On Friday, Aug. 28, Apple released Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard for all Intel-based Macs. Snow Leopard is available for $29 at the Union Computer Store or via their online store. If you purchased a qualifying Mac on or after June 8 that does not include Mac OS X Snow Leopard, you can upgrade for $9.95 through Apple’s Snow Leopard Up-to-Date Program.
This is an incremental upgrade to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard rather than a release of a new operating system. Hence the “Snow” added to Leopard rather than a new big cat name. According to Apple, Snow Leopard is “Refined, not reinvented”. Some of the features of Snow Leopard include:
- More advanced, more nimble Finder
- New look, new features for Exposé and Stacks
- Quicker Time Machine backup
- Faster to wake up and shut down
- Faster, more reliable installation
- Smaller footprint
- QuickTime X
- More reliable, higher-resolution iChat
- Automatic updates for printer drivers
- Automatic time-zone setup
- Easy PDF text selection
- Faster, more powerful Safari
- More reliable disk-eject
Fore more information and visuals, see the Snow Leopard page, Refined from installation to shutdown.
General requirements to use Snow Leopard
- Mac computer with an Intel processor
- 1GB of memory
- 5GB of available disk space
- DVD drive for installation
- Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may apply.
- Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and terms apply.
- Complete technical specifications
Campus users should refer to last week’s InfoTech Tuesday article concerning Trend Micro compatibility.
Upgrading from Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
If your Intel-based Mac is running Mac OS X version 10.5 Leopard, just purchase Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard and follow the simple installation instructions.
Upgrading from Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger
If your Intel-based Mac is running Mac OS X version 10.4 Tiger, purchase the Mac Box Set, which is a single, affordable package that includes Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard; iLife ’09, with the latest versions of iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb, and iDVD; and iWork ’09, Apple’s productivity suite for home and office including Pages, Numbers, and Keynote.
