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Apple to ship Snow Leopard this week

Aug. 24, 2009 Paul Thurrott | Paul Thurrott's Supersite for Windows

In a weird last-minute announcement, Apple announced this morning that it will ship its $29 Mac OS X service pack, called "Snow Leopard," on Friday.

Apple today announced that Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard will go on sale Friday, August 28 at Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers, and that Apple’s online store is now accepting pre-orders. Snow Leopard builds on a decade of OS X innovation and success with hundreds of refinements, new core technologies and out of the box support for Microsoft Exchange. Snow Leopard will be available as an upgrade for Mac OS X Leopard users for $29.

To create Snow Leopard, Apple engineers refined 90 percent of the more than 1,000 projects that make up Mac OS X.

Curiously, there are no major new end user features worth noting, which explains the "service pack" claim above. (Yes, it supports Exchange, but that won't impact most Mac users.) I've been using this thing all year, including the final version for the past week or so, and I have to say ... there's just not much there. It makes my "Windows 7 vs. Snow Leopard" series somewhat ponderous to write because I can't focus on what's new but must instead just compare the two OSes more generally. In case it's not obvious, users expect things to improve somewhat with each OS release, that's the minimum, but Snow Leopard doesn't go beyond that at all. This stands in sharp contrast to Windows 7, which does indeed change the overall Windows experience in useful ways. Snow Leopard is just simple refinements. Sorry, but it's just not that interesting.

And while Snow Leopard is indeed priced right for those up-to-date Mac users who paid $129 each year to upgrade to the latest OS release, or even more to just buy a new Mac, it's going to cost the hold-outs a lot more: $169 for a package that also includes iLife 09 (which is good) and iWork 09 (which is pointless). That's the only way that previous-generation ("Tiger") Mac OS X users can get Snow Leopard. And that's only for those on Intel-based Macs. You didn't upgrade yet? Sorry, Luddite, you can't get Snow Leopard.

I raise this issue because there's been a lot of talk lately about how Microsoft won't support direct upgrading of an 8-year-old operating system (XP) to Windows 7, though it does support a very useful migration process. Apple, meanwhile, isn't supporting upgrades from machines that were sold as recently as two and a half years ago. I think this distinction is important, and doesn't get enough attention.

Anyway. I'll put up a short Snow Leopard article this week and then get back to work on the Windows 7 vs. Snow Leopard series.

