decision, not a functional one. Apple could easily support the PPC in Snow Leopard if it chose to. All these pro-Intel people should realize that's why Apple initially stopped using your chip after the LISA in the 80s. Because Intel was truly never made for versatile motion graphics. Still isn't. Was meant for static CAD vectors and spreadsheets. That's why the Intel chips excel at AutoCAD, but often fall short in After Effects and video editing. I've found that one shortfall of the Intel chips, but like a previous post has indicated, it is that they seem to run out of memory after a couple of hours, and regardless of whether it's Intel of Apple, they slow down, and the computer has to be re-booted. Intel Chips seem to suck the memory out of a computer. They're cheap and not that well made. Unless Apple releases its own propritetary souped up version of the chip, those shortcomings will be evident in the next release of Snow Leopard.

 

Also, why when Apple dropped the PPCs, the gaming companies immediatly snapped them up that market share. Sony, Nintendo and even Might Wintel Microsoft use the PPC's for their gaming systems, because the Intel chips don't cut it.

[ufo_all]

Any chances on 32bits as i heard snow leopard will be for 64bits.. if that is the case than who going to buy new cpu...

[Wman]

No way in hell my G5 is not getting upgraded. This thing was like $3000 a few years ago. Considering there are still more G3-G5 PowerPC Mac users (think 10 years of sales) than Intel Mac users, they'd lose a large segment of their userbase if they cut off support for all PPC. Now, I think 10.6 cutting off support for G4's (or at least a cutoff similar to Leopards, allowing the higher-end G4s, maybe 1Ghz+) is fair, as they are already extending support right now to computers made 6 years ago, and assuming it comes out sometime next year, a slightly higher standard is reasonable. But to take away support for PowerPC computers is a mistake, so early on. Remember that G5 Xserves and G5 Power Macs were being made well into 2006, almost 2007. It wouldn't be apple-like to cut off support for 2 1/2 to 3 year old machines - isn't that one of the things that Apple is famed for?

 

Now, I do understand that Apple's a business, and they'll do what gets them the most money, but in order to keep getting money they have to get new customers but also keep the old ones.

 

I agree. Abandoning PPC wouldn't be good. Not only were Xserve G5 and Powermac G5s being made until almost 2007, but the PBG4 was the last pro notebook befor MBP. A lot of people are still using those (including me) and many of them are 1GHZ + PPC. I think they should only abandon G3 or old G4. G4 was the most popular PPC and a lot of people still use them. If they were to abandon only some PPC, I think G4 should still be supported.

 

lol. I just spent like 100$ on a new screen for my powerbook. I don't want that to have been a waste.

[Adrian Fogge]

Only $100 for a new screen? Damn!!! I just spent $120 on a new battery.

 

Still, I find it *very* likely that Apple will say G5 or Intel only. That way, they would be able to say that the majority of their users are using a fully 64-bit OS on 64-bit hardware.

 

Sure, there are the Original CoreSolos and CoreDuos that they will need to worry about, however from the look of things, they are making a very large push towards getting Snow Leopard not only a fully 64-bit OS, but leveraging several new technologies designed around making better use of multiple CPUs and support for offloading tasks to the GPU.

 

When you consider that the vast majority of the G4 machines out there are single processor, single core and have a graphics card which does not have dedicated memory as well as supporting OpenGL 2.0 or above as to allow for IEEE 754 compliant rounding behavior for floating-point calculation accuracy, you begin to wonder what the point of even trying with any remaining G4s are. The PowerMac G5s and Xserves meet all of these requirements.

 

With all that being considered, I would still anticipate that Snow Leopard will be the last OS to support PowerPC processors.

 

~Adrian

[Synaesthesia]

Any chances on 32bits as i heard snow leopard will be for 64bits.. if that is the case than who going to buy new cpu...

Of course. 32-bit will still work perfectly.

[rathalos]

Anyway, tried my Snow leopard today (build 10a261)... It might be fast and snappy, but i think its really buggy also..... like i couldnt boot into loginwindow on my second boot, and the whole GUI hung up at the spinning line wheel and occasionally flashing the mouse cursor... i think its really far from being a stable release... Finder window preferences are totally screwed up and refusing to remember default preferences.. plus the vertical grid spacing is totally screwed... its so god damn huge...i could easily fit one extra row of icons in between the spaces..... plus all the cool little hacks like istat needs lots of work with the menu cracker cos it doesnt work in snow leo.... went back to leopard in about 15min of playing around...

[superchase]

I agree. Abandoning PPC wouldn't be good. Not only were Xserve G5 and Powermac G5s being made until almost 2007, but the PBG4 was the last pro notebook befor MBP. A lot of people are still using those (including me) and many of them are 1GHZ + PPC. I think they should only abandon G3 or old G4. G4 was the most popular PPC and a lot of people still use them. If they were to abandon only some PPC, I think G4 should still be supported.

 

lol. I just spent like 100$ on a new screen for my powerbook. I don't want that to have been a waste.

