Snow Leopard will go on sale Friday, Aug. 28, Apple announced Monday. Enhancements in this v10.6 of the Mac OS X will make existing features run faster and more efficiently, Apple said, including a more responsive Finder, a faster-loading Mail, and 80 percent faster initial backup from Time Machine.
Bertrand Serlet, senior vice president of software engineering, said the new OS “builds on our most successful operating system ever” and is being delivered to users “earlier than expected.”
‘Only’ OS with Exchange
Apple is pointing out that Snow Leopard is “the only desktop operating system with built-in support for Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.” It said Exchange works “seamlessly” in 10.6, in conjunction with OS X-only features such as searches through Spotlight and previews with Quick Look, as well as Mail, Address Book, and iCal.
For current owners of Mac OS X Leopard, the upgrade to Snow Leopard will cost $29. The newest Leopard takes up half the space as its predecessor, freeing up as much as seven gigabytes of storage.
The Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple said its engineers revised about 90 percent of the 1,000-plus features of the current OS. Other refinements include Expose integration in the Dock and a redesigned QuickTime player that has been streamlined for easy viewing, recording, trimming and sharing of video.
There’s also more 64-bit support, including Safari 4 in a 64-bit version that is as much as 50 percent faster and is more resistant to crashes from plug-ins. The OS continues its 32-bit compatibility, while its support for 64-bit processors results in faster performance, access to more RAM, and improved security. Finder, Mail, iCal and iChat now have 64-bit support.
There is also new support for developers to take advantage of latent power in the current generation of Mac machines. A new way to develop software for multicore processors is available…