Snow Leopard

[happypaddler]

Have any other mac users upgraded? I took the plunge and installed it last saturday. So far only 2 issues - MacSpeech Dictate will not run (they say they are working on an update - which can not come quick enough for me as its possibly my most used and most useful every day software). The other is Glims (Safari plug in) which also needs an update. I opened CS2 and it seems to work - though I've not really used it - just opened a couple of photos to see if they opened, they did.

The new quicktime is pretty good - though why the need to trim within it when new mac's have this in iMovie? I seem to have a lot more options within my printer driver - which is really good. Most changes seem to be "under the hood" so to speak - once I get the updates to MacSpeech I'll be much happier!

[anglefire]

I was thinking about getting the upgrade - its £25 I think. Is it worth it?

FWIW I have none of the programs you mentioned, only Office (I got it via work and one of the MS offers - was about £16)

[happypaddler]

Hmm, from what I have read Apple have spent a lot of time sorting out various security bits and bobs within this update. Some Microsoft peeps have argued that its really a service pack update and should have been free - perhaps they have a small point? There are a few differences to the UI which make it a bit more easy to use. A couple of eg's which I thought were just for show - but I seem to be using them a lot, are the new methods of viewing docs & movies without opening them up. On Leopard you can click space bar and you get a good look at the doc/movie. However now you can make the thumb nails a bit bigger and play movies/flick through pages of docs right there in the finder window - so if you know a specific layout of a file (often in my case a journal article/statute/case law report) you can find the one you want without having to mess around (or alternatively just be more organised than I can sometimes be ).

A not so well known fact is that many machines will not run at 64 bit unless you hold down 6 & 4 when booting up the machine. Though Apple say even if you do not, when you use a 64 bit software it will work. This is an area of behind the scenes which I think will become useful as more 64 bit software progs become available. Snow Leopard provides developers with the tools to code properly.

One of the biggest things for me is that Mail can now do MS Exchange and I have been able to fully remove all traces of Entourage (Outlook) from both my macs.  The other is the new voice over changes that they have made - when my MacSpeech update arrives I expect it to be even better as it should take advantage of these new improvements.

If you use movie editing software such as final cut I have herd that the new quicktime is an issue at present. I herd a colleague tell me that there is a list of incompatible software on the web somewhere - I've not had a look to find it as I only (so far) have 2 issues and both companies have said they are working on upgrades. If you are going to do it, I'd seek that list out first and check compatibility with all of your software.

So is it worth upgrading - in all honesty its a yes and no answer. If you have compatibility issues, wait until upgrades for those problem softwares are available. If you want to feel a bit safer (I never felt vulnerable before) that your mac is secure then yes its worth the money. If your thinking of upgrading to the new iLife and iWork at somepoint perhaps worth waiting until the new box set is out.

Edit: Forgot to mention the vastly improved expose function...

[anglefire]

As I say, I've only really got Office on it, but I was in the Apple store in Solihull today and bought it anyway!

I'll do a time machine I think before I start - though not sure if that will help! I've got a spare 120Gb EHD to use.

[happypaddler]

I hope that the installation process and after-effects go well. Actually you should find that if you compare your HDD space before and after installation you will have been given back some disk space following the installation. Also Time Machine seems to be quicker within snow leopard at backups. I have as yet, not had any issues with Microsoft Office. I have even this evening, managed to get my MacSpeech dictate software working (I went into the .plist file and changed its maximum OS from 10.5 to  10.6, not everything but most of the software is now working).

Enjoy!

[picsfor]

Also Time Machine seems to be quicker within snow leopard at backups.

Can't be any quicker than with an EHD connected via Firewire 800 surely? Mine already appears to update "on the fly" as i'm typing!

Should it be free or should we pay? Microsoft arguments about paying have never washed with me - given their take on how to generate revenue.
If it has added functionality then it's an upgrade and it's payable. If it only fixes problems for which some increased functionality occurs as a side effect then it should be free.

