Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Shipping in September: $29 for Leopard Users

[gctwnl]

According to Macworld, it's $499 for unlimited clients. Ships in September.

http://www.macworld.com/article/141032/2009/06/snowserver.html

Yes, $499 for unlimited clients. It used to be $499 for 10 clients and $999 for unlimited clients. So for small enterprise that has been using the 10-client edition, the price stays effectively the same and the upgrade from Leopard to Snow Leopard is as expensive as the upgrade from Tiger to Leopard was.

Apple is dropping the price for those that do not need the price drop and effectively keeping it the same for those that do. And there is no upgrade pricing at all.

 

[Eidorian]

I think the reason Apple is slowing down with Mac OS X releases is because they are literally running out of improvements. And that's a good thing, in a way. A lot of missing functionality between, say, Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X has been filled, and a lot of disadvantages that Windows used to have are now matched.

I think we're reaching that point as well. Picture somewhat related.

But in general, Apple does tend to be quicker to release what it considers major OS upgrades, which is why I'm under the impression that in certain situations, the overall cost of ownership of Mac OS X could wind up being more than Windows, although for most people, that won't be the case.

Well if you're going to upgrade all the time vs. being content with what you have. That applies to many things though.

 

[THX1139]

i dont get it
if blank harddrive then how you install snow leopard? does it still work?

You should try reading before posting. This has been addressed several times in this thread.

 

[Quillz]

So will they be chargin $129 for Mac OS 10.7?

Maybe, maybe not. It really depends on what it offers.

Snow Leopard being $29 makes sense because it's more of an improvement upon Leopard than a real, standalone release. It adds very few new features, if any at all, and thus it would be hard to justify a $129 price point to most users, who will never look past the GUI.

But if 10.7 adds some radical new features, then maybe they will charge $129. Time will tell.

 

[windywoo]

And OS 10.4.11 runs on my iBook G3 500MHz that I bought nine years ago...so what? 90% of computer users run Windows because they are forced to by their employers, or simply because they are poor ignorants that have lived in caves for years...EVERY single person I helped switch over the last year is not even considering turning back to that piece of **** that Windows is...and I mean more than 10 switchers in just 1 year.

As for the $29, quit the ********, please. There is no way anyone can say that this major upgrade is not worth it...and it does NOT require purchasing a new Mac, unless your machine is really that old. And how the hell can you say that Windows 7 is cheaper? Not even the ridiculous starter edition can justify itself. Finally, why don't you try Vista on a Pentium 3, like I do with the latest version of Tiger on my old iBook? Go figure...

You completely missed the point. To an existing Windows user the cost of switching to Snow Leopard is far greater than the cost of upgrading to Windows 7.

So your argument that "Windows is dead" holds little water.

This site is called macrumors, not macignorance.

 

[jablko]

I think it's sadly funny that my personal MBP will support OpenCL but my newer and much more expensive work MP won't because of the ATI card. It's also odd because ATI has been much more vocal about supporting OpenCL on multiple platforms than Nvidia, which is trying to push CUDA (though Nvidia has done a lot of OpenCL work too).

It seems strange to leave so many desktop users out in the cold with this, especially since our GPUs support QE and OpenGL, and ATI uses basically the same drivers for the last few generations of chips on Linux and Windows.

It will be interesting if the OSX86 folks will hack OpenCL support for a broader range of video cards than the true Mac hardware buyers get.

 

[Goona]

Lets see Microsoft run any of those useless commercials now.

 

[hrl]

Now, MS won't have anything to whine about Mac. Let's see how 7 fares.

 

[RZetlin]

So I am paying $29 for "Windows XP SP3" upgrade?

 

[hrl]

I dun think so...

 

[Quillz]

Lets see Microsoft run any of those useless commercials now.

Except Snow Leopard requires you to purchase an (expensive) Apple computer.

After all, no one here would ever think of Hackintosh, right?

It's just amazing how it's perfectly fine for Apple to run mud-slinging, half-truth advertisements, yet when Microsoft does the same thing, it's an unforgivable sin. But I guess Apple can just do no wrong.

 

[Quillz]

So I am paying $29 for "Windows XP SP3" upgrade?

I'm not really sure what you mean? SP3 is a free update and doesn't add anything new, it's just a collection of hotfixes and bug fixes.

Snow Leopard is certainly a "minor" update, but it also brings new things to the table, even if they mainly relegated to the kernel. (You know, just like Vista.) Thus, it makes sense to charge for it, but not very much.

The fact is that even if an operating system made a million improvement to the kernel, most end users only care about new features that affect the GUI.