Discuss this Article 123

freakyfelt
on Aug 24, 2009
There are many reasons to justify them releasing it as a DVD instead of a downloadable service pack. Could you imagine Microsoft redoing 90% of the projects, many of which touch core components of the OS, and then attempt to reliably deliver that in a downloadable service pack? It'd be a nightmare. So you need to release this on physical media ($10 usually from Microsoft), tack on an Apple tax and you get $30.
planetarian
on Aug 24, 2009
oh snap, did he just say 'service pack'? ...ah, shoot. I couldn't resist.
AugieD369
on Aug 24, 2009
Paul is right about Apple leaving older Mac users behind, they usally use their OS "Service Packs" to try to make sure that older Mac users are buying new Macs at some point. Back when 10.4 was released, any Mac that did not have a built in USB and Firewire ports was left behind. For 10.5, all PowerPC G3 systems and G4's below 800Mhz was left behind. The iLife release just after an OS release typicly has the same system requirements as the most recent OS. I also think that Apple may use this stratagy for getting iPhone users to get better iPhone models. Based on what I saw in the iPhone terms of service, I don't think the original iPhone model will be able to run OS 4.0, whenever that comes out. One thing that was not mentioned in the blog post is what if the Hard Drive of the Mac crashes and your mac did not have 10.6 preinstalled? The way the $29 upgrade box appears to be set up is that if you had to replace the hard drive or put 10.6 on an external drive that is blank, you would have to have either the Mac's Restore Disc if it came with 10.5 or a 10.5 retail upgrade disc and install that first, download all updates then install 10.6! If the hard drive has 10.6 on it already, then the system can be reinstalled to that drive without addtional steps. By the way, I do use Windows on my Mac and Windows 7 is preordered. :)
scoobyclub
on Aug 24, 2009
"Service Pack" or "Upgrade" is irrelevant and clearly understandings will vary. However it is clear that with this upgrade there is clearly a fair amount of meat in the form of core services and not much sizzle in terms of obvious new functionality. To think that so often Apple has been criticised for the reverse situation is somewhat ironic.
freakyfelt
on Aug 24, 2009
@AugieD I'm assuming it's like any other retail OS X install disc, they won't restrict you from doing a clean install. I would assume the difference between the upgrade disc and the full install disc is the karma associated with being a good person.
RunTimeError
on Aug 24, 2009
"Yes, it supports Exchange, but that won't impact most Mac users" You'd think that, wouldn't you? The simple fact of the matter those of us who use Mac's for work will (hopefully) no longer have to use the train wreck that is Entourage or wait until sometime next year when Microsoft releases their new Outlook for Mac. Whatever. I'm not here to bash Paul or Windows 7. I've been playing with Win 7 for a bit now and while I don't see anything other than a refined Vista (which is not a bad thing) it's a pretty decent OS once you get rid of the new, laughable, taskbar. Sure there are no "new features" per say in Snow Leopard but if the "refinements" are half as good as promised, I'll be happy. Flame On!
chipwinter
on Aug 24, 2009
Boy, that really is a weird announcement. What is Apple thinking?
Rasken
on Aug 24, 2009
I find it hilarious that people point to Snow Leopard as being more awesome than Windows 7 because it can use the GPU as a CPU. Lo and Behold, THAT'S IN WINDOWS 7 TOO!! http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/partner/archive/2009/08/22/gpu-computin...
lketchum
on Aug 24, 2009
Paul, Perhaps assessing OS X's underlying security features relative to those shipping in Windows Vista in 2006, would be one area to evaluate. Convention has held that while OS X is not as secure as modern Windows versions, that perhaps, owing to the number of relative threats, OS X has been safer to use. Maybe it is time that notion was challenged and the operating systems evaluated in the context of online safety and security again. I noted with some interest, that Dino Dai Zovi, in a guest post at ZDnet, listed security features and technologies native to Windows Vista and Windows 7 that he hoped would ship in OS X Snow Leopard. His list and the URL are as below - has anyone seen any mention of OS X Snow Leopard addressing these? One of Vista's main objectives was to make Windows more secure. How well Microsoft succeeded at that is not well communicated. It is clear that Apple needed to do the same with Leopard and Snow Leopard - did they? http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1325 Real ASLR (address space layout randomization). Library randomization with dyld loaded at a fixed location just doesn’t cut it. Full use of hardware-enforced Non-eXecutable memory (NX). Currently, only the stack segments are enforced to be non-executable. Welcome to the new millennium where buffer overflows aren’t only on the stack. Default 64-bit native