Snow Leopard for Mac

Remember to go to Adobe and update your Flash. The version on the Snow Leopard upgrade is vulnerable to security issues. See my previous post for the version number. There are also some issues with the new Quicktime. On the install options you can uncheck the upgrade and keep the more user friendly version you are currently using.

Read this web page daily for the next few weeks for tips and bugs that users like you are finding.

http://www.macrumors.com/
 
So far, so good. I noticed that my Audio Interface (currently out of action anyway) is on the list of non-compatible drivers, but Line 6 have a beta driver currently available. That made me laugh because it's one of about eight pieces of software in total that have known compatibility issues, and it's just my interface; which isn't a particularly common one. Like I said it's currently out of action anyway.

I'm upgrading from 10.4 (Tiger) on a late 2006 Intel Core Duo 2 iMac with 2Gb of RAM (own upgrade). Using a Maxtor Basics 500Gb external HDD, I've had no discernible problems with Time Machine (I was using Super Duper, but Time Machine is far superior in terms of user experience) and so far everything seems to run well. The install took 45 minutes with no hitches apart from a longer-than-usual reboot, which was to be expected.

The 'Spaces' option I was already effectively using (I was using a third-party version on 10.4) and this version seems very smooth. I have had extensive use of 10.5 in the labs at Uni and so far 10.6 is doing just what it promised. The same, but faster. 10.5 was a great system and this one looks even better. I've got a (legal!) Quicktime Pro licence and I'm yet to use it, but I have confidence that it will work. CoreAudio seems just fine, as is the graphics rendering.

It's working with my esoteric USB software controller (an Arduinome, if you must know) and Max/MSP is also working as usual.

I'm impressed with this new system. It's a refreshing upgrade from Tiger (which was a GREAT system) and it runs smoothly and sleekly - just as its designed to. I'll be interested in seeing what happens with Windows 7 - I'm considering a Dual Boot. If I go ahead with that, I'll let you guys know.
 
OK Gang! I didn't want this to become a Mac vs PC thread. I'm simply pondering if it is worth it for me to spend the thirty bucks to upgrade right now.
So far Snow leopard looks pretty good. 64 bit offering faster speed and higher security (YES! Mac's can get attacked also!), Loads of memory being freed up is always good, Microsoft Exchange Server support! improved Quick Time ( I use this program a great deal), I'm liking it!

No sorry - Quicktime is scaled down to basic - just export to Youtube possible - all other export options cancelled. But wait: you can still run a second Quicktime at the same time - the one you had till now: ...7..- so you will have both versions on your mac parallel. When you want to make a special export you have to look for the 7 and take that.

Be sure to choose in the install Options from the DVD: Quicktime 7 and also Rosetta (needed for those, who run older (..not intel) programs like Photoshop CS2 and many more - you sure have many of them - and disable some printers and chinese languages - this gives the harddrive space....

What i can say till now (...nearly everything is hidden under the hood) : Time Machine is much faster. The Dock and Desktopchanges have no importance to me really...but nice, ok.

I installed it on several machines - also for my lovely wife and daughters as a surprise: But no surprise: the changes are so hidden, that they did'nt recognise the changes at all at first..huu

...and by the way as also for former systems: you don't need to buy a family pack, a single version works just fine for as many macs in your environment you choose to update...

..and Leopard and Snow leopard need INTEL - Power Mac not working...

and again MFB: just install Rosetta from the Disk to bring the old bastards to work - everything works on mine, even old OS9 ones...lol

Bernhard
 
Shouldn't need Rosetta - it's an Intel driver, it's just one of the very few drivers with compatibility issues with Snow Leopard. Just installing XCode. I really needed the new version last year and didn't have it! Now I'll probably not need it, but I may as well install it anyway...!
 
I'm going to install and starting testing this weekend. I do IT for a few design companies, so I have to determine if there are any problems with the usual suspects: Quark, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc, before I can recommend upgrading.

Personally, I'm most looking forward to it because it's like Leopard should have been to begin with. I'm a diehard Mac supporter, but my faith in Apple over the last couple years has been shaken by the totally shoddy job they did with Leopard, their refusal to acknowledge and fix numerous bugs even more than a year after its release. It's like they were putting all their eggs in the iPod, iPhone, MobileMe baskets and neglecting the system software.