 

[milo]

It's just amazing how it's perfectly fine for Apple to run mud-slinging, half-truth advertisements, yet when Microsoft does the same thing, it's an unforgivable sin. But I guess Apple can just do no wrong.

Specifically what did apple claim that was mud-slinging or half true?

The only one that comes to mind is that OSX crashes less although that has been consistent with my experience.

 

[windywoo]

That using a PC makes you a geek, that all PCs are virus ridden, that Windows 7 is Vista in another coat of paint.

 

[Goona]

I'm not really sure what you mean? SP3 is a free update and doesn't add anything new, it's just a collection of hotfixes and bug fixes.

Snow Leopard is certainly a "minor" update, but it also brings new things to the table, even if they mainly relegated to the kernel. (You know, just like Vista.) Thus, it makes sense to charge for it, but not very much.

The fact is that even if an operating system made a million improvement to the kernel, most end users only care about new features that affect the GUI.

I don't give a damn about buying a Mac. They' ve been saying they are cheaper than Apple but yet their operating systems cost more. What a joke.

 

[Eidorian]

I don't give a damn about buying a Mac. They' ve been saying they are cheaper than Apple but yet their operating systems cost more. What a joke.

I hope you've taken into account OEM vs. upgrade and the price of a Mac vs. everything else.

We've already been over the economics of a hardware subsidy.

 

[smartalic34]

I am SO happy for 2 reasons...

1) Snow Leopard supports 32-bit Intel Macs... so my Core Duo MBP will be getting the upgrade

2) SL is only $29! great price...


my only question is, will the ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 in my MBP have any chance at all of being added for OpenCL support? is the hardware capable? I'm happy enough with Grand Central support, but OpenCL would be a nice bonus on my 3 year old machine...

 

[VoR]

Specifically what did apple claim that was mud-slinging or half true?

The only one that comes to mind is that OSX crashes less although that has been consistent with my experience.

They've had adverts pulled off the tv for false and exaggerated claims. You have to be pretty blinkered to not see any 'mud-slinging' in their marketing.

But anyway, they're just adverts designed to sell to clueless consumers that'll believe anything - I couldnt care less, I've got the internet.

 

[sammich]

I am SO happy for 2 reasons...

1) Snow Leopard supports 32-bit Intel Macs... so my Core Duo MBP will be getting the upgrade

2) SL is only $29! great price...

my only question is, will the ATI Mobility Radeon X1600 in my MBP have any chance at all of being added for OpenCL support? is the hardware capable? I'm happy enough with Grand Central support, but OpenCL would be a nice bonus on my 3 year old machine...

Yeah, I can't wait until September rolls around.

I'd like to know how OpenCL works on an ATI chip too. Although I did read somewhere that all ATI chips aren't in on OpenCL yet...I could be wrong.

 

[Justinf79]

Hopefully there will be future updates that will add support for more graphics chips to be compatible with OpenCL.

 

[milo]

That using a PC makes you a geek, that all PCs are virus ridden, that Windows 7 is Vista in another coat of paint.

Did they actually claim that ALL PCs are virus ridden? I thought they said that PCs are more susceptible to viruses? Which is absolutely true.

They've had adverts pulled off the tv for false and exaggerated claims. You have to be pretty blinkered to not see any 'mud-slinging' in their marketing.

Which ads and which claims specifically? Link please?

 

[Saladinos]

$29 is a fantastic price. The lack of OpenCL on the Intel X3100 is a shame, but I suppose its more of a hardware limitation than Apple being stubborn.

Apple had a great show, I thought. Snow Leopard looks fantastic, the iPhone's improving and the 3.0 GM is out today (for developers). Safari 4 is also much better than the betas - sporting a better looking and snappier UI.

 

[DELLsFan]

Hopefully there will be a check similar to the way that the Machine-specific restore discs use. Maybe if your machine ID matches a list of known machines that shipped with Leopard then it would install...

If so, upgrading to 10.6 might be a little challenging for the Hackintosh community.

I suspect the upgrade installer will simply search for an exisitng Leopard install to permit the upgrade.

 

[michael.lauden]

So I am paying $29 for "Windows XP SP3" upgrade?

not exactly. for how many revisions of the OS there were, it would be weird for it to be 10.5.8... not only the new UI but the complete rework of many applications - the added bonus of your OS to utilize multiple cores better.

if you don't want it - don't get it.. but i'd rather pay for something cheaper than most software that doesn't do much and get a whole new OS that runs a whole lot faster.

 

[Porco]

Great price, shame there's no PPC love - I know all the arguments about stuff that doesn't make sense for PPC, but there's plenty that would be nice to have nonethless. I guess my G5 will have to make do with plain old Leopard for a while yet. It gets that hot, the snow would have only melted anyway