Everything you need to know

The countdown clock is ticking to Apple's latest OS X release - version 10.6 or Snow Leopard. It'll be available in September and it's only around one third of the price of usual OS X updates. So what can you expect when it finally arrives? Read on for the lowdown.

Interface design

Unlike Leopard, which had visibly different spots to Tiger, Snow Leopard is more about refinement. There are visual touches here and there - like semi-transparent context menus on the dock - but no major changes. On the plus side, at least you'll know where everything is without having to go a hunting.

Speed

Speed is big focus for Snow Leopard, with the bulk of tweaks going on making things happen faster. Finder, for example, has been completely rewritten so it's more responsive and much snappier. Shutdown is up to 75 percent faster while waking from sleep is twice as snappy. Even areas like Time Machine have received a speed boost - initial backup to Time Capsule is now 50 percent faster.

New features

There are still some new toys to play with in Snow Leopard. For example, QuickTime X has a brand new interface, with controls that fade away leaving just the video centre stage. With an eye on the corporates, Mail now supports Microsoft Exchange out of the box and this also stretches across iCal and Contacts too.

Advanced technologies

Under hood, Apple's engineers have been busy rewriting the key system apps in 64bit. Snow Leopard can also make the most of multicore processors thanks to Grand Central Dispatch which monitors processors and makes sure every spare processor cycle is being used in your machine. Finally OpenCL support lets all applications tap into the immense computing power in your Mac's graphics chip so it doesn't go to waste.

One more thing?

Apple wouldn't be Apple if it didn't keep a few things back for the big launch. Perhaps the biggest missing item is Blu-ray support. Now that HD DVD is dead and buried, it's time the Mac got itself some high def optics. In the more possible, but definitely cool, camp is multitouch gestures - as seen on the iPhone. Supporting them through out the OS wouldn't go amiss, after all it'd be perfect should Apple be planning o release some sort of tablet anytime soon…

From mirror.co.uk, 19 August 2009