Photos of Snow Leopard Disc and Retail Packaging?

[lex750]

Did anyone notice amazon.com changed the SL image to, "No Image Available"?

http://www.amazon.com/Mac-version-10-6-Snow-Leopard/dp/B001AMHWP8

 

[sammy2066]

I'm not sure how many of you are actually using 10A432. If you are then you will notice:

1 - Some languages have not been added to this build yet.

2 - Other languages like French are not complete.

3 - QTX has NO PREFERENCES. You cant even auto play a .mov file.

4 - The intro video is still that of Leopard.

5 - Install does not default into 64bit installations on 64bit compatible machines.

6 - This build is less stable than the previous build 10A421. I have been using it for a week now. I get more spinning beach-balls, system freezes, and more KP than I did with 10A421.

Why did they do a whole new DMG for this build? Because the previous two builds were available via software update. They wanted to test a full install on this build 10A432, not an update via software update.

The fact is that Snow Leopard build 10A432 is not finished, or stable enough to be GM.

Those all look like very valid points. Looks like we might see a GM after all.

 

[SBik2]

Did anyone notice amazon.com changed the SL image to, "No Image Available"?

http://www.amazon.com/Mac-version-10-6-Snow-Leopard/dp/B001AMHWP8

maybe its just when i load that page, but i also noticed they took down some of the pictures of the features. i thought there was some? maybe the interface still isnt done? i know not a complete overhaul, but some aspects.

 

[MrENGLISH]

Did anyone notice amazon.com changed the SL image to, "No Image Available"?

http://www.amazon.com/Mac-version-10-6-Snow-Leopard/dp/B001AMHWP8

I mentioned this back on page 4 of this very thread. Post #76

One thing I did notice earlier today is that Amazon removed the box art from their 10.6 pre-order pages. Maybe they are planning to replace them with this new box art...

 

[iBug2]

Apple writes the NVIDIA drivers for OS X.

Unfortunately not really. Majority of drivers are made by the vendor Ie: Apple send a bug report to nvidia if there is an issue with the drivers or for a driver request. nVidia write the code and apple just inputs it into their own format.

Only some Linux drivers for Nvidia hardware are written by 3rd party, because the generic drivers Nvidia provides for Linux are utter ...., but those drivers are written by reverse engineering and can't use all the silicon the cards provide.

As far as I know it's the same with ATI. Unlike Nvidia Ati did open some of their code over the years but only a small portion.

Now intel is joining the GPU game, they already did open their entire source for their hardware before they even ship the hardware so everyone can produce optimized drivers beforehand.

Apple's hardware acceleration for H.264 isn't even related to the dedicated GPU. Only 9400M chipsets accelerate H.264 MP4. Not even superior hardware such as GTX285 supports acceleration. So it's something else.

 

[Stellarola]

I'm not sure how many of you are actually using 10A432. If you are then you will notice:

1 - Some languages have not been added to this build yet.

2 - Other languages like French are not complete.

3 - QTX has NO PREFERENCES. You cant even auto play a .mov file.

4 - The intro video is still that of Leopard.

5 - Install does not default into 64bit installations on 64bit compatible machines.

6 - This build is less stable than the previous build 10A421. I have been using it for a week now. I get more spinning beach-balls, system freezes, and more KP than I did with 10A421.

Why did they do a whole new DMG for this build? Because the previous two builds were available via software update. They wanted to test a full install on this build 10A432, not an update via software update.

The fact is that Snow Leopard build 10A432 is not finished, or stable enough to be GM.

And 10.5.0 was a stable build? Hardly. How exactly are you getting KPs, running a hackintosh?

 

[lex750]

And 10.5.0 was a stable build? Hardly. How exactly are you getting KPs, running a hackintosh?

I've had KP twice in one week. No, I'm not running a hackintosh, and if I were that would still not justify my other FIVE reasons why I think 10A432 is not the GM. If your running 10A432 then you should know. Right?

