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

[ipedro]

The timing of this release is very telling.

The fact that in one year's time, they won't be migrating to a new OS that focuses on Touch – which Microsoft is aiming to build Windows 7 around – leads me to believe that Apple is indeed taking those two bridges seriously.

They're developing two distinct OS's:

OS X Leopard - This focuses on productivity and development. You'd use this to actually sit down and work; whether it be in design (Photoshop, Illustrator, AutoCAD), web development, authoring or most other forms of productive work that people use a computer for today.

OS X iPhone - This OS focuses on communication and entertainment (music, email, phone). It doesn't require more than touch commands. In fact, touch is preferable in those uses.

OS X Leopard won't become a touch interface. When Apple releases a tablet Mac, it will be no more than an enlarged iPhone, running Max OS X iPhone.

We saw the beginning of this today: the App Store makes the iPhone a fully fledged computer that has the ability to replace what most people use computers for:

- Communication
- Internet browsing / information gathering
- Entertainment

Apple today moved in an unexpected direction. Instead of replacing OS X Leopard with a new Touch based OS, they've gone and created a new Touch based OS that will be developed for alongside the existing one which they're going to polish and make more efficient and stable.

With an iPhone-like tablet, many people will find that they don't need a curser and folder based OS.

I for one am look forward to doing all my emailing, address-booking, iCal'ing, and information gathering (Sports scores, weather, dictionary, Wikipedia) on my iPhone 3G – when it arrives in Canada – rather than sitting at a computer to do all that I can do anywhere without lugging around a laptop.

My entertainment needs are already fulfilled by TV.

My MacBookPro will fill its use as my productivity computer (Aperture, Photoshop, Illustrator).

Steve Jobs is brilliant if you ask me. He's created an ecosystem that will do what Microsoft never saw coming: they – and most people – expected Apple to attempt to overtake Windows with Mac OS X. Nobody expected Apple to create a new platform (iPhone) and whisk right by Windows and Mac OS X.

I can see many offices that will no longer require to have workstations for their employees. Instead, each will need no more than an iPhone and in fact won't even require a desk in an office. The workplace of the near-future can very well be a bunch of couches where co-workers meet in person to discuss business and use their iPhones or tablets running OS X iPhone exclusively for all their work.

 

[kamiboy]

What good is 4 cores and terabytes of memory when the simple task of uncompressing a very large zipped file renders the OS completely unresponsive and useless for the arduous long duration of that process?

I expect things like that to happen on a wincrap machine but not OS X, yet it does.

Hell, I would settle for an OS where a single rouge or badly written program cannot bring down the whole system, and yet this happens often too.

shutdowns are also still major pain in the ass, so why can I not just hibernate a mac manually?

And so, many, many, many other things...

 

[shidoshi]

I don't know about purchased songs, but I use Bridge (CS3) to meta tag all my stuff (most of it is audio files). If you have Bridge, why not give it a try?

Not to toss aside your suggestion, but I shouldn't have to use Bridge in order to do that. I should be able to go to the Finder, Get Info on a file (or set view options in List view), and do it from there.

I know some would bring up the argument that "that's too hardcore-level for your average user," but it's no different than tagging music or photos really, both of which Apple supports.

 

[realgenius]

When I can't even use two different terms in Mail's search (so, say, find all e-mail from "Steve Jobs" that contain "Snow Leopard"), Mail is crap. And that's just one thing that sucks about the app.

command+space then:

from: Steve Jobs "snow leopard"

I agree; lame that you can't do it easily from Mail when you can do it from Spotlight.

Although you could just click the Save button on a search of From Steve Jobs and then add Entire Message contains "snow leopard" to create a smart mailbox. I am sure you are like me and don't want dozens of smart mailboxes around.

 

[Chimpy]

What good is 4 cores and terabytes of memory when the simple task of uncompressing a very large zipped file renders the OS completely unresponsive and useless for the arduous long duration of that process?

