Mac OS X Snow Leopard Discussion

[suspiria]

CS4 is also known not to be working with it. CS3 on the other hand is fine.

ahaha, i find that pretty funny for some reason.

[Quillz]

Any way to send useful feedback to Apple? Those scroll bars have to go.

[suspiria]

is the default gamma 2.2 like those early reports said?

also, is this bug fixed?

the graphite unfocused zoom button bug, how it has a dark stroke at the top

Edited June 10, 2009 by suspiria

[RadishTM Veteran]

Any way to send useful feedback to Apple? Those scroll bars have to go.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Radish?

[PL_ Veteran]

giga, I have questions for you!

• Is Rosetta still there?
  
• Does Perian work with QuickTime X?
  
• Are iTunes, Front Row, Grapher etc...(the Carbon apps) updated at all?
  

[PyX]

• Does Perian work with QuickTime X?
  

I think the goal of QuickTime X was to integrate as many codecs as Apple could. I would reformulate this question to : is Perian is still useful in QuickTime X?

[protocol7]

I would reformulate this question to : is Perian is still useful in QuickTime X?

If you use external subtitles, the answer is probably still yes.

[giga Veteran]

is the default gamma 2.2 like those early reports said?

also, is this bug fixed?

the graphite unfocused zoom button bug, how it has a dark stroke at the top

2.2 is the default.

Top is your screenshot, middle is 10.6 finder, bottom is 10.6 Sys Prefs.

giga, I have questions for you!

• Is Rosetta still there?
  
• Does Perian work with QuickTime X?
  
• Are iTunes, Front Row, Grapher etc...(the Carbon apps) updated at all?
  

Rosetta isn't installed by default. If you try to open a PPC app, it pops up Software Update to download it.

Perian still works fine. Can't really see any difference with iTunes, Front Row, or Grapher.

[the evn show]

I think the goal of QuickTime X was to integrate as many codecs as Apple could. I would reformulate this question to : is Perian is still useful in QuickTime X?

The goal was architectural improvements: to improve the render path and leverage the "new hotness" they've been building into the OS over the last decade. Some clean-up of the API was also in order.

[.Neo]

the new server wall :D

Is that the original or a modded version of the client one?

[Quillz]

Something else I'd like to know...

In the original Mac OS X release through Tiger, if you minimized a QuickTime movie while it was still playing, it would continue to play in the Dock. In Leopard, they regressed and took away this feature. Is it back in Snow Leopard?

Also, does this build include the Dock Expose?

[giga Veteran]

No and no.

[Quillz]

No and no.

I wonder why minimized movies don't play in the Dock anymore. There wasn't much use to doing that, but it just seems strange to regress for no apparent reason.

[thefarewellnote]

I just noticed that they finally got rid of accuweather or whatever the hell the weather widget was using and finally using weather.com.

[Brody McKee]

Given I'm opposed to that concept? ;) Hehe, might not be easy. ;)

You're opposed to it because you know that MacOS wouldn't function if it wasn't strictly tied to hardware.

Imagine having to allow for an infinite amount of hardware configurations? That would limit MacOS severely. Apple would take many years to get it right.

[PyX]

I just noticed that they finally got rid of accuweather or whatever the hell the weather widget was using and finally using weather.com.

Yet another COOL feature for me!

Accuweather wasn't so... what's the word... accurate? :p

I live in Montreal, I don't understand why there was such a big difference between what the widget told me and the reality... it doesn't happen anymore with a new widget I'm using, let's see weather.com now!

And yeah, I noticed about the dock icon not playing videos anymore :( Kinda pointless, but still sad..

[thefarewellnote]

I also noticed that if you disable the search items in the Finder Perferences it will actually remove the Search text completely from your sidebar! No more just having the word "Search" and nothing under it for me!

Also screenshots are no longer titled Picture1, Picture2, etc.

They are called "Screenshot date, time" (of course with the date and time inserted there)

[Quillz]

I also noticed that if you disable the search items in the Finder Perferences it will actually remove the Search text completely from your sidebar! No more just having the word "Search" and nothing under it for me!

