Mac OS X 10.5, Leopard, may only be six months old, but rumours are already abound as to the next update to Apple's operating system. According to several sources, it's going to be called Snow Leopard, it won't contain any major new features, and is planned to go gold master December 2008, available a month later. The big rumour: it's going to be available for 64bit Intel machines only.
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Member since:2005-06-29
Don't be so smug, Kroc.
A LOT of Mac users battle with OS updates just as much as Windows users do - in fact, the recent 10.5.3 update caused quite some problems for people. The major upgrades cause enough problems too. They're all just less visible because, well, 90% or 5%, it's a major difference. I'd love to see the Mac OS do as well as Windows when it comes to upgrades on all those different configurations out there. The Mac OS will curl up in foetal position and cry in the corner at the mere thought of it.
I'm a Mac user most of the time, but I don't want to share in your smugness.
And yes, this news DOES piss Mac users off- like me. I have a 2004 PowerBook that won't be able to run this new operating system. I won't benefit from all the optimisations, even though my machine is only 4 years old.
The funny thing? My 2001 x86 desktop runs Vista blazing fast, thanks to a 60 USD memory upgrade. It uses a processor and motherboard from 2001 (Athlon XP 1600+ at 1400Mhz, 1.2GB of mem). If Apple axes PPC and early Intel Mac support with this new release, Apple is going to be a million times worse than Microsoft and Vista.
Assuming this rumour is true, of course.
Edited 2008-06-04 20:01 UTC
Member since:2005-11-10
And I've got a Mac Mini that wouldn't be able to run an intel-only OS; but that doesn't make it any less of an already capable machine with an excellent OS. Tiger is still awesome, and Leopard more so - so I don't see the massive worry about some machines not getting the latest (with no new features) OS.
That is, if any of this is true 
I'm hard pushed to imagine what new features they could introduce until there's some more shift in the hardware at least another year or two away. This year might be the right year to fit in a maintenance release.
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2006-01-04
A LOT of Mac users battle with OS updates just as much as Windows users do - in fact, the recent 10.5.3 update caused quite some problems for people.
I am a long term Windows user and a not so long term Mac OS X user. While I certainly agree that there are problems with Mac OS X updates (and more than previous verions it seems?) I have still found updating less errorprone than in Windows. I think updates to Mac OS X are more incremental than they are in Windows, and this makes them less suspectible to problems.
My personal experience is that there is a huge difference from WinXP SP2 to Vista, whereas the jump from Tiger to Leopard was smaller (despite the much hyped 300+ new features).
Member since:2005-07-06
We Mac users *love* updates.
We even blog about them everytime a minor update appears in Software Update.
This mindset doesn't exist on Windows where you have to battle with your OS constantly, trying to overpower the machine's will. "Hi, I just sent your personal details and bios hash to Microsoft, do you want to restart? No? Okay, I'll just remind you every fifteen minutes with a popup that will catch you out as you type and cause your app to terminate, losing your work"
Thanks for the ridiculous broad generalization about Windows and its users. We'll continue to hold our broad generalizations and stereotypes about Mac users as well. How do you like your overpriced hardware, anyway?
Member since:2005-11-10
*salute*
I've been both a Windows user, and a Mac user. I know the crap I went through, and the difficulty my customers live with every day using Windows as a non-geek. The broad-generalisation is as broad as the thousands of customers I've helped; Windows is a battle.
Member since:2005-08-11
"This mindset doesn't exist on Windows where you have to battle with your OS constantly, trying to overpower the machine's will"
I have never battled with my OS constantly since Windows 98. Stop spouting 10 year old, outdated, false and useless facts. It's just annoying. Most of the reasons that Windows users have problems these days is malware, and that problem is receding into the past since XP SP2.
I primarily use Debian at this point, but it's not because of stability or security, but mostly boredom. Your type of rhetoric is getting just as boring
Member since:2005-07-08
Not that I agree at all with the OP, but the issues any OSnews reader has are miles apart from what *most* people have. An average user who thinks their Operating System is Internet Explorer and who thinks turning off their monitor is the same as powering down their "Hard Drive" is much more prone to the kinds of issues hinted at by the OP. That said, I've met people who could destroy a Macintosh in days, too - they just work a little harder at it.
Member since:2005-07-06
Member since:2006-01-04
I am a Mac user, and I am writing this from my MacBook Pro with OS X 10.5.3 installed. While they might download an update like this 10.6 is rumoured to be, I can't imagine many people buy it. A lot of people I know are still using Tiger because it's fine for their purposes and Leopard doesn't offer them much.
Member since:
2005-11-10
Don't underestimate us,
We Mac users *love* updates.
We even blog about them everytime a minor update appears in Software Update.
If it makes our computer cleaner, easier, simpler and more stable we will pay for it because on a Mac, the more transparent the computer, the better and we can get on with work. This mindset doesn't exist on Windows where you have to battle with your OS constantly, trying to overpower the machine's will. "Hi, I just sent your personal details and bios hash to Microsoft, do you want to restart? No? Okay, I'll just remind you every fifteen minutes with a popup that will catch you out as you type and cause your app to terminate, losing your work"
Edited 2008-06-04 19:58 UTC