The 64bit argument doesn't do anything as my iMac (if i've read correctly) is a 32bit machine so wouldn't gain by having access to 64bit code.
Are there any iMacs out there that are capable of benefiting from 64bit?

But thanks for raising the issue. Would be interested to see how Mark gets on with his upgrade.

[anglefire]

Well, whenever I've upgraded the os on a PC, the only real way was to format C: and start again.

I did do a time machine before I started, but after that, it just was 1 click on the app and it did it. I heard a couple of reboots, then finally a short video played once complete.

Impressive actually!

[picsfor]

So, that's the upgrade done without the usual Microsoft challenge - not to see how the Mac is performing after the event.

My local shop is closed today but will be in there tomorrow!

[Jonathan]

Yeah - let me know how you get on....

SL won't run on the gallery machine so I'd need to upgrade the MacPro first.  And that scares me a little.

I don't see any killer features so I'll let you guys go first for a bit.

[anglefire]

The only problem I've had so far - was that the screensaver didn't work and had to be upgraded! Well that took a long time! Not!

I don't use it for photoshop or anything else, so I'm not expecting any major problems. And as I am still very new in the MAC world, I don't know the short cuts to half the things that the old OS did let alone the new ones!

[happypaddler]

Friends of mine from across the pond have just pointed me towards a "Lab Rats" episode looking at Snow Leopard. Apparently the, rotund chap is a huge windows nut with a number of books out explaining how to do various MS stuff. The thin chap is his polar opposite and a mac man. It's quite a good outline of Snow Leopard with a few criticisms along the way (and a few of the useful things I've found and use not mentioned). I downloaded in on iTunes, but it can also be found at: http://labrats.tv

[picsfor]

What a nice little video. Like the QT X with the feature that allows you to record how to do something on your screen.
The wife likes the ability to re-size thumbnails on the fly as her vision is somewhat suspect at times.
It will make a whole difference to the "how to" questions- no explanation needed anymore - just a quick QT video clip recorded whilst it was being done and voila!

Haven't installed mine yet as i spent yesterday helping the wife's friend with her computer problems. (no internet, one of the laptops not working and no manuals or anything).

Now i'm off for a few days to explore Dorset and hopefully Lulworth Cove.
So - back to Windoze on my laptop and dongle for a few days.

It will probably get installed with a vengeance at the weekend!

[picsfor]

well, i finally got round to installing it.

Pretty much as Mark said it would be. Insert DVD, click yes in a couple of places and go thrash Mr Nadal on Grand Slam Tennis on the Wii.

Yep - he was well and truly thrashed by the time it had completed. As of this time i have tried almost all of my software without any issue, though in fairness my software comprises CS4, LR2, Office 2008, Notebook 3 and 2 other minor pieces of software. Those 2 i haven't tested yet -but all that i have mentioned have worked with out effort including scanner and 2 printers. As my wife is of Kowloon decent i have found an excuse to install the improved chinese language interface - but i doubt she'll use it 

Now to wait and see what the fuss was all about and if it was worth paying for!

[pocketwitch]

I pre-ordered mine from The Apple Store so had it as soon as it came out.  Didn't do a Time Machine, just stuck the disc in and off it went.  The only thing that's been disabled is the growl notification in Mail, and Firefox doesn't seem to like it much, having said that I tend to use Safari mostly.

I did notice yesterday tho, that when I was about to install the software that came with my new camera, Nikon's website reckon they're not guaranteeing it'll work with Snow Leopard just yet.  For this reason only I've installed it on my Windows laptop for now!

Pocketwitch

[GBOBM]

I've only really got a few issues with snow leopard so far.

1.  It won't shut down, and because of this I have to crash it and it takes an age to startup.
2.  Occasionally when cropping images in Aperture, you get a fuzzy corrupt image.  You can just recrop and it appears fine again, but should really be sorted.

Have held off installing it on my macbook until I can get these issues sorted on my imac