Also screenshots are no longer titled Picture1, Picture2, etc.

They are called "Screenshot date, time" (of course with the date and time inserted there)

The sidebar text is actually documented on Apple's Snow Leopard page.

The screenshots being intelligently named is another one of those minor, but useful things.

[Quillz]

I found something else that's new: Your battery status is now tied directly into the help menus. On the MacBook that is running Snow Leopard right now, for example, it has a dead battery that I need to replace with a new one. It won't hold a charge. So now I get a little reminder:

[REM2000]

I wonder why minimized movies don't play in the Dock anymore. There wasn't much use to doing that, but it just seems strange to regress for no apparent reason.

I always wondered the same thing, i thought it was a cool feature and was surprised when it was lost in leopard. Couldn't really use it for much, but i thought i was the only one who had noticed it's disappearance.

[Rudy]

You're opposed to it because you know that MacOS wouldn't function if it wasn't strictly tied to hardware.

Imagine having to allow for an infinite amount of hardware configurations? That would limit MacOS severely. Apple would take many years to get it right.

Wow....way to bring back a post from a year ago made by a member who hasn't been on the forum since last year. OSX runs fine on "other" hardware (check out the OSx86 community)

I also noticed that if you disable the search items in the Finder Perferences it will actually remove the Search text completely from your sidebar! No more just having the word "Search" and nothing under it for me!

finally :)

[PyX]

Hmm, I've decided to give it a go on my MacBook Unibody.

Upgraded the whole OS in just under an hour...

Few things I've noticed (some of them have already been said, but I'm repeating them just in case) :

• Software Update : It just doesn't work. Not at all. maybe it's just here, maybe it's because it's a beta version of the OS? (or an RC or whatever it is) (I'm stuck with iTunes 8.1 now, thought it was bundled with 10A380, but it appears not!)
  
• Address Book : the same old ...
  
• Font Book : the same old ...
  
• Dock Expos?> : Absent from this build (which means the build given to the developers differs from the one that was shown at WWDC)
  
• Integrated services to the contextual menu> : simply awesome, but the old service menu is still there with... nothing! I wish it was completely gone...
  
• 64-bits> : 12 processes out of 70 are still 32-bits in my session. The rest are 64-bits
  
• Saving gigabytes> : The OS really DID save me a couple of gigabytes. I can't say how much, but now I have 91GB free and before I had in the 80s. Maybe 6, maybe more, maybe less.
  
• Quicktime X> : The Perian prefpane seems to work fine, but in 32-bits. It also applies to Quicktime X fine. Note that QuickTime X doesn't play XVid by default...
  
• Quicktime X> : Streaming movies from my Time Capsule into QuickTime X via wireless N gives a lot of beachballs
  
• Finder> : I swear to God that I've heard someone say "Cut works in Finder" - It doesn't, and that makes me sad.
  
• Text replacements> : Now, it's a really awesome feature. But it gets complicated when I want to activate it. I don't know how in Pages, in Mail and Safari it's not ON by default, you have to right click in a textarea and turn the option ON... Also, not sure why it does not affect the search text next to the address bar, but it does affect the field in Google's webpage (lack of consistence). I wish we could just turn the option ON in the whole OS via System Preferences. (except obviously fields like URLs, Email addresses, etc.). They could also have added a few more text substitutions, there's like only 20 and most of them are fractions and are not activated... The oe for example in the word "oeil"(eye) in french are stuck together in just one character. We don't really write like this with a pencil, but if MS did that in Word and I see this often in many documents, I don't know why Apple couldn't apply this rule.
  
• Keyboard layouts> : "United States International - PC" added or I'm dreaming!? I was using a hacked Keyboard layout for 3 whole years, will I be able to get rid of it? (I needed it because my keyboards all have the english layout, and it's the only one I know who does the accents in french)
  
• Stacks> : At first, navigating through folders were slow, now they seem fast. I don't know what to think of it.
  
