Sunday, November 15, 2009

Mac "Snow Leopard" with no new features?

The seventh version of Mac operating system, called Mac OS X version 10.6 "Snow Leopard", has been launched on 28th August. It was first announced by Apple at WWDC on June 8, 2008 and first public exhibition was given on WWDC 2009.

Some of the dedicated Apple users, who were waiting for some new features in the next iteration of Mac operating system were really disappointed over non inclusion of new features. According to the company, there are no new features in the new version as compared to its predecessor 10.5, which had approximately 300 new features. But, it has introduced enhancements in the interface like better file and folder viewing in stacks, which made finding apps and files much easier. The company restructures QuickTime X to have a cleaner interface and recording tools and added much-anticipated Exchange support across Mail, the Address Book and iCal. But, the new operating system works with Intel Macs only.

Here we discuss some of the upgradation in the new operating system:

Installation and System requirements

According to the company, installation of Snow Leopard is very simple and upto 45 percent faster than its predecessor. Further, it asks only one question during the installation and occupies less than 7 GB space. According to Apple, Snow Leopard will locate any missing drivers on the Web for you.

Apple said that for installing Snow Leopard in a PC, it requires Mac computer with an Intel processor, 1 GB of RAM and 5 GB of free disk space.

New technologies

The new operating system has been rewritten in 64-bit to take full advantage of the hardware because all new Macs come with 64-bit multicore processors, multiple GBs of RAM and high-powered GPUs. It has Grand Central Dispatch technology, which manages the data to its multicore and enhances performance. Further, it has OpenCL, which allows software developers to tap into the power of any onboard video card. Like the GCD, these improvements will mean more and better-performing software for users in the future.


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