 

You'll have to get a new damn MacIntel anyway. It's all garbage that OS X 10.6 will work perfectly on all existing Intel Macs. All that new stuff comin' out, Final Cut Studio 3, 64 bit Shake will require a completely new computer with capabilities the present generation of MacIntels lack, simply don't have. Many of them will be forced into obsolesence by the new hardware requirements anyway. Maybe not as quickly as the PPC, but many of them except the most powerful of them like the Pro Towers or top of the line MBP. They'll simply need a lot more horsepower, and I bet, more powerful chips, motherboards, etc. etc. So I'm waiting to see all those MacIntel owners who spent just as much or more on what they thought was the latest and greatest, crying their eyes out when they realize that they've been tossed out of the circle too. Which is why I wouldn't even bother buying a new Mac until 10.6 comes out along with all the 64 bit apps whch go along with it.

[Synaesthesia]

You'll have to get a new damn MacIntel anyway. It's all garbage that OS X 10.6 will work perfectly on all existing Intel Macs. All that new stuff comin' out,

??? Whatever, the hardware requirements will be an Intel Mac. Any Intel Mac.

 

It'll even run on a single core Intel Atom

[superchase]

??? Whatever, the hardware requirements will be an Intel Mac. Any Intel Mac.

 

It'll even run on a single core Intel Atom

 

Yes, but all those higher end apps will require higher end machines. I mean, if you look at the specs for the current releases of After Effects, Final Cut Studio, Maya, and even Premiere, they don't run on your plain jane Intel Mac. It's really only the high high end applications where X.6 will be of any benefit. So computers such as the Mac Mini which and low end iMacs will be tossed to the wayside, when it's the higher end machines with morehorsepower which are required to run them high end stuff. All the low end machines which are presently considered inadequate, will still be inadequate when X.6 comes out. 

[Jimmy Urine]

Yes, but all those higher end apps will require higher end machines. I mean, if you look at the specs for the current releases of After Effects, Final Cut Studio, Maya, and even Premiere, they don't run on your plain jane Intel Mac. It's really only the high high end applications where X.6 will be of any benefit. So computers such as the Mac Mini which and low end iMacs will be tossed to the wayside, when it's the higher end machines with morehorsepower which are required to run them high end stuff. All the low end machines which are presently considered inadequate, will still be inadequate when X.6 comes out.

 

i disagree with you the idea behind x.6 is not to give us new features but to give us better utilization of our cpus, hence applications that used to be a bit slow on any core 2 due mac would probably be faster now. and if the architecture would move up to cocoa than you can expect adobe to do the same which in other words means that you'll need a less and less horsepower to run most of them...

any mac/hack with a core 2 due should be feeling lucky since they'll be able to use more cpu devouring software now with better performance.

[vic_os]

I'm very excited about Snow Leopard

Just tried 10a286 and it already feels faster than Leo on my iMac 20" Core Duo.

I tried PS CS4 and Nikon Capture NX2 and they were noticeably faster!

[MacVertigo]

So is anyone running SL full time? I've been thinking about it.. but I want to wait until the last possible build. I don't want to get stuck with apps that don't run under SL. Like Microsoft office... I use it ALL the time and want make sure that one still keeps working.

 

What kind of problems are people seeing with it. Is it really worth the upgrade prior to the actual release?

 

I just installed iphone 3.0.. and I love that. It runs so much smoother and faster. I'm hoping SL delivers the same.

[José Rodríguez]

Given the enormous expansion of apple in the Latin world, you believe that the "snow leopard server" 10.6 will be translated into Spanish?

Thank you

[fletch33]

So is anyone running SL full time? I've been thinking about it.. but I want to wait until the last possible build. I don't want to get stuck with apps that don't run under SL. Like Microsoft office... I use it ALL the time and want make sure that one still keeps working.

 

What kind of problems are people seeing with it. Is it really worth the upgrade prior to the actual release?

 

I just installed iphone 3.0.. and I love that. It runs so much smoother and faster. I'm hoping SL delivers the same.

 

 

i am running it as my main OS on my Unibody Macbook 2.4 and besides a few minor programs not working which are listed in the thread here i haven't had any problems and do not plan on going back to 10.5. i wasnt unhappy with 10.5 just excited to use 10.6.

[StormPCs]

Most everything works fine on my 09 Mac Minis, but I am going back to 10.5.7 for now. If I wanted an ALMOST functional computer I'd buy a PC. I will not buy the upgrade until it is fully functional.

 

I do enjoy the extra speed especially in Safari, boot up and shut down. It's pretty nice.

 

I'll put 10.5.7 on my SSD and possibly run SL from a FW800 drive.

[fletch33]

Most everything works fine on my 09 Mac Minis, but I am going back to 10.5.7 for now. If I wanted an ALMOST functional computer I'd buy a PC. I will not buy the upgrade until it is fully functional.

 

so you lost sme functionality on your mini? strange I would think that your mini and my MacBook would bebthe same. I have not come across in loss with the OS myself but as I mentioned above a few small 3rd party apps dnt work like istat menu but the widget does with no problems.

 

Anyway working great here with adobe cs4 suite, iWork09, iLife 09, Toast, adium, perian, skype, 1 password, basically everything that I use so it's fully functional for me

 

sorry for any typos on the iPhone at the moment

[StormPCs]

If all I did was post on forums this would be fine, but I rely on my computers for much more than that so they have to be 100%. This version is not finished. It runs solid with 99% plus apps but the features are not all there.

 

It's not worth the trouble when the finished product will be here in a month or two.