Mac OS X Snow Leopard Officially Launched Today

[AidenShaw]

It might help get wider adoption if the prefixes for the old new method weren't Kibi, Mebi, Gibi, etc..

...fixed the typo.

That's personally why I still use gigabyte to refer to 1024 megabytes.

But "Meg" and "Gig" are still correct for file and disk sizes. RAM and other memory, like caches are the only things still measured in binary units.

To be consistent, does OSX 10.6 use "MiB" and "GiB" on memory displays? It would be really dumb if "GB" meant 10^9 for disk/file displays, and 2^30 for memory displays.

Another thing to watch out for is when you compare disk speeds. Some might show MiB/sec (but labeled as MB/sec). ("MiB/sec" has always been wrong - disk manufacturers have been using "MB/sec" since "the dawn of time".)

ps: I usually say "meg" or "gig" in speech too, but write the correct units )

 

[wolfenkraft]

I'd say "CS practice" instead of "CS standard", but since you did use lower-case "standard" it's more or less the same....

Now, if we can only get Microsoft to abandon the old, deprecated method and follow the international standard nomenclature!

Why are you/anyone happy that the HD manufacturers are winning/won this fight? They abandoned practice in a marketing move to seem like they're offering a greater value... Really, it's not okay.

 

[MorphingDragon]

You would probably do yourself a great favor if you buy new Mac now, no matter what you bought years ago...

Shh...

The fanboy inside might hear!!!

 

[AidenShaw]

Why are you/anyone happy that the HD manufacturers are winning/won this fight? They abandoned practice in a marketing move to seem like they're offering a greater value... Really, it's not okay.

Clarity and standards have won, not the HD manufacturers.

Apple (and Microsoft - still, and others) have been wrong in using binary notation for hard drive measurements - that's been fixed.

Your Apple's "Gigabit" ethernet is 1,000,000,000 bits per second, not 1,073,741,824 bits per second. Your 2.4 GHz Intel CPU is 2,400,000,000 HZ, not 2,576,980,378 HZ.

Your 500 GB byte disk drive is now 500,000,000,000 bytes, not the incorrect 465.6612873077392578125 bytes that 10.5 (and Windows) reports.

The "computer science" shorthand that "1000 == 1024" is wrong, and has always been wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

I applaud Apple for having the confidence to correct their mistakes, now we need to get Microsoft to embrace the international standards for notation.

 

[flux73]

Whoa. Gained more than 22 GB after SL install. I must've had a lot of crap on my machine - 2008 uni Macbook Pro.

OTOH, my USB audio device stopped working (Lexicon Ionix U22) and I haven't figured out a fix yet.

Haven't tried 64 bit mode yet. Noticeably faster? Any benchmarks out there yet? I'm guessing that 64 bit mode won't help my USB audio driver issue. Pretty happy with the upgrade so far. Fan doesn't come on nearly as loudly or as often as before when I play full screen YouTube clips.

Haven't really tested out QT yet. Anyone think it's better than VLC player yet?

Re: the HDD "debate" - who (on this board) cares? When was the last time anyone on this board was ever effected or made the wrong purchase because they got the 'wrong impression' of a HDD's size? If 120 "GB" wasn't enough, you would've gone to 250 GB regardless of how accurate the stated size was. The only people who give a damn are the companies who probably get frivolously sued by idiots who don't understand the difference. Honestly, what we need is legal reform so that there are consequences for suing when you're an idiot.

 

[Eric S.]

They can have my 1024-byte KB when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.

 

[AidenShaw]

They can have my 1024-byte KB when they pry it from my cold dead fingers.

It's been pried, your body is cooling now. The international definition of "k", "M" and "G" are now respected by the Lords of 1 Infinite Loop.

Let's shift the topic to "why is Microsoft so stupid as to show that 1024 is 1000 - are they idiots? Apple uses the standard definition.".

