Apple rumored to possibly launch Snow Leopard OS June 8

[McGrory]

What do you think of the everything "marble" UI rumours.

To be honest, I hate the marble look. It actually looks more dated than the aqua. Think iTunes scroll bar vs Safari scroll bar, IMO, Aqua looks so much better.

 

[jascott18]

How difficult to install/pricey would an outside OS upgrade to Snow Leopard be on say, a MacBook purchased before SL was released (That is, the current model running Leopard)? I'm college bound, in the market for a laptop this summer, and I don't know how long I can wait indefinitely for SL's release...

 

[Kash]

Historically, OS upgrades have cost somewhere in the vicinity of $129. It's possible that since Snow Leopard isn't a significant upgrade on par with the likes of Leopard and Tiger that it could cost a bit less. There are discounts available for students, depending on your school.

As for the difficulty, well, it's not really that difficult at all. Just boot from the disc, select one of the three install options, and you're good to go in a matter of minutes.

 

[jascott18]

Thanks Kash. I've heard about some possible bumps and changes, but it looks as if the MacBook Line of hardware will be staying intact until at least Sept~Oct. Hopefully SL comes right quick!

 

[Kash]

Actually, the Macbooks should be looking at a speed bump in the late Spring, early Summer. However, you are correct in that the Macbooks will also see an upgrade in the Fall.

 

[osxx]

If they produce a Snow Leopard + iLife + iWork bundle I'd probably get that.

Put me down for one of those.

 

[the8thark]

To ezcompane:

Actually, the Macbooks should be looking at a speed bump in the late Spring, early Summer. However, you are correct in that the Macbooks will also see an upgrade in the Fall.

Correct but these speed increases might not be in the raw cpu ghz department. There is always better bus speeds, better optimisation with multi/dual core processing, solid state drives (for transferring from HDD to ram speeds), more gpu memory, And 10.6 and more I haven't thought of.

All those things help make a computer much faster too.

 

[iTrainer]

As usual with Apple products, I can't wait to see how this new one performs! I always give Apple the benefit of the doubt: awesome until proven otherwise.

 

[ilifexxx]

I wonder How long It takes before a new apple product is released to compliment the new system. Don't call me crazy, look at what's happened in the past...

Leopard: New iPod and iMac, Intel, Ipod Interface Revamp.

Tiger: New iPod and iMac(?), G5, Ipod Interface Revamp.


This also means that a revamped iPod User interface will be released for the classic. Yay! But will G5 Be supported? I'm Assuming not.

 

[SnakeOiler]

I wonder How long It takes before a new apple product is released to compliment the new system. Don't call me crazy, look at what's happened in the past...

Leopard: New iPod and iMac, Intel, Ipod Interface Revamp.

Tiger: New iPod and iMac(?), G5, Ipod Interface Revamp.


This also means that a revamped iPod User interface will be released for the classic. Yay! But will G5 Be supported? I'm Assuming not.

Uh, Nehalem is new. Snow Leo wasn't ready.

 

[hkward001]

How difficult to install/pricey would an outside OS upgrade to Snow Leopard be on say, a MacBook purchased before SL was released (That is, the current model running Leopard)? I'm college bound, in the market for a laptop this summer, and I don't know how long I can wait indefinitely for SL's release...

Just thought I would add. I bought my white macbook a little less than a month before leopard was released. When it was finally released they let everyone who bought a new computer, in a certain time frame before it was release, buy Leopard for $10. Which was awesome because I was upset that I could have waited a month and gotten it.

 

[farmdreads]

Yes, I wonder if the G5's will be supported. Tis would be a shame if not.

 

[vansmith]

Many of the reports I have read regarding PPC support have mostly speculated/noted (depending if you want to believe these people) that PPC support will be dropped from SL. Please correct me if I am wrong if someone knows better.

Regardless of whether this is true or not, Apple needs to drop PPC support. The transition to Intel completed almost 3 years ago. You can't call a transition complete if the OS still supports the old architecture. It's time for PPC users to move on if they want to keep up. That said, there is no reason to adopt SL once it's released as Leopard is a fine release.

I'm sure many of you will disagree with this assertion (especially G4/G5 users) but it's time to move on. How long would you expect Apple to support an architecture it abandoned in terms of hardware three years ago?

 

[the8thark]

Personally I think for SL I think a PPC and a Intel version is the solution. That'd majorly reduce the OS's footprint. Plus for apps the universal binary will still work on both. And I think this would be the start of the death of PPC. And 10.7 would be intel only. You can't spring it on people no warning. This way would give people the definitive warning they need.

But the bad part of this comes for the 3rd party devs. Do they code in intel only or Universal Binary? If Apple goes intel only they might have to release PPC and intel versions of their apps. A lot of hassle for them, as a lot of their customer base I would assume would be PPC still. As many mac-forums people are still PPC.

What apple choose, they need to give the public and especially the devs enough time to switch or stay.

 

[vansmith]

A PPC build would suffice but I think it's time to start making Intel only builds.

I agree that a significant part of the Mac user base still uses PPC Macs but how long can they be expected to be supported? Three years is pretty generous.

 

[squeabs]

I agree. I upgraded from a G4 cube to an intel iMac. On the G4, there were some great apps I wanted and needed that were intel only. It's a bit depressing when you find that perfect app for what you want to do - only to find it's for intel only - and you can't use it.
I have a lot of respect for the old PPC architecture, but it's a dying thing. Leave it for the collectors.

 

[rustyk123]

snow leopard is not suppose to be compatible with any PPC systems(may not include g5, i dont work with them). snow leopard is completely 64-bit, leopard was partial. as i am told, Core duo processor don't support 64-bit, core 2 duo processors do. if everything i am saying is correct, you must have a core 2 duo system. i know for the laptops that is late 2007 and newer.

 

[TiggerRPh]

Snow Leopard will be amazing when it comes out. I wouldn't get all excited for a rumored release date because we all know Apple won't release an operating system until they feel like its good enough for the consumer. Although I hope it will be out by WWDC 09, its possible that it could be delayed.

I've probably missed it...but what are supposed to be the enhancements with Snow Leopard?

 

[the8thark]

Dropping PPC on SL is a good idea I think but it means they'll have to make sure all their (Apple) apps are updated for L and SL. And L will have to have all the major updates too.

More work for Apple and the 3rd party Devs but I think it is the way to go.

 

[vansmith]

snow leopard is not suppose to be compatible with any PPC systems(may not include g5, i dont work with them). snow leopard is completely 64-bit, leopard was partial. as i am told, Core duo processor don't support 64-bit, core 2 duo processors do. if everything i am saying is correct, you must have a core 2 duo system. i know for the laptops that is late 2007 and newer.

Core Duo = 32bit, Core 2 Duo = 64bit . So, yes, to use 64bit apps and OSes, you have to be running a C2D (in terms of using Intel Macs).

I've probably missed it...but what are supposed to be the enhancements with Snow Leopard?

Snow Leopard page. If you're looking for major visible upgrades, you're going to be greatly underwhelmed.

More work for Apple and the 3rd party Devs but I think it is the way to go.

Especially since the Intel transition took place close to three years ago.