Greg Johnston, tech columnist
As summer winds down and we move into autumn, this week finds Calgarians already sending their kids back to school in the Public and Catholic school systems, to be followed shortly by university and college students. Autumn is a time of transition and change, and a time of purchasing back-to-school supplies – which for many households may include a computer purchase. This fall, both Apple and Microsoft are debuting new versions of their operating systems, the software that runs the computer and provides the “user experience” – which both companies want to enhance.
This week, I’ll give a brief overview of Apple’s new release, named Snow Leopard, which is on sale as of August 28.
Windows enthusiasts, don’t feel slighted – next week we’ll look at what Windows’ users can look forward to in Windows 7, slated for October 22nd release. Readers can argue amongst themselves about which OS is better, or copied which features from the other.
While both new operating systems are more evolutionary than revolutionary, and aren’t likely to win either company new converts in themselves, for fans of each platform they do offer something to look forward to.
This is not an in-depth review, but I will provide some links at the end for readers to look for more information.
Apple’s new OS, Snow Leopard (OS 10.6), is the successor to OS 10.5, Leopard. Many of the biggest changes are “under the hood”. Apple has given the Finder, the interface that allows users to manipulate and organize the files and programs on their hard drive, a complete rewrite in 64 bit code.
Meaning what? In short it means the Finder and applications that make use of Finder functions will be noticeably quicker, and better able to use larger amounts of memory (larger than four GB).
This is combined with what Apple calls “Grand Central Dispatch”, which is a set of tools to allow software writers to make better use of the multi-core processors that have become the norm in both Macs and PC’s. GCD will not make your current programs faster, but new versions are more likely to.
Snow Leopard includes support for Exchange, the Microsoft server software used by many businesses for email, contact, and calendar management, which should mean an easier time for Macs in business settings.
It also includes a malware checker; there may only be a few Mac Trojans out there, mostly embedded in popular pirated software downloads, but Apple apparently is being pre-emptive to avoid anything tarnishing the safe(r) computing image they have cultivated.
A host of tweaks have been made to Exposé to make a neater, sortable arrangement of all open windows to find items when working with multiple windows, integrate it with the Dock, and better organize the Dock for minimized programs and documents. Dock Stacks also have new and enhanced views, and hovering your cursor over file icons brings up more detailed previews of the contents: with video, for example, player controls.
The good news – OS 10.6 is only a $35 upgrade for Leopard users (I wish Microsoft would offer pricing like this for upgrading Vista to Windows 7!); worthwhile if you have a Mac less than a couple years old that supports the new features (no-so-good news: even recent Macs may not support all the features).
The bad news – no direct upgrade is possible for OS10.4 or earlier to Snow Leopard, or for non-Intel Macs, which were only phased out a little over two years ago. For those Mac users, OS 10.5 will be the last new release for them.
For many others, it will make sense to wait for a new Mac purchase to get Snow Leopard pre-installed, rather than upgrade an older system, but if you crave Apple’s latest, $35 is a small price to pay.
Greg Johnston
greg@infotrek.ca
http://www.macworld.com/article/142459/2009/08/snow_leopard.html
http://www.maclife.com/articles/News
http://reviews.cnet.com/macintosh-os/apple-mac-os-x/4505-3673_7-33676737.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody
http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=4104&tag=nl.e589
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=1275
http://news.zdnet.com/2463-9595_22-335778.html?tag=nl.e589
Related posts:
- WINDOWS 7 LIFTS MICROSOFT OUT OF VISTA DOLDRUMS By Greg Johnston, computer guy New customer satisfaction numbers from...
- HOW SECURE IS YOUR COMPUTER? By Greg Johnston The past couple of weeks have been...
- COMPUTER SECURITY PROBLEMS: IT'S NOT JUST WINDOWS Greg Johnston, tech columnist Today, I’m going to alert readers...
- COMPUTER SECURITIY "SOAP OPERA" OVER WINDOWS 7 VULNERABILITY Greg Johnston, tech columnist Microsoft acknowledged earlier this week that...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
I thought I’d add a little additional information, in response to a question that was sent to me directly in email rather than posted here. Apple also offers what they call a “family pack” Snow Leopard upgrade, which allows up to 5 Macs in the same household to be upgraded.
Cost for the Snow Leopard family pack is $59, which certainly makes the upgrade even less costly per Mac for any household that has 2 or more Intel-powered Macs already running OS 10.5.