Schiller to Demo Snow Leopard at Macworld?

[MacRumors]

The Guardian claims that Apple and its partners have been privately dropping hints to developers that Mac OS X Snow Leopard will ship earlier than expected and suggests that Phil Schiller will show it off at Macworld.

The article also recaps the advantages of both Grand Central and OpenCL which will be introduced with the new operating system:

The first technology, Grand Central, is designed to make better use of the Intel processors that sit inside the current range of Macs. The other, OpenCL, could have a more dramatic effect on performance for some programs as it will tap into the power of graphics processors (GPUs) that now goes to waste.

Despite the early showing, actual delivery of the software is not expected for at least a couple of months later. This timeframe would still bring it into the 1st Quarter 2009 timeframe that was previously suggested by Apple's Director of Engineering of Unix Technologies.

Article Link: Schiller to Demo Snow Leopard at Macworld?

[Tallest Skil]

Uh... if this WASN'T going to happen, we could safely assume that Apple has completely given up on their computers...

I still say WWDC release, though. I'd rather they not rush the darn thing.

[derek1984]

Hmmm...First revision of Macbook Pro with better processor and now Snow Leopard? It's looking more and more like I'll be purchasing a Macbook Pro this spring!

[Warbrain]

It wouldn't surprise me if this happens. I'd hope for something a bit bigger but it's obvious that it won't be happening now.

[talkingfuture]

Looking forward to the demo, I know I'll want to buy it but I don't know why yet!

[Kilamite]

I assume this'll just be a performance demo then? A whole "look how fast and efficient OS X is".

Looking forward to it though. Like to see the progress.

[macFanDave]

is that Phil Schiller will be making several BIG announcements. I'm giving you all the specificity of a typical TV psychic. There will be "several" and they will be "big."

The last time I saw Jobs speak, he acted more as a master of ceremonies (or emcee or MC, to you youngsters!) than as the one-man show he used to do. He trotted up many others to discuss different things.

Also, there have been many of these big speeches that have been duds, partly because nothing really exciting was revealed and partly because the rumor mill was exactly right and stole Jobs' thunder.

My psychic revelation is based on the idea that if Apple wants to pull off this changing of the guard (at least replacing Jobs as the public face of Apple), they have to give Schiller some killer material to ease the sting of not seeing our hero.

[FJ218700]

maybe they'll release a public beta after the keynote



-right

[balahir]

Willl Safari NOW feel snappier ;-) ?

[fastbite]

Yes please.

[KindredMAC]

I hate to be a downer but isn't this really just going to be a side by side performance show of how much faster Snow Leopard is on an Intel Mac than Leopard is on the same machine? Kinda like "Ooooh look how much faster 3G is over EDGE!!!"?

But don't get me wrong, I'm really hoping that's all it is and that there are no real new features added just yet.

I'm not ready to give up on my PowerMac G5 as my central hub for all things Mac in my house. I won't have the cash to replace it with a Mac Pro, or even high end iMac, until late 2009/2010.

[zombitronic]

I'm curious about what they'll show off, as well. If it's just Leopard, but faster, I think it'll be hard to demo. "Look, Safari is snappier! See? And look, Activity Monitor!" Regardless, I'll still want it. I just think it might be tough to wow the crowd.

[fastbite]

Originally Posted by macFanDave

is that Phil Schiller will be making several BIG announcements. I'm giving you all the specificity of a typical TV psychic. There will be "several" and they will be "big."

The last time I saw Jobs speak, he acted more as a master of ceremonies (or emcee or MC, to you youngsters!) than as the one-man show he used to do. He trotted up many others to discuss different things.

Also, there have been many of these big speeches that have been duds, partly because nothing really exciting was revealed and partly because the rumor mill was exactly right and stole Jobs' thunder.

My psychic revelation is based on the idea that if Apple wants to pull off this changing of the guard (at least replacing Jobs as the public face of Apple), they have to give Schiller some killer material to ease the sting of not seeing our hero.

I think you make 100% sense. I'm with you.

[~Shard~]

Since there aren't any new dazzling features in Snow Leopard and it is more about optimization and so forth, I'm curious to see what exactly the presentation will consist of. Slides of bar charts simply showing "x % efficiency increases" would be rather boring and unsatisfying, so perhaps there will be video demos to show certain activities (rendering, encoding, etc.) real time? Regardless, it will be nice to see more and learn more about the newest cat in the litter.

