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Fuzzy Logic OS X “Snow Leopard” proves real, after all: previewed at WWDC
Fuzzy Logic OS X “Snow Leopard” proves real, after all: previewed at WWDC | OS X “Snow Leopard” proves real, after all: previewed at WWDC |
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| by Alex Zaharov-Reutt | |
| Tuesday, 10 June 2008 | |
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That’s because the next version of OS X, “Snow Leopard”, which is presumed to be numbered 10.6 (although Apple provided no confirmation), is “scheduled to ship in about a year”, which would seem to indicate the 2009 WWDC (Worldwide Developers Conference), although there will no doubt be beta versions and developer previews long before that actual date. Every time Apple advances a dot point, such as from 10.3 to 10.4 to 10.5, it signifies a major new version of the Mac OS X operating system, and normally comes replete with new features. But while Mac OS X Snow Leopard will be, according to Apple, “the next major version of the world’s most advanced operating system”, Apple advises that this new version won’t focus primarily on new features, but will instead “enhance the performance of OS X, set a new standard for quality and lay the foundation for future OS X innovation”. Let’s certainly hope that’s true, because OS X 10.5 Leopard hasn’t quite been the “incredible success” that Apple trumpets in its press release announcing the second coming of the Leopard, but this time the Snow Leopard breed. You see, Apple has had some major problems with wireless Wi-Fi connectivity, and while Mac users aplenty will jump to OS X 10.5’s defense to declare their experiences with OS X 10.5 to have been “trouble free”, or to have had problems fixed with the application of one of the 10.5.x updates, many reports of wireless Wi-Fi issues have plagued OS X 10.5, almost reminding me of the wireless issues Ubuntu Linux has experienced over the years. These kind of problems are quite puzzling, because Apple has a vastly smaller set of hardware configurations to work with that the typical Linux or Windows PC installation. Such an infinitesimally smaller number of hardware configurations should, in theory, make it as easy as pie to write wireless drivers for and to ensure rock solid stability, but clearly the black art of operating system programming isn’t as easy as I’d imagine it to be for Apple or we wouldn’t have had these problems in the first place. So, it’s great to see that Apple is specifically singling out that it wants to “set a new standard for quality” in the next version of OS X. After all, Apple would never want to be tarred with the Vista instability and unreliability brush it so fervently painted over Microsoft’s reputation with, even though that has happened thanks to OS X 10.5’s oddities. So, leaving all of these “quality” issues aside, what cool and interesting new things does Apple have planned for the fresh new feline that will be the Snow Leopard? Please read on to page 2 |
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