I expect things like that to happen on a wincrap machine but not OS X, yet it does.

Hell, I would settle for an OS where a single rouge or badly written program cannot bring down the whole system, and yet this happens often too.

shutdowns are also still major pain in the ass, so why can I not just hibernate a mac manually?

And so, many, many, many other things...

I regularly unzip and unrar large (20GB+) files while burning a DVD, watching video, and browsing with no noticeable lag.

In two years of use I've seen two kernel panics. I run everything under the sun, usually simultaneously on dual 24" screens.

You can manually Sleep a Mac.

And it's "rogue."

 

[Tosser]

Not to toss aside your suggestion, but I shouldn't have to use Bridge in order to do that. I should be able to go to the Finder, Get Info on a file (or set view options in List view), and do it from there.

I was in no way suggesting that should have to use it. I was just pointing you to how I go about it. I thought it might help you in your daily life.

I know some would bring up the argument that "that's too hardcore-level for your average user," but it's no different than tagging music or photos really, both of which Apple supports.

True. It's just tagging. And should be used as such.

 

[swingsong]

Again it's multi touch. Code clean up and revisions help smaller devices and scaling up the big guns keeps mac workstations relevant. Windows 7 will be delayed. What Microsoft releases will be garbage and soon Snow Leopard will support Macs which are all multi touch. You can do everything on-screen that you can do with a mouse.

 

[ipedro]

Again it's multi touch. Code clean up and revisions help smaller devices and scaling up the big guns keeps mac workstations relevant. Windows 7 will be delayed. What Microsoft releases will be garbage and soon Snow Leopard will support Macs which are all multi touch. You can do everything on-screen that you can do with a mouse.

I agree. You can do everything on-screen that you can do with a mouse... Just not with a keyboard.

Try typing a blog or writing a book on a touch device. The mouse will probably disappear in 5 years from the Mac line. A keyboard? I'm not convinced that you can type as effectively on a screen as you can on a keyboard.

 

[Bubba Satori]

SP1 or any of the Service packs that they made did nothing for performance

Yes they did.

 

[Val-kyrie]

Yeah and Apple themselves violated their NDA LOL. They since taken it down but

http://www.apple.com/ca/press/2008_06/snow_leopard.html

used to have this on it




Ooops hahahahaha

I think we should all question what was meant on the Apple site when it said, "Snow Leopard further extends support for modern hardware with Open Computing Language (OpenCL)." What is "modern"? Intel only?

 

[Tosser]

I think we should all question what was meant on the Apple site when it said, "Snow Leopard further extends support for modern hardware with Open Computing Language (OpenCL)." What is "modern"? Intel only?

It's there again, although not on the canadian site:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/snowleopard/

 

[NotChemist]

I'd be happy for some FLAC goodness in Quicktime X, along with whatever other speed and size optimizations that they'd like to throw in. Of course, paying $129 for all of that would hurt, but I'm a sucker for upgrades, so I'll probably end up doing it anyway.

 

[137489]

I think you're kidding yourself. Exchange is tried, tested and works which is why Apple and Nokia have had to licence it.

Maybe. Yes, exchange works alot better than others I have worked with (eh hem, Novell). But truth is, with the dealings I have been having with both MS and Dell lately, I am getting very tired of Microsoft and Dell.

I hate being told by MS Support; and I quote: "You damn I/T guys, our apps are for off the shelf computers only - not computers you build yourself" - or -"what do you mean your uninstalling it from one computer and putting it on another one, whenever you get a new computer you must re-buy the software (Even after I tell them and they verify it is not an OEM version, but a retail version)."

I can imagine what MS will say when people call saying, "I am trying to push Exchange to a Mobile Me"

the other truth is, everything I get rid of on the MS world, and buy specifically written for Mac OS X;

1. installs easier.
2. yet to crash.
3. Costs less
4. has more features
5. Easier to use.