execution for any security-sensitive processes. I don’t particularly care that it may waste 5% more memory and a little bit of speed, I want Safari, Mail.app and just about everything else that has security exposure to run as a 64-bit process. Simply because function arguments are passed in registers rather than on the stack, this makes working around ASLR and NX damn near impossible for many exploits. Sandbox policies for Safari, Mail.app, and third-party applications. Code execution vulnerabilities aren’t the only kind of vulnerabilities and good sandbox policies for security-exposed applications can help mitigate the exploitation of code execution and other vulnerabilities in these applications. I love the scheme-based policies, by the way. Mandatory code signing for any kernel extensions. I don’t want to have to worry about kernel rootkits, hyperjacking, or malware infecting existing kernel drivers on disk. Most kernel extensions are from Apple anyway and for the few common 3rd party ones, they should be required to get a code signing certificate.
AugieD369
on Aug 24, 2009
@freakyfelt The OS check is done as the install disc is booted, and you can do a clean install by using Disk Utlity on the disc after the OS check is completed. This is based on info provided by AppleInsider and my personal experience with the Up to Date disc for 10.5 which will not boot on systems that don't have 10.4 or later installed.
rr0de74@live.com
on Aug 24, 2009
"In a weird last-minute announcement" Weird, I guess you dont read much Apple news? This date was rumored for over two weeks. The Apple UK web site posted the date by accident for a half day last week before pulling it. If you follow Apple news you knew this was real possibility. "This stands in sharp contrast to Windows 7, which does indeed change the overall Windows experience in useful ways" Really? So if I compare Windows Vista SP2 with all updates, including things like IE8 which comes from Windows update now, you are saying that Windows 7 is a major update??? Oh you mean the Dock like taskbar and the Expose like feature is the sum of your "major update" over Vista SP2 fully updated. Yeah I see that. Please lets have some real good comparisions Paul. Startup and shutdown times of Leopard vs SL, Vista vs 7, SL vs 7. Install time and complexity of 7 vs SL. Upgrade paths and confusion for users etc. Considering that most users of both SL and 7 will get these versions from buying a new computer, compare out of the box features, like iLife vs Live apps. Here is the upgrade chart for Snow Leopard. Try not to get confused... http://www.erichter.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/upgrade-your-mac.jpg
mikegalos@msn.com
on Aug 24, 2009
freakyfelt "So you need to release this on physical media ($10 usually from Microsoft), tack on an Apple tax and you get $30." While that would make sense, the problem is that Apple is not just charging for a physical media fee since they only provide one service pack upgrade license for $29. If you have more than one Macintosh you have to pay more (either family packs or more licenses) and you can't just hand out copies of the disk or share them out on an internal as would be typical in a normal service pack. I suspect the reality is a mix of two items: 1) Paying for some of the support costs for the upgrade. Any OS change that touches 90% of the projects and gets as limited a configuration beta will need support and support people aren't free. 2) Paying licensing fees on components (such as Exchange support or DVD decoding licenses) that Apple licenses. (Note, I have no idea what the Apple's licensing terms are but they're generally not free)
rr0de74@live.com
on Aug 24, 2009
@ikethum Paul wont compare that stuff. Why? Because he often, very often quotes that market share of Macs world wide, at around 3%. Using that number, malware for Macs is not very prevalent because the return for your malware writing efforts is not worth it, compared to Windows. If you are writing malware to get information that can be used for profit, your target has been and still is Windows simply because of the sheer numbers of targets available. The question is did Apple improve the security in SL over Leopard? If so how will this help thwart the relatively few if any pieces of malware that a typical SL user might encounter. That would be some good, relative, information.
mikegalos@msn.com
on Aug 24, 2009
rr0de I saw the chart you linked to and I'm confused. Here is a scenario that didn't seem to get answered. can you answer it for me? Say that my cousin has a mix of Macs; a new laptop she got last week, a 4 year old PowerMac running Tiger, two Mac servers running Tiger (one G4, one Intel), a 3 year old MacBook running Tiger, an older MacBook running Panther and an iMac running Tiger. She wants to upgrade iLife on the laptops but doesn't want iWork on anything and, of course, doesn't want iLife or iWork on the servers. How many family packs and individual upgrade licenses do she need to upgrade all her Macs the way she want?
scoobyclub
on Aug 24, 2009