[Sky Blue]

oh yes schillip

yes yes yes


(i hate Entourage)

[~Shard~]

Originally Posted by zombitronic

I just think it might be tough to wow the crowd.

Agreed - as I said above, showing off performance metrics via slides, bar charts or what have you may look impressive, but is rather unfulfilling at the end of the day for not only those watching the keynote who might find the presentation content boring, but for future users in general who want or need to see the results for themselves before being satisfied and committed to purchasing the upgrade.

[rockdog]

Good news! But also a little expected I think.

[Mal]

Originally Posted by Tallest Skil

Uh... if this WASN'T going to happen, we could safely assume that Apple has completely given up on their computers...

Umm, why? Apple wasn't originally planning (publicly) to have Snow Leopard until June, since they announced last June it'd be about a year. This is ahead of schedule, which is a bonus. I wouldn't be surprised if there was little more to say about Snow Leopard at MacWorld.

Of course, with rumor it's now likely there will be a good bit of presentation on it (and Phil's a good guy to do it, he seems more technical than Jobs, who's more than willing to say "I don't know what that is, but it sounds like a good thing").

jW

[Kwill]

1. iPhone sales numbers
2. Snow Leopard demo
3. Various speed/capacity bumps
4. New MBP with glossy screens
5. iLife '09
   "One more thing..."
6. Additional glossy ADC

All presented to mostly silent audience who is assured of "a lot more great products in the pipeline."

[parapup]

I just hope that they do something about support for 3rd party hardware like Bluetooth Stereo Headsets, Expresscard adapter for eSATA etc.

I have a 64-bit Vista machine and it downloads and installs drivers for literally everything that I throw at it - obscure serial cards to bleeding edge wireless and everything in between. And all of them are reliable - haven't gotten a crash/hang/slowdown in a year.

The story with Leopard is different - 3rd party drivers are for the most part non-existent and when they exist they are very poor quality - case in point being Silicon Image eSATA Expresscards causing me several crashes. The wonderful Sony Bluetooth Stereo headset that works absolutely great with my Blackberry and Vista x64 - Leopard just has to be restarted to even keep getting the choppy sound.

Even if they invested a fraction of the amount of money they spend on ads they do defaming Vista into making more quality drivers available for 3rd party hardware - that would do great things for Apple

I bring this up because Snow Leopard is going to be true fully 64-bit kernel - and whatever existing drivers for 3rd party hardware exist - they aren't going to work, making the worse situation hopeless.

[Tallest Skil]

Originally Posted by Mal

Umm, why? Apple wasn't originally planning (publicly) to have Snow Leopard until June, since they announced last June it'd be about a year. This is ahead of schedule, which is a bonus. I wouldn't be surprised if there was little more to say about Snow Leopard at MacWorld.

Since Snow Leopard is a rewrite of the OS itself and not the addition of new features, I'd much rather they take the extra months and make sure it works.

I can deal with a new aspect of the GUI being buggy or a new app that doesn't work. I don't want to have to sit for a week without a computer because when I installed 10.6, I installed a broken Finder and a Grand Central station with a cross-wired switchboard.

[Sky Blue]

Originally Posted by Tallest Skil

Since Snow Leopard is a rewrite of the OS itself and not the addition of new features, I'd much rather they take the extra months and make sure it works.

If you suffered through Entourage, you'd want it out asap.

[pgifford]

I'm hoping for the unibody 17" MBP. They've had time to set up factories to produce them, right?

[sonicboom]

There will be at least one killer new feature... MS Exchange support.

This is huge in the business world, closing a major gap, and opening-up new markets.

I for one cannot wait for this feature, as I can ditch microsoft entourage (a pathetic exchange client), and hopefully have a better integrated environment in the workplace.

For me, that alone is worth the OS upgrade cost. The streamlining of OS X is welcome as well, and I'm glad they're taking the opportunity to do this.

[Tallest Skil]

Originally Posted by Sky Blue

If you suffered through Entourage, you'd want it out asap.

I refuse to use anything that Microsoft makes. Why would I have had to suffer through Entourage, anyway?