 

[macintoshtoffy]

I'm not sure how many of you are actually using 10A432. If you are then you will notice:

1 - Some languages have not been added to this build yet.

Like what?

2 - Other languages like French are not complete.

Examples of things missing - Apple does keep some things in English because of branding.

3 - QTX has NO PREFERENCES. You cant even auto play a .mov file.

QTX is only a player - where did Apple said it was going to be as extensive as Quicktime 7?

4 - The intro video is still that of Leopard.

So? whats your point?

5 - Install does not default into 64bit installations on 64bit compatible machines.

Apple never said that those were going to get 64bit kernels. You can run 64bit binaries on a 32bit kernel and those applications can access more than 4GB of memory.

6 - This build is less stable than the previous build 10A421. I have been using it for a week now. I get more spinning beach-balls, system freezes, and more KP than I did with 10A421.

The problem is with your computer - not with Snow Leopard.

Why did they do a whole new DMG for this build? Because the previous two builds were available via software update. They wanted to test a full install on this build 10A432, not an update via software update.

Evidence being....?

The fact is that Snow Leopard build 10A432 is not finished, or stable enough to be GM.

Again, what evidence do you have to support your conclusion?

You bad experience as the result of your dodgy hardware is some how a benchmark to the release date of Snow Leopard?

If there was going to be another build; it would have been out by now - traditionally if they are getting to the end, there would have been a quick succession of releases; that hasn't happened.

On one hand 10A432 has been called GM by a reliable source, and you're stating it isn't because you have faulty hardware. Colour me unimpressed by your logic.

 

[WaxMechaniK]

Oh dear...

OK as a graphic designer, I will be VERY surprised if this turned out to be the final retail packaging. I personally think it's appalling for Apple.

This is simply one image and one line of text and the apple logo in it's simplest form. Anyone could easily design this with very little thought. Yes, there are plenty of minimalistic and less-is-more design theories that work, but this just doesn't seem to be implemented well at all.

With all do respect to the poor snow leopard creature, it's probably not the best photograph I have seen of the animal. The angle and placement of the photograph seems very awkward and just doesn't fit as the front cover image of a major software release.

The packaging design also doesn't fit well with the current and past themes of Apple's retail packaging. OK perhaps they have created a 'new' theme, if so, in my opinion, it's in the wrong direction. Where's the large 'X' logo? This logo is clearly still being used as it appears in the actual software build.

I will be hugely disappointed with Apple if this turns out to be the retail packaging. And I hope they don't include a couple of cliché photographs of the snow leopard as wallpaper like I've seen in the developer's builds. Again, not the best quality photos I've seen.

Damn I hate to be a moaner about this but as a graphic designer this is what I'm passionate about and I just don't feel this design is of the high quality we expect from Apple.

 

[macintoshtoffy]

OK as a graphic designer, I will be VERY surprised if this turned out to be the final retail packaging. I personally think it's appalling for Apple.

This is simply one image and one line of text and the apple logo in it's simplest form. Anyone could easily design this with very little thought. Yes, there are plenty of minimalistic and less-is-more design theories that work, but this just doesn't seem to be implemented well at all.

With all do respect to the poor snow leopard creature, it's probably not the best photograph I have seen of the animal. The angle and placement of the photograph seems very awkward and just doesn't fit as the front cover image of a major software release.

The packaging design also doesn't fit well with the current and past themes of Apple's retail packaging. OK perhaps they have created a 'new' theme, if so, in my opinion, it's in the wrong direction. Where's the large 'X' logo? This logo is clearly still being used as it appears in the actual software build.

I will be hugely disappointed with Apple if this turns out to be the retail packaging. And I hope they don't include a couple of cliché photographs of the snow leopard as wallpaper like I've seen in the developer's builds. Again, not the best quality photos I've seen.

