Apple OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Starts Shipping on Aug. 28

[btarunr]

Apple's newest operating system, the OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - one claimed to be the world's most advanced - starts shipping later this month, on 28th. The new OS is priced at US $29 (incl. shipping) for a single-user upgrade from Leopard, and $49 for 5-user family pack users. New Macs will bundle the OS, and it will also be available in bundles with iLife and iWork for $169 ($229 for 5-user family pack).

Snow Leopard brings in several major thru minor changes over its predecessor, more importantly, that it eliminates support for PowerPC-based Macs, supporting only those based on Intel x86. All major components will now support the x86-64 instruction set, to take advantage of large amounts of system memory. The OS also embraces OpenCL, which lets supporting applications tap the computing power of GPUs, while the OS itself is better optimised for multi-core/multi-threaded CPUs.



Notable application updates bundled with the OS include Safari 4 and Quicktime X. The former is one of the fastest web-browsers, while the latter supports GPU-acceleration for video playback. Apple Store and Amazon.com have started accepting orders for the OS, which will ship on the 28th. Both stores offer free shipping in the US.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[freaksavior]

yay for os x 10.6 (its fast )

 

[Easy Rhino]

this operating system is amazing.

 

[robodude666]

Later this month, assuming this was published in September? AFAIK, we're currently in August. Does that mean August 28th, or is it actually September 28th and "later this month" means "later next month" ?

EDIT: The source (MacNN) as well as MacRumors both say August 28th.

 

[freaksavior]

Later this month, assuming this was published in September? AFAIK, we're currently in August. Does that mean August 28th, or is it actually September 28th and "later this month" means "later next month" ?

EDIT: The source (MacNN) as well as MacRumors both say August 28th.

And apple says it

 

[DrPepper]

Available August 28 http://www.apple.com/uk/

Wouldn't mind giving this new OS a whirl on a imac or mac mini.

 

[robodude666]

Hip hip! Love that Apple is releasing it earlier than the "Sometime in September" schedule. Pre-ordering after I see what's in the sofa.

EDIT: btarunr, thanks for title edit!

 

[btarunr]

lol, I was preparing another article that had a September 20+ date. Sorry for the typo.

 

[Castiel]

I can't wait for this. Can't wait for Snow Leopard Server!

 

[pr0n Inspector]

64-bit kernel, in 2009.

 

[SpatialAnomaly]

Love it.

Uses half as much HD space and runs faster using the same hardware.

And the reason Microsoft can't do that with Windows is.......???

 

[Namil]

Love it.

Uses half as much HD space and runs faster using the same hardware.

And the reason Microsoft can't do that with Windows is.......???

Not too sure how Windows is built, but I can imagine drivers for Plug and Pray is one part of it.

 

[pr0n Inspector]

Love it.

Uses half as much HD space and runs faster using the same hardware.

And the reason Microsoft can't do that with Windows is.......???

1) universal binaries.
2) http://www.appleinsider.com/article...ard_twice_the_ram_half_the_price_64_bits.html


Please educate yourself before opening your mouth.

 

[Castiel]

Not too sure how Windows is built, but I can imagine drivers for Plug and Pray is one part of it.

Lol. Well since OSX is built within Unix, and has no Bios and ran mainly on the OS then I guess you don't need alot of space.

 

[erocker]

Please educate yourself before opening your mouth.

They were asking a question. Don't be a jerk.

 

[SpatialAnomaly]

1) universal binaries.
2) http://www.appleinsider.com/article...ard_twice_the_ram_half_the_price_64_bits.html


Please educate yourself before opening your mouth.

Wow. You're one ANGRY individual.

Just pointing out the irony that Microsoft's biggest competitor in the market is releasing an OS that runs faster and uses less space on the same hardware as their previous version. Something Microsoft has never done, in spite of all their claims of superior performance from older versions to newer versions.

 

[A Cheese Danish]

I may actually have to try this. Looks promising. But of course, I won't own a "Macintosh" computer.

 

[KainXS]

Wow. You're one ANGRY individual.

Just pointing out the irony that Microsoft's biggest competitor in the market is releasing an OS that runs faster and uses less space on the same hardware as their previous version. Something Microsoft has never done, in spite of all their claims of superior performance from older versions to newer versions.

7 uses less space than vista and runs faster

guess your wrong right

alot of heat of the moment posting going on

 

[pr0n Inspector]

Wow. You're one ANGRY individual.

Just pointing out the irony that Microsoft's biggest competitor in the market is releasing an OS that runs faster and uses less space on the same hardware as their previous version. Something Microsoft has never done, in spite of all their claims of superior performance from older versions to newer versions.

Snow Leopard dumps PPC support and is now x86-64 only -it's not. it also runs on Core-. That is why it's smaller, it's also one of the reasons it's faster.

Your obvious attempt on "pointing out the irony" fails because Snow vs. Leopard is somewhat like Vista x86 vs. 7 x86-64.

 

[SpatialAnomaly]

7 uses less space than vista and runs faster

guess your wrong right

alot of heat of the moment posting going on

Well, eventually when 7 is released, then yes, I suppose I will be wrong.

 

[Wile E]

Love it.

Uses half as much HD space and runs faster using the same hardware.

And the reason Microsoft can't do that with Windows is.......???

MS has to support a lot more hardware combinations. Not to mention, Snow Leopard lost so much size, due to completely dumping support for all PowerPC based Macs. (My poor G5 ), which also contributes to spending more time maximizing it's speed for less platforms. But Win7 IS taking a step in the faster and lighter direction anyway.

At any rate, lets not turn this into yet another MS vs Apple thread.

And I'm gonna wait a month or 2 before upgrading on my iMac, as I want to make sure all the possible bugs are worked out, and that all my favorite software is fully compatible.

 

[YinYang.ERROR]

hmmm... Hope the college I go to gets OSX 10.6 installed on their Macs.

 

[Easy Rhino]

the reason why Apple blows Microsoft out of the water on the OS front is because of the closed system Jobs enforces. you simply cannot compete if you want an open format and have support for thousands of different devices.

 

[Easo]

And still it runs only on Macs and not on PC, and it doesnt matter that the first uses same hardware xD
Of course, there always is Hackintosh.

 

[lemonadesoda]

What is impressive about Apple is that even though a much smaller company (relative to MS in OS sales/use) they are making 64-bit happen now, incl a full suite of applications.

MS has taken FOREVER to come to the concept of doing Win7 as 64 bit and running a 32bit VM for compatibility. They should have done that with XP. XP-64 should have had a 32-bit VM inbuilt. It if unforgiveable it took MS so long to solve this.

Nontheless, having both OSX and WinXP/03 I still prefer Windows. I find it much faster to use, and the taskbar is far superior when multitasking/switching between apps.