"I find it hilarious that people point to Snow Leopard as being more awesome than Windows 7 because it can use the GPU as a CPU. Lo and Behold, THAT'S IN WINDOWS 7 TOO!!" As so often is the case with these two feature similar oses the difference is in the quality of the implementation. On this Windows rarely wins. I have been trying out Windows 7 and the quality of the UI interface is still last century in comparison to OS X.
RobertC
on Aug 24, 2009
scoobyclub, you've shown a complete misunderstanding of what is being said. GPU as a CPU, in simple terms, means off-loading general processing tasks to the GPU, thereby increasing the performance of the CPU. It has nothing to do with the "quality" of the user interface. And speaking of quality UIs, there's nothing great about Mac OS UI. Leaving aside the flash-bang wizardry, it's actually bloody annoying to use. Simple tasks like closing an application take longer than necessary: you can't just click the red "x" on the left of a Mac window, you have to choose File>Quit. Then there's the godawful text rendering that makes reading a chore because the font contrast is so ridiculously distorted that the text looks blurred with berserk anti-aliasing. Organising open windows is laborious. I could go on, but there is no need to. Microsoft spends billions of dollars researching how people actually use PCs. Apple tells you what's best and if you don't like it....tough. Unacceptable corporate attitude - no wonder they can't get a single leg up in the commercial sphere.
Waethorn
on Aug 24, 2009
"Could you imagine Microsoft redoing 90% of the projects, many of which touch core components of the OS, and then attempt to reliably deliver that in a downloadable service pack?" They already did that in XP Service Pack 2. "I find it hilarious that people point to Snow Leopard as being more awesome than Windows 7 because it can use the GPU as a CPU. Lo and Behold, THAT'S IN WINDOWS 7 TOO!!" Actually, with CUDA, that's in Vista, and even XP. Paul, you left out the most laughable bit: OS X still doesn't have a native 64-bit kernel by default. What's more laughable: You have to hold the 6 and 4 keys at boot to get it to boot that way. LOL! FAIL!
hamiltonstallings
on Aug 24, 2009
RobertC, "GPU as a CPU, in simple terms, means off-loading general processing tasks to the GPU, thereby increasing the performance of the CPU." You can only talk to Mac people in simple terms. When you say 'mouse', they think 'large object with one button'. When you say GPU, they think "user interface'. When you say 'operating system', they think 'I have to buy a new computer?'
hamiltonstallings
on Aug 24, 2009
"What's more laughable: You have to hold the 6 and 4 keys at boot to get it to boot that way." Lol, is that really true? BLUNDER
EricoF3
on Aug 24, 2009
Yeah!! There is always Double Standards when its time to compare Apple with Microsoft...
meason
on Aug 24, 2009
I don't know how I should feel purchased 10.6, figured what the ........ purchased a iPod touch case.... both 29.99........ is the case overpriced rubber? or is the OS not worth much.... or both?
Waethorn
on Aug 24, 2009
@hammy: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=4712 http://blogs.zdnet.com/Apple/?p=4716 In other words, the Mac's 32-bit custom EFI is turning around and biting them in the a$$, and Apple never thought to include enough firmware storage space to allow for a 64-bit EFI upgrade, or even to upgrade it to the now-standardized UEFI firmware revision.
TEAMSWITCHER
on Aug 24, 2009
I think there are some very interesting ideas in Snow Leopard that Microsoft should consider for Windows. The ability to boot the same computer using either the 32bit or 64bit kernel is awesome. You at least have something to do when you have a 64-bit software compatibility issue. On 64-bit Windows there is nothing to do but cry - I have many "not-so-old" games that won't run on 64-bit Windows 7. Leopard's Time Machine feature (while not new) is also very cool back up software. You can restore a single file or the entire drive to a brand new Mac, even if the hardware is different. I wouldn't even try that stunt on a Windows PC. Finally, while the Windows 7 OS is great, it's the PC laptop hardware that I find quite dissapointing these days. Thick plastic cases, stickers (my god why?), glossy screens, crappy low quality keyboards and tiny track-pads. I haven't seen a PC laptop that I would spend my hard earned cash on. I am considering getting a new MacBook Pro tho - then run Snow Leopard and Windows 7 - Problem soved!
EricoF3
on Aug 24, 2009
Waethorn is right... holding a key at boot to boot in 64 bits... What is this silly, crap OS is it?? AND "Could you imagine Microsoft redoing 90% of the projects, many of which touch core components of the OS, and then attempt to reliably deliver that in a downloadable service pack?" We don't have to imagine that!!! Microsoft always update their OS core component in Service Pack that are downloadable ... And No it is not a nightmare... Apple and fan are really bizzard peoples, isn't it!!!??
EricoF3
on Aug 24, 2009