• Airport> : My Airport network didn't work anymore after installing Snow Leopard. First thing I've noticed (it did that to a few others)
  
• Finder> : I'm pretty sure the new Cocoa Finder is a LOT faster and they fixed a few graphics problems I've had with it (big icon view, list view, try to rename something in Leopard, there's a big alignement problem... Well, not in Snow Leopard. There's still 4 white pixels surround it, but it's still better.)
  
• Finder> : When pressing on the button at the top right of the Finder to remove the whole Finder interface, there's now a nice, smooth animation/transition between the Finder-with-interface and Finder-without-interface. Leopard made it drastic back then. Boom. You've got a Finder without the interface now.
  
• Audio MIDI Setup> : It seems like a real Apple guy reworked the "Audio MIDI Setup" application. It's nice and it makes sense to me now. They probably fired the guy who designed the previous version of this thing while we're at it ...
  
• Quicktime X> : QuickTime preferences is gone from System Preferences, and no, it's not because they put it in Quicktime instead. So there's no preference at all for QuickTime. Makes it real simpler in the end;)) It's really just a player and it seems to do its job fine.
  
• Services> : Right clicking on text to add it like Speech Text in iTunes -> We don't really have any clue that the computer is doing it. There's the gear at the top, but it's a little too subtle for me.
  
• Still no clue if it's possible to make Alex speak french
  
• Apps that I opened and that seem to work just fine> : everything built into OS X works fine, Adium, Office 2008, Camouflage, iLife '09, iWork '09, Firefox 3, Coda 1.6.4, Transmission 1.71
  

So basically, there's work to do. Things left are not big, but there's many of them. If the guys at Apple aren't really any further in development than 10A380, there's a lot of little things to correct. It's nothing big though, but clearly the OS could not be released right now, it's just not Apple's quality and the consumers would be mad. The reality is, it's a beta.

But that being said, I like it. All these little things they have added / changed, they really are little things that I've spotted in OS X during the last 3 years (I was on Windows before and was a Windows fan - duh). They really did make the OS better and once they correct these little things, it'll be a theft for $29, believe me. They could as well work on getting rid of the Aqua buttons, overhauling Font Book and Address Book (I really don't like these apps, they look absolutely nothing compared to Mail.app, iTunes, etc. and you know, it's the kind of app that COULD look like this and be more consistent with the rest).

I didn't do benchmarks. I couldn't really say if the OS is faster or not, meaning that I don't really notice it (I use my MacBook for university, so last time I used it was a month and a half ago). But it's fast - very fast - don't get me wrong on this. I compared to my iMac 24" (look at specs in the sig) and it was a lot better in Snow Leopard on my MacBook - but how good is this for a benchmark comparison, really?

If I had to review it, knowing it's a beta and everything, I'd give it like a 4 / 5, having in mind that the RTM version will be a 5 / 5.

If someone thinks about installing it as a main OS - forget it. I did it on my laptop because I don't use it often, and I really don't regret not doing so on my iMac.

Edited for easier comprehension...>

Edited June 12, 2009 by PsykX

[Quillz]

I'm pretty sure QuickTime X lacking Preference is a bug that will be sorted out. However, my Services menu is fine, and doesn't seem to be overrun by "blank" templates at all.

Also, I think it's been mentioned, but there are a lot of nice and subtle animations that have been added. Opening and closing Stacks, for example, has a nice fade-in and fade-out effect.

[.Neo]

Software Update : It just doesn't work. Not at all. maybe it's just here, maybe it's because it's a beta version of the OS? (or an RC or whatever it is) (I'm stuck with iTunes 8.1 now, thought it was bundled with 10A380, but it appears not!)

Software Update worked fine here. I used to install iTunes 8.2 and the AirPort update.

[PyX]

Hmmm, this is pretty strange then.

Software Update doesn?t work here, and even if I download the package individually, the Install button doesn't respond, as if it was desactivated.

Even when I wanted to install an Office 2008 update. This is IMO the biggest problem I have encountered so far in Snow Leopard.