Damn I hate to be a moaner about this but as a graphic designer this is what I'm passionate about and I just don't feel this design is of the high quality we expect from Apple.

Mate, stop it with this X fetish. Their Mac OS X 10.5 box right now is so out of place when compared to the rest of their product line up - its getting to become a bad joke.

Btw, this is a low resolution photo - stop beating your chest about being a designer; no one cares at all. You're like me and many others, people throwing our five cents worth into the pot.

 

[Macintosh Sauce]

Does anyone think that Apple threw this build (10A432) out there just to fool people? I'm starting to suspect that this is the case.

 

[Lordedmond]

OK as a graphic designer, I will be VERY surprised if this turned out to be the final retail packaging. I personally think it's appalling for Apple.

its a upgrade to leopard (service pack if you will) not a new OS aka Tiger or the next 10.7

you are not going to get a fancy package for $29 that has to pay for the development, disk,distribution, paper work and the BOX plus any mark up for the non apple vendors.

does not leave a lot for fancy art work , if it was a new OS and cost $129 it would be different

 

[iBug2]

Like what?


QTX is only a player - where did Apple said it was going to be as extensive as Quicktime 7?

If there was going to be another build; it would have been out by now - traditionally if they are getting to the end, there would have been a quick succession of releases; that hasn't happened.

On one hand 10A432 has been called GM by a reliable source, and you're stating it isn't because you have faulty hardware. Colour me unimpressed by your logic.

First of all Quicktime plugin needs preferences. It's odd that you can't even set your streaming bandwidth anymore.

Second, there's absolutely no reason to expect that Apple to seed every single build before GM. They didn't do that with Leopard. They seeded Leopard GM AFTER the retail store launch and they had the same build for over a month on ADC before that, which everyone thought to be GM but it wasn't.

 

[Anaemik]

LOL, ever heard of perspective? Looked at a macbook pro? Seen that that box is open?

Yes. Yes. No - have to admit I missed this, which is my duh. The reason I didn't inspect the top of the box for "openness" any further was because of this

I don't own a ton of Apple software, but with every bit of software I do own by them, the documentation actually conforms to the dimensions of the packaging - I've never seen a rectangular manual come out of a square box before with Apple.

 

[MRU]

OMG! My Snow Leopard upgrade disc just shipped....



















oh wait.. no it didn't


I don't understand why people are not waiting to see if SL is confirmed to be 10A432 instead of wasting bandwith and downloading the version knocking about on the torrent sites. At $29.99 just really don't see the point in downloading dirty knockoff's

 

[macintoshtoffy]

First of all Quicktime plugin needs preferences. It's odd that you can't even set your streaming bandwidth anymore.

You don't need to manually set it because it can be automatically checked and adjusted according to network conditions - something that has been done on Windows for years.

Second, there's absolutely no reason to expect that Apple to seed every single build before GM. They didn't do that with Leopard. They seeded Leopard GM AFTER the retail store launch and they had the same build for over a month on ADC before that, which everyone thought to be GM but it wasn't.

But this isn't Leopard - this is Snow Leopard, a different beast with different aims and a different testing regime. Oh, and the only reason why there was another build was to change the way in which the dock handled being on the side of the screen. If it weren't for that change, it wouldn't have been built again.

 

[Anaemik]

its a upgrade to leopard (service pack if you will) not a new OS aka Tiger or the next 10.7

you are not going to get a fancy package for $29 that has to pay for the development, disk,distribution, paper work and the BOX plus any mark up for the non apple vendors.

does not leave a lot for fancy art work , if it was a new OS and cost $129 it would be different

This is a GREAT argument, and explains everything perfectly. I can see the conversation between Bertrand Serlet and Steve Jobs exactly as it must have happened:

SJ: Bertrand!!!
BS: Coming Monsieur Steve...... 'ere I am, at your service!
SJ: Give me an update on 10.6
BS: Alors, we are almost ready to ship!
SJ: Almost?!?
BS: Well, th...
SJ: 64 bit transition is complete?
BS: Why yes monsieur, bu...
SJ: Grand Central is up and running.
BS: Naturellement, like a charm! It's jus...
SJ: Quicktime X is ready to go?
BS: Bien Sur! We even 'ave a cute new leetle icon for it. The pro...
SJ: You've managed to reduce the footprint of the entire OS?
BS: Down to under 6 gigabytes in many cases a.....
SJ: Then what the hell is the problem?!?
BS: Well, ahh, mon dieu, uhhhh, well, your 'ighness, it doesn't look, ahh, cheap enough.
SJ: WHAT?!?
BS: I know sir I...
SJ: What the f*%& are you talking about Bertrand?!?
BS: *gulp*
SJ: How many resources do I throw at your department year in, year out?
BS: ........
SJ: And all I ask from you in return is a little bit of GREATNESS. I told you I wanted this to ship for $29!
BS: But Steve, we can still ship it for that price, ees not a problem!
SJ: But $29 is CHEAP!
BS: I know Steve bu...
SJ: Then why the hell doesn't it LOOK cheap? What kind of morons do you have running around in your art department? Don't they know that real artists ship amateur crap?
BS: I try to tell them but I don't 'ave your way with words my lord
SJ: Well get on the phone to whatever monkey is in charge of the packaging, and tell them to hit up Google images for the least inspiring stock image of a Snow Leopard that they can find, and then send it to the nearest Jnr High School and tell the kids there's a free iPod shuffle for the person that comes up with the packaging that ignores the maximum number of our design goals. If we're gonna ship for $29 I want to make sure it damn well looks like it should only cost $10. Jesus! I leave this place for 6 months and you all fall apart. That's what I get for putting a one-eyed Frenchman in charge of software.....

 

[macintoshtoffy]

This is a GREAT argument, and explains everything perfectly. I can see the conversation between Bertrand Serlet and Steve Jobs exactly as it must have happened:

SJ: Bertrand!!!
BS: Coming Monsieur Steve...... 'ere I am, at your service!
SJ: Give me an update on 10.6
BS: Alors, we are almost ready to ship!
SJ: Almost?!?
BS: Well, th...
SJ: 64 bit transition is complete?
BS: Why yes monsieur, bu...
SJ: Grand Central is up and running.
BS: Naturellement, like a charm! It's jus...
SJ: Quicktime X is ready to go?
BS: Bien Sur! We even 'ave a cute new leetle icon for it. The pro...
SJ: You've managed to reduce the footprint of the entire OS?
BS: Down to under 6 gigabytes in many cases a.....
SJ: Then what the hell is the problem?!?
BS: Well, ahh, mon dieu, uhhhh, well, your 'ighness, it doesn't look, ahh, cheap enough.
SJ: WHAT?!?
BS: I know sir I...
SJ: What the f*%& are you talking about Bertrand?!?
BS: *gulp*
SJ: How many resources do I throw at your department year in, year out?
BS: ........
SJ: And all I ask from you in return is a little bit of GREATNESS. I told you I wanted this to ship for $29!
BS: But Steve, we can still ship it for that price, ees not a problem!
SJ: But $29 is CHEAP!
BS: I know Steve bu...
SJ: Then why the hell doesn't it LOOK cheap? What kind of morons do you have running around in your art department? Don't they know that real artists ship amateur crap?
BS: I try to tell them but I don't 'ave your way with words my lord
SJ: Well get on the phone to whatever monkey is in charge of the packaging, and tell them to hit up Google images for the least inspiring stock image of a Snow Leopard that they can find, and then send it to the nearest Jnr High School and tell the kids there's a free iPod shuffle for the person that comes up with the packaging that ignores the maximum number of our design goals. If we're gonna ship for $29 I want to make sure it damn well looks like it should only cost $10. Jesus! I leave this place for 6 months and you all fall apart. That's what I get for putting a one-eyed Frenchman in charge of software.....