meason : "is the case overpriced rubber? or is the OS not worth much.... or both?" Probably both lol
Waethorn
on Aug 24, 2009
"the move to 64-bit applications also boosts overall performance" -- Apple.com Either they're: a) lying, or b) their 32-bit code was crap Take your pick.
lketchum
on Aug 24, 2009
@Waethorn, Nor does OS X have 64 bit driver model, which accounts for a lot of the challenges they have on their path to true x64 bit computing. They can market and spin it any way they wish, but the facts are that Windows Vista x64 and Windows 7 are already there and pulling well ahead in several contexts: advanced architecture, modern implementation of NUMA and multi-CPU/Core/GPU/Core processing and of course, security. I still do not see how Apple is going to get around Mach. I don't think they can and forget what is "in" OS X SL, I'm more interested in what is not in it. That does not seem to matter however, they have a lot of sympathy and traction among many within our press and larger media. Perception is all that seems to matter and any CS knows well what OS X is and isn't. It's pretty sad. Last time I checked, 70% of OS X/*nix users were rooted to the hilt and they had no idea... I wonder what that percentage is up to now? People need to respect the OS for what it is and is not and really, locking down a *nix is a lot harder than far too many people are willing to face. Flame away if you want, it doesn't matter... it will not change what is known, or what is being done to people. A lot of really smart guys in their 60's are owing all of them and while they don't laugh about it per se... they don't even respect novice users that much. they do count on people to continue to be as blind as they are. One thing... and this is a serious request.. if you run OS X/*nix, please keep tools off of the systems facing the cloud. Please! Once the system is recompiled you'll never find the undesired code.
gfryesc1
on Aug 24, 2009
What a waste of time for Paul to write up 5,000 words that will boil down to "Windows 7 is excellent and Snow Leopard is 'ok'." Reading Thurrott on the merits of Snow Leopard is about as useless as finding out how great Obama is doing from Fox News. [or how Bush was doing by watching MSNBC]. It's an exercise in futility at best and intellectual dishonesty at worst.
yoshipod
on Aug 24, 2009
"Simple tasks like closing an application take longer than necessary: you can't just click the red "x" on the left of a Mac window, you have to choose File>Quit." Why should closing a window quit the application? Just because I close the document I am working with does not mean I don't plan on opening another document does it? So in Windows, if you close a document, you quit the application. Now you have to wait for the application to launch again if you want to work on a different document. That does not sound simply and easy to me.
PeyloW
on Aug 24, 2009
How many gigabytes of hard drive space is freed when you upgrade to Windows 7?
JamesNT
on Aug 24, 2009
@freakyfelt Microsoft did just that. It was called Windows XP SERVICE PACK 2. JamesNT
Waethorn
on Aug 24, 2009
"the facts are that Windows Vista x64 and Windows 7 are already there and pulling well ahead in several contexts" Actually, they did it with Windows XP Professional x64 Edition before both of those. "So in Windows, if you close a document, you quit the application." Nope. Programs with MDI allow you to close the document separately from closing the application window. That's not the point though. What he said was that when he wanted to "close the *application*", likely to free up RAM that the application is using, it wasn't as simple as just clicking the red X button. "How many gigabytes of hard drive space is freed when you upgrade to Windows 7?" It depends on whether it's an in-place upgrade, and whether or not Microosoft allows you to undo the upgrade, so I'm guessing it's in the negative. Comparing a clean install of Windows 7 to a clean install of Windows Vista shows there isn't a huge difference between the two, but most of the difference lies in the fact that Windows 7 doesn't include as many accessory applications from the get-go (you need Windows Live Essentials to add a lot of the functionality that Windows Vista includes).
Waethorn
on Aug 24, 2009
Another funny thing: http://gizmodo.com/5344205/8-years-of-great-mac-os-x-box-design-end-in-a...
scoobyclub
on Aug 24, 2009
@RobertC You have shown a complete misunderstanding of what words mean. This links to the other blog posting about quality of communication in the internet age. You read something that you thought said something and then you went on a diatribe. I know exactly what the first GPU point was about which I then generalised to the difference in implementation in general between the two oses. I have a degree in electronics and 20 years in IT for my sins so I know precisely the difference between UI, GPU, CPU etc whereas you and your little mate Hamilton appear unable to comprehend a few simple sentences. However you do speak some truth in that many Mac users don't know all these techie terms cause they don't want or need to and why should they? They do not work in IT. Unfortunately I do and know of what I speak. Think I shall take another sabbatical from this site, the quality is worse than I remember it.