I was recently training someone on his new Dell (XP, he did not want to even dare getting Vista). He saw my mac and said, "why can't my Dell be that easy and fun to use." I told him it is because of Windows.

 

[nuckinfutz]

I think we should all question what was meant on the Apple site when it said, "Snow Leopard further extends support for modern hardware with Open Computing Language (OpenCL)." What is "modern"? Intel only?

Good catch. Modern Hardware could indeed be a euphemism for Intel hardware

 

[137489]

I think we should all question what was meant on the Apple site when it said, "Snow Leopard further extends support for modern hardware with Open Computing Language (OpenCL)." What is "modern"? Intel only?

Hmm, I wonder if that means a new computer coming out on AMD chips to finally shut up all the gamers who have been complaining they want a gaming computer.

or, could it mean they are going to streamline the code to run on any hardware (kinda link Windows - runs on Intel and AMD), so it give an in to just use the best chips available at the time without any rewrite (ie. if Intel has a new chip, or AMD had a better chip, etc).

I also wonder if it had anything to do with the semi-conductor company they bought.

 

[sixth]

Will someone please explain how they are planning on adding out of the box exchange server support?!? What the heck does that mean?? Why is no one hitting on that??

1. Is apple going to try to hit more in enterprise?
2. Better AD (active directory) support??
3. You can't have exchange support without true entourage exchange support..if anyone has used entourage in the enterprise knows its a joke! It works but not like outlook.
4. Mail app to get a overhaul to support true exchange support?
5. Do they realize the ms doesn't really care 'enough' about entourage?

This whole exchange thing has me going...I really want to hear what all of a sudden apple is trying to do or plans to do with exchange.

 

[akac]

Other stuff they only half-finish. What happened to resolution
independence? Or ZFS anyone? If they'd put half the energy into
that that they put into the iPhone, we would have it by now.

ZFS - can't talk about it. RI I can. RI is in Leopard. It works. Very well. The problem is the apps. Most apps are not written to use it yet. Apple is not going to turn on RI until the majority of apps are updated for it.

I've used RI. I've used some apps that support RI. It works extremely well.

 

[stainlessliquid]

Im mostly wondering why the hell its taking them around 2 years to come out with a service pack. This thing should be out this fall, not summer/fall 2009. What are they going to do with regular leopard updates now? Ignore them? Purposely leave things unfixed to sell 10.6?

I used to think Apple couldnt get any lazier and that this year would be when they get out of their slump. Boy was I wrong. The only thing theyre doing for 2008 is releasing a version of the iphone they should have (and totally had the relevant techology to do so) released last year. Theyre becoming the new Dell.

 

[nuckinfutz]

Im mostly wondering why the hell its taking them around 2 years to come out with a service pack. This thing should be out this fall, not summer/fall 2009. What are they going to do with regular leopard updates now? Ignore them? Purposely leave things unfixed to sell 10.6?

I used to think Apple couldnt get any lazier and that this year would be when they get out of their slump. Boy was I wrong. The only thing theyre doing for 2008 is releasing a version of the iphone they should have (and totally had the relevant techology to do so) released last year. Theyre becoming the new Dell.

Something tells me you're wrong a lot.

 

[imac9556]

If no one has said this in the earlier threads, this kind of reminds me of what Apple did with Mac OS 8.5 and OS 8.6. 8.6 seemed like it was for stability and not new 'features' like 8.5 did when it introduced sherlock and the internet features.

 

[ClimbingTheLog]

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

No, no, no - Apple isn't competing with Microsoft, they're competing with RIM! They plan to destroy RIM, get halo effect, and use that to destroy Microsoft. OK, maybe not destroy...

This seems a common meme but I can tell you as someone who has written an awful lot of cross platform C code, the best code is code which compiles and runs well on a range of platforms.

Amen to that, bro.

Ha! an admission of poor QC, coding and bloat on Leopard!

