Snow leopard out this week...

[randombs]

Because downloading is the cool new thing! I was wondering the same thing, not least because if you order online you could start using it within a few hours instead of waiting for the disc to arrive (in my case I ordered at the special upgrade price, I wasn't sure if I could've just paid £8 instore for it or not).

Also it'd be an iso that you burn to dvd, not just a zip file or something, so it'd be identical to the real disc anyway. You could probably argue what's the point if the price for downloading and the boxed retail copy are the same (unless you're worried about the environment), but ideally we'd be able to order a program online and also be given a download link while we wait for it to arrive.

[Ginger Tosser]

What's all this space everyone seems to be gaining? Is it deleting unnecessary Leopard/Tiger files? Ginger Tosser's magical partition increases are intriguing!

Indeed, once I'm back from my hols I'll install it on my mini, see if that volume increases in size!

[Fei Fong Wong]

The space saving comes from:

1. The actual program have been optimised so that they contain less actual code, more code reuse etc.
2. The apps arw intel only, not universal binary I.e. No PowerPC code

3. Snow Leopard now calculates disk sizes in Base 10 not Base 2.

I'm waiting till at least 10.6.1 before I update. 10.x.0 releases are never stable.

[Btang84]

I'm waiting till at least 10.6.1 before I update. 10.x.0 releases are never stable.

Normally, I'd probably agree, but since Snow Leopard has no real stand out features like Expose, Dashboard and Quick Look have been in the past few iterations, the entire point of Snow Leopard is that it is supposed to be a very stable version from the off.

However, do give it a few weeks and hopefully we will see all our favourite apps come in their new 64-bit versions and all open with a single bounce on the dock.

[ChrisF]

I'm finding Snow Leopard very slow. Maybe I got hyped up too much before hand, but it's certainly no where near as quick as I was expecting. I can barely notice a difference (other than things not working!)

edit: I have now reached the point where by I am trying to work out if I can go back to using Leopard instead.

[Fei Fong Wong]

Normally, I'd probably agree, but since Snow Leopard has no real stand out features like Expose, Dashboard and Quick Look have been in the past few iterations, the entire point of Snow Leopard is that it is supposed to be a very stable version from the off.

How do you come to that conclusion? Most of the included apps have been completely rewritten, including the finder. It is also now incorporating some pretty serious behind-the-scenes changes too.

You don't have to look far to see the number of problems people are experiencing with 10.6.0.

If 10.5.8 is working well for you then don't be in such a hurry to upgrade.

I do also hope they release iTunes 9 in 64-bit next week.

[randombs]

3. Snow Leopard now calculates disk sizes in Base 10 not Base 2.

I was convinced that was the most probable cause but didn't want to ask in case I got cussed down