yoshipod
on Aug 24, 2009
By the way, I decided to look at all the "new" feature in Windows 7 (http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/ff.asp). Someone please point out why the changes in Windows 7 make it an upgrade, while 10.6 is a service pack. Half the items listed on Paul's feature page look very similar to the ones listed in 10.6 New windows media player is a feature in Windows 7 but Quicktime X is not a feature in 10.6? An updated calculator, an application to rate your Windows experience and the introduction of ribbons to two applications that come bundled with the OS, not the OS itself, are major OS features? A bunch of the features listed are identical to ones 10.6 already has. And guess what, 10.6 is adding features that Windows already had. Really your spin is ridiculous. OS 10.6 is as much, or as little and upgrade as Windows 7 is.
rr0de74@live.com
on Aug 24, 2009
@iketchum no 64bit drivers??? http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/10/28/road_to_mac_os_x_snow_leop...
yoshipod
on Aug 24, 2009
"Nope. Programs with MDI allow you to close the document separately from closing the application window. That's not the point though. What he said was that when he wanted to "close the *application*", likely to free up RAM that the application is using, it wasn't as simple as just clicking the red X button." So let me get this straight. If I hit the red X button, sometimes it quits the application, and sometimes it does not. How do I know when it does what? So I can expect different behavior fro the same action. How is that simple?
rr0de74@live.com
on Aug 24, 2009
You can force 64bit mode all the time, provided you have the correct EFI, I tested my Macbook late 2007 and iMac July 2008 both are EFI64. http://www.9to5mac.com/snow-leopard-64-bit-32-bit-firmware-efi
meason
on Aug 24, 2009
@PeyloW said: "How many gigabytes of hard drive space is freed when you upgrade to Windows 7?" Why do I care? I have 3TB of disk on my desktop, getting 7GB back ain't really an need
panache1023
on Aug 24, 2009
Yoshipod, The Windows MDI interface is a freaking confusing disaster, which is why you see it less and less. Even Word doesn't use it, and it would be a prime candidate for it, since it's common to have multiple documents open at once. Everyone here has become so entwined with the Windows way of "close the main window, and the app terminates" that anything else is "wrong" or "more time consuming". Not to mention the slew of apps that minimize to the system tray when you hit the "X", which always USED to mean terminate the application. Definitely LESS confusing than always choosing from the menu "App name" -> "Quit". Much more time consuming too.
rr0de74@live.com
on Aug 24, 2009
@Mike for your cousin its pretty simple. For any Intel Mac running Tiger he/she can purchase the family pack, 5 macs but at $149. The Mac bought last week gets a free upgrade. The servers I think are $499 unlimited users. How much is it to go from Windows 2003 to Windows 2008, for unlimited users?
scoobyclub
on Aug 24, 2009
Exactly. Closing a document is a document, quitting an application is quitting an application. They are different things. Most people can learn to make the necessary adjustments but once the level of inconsistencies, or nags, or glitches reach a certain level a user starts to feel like he is fighting the machine rather than using it as a tool. And to catch a point I missed earlier I doubt MS spend anywhere near billions on looking at how people use PCs. If they do then that may be part of the problem. Too many people wanting their ideas implemented. In order to appease them they each get one. As for asking "real" users I would quote Henry Ford : “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”
rr0de74@live.com
on Aug 24, 2009
64bit a little better explanation than is provided by iketchum or weahorn... http://www.macworld.com/article/142379/2009/08/snow_leopard_64_bit.html """""If you’re running a Mac powered by an Intel Core 2 Duo processor or an Intel Xeon processor, your Mac is 64-bit capable. And Snow Leopard runs 64-bit-capable applications in 64-bit mode regardless of whether it’s booting into a 64-bit or 32-bit kernel. In fact, the only big advantage of booting into a 64-bit kernel would be the ability to use more than 32 gigabytes of RAM. There aren't any Macs that can do that now, anyway, due to hardware limitations. Applications running in Snow Leopard will have access to a full 16 exabyte virtual address space, just the same as if they were running in a 64-bit kernel. As a result, there’s very little difference between booting into the 64-bit kernel and the 32-bit kernel in current Mac systems. (This is not to say that there won't be a bigger difference in the future, as RAM sizes continue to grow. But presumably new high-end Mac systems will boot into the 64-bit kernel when the need arises.) So, bottom line: If you’ve got a Core 2 Duo or Xeon based Mac — any Intel Mac not running a Core Duo or Core Solo processor — you’ll be able to run applications in 64-bit mode, which will in turn be able to take advantage of faster 64-bit registers and math routines as well as access massive amounts of memory.""""""""""
