Mac OS X 'Snow Leopard' to Focus on Performance, Quality

[MacRumors]

During the Worldwide Developer Conference Keynote today, Apple previewed OS 10.6 "Snow Leopard." True to rumors, the release will focus on performance rather than new features.

“We have delivered more than a thousand new features to OS X in just seven years and Snow Leopard lays the foundation for thousands more,” said Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vice president of Software Engineering. “In our continued effort to deliver the best user experience, we hit the pause button on new features to focus on perfecting the world’s most advanced operating system.”

A new technology called "Grand Central" will make it easy for developers to create programs that take full advantage of the power of multi-core Macs. Also introduced is Open Computing Language (OpenCL), which extends the computing power of the GPU to any application written with OpenCL commands. Snow Leopard will also raise the software limit for RAM to 16 TB.

Also introduced is Quicktime X, which "optimizes support for modern audio and video formats resulting in extremely efficient media playback." Safari will also be receiving an optimized Javascript rendering engine (previously rumored) that will increase performance by 53%.

Beyond speed enhancements, Snow Leopard will also include out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange 2007. Apple is aiming for the software to ship in "about a year."

Article Link

[Eidorian]

Quicktime X sounds like it's going to leverage GPU based decoding. Well we would hope so.

[flopticalcube]

About a year. So WWDC 09. No word on PPC yet.

[Steve Jobs=God]

that NDA lasted long didn't it?

[seashellz]

Ha! an admission of poor QC, coding and bloat on Leopard!
I dont want a new feature unless it ESSENTIAL, and not fluff

Make a fast, stable rock solid OS that we can all be proud of as Steve leaves the companyy

[milo]

Any confirmation of intel/PPC support?

Any mention of pricing?

[AliensAreFuzzy]

I really like the fact that Apple is focusing on optimizing and slimming down the OS rather than keep trying to add features. Cutting down on the bloat might really help speed things up and make Safari snappier

[swingsong]

I think they are skipping the fact that this is all optimized for Tablet type devices and all the Macs will have multi touch on screen soon.

[milo]

Originally Posted by Steve Jobs=God

that NDA lasted long didn't it?

This info is from an apple press release. I assume there's more info that they're not releasing publicly, but I assume it will leak before long.

[happydude]

about a year, this is soooooo long from now. obviously great their working and playing with it, but not even on my scope of things to think about!

[ipedro]

Pricing? This is coming out a year from now.. they haven't even figured out the final feature set.

[derryquinn]

Whats with all the exchange mania? Make apple.... emm..iCompetingProduct

[Axemantitan]

Originally Posted by seashellz

Ha! an admission of poor QC, coding and bloat on Leopard!
I dont want a new feature unless it ESSENTIAL, and not fluff

Make a fast, stable rock solid OS that we can all be proud of as Steve leaves the companyy

When did he say anything about leaving?

[yellow]

Why oh why.. such a silly name?
Do anti-fanbois really need such canon fodder?

[autrefois]

I have mixed feelings on this. I like getting a brand new operating system every 12-18 months or so, and always look forward to the new features.

But for years, I have said that Apple (and Windows) should just work on perfecting what they've got instead of constantly trying to add new things. I'm sure some people will say Leopard is perfect and bug-free, but this isn't the case. If they spend time on the little quirks and bugs (feel free to visit the discussion forums at apple.com if you aren't aware of any), then that will be a welcome change.

Now, if they expect $129 for a what appears to be in essence a maintenance release, they have another thing coming...

[pjrobertson]

Originally Posted by AliensAreFuzzy

I really like the fact that Apple is focusing on optimizing and slimming down the OS rather than keep trying to add features. Cutting down on the bloat might really help speed things up and make Safari snappier

Good point. I hope Safari will be snappier. That's all I really want

Do you think the mention of 'multi-cores' is referring to Intel Macs (as they're the only ones with multi cores.) Possible hint at optimization for Intel as opposed to PPC

EDIT: I stand corrected. The last G5s were dual core.

[BlizzardBomb]

As I thought, January was a bit too early. Wanted to hear more, but still great to hear these little tidbits.

[Cougarcat]

I wish they'd talked about this in the Keynote instead of all those iPhone app demos...

[derryquinn]

Originally Posted by AliensAreFuzzy

I really like the fact that Apple is focusing on optimizing and slimming down the OS rather than keep trying to add features. Cutting down on the bloat might really help speed things up and make Safari snappier

Damn, that was a great implementation! 10/10

[Mousse]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

Also introduced is Open Computing Language (OpenCL), which extends the computing power of the GPU to any application written with OpenCL commands.

Hopefully this will mean proper GPU's in all future Macs. Down with intergrated graphics.

[stagi]

This might be one of the first OS upgrades that I skip, unless its priced lower than $129

[longofest]

Originally Posted by Steve Jobs=God

that NDA lasted long didn't it?

From their press release I imagine we will get even more info as the day goes on.

[Axemantitan]

Originally Posted by AliensAreFuzzy

I really like the fact that Apple is focusing on optimizing and slimming down the OS rather than keep trying to add features. Cutting down on the bloat might really help speed things up and make Safari snappier

XSlimmer helps with that, too. (Though, obviously not to the extent that they are planning with 10.6)

[nuckinfutz]

Well looks like those "rumors" were pretty much right on.

OpenCL probably leverages tech like Nvidia's CUDA but it's probably written in a way so that it'll be able to support AMD's graphics options as well as Intel's Larrabee GPGPU.

No word on PPC yet but I have little reason to think that PPC support may be gone.

Quicktime X sounds great along with Grand Central which will be needed to take advantage of the incredible new Nehalem architecture.

Snow Leopard, regardless of whether people love/hate the name, will be a boon for Macs next year.

[SnakeXs]

Originally Posted by yellow

Why oh why.. such a silly name?
Do anti-fanbois really need such canon fodder?

It makes sense? Same core name as Leopard, as it's the same core OS. They're merely tweaking what they have.

I'm curious about pricing. I'd be stunned if this was a 10.1 situation, but would also love it. Full price may be too much to ask for most people, though.