Apple has announced the release of then next version of OS X, 10.6, Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard will be released this Friday, 28. August. It will bring many refinements to their already praised operating system. OS X Leopard is considered by many to be the market leader in user interface, stability and speed. Snow Leopard builds on this, making it even better. I have pre-ordered mine already.
News for everybody
- Smaller: Snow Leopard is 7GB smaller, while keeping all the features and more. This is because of optimizing in the code.
- Even faster: Snow Leopard is significantly faster, most noticeable at start up, shut down, connecting to networks, and using built in programs like mail, safari and finder.
- Using your hardware more effectively: Apple has made technologies that will make it easier for third party software developers to make software faster, and more power efficient.
- New mediaplayer (QuickTime X): QuickTime X is based partially on the research done for the iPhone video player. It also contains video editing tools, which was previously a QuickTime pro feature, available for purchase. QuickTime Pro is no more.
- Better videochat: iChat is now capable of showing 4x the quality compared to before, with only 1/3 of the bandwith.
- Stability improvements: Even less crashes than before, for example in safari. Flash and other plugins will no longer make safari crash with them.
- Exchange support: If your workplace uses MS Exchange, you can now read your email and see your contacts directly on your mac, without Microsoft Office.
- Several small interface improvements: Apple has made improvements to the user interface based on feedback. For example the possibility of browsing folders in stacks.
- More accessible: Snow Leopard expands on the previous accessibility features with more voice over features, and more.
- Quicker backup with Time Machine.
- Write on the keypad: You can now write chinese characters on the keypad with your fingers.
News for nerds, stuff that matters
If you understood the headline of this section, you can read on. If not, just skip this.
- 64-bit all over: Snow Leopard is now almost fully converted to 64-bit. The kernel and the subsystem, and most of the software and utilities.
- Grand Central Dispatch: An advanced technology to make multi threading easier and more efficient.
- OpenCL: This C-based standard makes it easier to use the power of the GPU for normal computing tasks.
- Many rewrites of code to make use of GCD, and to make the system more responsive.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
