Archive notice: This article was originally published on August 24, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The Apple Online Store is accepting pre-orders from today. Snow Leopard builds on a decade of OS X innovations and successes - with hundreds of improvements, significant new technologies and standard support for Microsoft Exchange. Snow Leopard will be available as an upgrade for Mac OS X Leopard users for 29 euros including VAT.
“Snow Leopard builds on our most successful operating system, and we are delighted to make it available to users even earlier than expected,” says Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Software Engineering. “For just 29 euros, Leopard users get a seamless upgrade to the world’s most advanced operating system, the only one with integrated Exchange support.”
To create Snow Leopard, Apple engineers further developed 90 percent of the more than 1,000 projects in Mac OS X. Among other things, users will notice the following improvements: a more responsive Finder; Mail loads messages up to twice as fast*; the time required for the initial Time Machine backup is reduced by up to 80 percent; a Dock with integrated Exposé; an entirely new QuickTime X with a redesigned player that makes it very easy for users to view, record, edit and distribute videos; and an up to 50 percent faster 64-bit version of Safari 4** that is resistant to crashes caused by plug-ins. Snow Leopard requires only half as much storage space as the previous version and, once installed, frees up to seven gigabytes of hard-drive space.
For the first time, system applications such as Finder, Mail, iCal, iChat and Safari are 64-bit. Snow Leopard’s support for 64-bit processors enables the use of large amounts of RAM, increases performance and improves security while maintaining compatibility with 32-bit applications. ‘Grand Central Dispatch’ (GCD) offers software developers a revolutionary new way for their applications to make full use of the potential of multicore processors. Open CL, an open standard based on the C programming language, enables developers to harness the incredible power of the graphics processor for tasks extending far beyond the processing of pure graphics operations.
Snow Leopard is the only desktop operating system with integrated Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 support. It enables users to use Mac OS X Mail, Address Book and iCal to send and receive email, respond to and create meeting invitations, and manage and search contacts within global address lists. Exchange information works seamlessly in Snow Leopard, so users can also use functions available exclusively under OS X, such as fast Spotlight search and Quick Look previews.
Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard, the next version of the easiest-to-administer server operating system, will also be available from Friday, August 28. Snow Leopard Server includes innovative features such as Podcast Producer 2 and Mobile Access Server and, at 499 euros including VAT with an unlimited number of clients, is more affordable than ever. Further information and complete system requirements can be found at http://www.apple.com/server/macosx.
Pricing & Availability
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard will be available as an upgrade to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard through Apple Retail Stores and Apple resellers from August 28; online pre-orders are now being accepted through the Apple Store (www.applestore.de). Snow Leopard will be available as a single-user license for 29 euros including VAT. The Snow Leopard Family Pack for a single household will be available as a five-user license for 49 euros including VAT. For Tiger users with an Intel-based Mac, the Mac Box Set with Mac OS X Snow Leopard, iLife ’09 and iWork ’09 will be available for 169 euros including VAT, and as a Family Pack version for 229 euros including VAT.
The Mac OS X Snow Leopard Up-To-Date Upgrade Package can be obtained for a fee of 8.95 euros including VAT by all customers who purchased a qualifying new Mac system from Apple or an Apple reseller between June 8, 2009 and the end of the program on December 26, 2009. Users must apply for the Up-To-Date Upgrade within 90 days of purchase, but no later than December 26, 2009, whichever date comes first. More information is available at http://www.apple.com/de/macosx/uptodate. Snow Leopard requires at least 1 GB of RAM and runs on any Mac computer with an Intel processor. Complete system requirements can be found at http://www.apple.com/macosx/techspecs.
* Testing was conducted by Apple in August 2009. A pre-release version of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard was compared with shipping Mac OS 10.5.8 Leopard using a 2.0 GHz MacBook system with 2 GB RAM and a shipping 2.66 GHz iMac system with 2 GB RAM. Performance varies depending on system configuration, network connection, file sizes, data settings and other factors.
** Testing was conducted by Apple in August 2009. A 64-bit Safari 4 version was compared with a 32-bit Safari 4 version using a pre-release version of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. The hardware used was a shipping 2.0 GHz MacBook with 2 GB RAM and a shipping 2.66 GHz iMac with 2 GB RAM. The JavaScript benchmark is based on the SunSpider JavaScript Performance Test. Performance varies depending on system configuration, network connection, file sizes, data settings and other factors.