Then obviously you have no clue as to what the uptodate package looks like - I'd say that they'll put more focus on their boxed set and the Snow Leopard for Leopard media box will be about as awe inspiring as the uptodate art work.

 

[Daveoc64]

I don't understand why people are not waiting to see if SL is confirmed to be 10A432 instead of wasting bandwith and downloading the version knocking about on the torrent sites. At $29.99 just really don't see the point in downloading dirty knockoff's

For most people it's nothing to do with the cost, it's the delay that can cause a lot of problems.

I'm lucky enough to have access to the final release of Windows 7 (100% legal and free too) and being able to install it now means that I wont have to bother with the hassle of installing when it is released at retail (which will be a less convenient time for me).

Many people have ordered/will order Snow Leopard as soon as they possibly can and even if they download it early they will keep that order, meaning that they have paid for the product - but they're getting the chance to install the product sooner rather than later.

A lot of people don't like artificial delays with product releases.

 

[macintoshtoffy]

For most people it's nothing to do with the cost, it's the delay that can cause a lot of problems.

I'm lucky enough to have access to the final release of Windows 7 (100% legal and free too) and being able to install it now means that I wont have to bother with the hassle of installing when it is released at retail (which will be a less convenient time for me).

Many people have ordered/will order Snow Leopard as soon as they possibly can and even if they download it early they will keep that order, meaning that they have paid for the product - but they're getting the chance to install the product sooner rather than later.

A lot of people don't like artificial delays with product releases.

I wouldn't say that these delays are artificial - When Leopard was released there were numerous KEXTs that were incompatible, applications incompatible - as much as some try to make out conspiracy theories regarding 10A432; the most logical thing is Apple want to get as many of the vendors support Snow Leopard on day one as to avoid any possible incompatibility hick ups that slow down the gradual upgrade of end users computers to Snow Leopard.

Make the OS cheap, pain free and all third parties on board and you'll find a faster migration speed.

 

[Daveoc64]

I wouldn't say that these delays are artificial - When Leopard was released there were numerous KEXTs that were incompatible, applications incompatible - as much as some try to make out conspiracy theories regarding 10A432; the most logical thing is Apple want to get as many of the vendors support Snow Leopard on day one as to avoid any possible incompatibility hick ups that slow down the gradual upgrade of end users computers to Snow Leopard.

Make the OS cheap, pain free and all third parties on board and you'll find a faster migration speed.

IMO any delay after the software goes Gold to actually releasing it is "artificial".

While it obviously takes time to make the DVDs, produce documentation and ship it out to stores, Apple still hasn't set an exact date - or in the case of the UK an exact price.

There is obviously a small allowance to be given as Apple hasn't confirmed this is the final release, but I'm surprised we don't have a date (Gold Master or not).

 

[MRU]

Many people have ordered/will order Snow Leopard as soon as they possibly can and even if they download it early they will keep that order, meaning that they have paid for the product - but they're getting the chance to install the product sooner rather than later.

A lot of people don't like artificial delays with product releases.

But if it turns out that 10A432 is 'not' the same as the final product they have made double the work and effort for nothing.....

 

[Daveoc64]

But if it turns out that 10A432 is 'not' the same as the final product they have made double the work and effort for nothing.....

While that's possible, most people seem settled with the idea that it is the final release.

 

[gikku]

I don't get the need for a DVD. such a waste. burning, printing, distribution...
Software update it. or at least an installer download.

 

[macintoshtoffy]

I don't get the need for a DVD. such a waste. burning, printing, distribution...
Software update it. or at least an installer download.

Imagine the support nightmare; there are people on this forum who can't seem to install an operating system without monumentally cocking it up - you really think they can burn a cd without something going wrong? I too would love to have faith in humanity but it is routinely shot to pieces on a regular basis.