So, I'm really looking forward to it, but irritated that they've closed the door on PowerPC Macs. I guess that's one reason Snow Leopard is leaner and meaner: they could cut the code way back by only supporting Intel chips. (Or is it a cynical ploy to sell more Macs?)

All in all though, I'm still a big Mac fan. I mean, what else is there? ;)
 
Thanks criz p. critter, I'll be awaiting you're findings. I like hearing tech peoples remarks.
 
Installed SL this weekend, and I'm very impressed. No problems so far, and will post my observations as soon as I get a minute. Just wanted to say that the 10.6.1 update is already out, and it fixes the Flash player plugin problem.
 
OK, here's my observations:

1) Whenever I do a system upgrade, I always test it out first on a separate partition, so if it goes south or has problems I need time to figure out, I can reboot into my old system and continue to work. I'm still using Leopard on a day to day basis, until I get Snow Leopard tested more thoroughly.

2) Everything seems noticeably faster: boots up a few seconds faster, applications launch faster (Photoshop CS4 is unbelievably fast), windows in the Finder display long lists faster. I like that!

3) Haven't personally had any crashes with the Design software I use: Quark, CS4 Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Flash InDesign), Suitcase, FontExplorer X Pro. But here's a link that has a lot of people complaining about CS4 Suite crashing: (also see #5 below) http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2009/09/a_few_problems_found_with_ps_sl.html

4) Snow Leopard doesn't support AppleTalk, so that potentially breaks a lot of older laser printers. I spent about an hour trying to connect to my old LaserJet 5MP, but no luck. There is an update for HP printers that is supposed to fix the problem, but it didn't work for me.

5) There are apparently problems with Abobe and other applications opening from/saving to servers with the SMB protocol. That wasn't addressed in the 10.6.1 update, either. http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/506/cpsid_50654.html
Not a problem for me, as the servers I administer are AFP, Mac only. But it's a red flag to me, because Leopard had problems between server & client that went unaddressed for over a year! I will be testing in this area a LOT more before I upgrade any clients to Snow Leopard.

6) Here's the most comprehensive site I've seen for compatibility info: http://snowleopard.wikidot.com/

That's it for now. My bed is calling me...
 
Critter,

My Dad is having problems sending emails from his mail client (standard Apple Client). It doesn't seem that he can connect to the smtp server. I've got the same problem. Shed any light?
 
Critter,

My Dad is having problems sending emails from his mail client (standard Apple Client). It doesn't seem that he can connect to the smtp server. I've got the same problem. Shed any light?

I assume both of you guys used the Migration Assistant to copy over all your user settings & stuff? First thing I'd try is deleting then re-creating the outgoing server. (Write down the settings first, so you can re-type them in. Maybe even consult your ISP records to make sure it's correctly entered...)

Good luck! Let me know if that works.
 
Didn't work. I looked at some forums and they're saying the same thing.

I ended up switching him to Thunderbird. It works fine.
 
MFB: I did a bit of research, too. Looks like this is all over the map, as far as the things people are claiming is fixing it for them. Crap like this isn't good. I've got a real bad taste in my mouth left over from Leopard, and was hoping Snow Leopard would be like a piece of ginger in a sushi bar. Well, let's wait and see... At least I'm not having any problems with Mail.

So did you indeed migrate all your mail and settings, as opposed to wiping, installing clean and then setting up from scratch? It's really tempting to do that, I know, but my opinion is it's best to do it right. I figure I'm going to be using a system for a couple of years, so I like to start off as clean and problem-free as possible. God knows there's enough stuff that can go wrong even under the best conditions.
 
OK, here's my observations:

4) Snow Leopard doesn't support AppleTalk, so that potentially breaks a lot of older laser printers. I spent about an hour trying to connect to my old LaserJet 5MP, but no luck. There is an update for HP printers that is supposed to fix the problem, but it didn't work for me.

Same problem with me: the older - but very good - HP 2100 b/w with Apple Talk doesn't work in my network. Saw also the routine and tips on the HP side, but didn't work for me.

Just strange: when opening my notebook - also Snow leopard: there he recognises the printer and open up for the whole network. So, when my laptop is at work, the printer works on all other machines too. When i close it down: finito....

So i tried to import the settings from the lap to my desktop-machine and some others with ip-adress, but had no luck till now.

Bernhard
 
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