Share your Snow Leopard Experience/Concerns

[leopard-user1]

I just installed it today. Does anyone know a reliable source for 64-bit screensavers? Or a way to use old screen savers in Snow Leopard? Because all of my 3rd-party screensavers are incompatible.

 

[cwa107]

I just installed it today. Does anyone know a reliable source for 64-bit screensavers? Or a way to use old screen savers in Snow Leopard? Because all of my 3rd-party screensavers are incompatible.

Did you boot into a 64-bit kernel? If not, then it's probably not related to whether the screen savers are 64-bit or not. They're probably just poorly coded.

 

[coolbreeze]

This is available on the Snow Leopard DVD:

About Xcode Developer Tools
Xcode 3.2 for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Contents
Introduction What's New About Software Developer Kits and Platform Targets Installation Deprecation Notice
Introduction
Xcode 3.2 developer tools for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard require Snow Leopard as the host platform, but can target past OS releases of Mac OS X including 10.4 Tiger and 10.5 Leopard.
Xcode 3.2 includes a new Build and Analyze feature that adds Message Bubbles that call out code problems found with the new static code analyzer. Additionally, the analysis is reported within the new Build Results window.
We encourage developers to join the Apple Developer Connection. It provides the most convenient access to Apple Inc. development resources, technical support and pre-release software. For information visit Apple Developer Connection.
What's New
Xcode 3.2 developer tools for Mac OS X 10.6 has the following improvements:
• Static code analysis is fully integrated within the Xcode IDE via the Build and Analyze option under the Build menu or via custom build settings
• New Build Results window collects warnings and errors in a persistent log
• GCC 4.2 is the primary system compiler for the 10.6 SDK
• The next-generation LLVM compiler is included using two different front ends - the Clang compiler is a new, leading-edge front end that also provides the basis for the new static analyzer. For maximum compatibility, the GCC LLVM compiler utilizes the LLVM back-end with the GCC 4.2 front-end parser.
• New template chooser and project assistants • New opening window for quick access to recent projects
Xcode 3.2 Installer
The Xcode 3.2 installer provides five main options for configuring the installation: • Essentials. Contains the essential components of Xcode, installed by default
in /Developer or another directory of your choice, including external volumes. • System Tools. Includes CHUD performance tools. Its components are always
placed in /Developer. • UNIX Dev Support. Command-line tools used for UNIX-based development. Its
components are always placed in /usr - only one version installed at a time.
• Documentation. Configures Xcode to automatically download updates to developer documentation. If left unchecked the documentation will be read from the web instead of the local disk. Can be changed via Preferences.
• Mac OS X 10.4 Support. This option, off by default, adds support for developing applications that target Mac OS X 10.4 APIs.
Developer Productivity
• A new Overview toolbar item lets you see and set the project's active Target, Configuration, Executable, Architecture, and SDK with a single control.
• Setting Architectures and SDKs are now done with provided pop-up lists rather than manually entered strings or long paths.
• It is now easier to add known frameworks to your project
• The source code editor now allows you to "Edit All In Scope", to edit all instances of a symbol in a particular scope.
• Build settings can be set for any combination of architecture and SDK. • Using the Clang compiler requires the 10.6 SDK • Using GCC LLVM or GCC 4.2 requires the 10.5 SDK or 10.6 SDK
Dashcode
• Dashcode now supports creating of web applications optimized for Safari and mobile Safari, in addition to Dashboard widgets. Choose the Safari templates to create these optimized interfaces for your site content.

 

[iPod Nano]

So you have to actually specify that you want to use the 64-bit kernel? Any major software problems (such as iLife '08 programs not opening)?

 

[MYmacROX]

How long until an update to new OS?

How long do you think it will take before Apple releases a "software update" to OS 10.6?

I'm thinking within the next 3 months (by the end of 2009).

 

[iPod Nano]

Wow, hold on, am I missing something, or does this review basically say I have to wipe my disk to install Snow Leopard?

Seriously, you just stick in the disc, open the installer, enter your password and go -- that's it. You don't even have to reboot off the DVD. Of course, that made us a little uneasy, since we've always chosen Archive and Install to get a fresh OS, but you can't have cold feet here -- that option's been removed. We've been told it's now the default action behind the scenes, but the bottom line is that you have to trust the installer more than ever before -- and while we didn't have any major problems, it would be nice if we could force a new install of the OS without having to wipe a disk.

From: Snow Leopard review

 

[iPod Nano]

If it's buggy, they'll clear it up pretty fast. If it's pretty much perfect, then yes, 3 months is just about right.

