CNET:
Apple’s Snow Leopard operating system, released Friday, by default loads with a 32-bit kernel, despite running 64-bit applications.
While Mac OS X version 10.6 ships with a number of 64-bit native applications, the kernel itself defaults to 32-bit, unless the user holds down the “6” and “4” keys during boot time, at which point the 64-bit kernel is loaded. Only Apple’s X-Serve products, using Snow Leopard Server, boot into a 64-bit kernel by default.
Randall C. Kennedy of InfoWorld:
Mac OS X Snow Leopard is truly an underwhelming release, one that borrows most of its “new” ideas from Windows Vista. Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to drive OS evolution forward, introducing a raft of truly innovative features with Windows 7. The new Taskbar puts Apple’s clumsy Mac OS X Dock to shame, while its enhanced support for multicore CPUs means that even non-optimized code gets a boost – no Grand Central Dispatch tweaking required.
MacInTouch has a page up dedicated to Snow Leopard issues found by readers.
There’s also a very lengthy page up on wikidot regarding Snow Leopard and third-party apps.
It’s this kind of stuff that makes me love the hardcore Mac population so much.
A must-watch for any geek.
Apple has previously stated that while Leopard users simply need to purchase the $29 DVD to upgrade their machines to Snow Leopard, Tiger users with Intel machines needed the $169 Mac Box Set to upgrade. As a bonus, those users get iWork ’09 and iLife ’09 as well.
It seems that the $29 Snow Leopard DVD can indeed update users still running Tiger, however.
According to this very helpful chart.
Adobe has posted a .pdf outlining the current state of compatibility between Snow Leopard and their products:
Working closely with Apple, Adobe has tested and determined that our Adobe Creative Suite 4 products and components are compatible with Mac OS X Snow Leopard.
[…]
Older versions of Adobe creative software were not included in our testing efforts. While older Adobe and Macromedia applications may install and run on Mac OS X Snow Leopard (v10.6), they were designed, tested, and released to the public several years before this new operating system became available. You may therefore experience a variety of installation, stability, and reliability issues for which there is no resolution. Older versions of our creative software will not be updated to support Mac OS X Snow Leopard (v10.6).
Watch Jason Calacanis’ rant all the way through:
I’ve watched this three times today, and am still not sure where to start.
His main point goes something like this: Apple and its founder Steve Jobs are sellouts because their closed systems have become popular. Oh yeah, and all of those people who buy into this are idiots.
To answer Calacanis’ rant, I’ve broken this down into several different chunks.
Back in 1970s and 80s, Apple was rebelling against IBM, whose mainframe computer systems were only available to business people and university staff. No one had a computer at home — there mere idea of it was laughable.
I had forgotten about this, but Apple publishes a RSS feed of all recently added and edited support documents here. Very handy.
Thanks, @macosxserver.
Via Waxy.
There are many smaller brands and millions of generic no-name desktop computers call “white boxes” that get sold every year. All of these generic computers fly under the radar, and no one keeps track of what is going on. It is a perfect place to hide a million or so Hackintoshes from public scrutiny - and especially from Microsoft.
An extra million copies of Mac OS X 10.6 sold will look like more people are upgrading from Mac OS X 10.5. Analysts will just report how great Apple is doing getting people to switch. But Apple will have the actual sales data, and it will be able to spot any unusual trends.
In a shockingly transparent move, Apple has posted their response to the FCC’s inquiry into the company’s removal of Google Voice apps from the App Store. Here’s a sample:
Apple alone makes the final decisions to approve or not approve iPhone applications.
There is a provision in Apple’s agreement with AT&T that obligates Apple not to include functionality in any Apple phone that enables a customer to use AT&T’s cellular network service to originate or terminate a VoIP session without obtaining AT&T’s permission. Apple honors this obligation, in addition to respecting AT&T’s customer Terms of Service, which, for example, prohibit an AT&T customer from using AT&T’s cellular service to redirect a TV signal to an iPhone. From time to time, AT&T has expressed concerns regarding network efficiency and potential network congestion associated with certain applications, and Apple takes such concerns into consideration.