sunsfan
on Aug 24, 2009
Cmd-Q >>>>>>>>>> Alt-F4. Who actually uses the menu bar to quit apps in OS X?
sunsfan
on Aug 24, 2009
@Mike, if your cousin has that many Macs and can't figure out how to upgrade them all, she needs to shed some hardware and simplify. Who has that many computers for herself but is so technologically inept she can't figure out how to upgrade? Maybe a more realistic example would have been better, but anything more realistic would have been so simple to explain you would have been embarrassed by the comparison with Win 7.
lketchum
on Aug 24, 2009
@rr0de74@live.com Please do realize that the site you linked to does not contain any information changing the reality that Apple still has to develop or cause to be developed 64 bit drivers. The article even states that Apple will have an easier time - since so few devices apply (33 sys extensions). Regardless, they have to be developed and they should be signed (but they will not be). Same drill for third party devices, about which there seems to be even less information.
scoobyclub
on Aug 24, 2009
"Cmd-Q >>>>>>>>>> Alt-F4. Who actually uses the menu bar to quit apps in OS X?" I do sometimes although mainly I right click on the dock. This is an aspect where people on this site differ from normal people. They use PCs so much they know a lot more ways of doing things than someone who uses a PC to do his job rather than it being his job. Perhaps better training would help but a menu quit is much more obvious than command-Q for many.
rr0de74@live.com
on Aug 24, 2009
iKetchum you said...."Nor does OS X have 64 bit driver mode" which is flat out wrong. The beauty of the Apple approach to 64bit, is that the user is shielded completely by the technical details and dont have to make a choice based on those details. They just install Snow Leopard, the single version. After that they either can do what they want with their Mac or they cant.
chuckb84
on Aug 24, 2009
Ah, the site dedicated to the "future of Windows". The site where anyone who uses a Mac is automatically a "troll". And yet, read the posts about Apple and all the comments from the usual denizens. Sad. You're all so threatened? Why? I've asked it before with no answer. "Reading Thurrott on the merits of Snow Leopard is about as useless as finding out how great Obama is doing from Fox News. [or how Bush was doing by watching MSNBC]. It's an exercise in futility at best and intellectual dishonesty at worst" That's right, but wildly optimistic. The level of ignorance is pretty profound. "And speaking of quality UIs, there's nothing great about Mac OS UI. Leaving aside the flash-bang wizardry, it's actually bloody annoying to use. Simple tasks like closing an application take longer than necessary: you can't just click the red "x" on the left of a Mac window, you have to choose File>Quit." AppleKey-Q works well. That's been in Mac OS since 1984. And, of course, we have hypocrisy as well. "I raise this issue because there's been a lot of talk lately about how Microsoft won't support direct upgrading of an 8-year-old operating system (XP) to Windows 7, though it does support a very useful migration process. Apple, meanwhile, isn't supporting upgrades from machines that were sold as recently as two and a half years ago. I think this distinction is important, and doesn't get enough attention." The "8-year old OS" was CERTAINLY being installed on new computers more recently than the 2.5 years that Paul cites as Apple's unconscionable abandonment of its users. So the timeframe is not 8 years vs. 2.5, since XP is still shipping on new PCs. Check the Dell web page. Microsoft will force a clean install on machines that are being shipped today, not "8 years ago as Paul tries to imply. What a liar. You boys have fun with your Windows 7 upgrade nightmares. I'll have SL running on 5 Macs by the end of the week......for $49.
RunTimeError
on Aug 24, 2009
This is truly awesome. An old fashioned "My OS is better than yours" flame war on the SuperSite blog. :)

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Every so often, I publish an updated version of my “What I Use” document, which details the technology products and services I actually use day-to-day. Since I’m currently on my third business trip in five weeks, this is perhaps an ideal time to discuss the technology products I rely on when I travel and a few related points....More
Mar. 6, 2013
Article

What I Use: March 2013 35

Lots of changes since November, including a new PC-based home server running Windows 8, several new smart phones, new PCs and tablets, new cloud backup, Office 365 Home Premium and a nice doubling of my Internet speeds courtesy of Verizon FIOS....More
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