 

[Nethfel]

Well, looking at this page for 10.5:

Mac OS X v10.5 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

and this page for 10.4:

Mac OS X v10.4 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I'd have to guess 3 weeks to a month.

 

[Zoolook]

Just updated a 2006 32-bit Core Duo MacBook (2ghz, 2GB RAM). Took about 1 hour to complete, it's now doing a time machine backup, everything so far looks good.

Dock animation is smoother, Finder is quicker (even with the backup running), mail is much snappier (even in 32-bit!).

I read reports some people had issues with Word and Excel (glitches and speed issues) but I have none. Firefox is fine. I saved about 2.5GBs of space, but I had already purged the printer drivers and ran a pretty lean system. Still, not bad.

 

[the8thark]

My experiences with Snow Leopard:

I threw in the disc and let it install itself and saw it'd take a hour so I went to sleep and woke up with it all done. Worked just fine. Exactly like the old Leopard upgrade disc. Only one method of installing. But tis ok for me.

Pros:

Zippy. Yeah it sped up my whole system. My old app folder in 10.5 took a good 20 seconds to load when opened cause of the approx 120 apps in it. But in 10.6 this is almost instantaneous.

Space saving. After installing 10.6 and losing all the PPC bits from the OS I got 10 gig back. Yeah A whole 10 gig. That's a lot for 160 gig HD. I'm liking that.

Apps seem to open faster and run a little more smoothly. Another big plus. And some apps (even some non apple ones) seem to use less memory now. Yeah my firefox went from 160 MB used to 120MB used. So another big plus there.

QTX I love what it can do. Really swisho, but I'd love some themes for it. As I'm not such a fan of the default one.

Did not delete the QT7 player. Which is good as I still need it.

Cons:

QTX - A few things it can not do yet. Like play midi files. I like my midis so that's a little bumber. Oh well I can use the QT7 player for that.

I can't click on a dock item and hold to get the menu and from that menu get the "get info" option anymore. That option is removed from the click and hold on a dock item menu. I really do not know why.

Installing 10.6 reverted my custom dock and login background screen back to the Apple default. So I have to re-edit them now. Probably a good idea. But a con for me as I have to re-edit them.

So all in all a few cons but many more pros for me. I love this way more than I loved 10.5 when it came out. As it turned something already great into something brilliant. I'm glad I bought this OS.

 

[iPod Nano]

Alright, so Snow Leopard does NOT wipe your hard drive?

 

[the8thark]

Nope. It works exactly like the 10.5 upgrade disc did. Your HD (apart from the system folder is unchanged). The only real changes I can find is:

Quicktime 7 player moved to the utilities folder. (Don't delete for now).
And any custom Dock/Login Screen background are reverted to the apple standard.

That's about it.

 

[iPod Nano]

Hmm. Engadget really screwed up on their review. Made it sound like you had to wipe the disk. Thanks for helping me out with that! I'd +rep you if I could!

 

[cwa107]

Alright, so Snow Leopard does NOT wipe your hard drive?

Correct.

What changed is that while Leopard and previous OS X Installer iterations did an in-place upgrade, Snow Leopard uses the same technology behind the once optional "Archive & Install" process to achieve the same effect.

 

[gagnerants]

Ugh I have to wait until the 1st for my little box to show up for SL, this waiting will kill me lol.

 

[cwa107]

Well, first bit of weirdness showed up just a minute ago...

I had my backup drive connected, which contained my OS just prior to Snow Leopard install.

As I was using Mail.app and Firefox, I started getting repeated beachballs and freezing. I could hear the external whirring constantly, so I ejected it. The smart eject feature came up telling me that it was in use (no explanation what program was using it, there shouldn't have been one). I forced an Eject and now everything is OK.

Strange stuff.

 

[dtravis7]

CWA, I wonder what that was all about?

If you figure it out let us know. If I were not so tired I would install right now but I have to catch a hour or so more sleep then will install SL.

 

[ablanco-wt]

Installing Snow Leopard.

I'm a bit of a newbie when it comes to new software for my mac and such and had one quick question.

When installing Snow Leopard will one lose iLife ('08 in my case) and iWork ('08 as well)? Do you recommend backing up all files, or is the process usually quite sound?

Thanks for your responses.

 

[coolbreeze]

I became too anxious and since I had free time today to install, I purchased snow leopard via retail. I will still seek my $9.99 copy and give to my son.

 

[nextgenerationx]

quicktime 10?

ok, i installed snow leopard, i'm trying to test all the new features, i haven't gone through them all just yet but what happened to quicktime 10? every time i open a file that uses quicktime its still version 7 pro? any help? thanks