Yeah, but we knew that already. What was 10.5.3, 350 bug fixes? Tiger and Leopard shipped "on time", not when they were done, and major big features (xrez GUI, e.g.) slipped because of it.

I dont want a new feature unless it ESSENTIAL, and not fluff

Well, that's might subjective.

I thought "clean up" was the purpose of the 10.x.1 through 10.x.9 (or .10 or .11) releases. To me it seems hard to justify a "feature-less" major release. I think they'll have to put some new goodies in there, especially if it's not out until next June, instead of January which was the previous rumor.

Man, paid bugfix upgrades are a real non-starter, and a reputation killer. If they put in features, then with their new accounting bull's hit, they need to charge for it. 10.5.10 would be fab.

also, is it a snow leopard because it's a feature freeze?

Good catch!

I still think you're all missing the multi touch boat. That's what is so super secret.

Not just that - I think we get the scalable GUI and a unified code base again, so the same OS and apps run on all Apple devices regardless of the screen size.

What? No ZFS?

It'll probably be in there, but after what Jonathan did Steve won't let anybody talk about it.

This is also what Psystar and Apple have been working on for a while now...

Steve Jobs doesn't let Pystar wash his feet.

IF you had the call, what would ya pick instead?

Ceiling Cat!

Leopard was a let-down without a doubt. However, at least Apple is working to make a better product. I am really happy with Leopard's features so taking the time to make it actually work is fine with me. It should be discounted to current Leopard users however!

How much do you get for beta testing Leopard 10.5.0-10.5.current (all significantly buggy)?

 

[chris200x9]

........... However, Jobs is never one to put his foot in his mouth if he can't deliver on a promise, so it's the likely reason why he said nothing today about Touch in OS X.................

I don't mean to be a troll but yes he does all the time....leopards release date......third party iPhone apps......

 

[mdriftmeyer]

http://www.apple.com/macosx/snowleopard/

*Performance will vary based on system configuration, network connection, and other factors. Benchmark based on the SunSpider JavaScript Performance test on a 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo-based iMac with Mac OS X Snow Leopard and 2GB of RAM. All features on this page are subject to change.

Good catch. Modern Hardware could indeed be a euphemism for Intel hardware

They are for GPUs.

OpenCL

Another powerful Snow Leopard technology, OpenCL (Open Compute Library), makes it possible for developers to efficiently tap the vast gigaflops of computing power currently locked up in the graphics processing unit (GPU). With GPUs approaching processing speeds of a trillion operations per second, they’re capable of considerably more than just drawing pictures. OpenCL takes that power and redirects it for general-purpose computing.

 

[milo]

It was, which must be why some people still hate it so much, because Vista (64-bit) now is much better than XP.

That's not what I've been hearing. Unless things have changed very recently, performance on vista 64 is much worse than performance on XP 64 with things like audio apps.

I haven't seen anything specific. Since they are saying a year from now rather than the rumored six months, it's possible there won't be any announcement on that for a while.

Wouldn't developers want to know that since it will make a difference in the apps they're working on?

 

[Wild-Bill]

I think we should all question what was meant on the Apple site when it said, "Snow Leopard further extends support for modern hardware with Open Computing Language (OpenCL)." What is "modern"? Intel only?

Nothing to question. OpenCL refers to (as per 's SnowLeopard site) tapping into the available resources of the GPU. So when they are refering to modern hardware, they are actually referring to nVidia graphics cards.

I just read something over at either Engadget or TUAW or the Inquirer that said that Apple are quite smitten with nVidia's CUDA technology, which puts the GPU to work on computational computing tasks, as well as handling its normal visual output duties.

So it sounds like they are going to work with nVidia to slap some code into SnowLeopard.

I'd really like to know how much Apple is planning on charging those of us with Leopard for the snow variant. So, are we supposed to pay for additional security and stability??? If they know what's good for them, they will come up with a discounted rate for existing Leopard users for the OS they "should" have released, instead of directing WAY TOO MANY resources into the iPhone.