 

[Wotan31]

My computer is far from useless, but I leave for a super science fair in Kyoto soon and I was hoping to have SL before then. True it still might ship today, but I am not so sure. I guess we will see what happens.

Why??? You want to install something new and unproven right before leaving town? Sounds like a terrible idea, actually.

 

[Anaemik]

Whoa. Gained more than 22 GB after SL install. I must've had a lot of crap on my machine - 2008 uni Macbook Pro.

Try reading the last few posts - you didn't gain 22GB

Haven't really tested out QT yet. Anyone think it's better than VLC player yet?

Until it supports Matroska, it won't be able to compete with VLC imo. The screen recording is pretty cool, although it would be nice to have some options for it. My Quicktime Pro 7 license remained intact also, which is nice.

 

[xIGmanIx]

i plan on doing a clean install later, but have to move all my user data onto my NAS before hand. I was hoping that SL wouldn't break anything, but i still think there are some gotchas out there, so i am hoping those are tightened up by the next major update/release. I was hoping to have a seamless install experience since this was mostly "under the hood" improvements, but i don't think that is case though. I would however welcome some broken apps if it kept me from getting random beach balls with only one application open or while surfing the web.

 

[0racle]

Wow, Snow Leopard is totally boring. I hope we don't have to wait another two years for an upgrade. Gotta admit, I'm actually looking forward to Windows 7 now.

Ya, ok. Windows 7 is as much an upgrade to Vista as Snow Leopard is to Leopard. Both are very good OS's and worth the upgrades from their predecessors, but Windows 7 has the same jaw dropping userland features that SL has.

SL is performing very nicely here on a first Gen MacBook (CoreDuo). It was well worth the $30.

 

[KnightWRX]

Wow, Snow Leopard is totally boring. I hope we don't have to wait another two years for an upgrade. Gotta admit, I'm actually looking forward to Windows 7 now.

Yeah, UI candy is the only important thing in an OS

 

[bankshot]

Ordered from Amazon on Thursday, 8/27 for $25. Probably won't ship till Monday.

Out of curiosity, what shipping method? I ordered on Friday with super saver shipping, and got the notice that it shipped yesterday. In my experience, Amazon always ships their super saver stuff quite a bit earlier than what they tell you when you place the order (they claim an extra 5-9 days, but it's usually just 2-4), but even this was surprisingly quick.

Of course, I'm still not going to install for at least a few weeks as I monitor the bug reports across the web. Just figured I ought to take advantage of the $25 pricing while it lasts, as it probably won't go any lower.

 

[cult hero]

I should have waited. Now I'll have to work on Maya on my laptop until 3rd party developers catch up. PLUS I cannot install anything. I wish I could sue Apple right about now. I am so angry!

So... you installed on Snow Leopard on a machine you're using pro tools on at release and didn't even make a backup of your other setup before doing so?

Am I the only person who cloned my machine before the install?

 

[DMann]

Wow, Snow Leopard is totally boring. I hope we don't have to wait another two years for an upgrade. Gotta admit, I'm actually looking forward to Windows 7 now.

As for SL's UI enhancements; Exposé's integration with the Dock & with Quick Look, new scrollable and hierarchical interface for Stacks, all sporting new 'Illuminous' theme and effects, gorgeous new interface for Quicktime X, 4X higher resolution in iChat, SL's UI is far from boring, and easily outclasses competition. Changes under the hood; new multi-threaded/Cocoa Finder, Open CL, Grand Central, 64-bit hybrid, Exchange support, Wake on Command, faster boot, wake, and shut down times, faster Time Machine back-ups, column selection in Preview, Keyboard Substitutions, et. al., make it all the more compelling as a significant upgrade.

 

[cult hero]

Clarity and standards have won, not the HD manufacturers.

Apple (and Microsoft - still, and others) have been wrong in using binary notation for hard drive measurements - that's been fixed.

