According to several sources in contact with MacRumors.com, Mac OS X 10.6 Build 10A432 has been designated as the Golden Master. This build is the final release out of the development team and will likely be the final shipping version. Mac OS X 10.6, or Snow Leopard, represents a series of changes to the operating system for increased performance over Mac OS 10.5 or Leopard. Technologies include Grand Central Dispatch and OpenCL and now most system applications will be 64-bit. Snow Leopard is also the first Mac OS release without PowerPC support. The new build brought a number of changes with it, including the following, according to AppleInsider:
- Although Rosetta and Quicktime 7 are both included on the Mac OS X 10.6 installation DVD, both are designated as optional installs by default. However, if Mac OS X 10.6 is being installed on a Mac that contains a registration a key for Quicktime 7 Pro, the installer will install Quicktime 7 automatically.
- Options to "Erase and Install" and "Archive and Install" are no longer present in the Mac OS X 10.6 installer. According to those familiar with the software, this was done for convenience, so that users do not accidentally erase and install their Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard partitions. However, "Erase and Install" remains available through Disk Utility, which is also included on the installation DVD.
- If you need to reinstall 10.6, it automatically archives and installs for you.
- A reinstallation will not affect your Mac OS X version number. In other words, reinstallation of Mac OS X 10.6 on a Mac that contains Mac OS X 10.6.1 (when it becomes available) will not overwrite any new components delivered by 10.6.1. So when the re-install is complete, you will still be running Mac OS X 10.6.1. This will save users considerable time.
- There is no "Previous System" folder at the root level after reinstalling.
- If a power outage occurs, installation will pick up from where it left off.
- To prevent the Blue Screen error that plagued some users when upgrading to Mac OS X 10.5, a software compatibility check is included that has a list of known "bad" apps, and disables them. Those programs are moved to an "Incompatible Software" folder.
- Unlike Mac OS X 10.5, you cannot install Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard on computers where the hard drive reports a S.M.A.R.T. failure.
- Installation initially triggers a large chunk of data to be copied from the installation DVD to the user's primary hard drive. The bulk of the installation is then managed from the hard drive, speeding up the installation process considerably. After a successful installation, that large chunk of data is automatically removed.
Well, Golden Master is of course better than RTM? it's even MORE final code;p
this beeing apple, bigger words are better:p
this beeing apple, bigger words are better:p
lol, "gone gold" isn't even unheard of in Microsoft circles, this is just a variation of this :p
One is referring to the actual pressing process (Apple -- that the master is being pressed), the other to the distribution method (Microsoft - that it is released to manufacturers). Different cultures, different words, same thing. I'm not sure where "gold" comes from in this terminology, but it sure isn't invented by Apple.
I believe the term comes from when the software developer wrote the final version of the code onto recordable CDs to be sent to the manufacturer to be duplicated. These recordable CDs were often gold coloured at the time, hence the term "gone gold" or "golden master". Nowadays though I'm sure it's all done digitally and there is no actual recordable CDs or DVDs involved until manufacturing begins, however the term remains.
Master = copies are made from this.
Golden = referring to the "gold" duplication discs that were sent to manufacturers for compact discs.
It's "gone gold," that's it.
It's Apple, what did you honestly expect? Give them time, they will trademark the term "golden master" mighty fast. But I was honestly expecting them to have used iGold or iMastered or iGolden LOL.
@ir0nw0lf: iFinished
You definitely live under a rock. A couple of companies use these terms and it's not from 2009 either. Apple's using the classic words, if you weren't aware of these terms, it's your problem man
O M G you're SOOOoooOO funny.
Shhhhhhhhhhhh!
hmm, wonder if it comes in it's one frame, with a certificate and a goldplated disk?
Geekiest joke...ever
Those gold dics are just spray-painted and they even send them out to radio stations that play the tracks.
GoldenMeteor shower?Wow! Very handy!
Another interesting concept.
windows 7 also doesnt install on anything that is the "primary" hard drive, thus giving me a lot a headaches.
For the idiots who think Apple have just made up this term recently as a "marketing" technique need to get their facts straight:
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_master
"Apple, Inc. can be seen using the term in a document, first written in April 1988, describing its software versioning system."
http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1132.html
Which, however, it does not.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_release_life_cycle#RTM
Would you prefer drunken master?
Er, no.
Gold would suffice.
Not quite correct. It is the first Mac OS X release without PowerPC support. Versions of Mac OS prior to 7.1.2 didn't have PowerPC support, only Motorola 68K support.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_history#System_7
Unless you want to get REALLY picky and note that versions prior to 7.6 wern't officially referred to as "Mac OS":
Uh ... thanks for letting us know?
I got 100%, beat that!
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2001/mar/07macosx_gm.html
Ok, they did in 2001... I bet whoever released that got grilled.
WHAT?
Are you kidding? 'Erase and Install' is not the default choice and not even visible unless you go to the options screen. A user would never do this by accident unless they were randomly clicking everywhere without reading.
Now if a technically inclined person wants to erase and install they need to go through more steps. I guess that's what Apple calls convenient.
GM is a term thats been used for quite a long time... regardless of the company.
LOL, yeah, I am sure it took them years to create and finaally finish those bugs
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