Your Apple's "Gigabit" ethernet is 1,000,000,000 bits per second, not 1,073,741,824 bits per second. Your 2.4 GHz Intel CPU is 2,400,000,000 HZ, not 2,576,980,378 HZ.

Your 500 GB byte disk drive is now 500,000,000,000 bytes, not the incorrect 465.6612873077392578125 bytes that 10.5 (and Windows) reports.

The "computer science" shorthand that "1000 == 1024" is wrong, and has always been wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

I applaud Apple for having the confidence to correct their mistakes, now we need to get Microsoft to embrace the international standards for notation.

Or get them to use the Ki, Mi, Gi, Ti notations instead like Linux does. I'm Very happy they made this change. Now when I installed a 500GB HD it actually lists itself as 500(.2) GB.

I have a feeling RAM is still measured by CS standards though, isn't it?

 

[*LTD*]

As for SL's UI enhancements; Exposé's integration with the Dock & with Quick Look, new scrollable and hierarchical interface for Stacks, all sporting new 'Illuminous' theme and effects, gorgeous new interface for Quicktime X, 4X higher resolution in iChat, SL's UI is far from boring, and easily outclasses competition. Changes under the hood; new multi-threaded/Cocoa Finder, Open CL, Grand Central, 64-bit hybrid, Exchange support, Wake on Command, faster boot, wake, and shut down times, faster Time Machine back-ups, column selection in Preview, Keyboard Substitutions, et. al., make it all the more compelling as a significant upgrade.

Should be made a sticky.

As for the UI enhancements, it seems the eye-candy has gotten more refined and elegant. Just look at the touches to the new Exposé. Then we move on to icon previews, the new look of Quicktime, etc. SL oozes class, while the competition has opted for a look that looks like a glass factory explosion involving circus clowns.

I mean, right now, the combination of the new Exposé, Dock Exposé, Quicklook, Stacks, and icon previews make SL stand head and shoulders (or jaws and paws) above anything else out there. There is simply no better way to work with files and windows.

 

[twoodcc]

i still need to install on a few more machines

 

[Sehnsucht]

....gorgeous new interface for Quicktime X....

The new Quicktime theme is awesome. They should have made this the default theme for all of SL.

 

[michael.lauden]

The new Quicktime theme is awesome. They should have made this the default theme for all of SL.

theme? you mean completely rewritten application?

 

[Sehnsucht]

theme? you mean completely rewritten application?

I know it's rewritten, I was just referring to the new appearance.

 

[ricosuave]

Quicktime X

Sorry if this has been covered in this thread. Has anybody found a way to have a video start playing after you double click it? Now it just loads to QX but you have to push the play button. Q7 had a preferences for that.

 

[DMann]

The new Quicktime theme is awesome. They should have made this the default theme for all of SL.

All signs point to "YES" regarding the foreshadowing of the 'Illuminous' theme and interface seen in Quicktime X. Elegance redefined!

 

[MrCrowbar]

Mail finally hides at login if set to in User preferences.

Worth the upgrade then.

So far I haven't read any major issue with Snow Leopard. And all the freeware app developers are working like crazy to push out beta versions that work well.

I think I might upgrade (i.e. cleanly install and copy back data) my machines to Snow Leopard this week.

 

[DMann]

Should be made a sticky.

As for the UI enhancements, it seems the eye-candy has gotten more refined and elegant. Just look at the touches to the new Exposé. Then we move on to icon previews, the new look of Quicktime, etc. SL oozes class, while the competition has opted for a look that looks like a glass factory explosion involving circus clowns.

No Joke. Great analogy!

I mean, right now, the combination of the new Exposé, Dock Exposé, Quicklook, Stacks, and icon previews make SL stand head and shoulders (or jaws and paws) above anything else out there. There is simply no better way to work with files and windows.

SL is in a league of its own in terms of style, form, functionality, file management, organization, and refinement - the consummate creator of the user experience.