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Apple Snow Leopard: with added marketing fluff

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Dan Warne25 August 2009, 4:39 PM

Apple is straying into Vista marketing territory with Snow Leopard. One of its big new features: more reliable disk ejection. No, we are not kidding.

You couldn't make this stuff up. Among the big new features Apple lists for its next-generation OS, Snow Leopard:

PDF document icons refresh 1.8 times faster
More reliable disk ejection
Airport menu shows signal strength
Default gamma has been changed from 1.8 to 2.2 to match Windows PCs
New thesaurus
"Select all excluding silence" in Quicktime videos
Text Edit allows you to change capitalisations of text

Seriously, the Apple marketing department is scraping the bottom of the barrel here.

I'm all for Apple taking a break from the frenzied pace of new feature development in OS X and spending some time fine-tuning the system. I also think the $AUD39 price is pretty palatable, even though Snow Leopard is more akin to XP Service Pack 2, which was a free upgrade for long suffering XP owners.

But listing every minor change and bugfix as a "feature" shows how much of a hype machine the Apple marketing department is. Microsoft may have its share of problems, but at least it calls a service pack a service pack.

Apple has announced that Snow Leopard will officially go on sale this Friday, 28th August. We'll have a review of the more significant features over the weekend (as well as news on whether disks really do eject more reliably.)

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djsflynn (APC staff):

Meh! The glowing orb in Windows 7 now boasts 20% more luminescence - now THAT's an OS advance worth paying for.

25 August 2009, 6:01 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

The PikeMaster (User):

Good call but it is 20.05% ROFLMFAO

25 August 2009, 6:39 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

jijusr (User):

Microsoft becomes racist in Poland and uses a MacBook in the ad
double whammy stupid?
and suitable Operating System to boot
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10318725-71.html

28 August 2009, 9:48 AM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

adamuchan (New user):

Quoting djsflynn:
Meh! The glowing orb in Windows 7 now boasts 20% more luminescence - now THAT's an OS advance worth paying for.

Hear hear, I applaud apple for getting smart about coding and shrinking.
Microsoft/Intel your days of code bloating and making a cadillac out of a mini are comin to an end, give us something that works and we will buy it. Apple make something that works, is a pleasure to use and looks incredible. Until u do the same its over rover for u.. just a matter of time...

29 August 2009, 10:16 AM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Sp33d d3mon (Cornerstone member):

Well, Snow Leopard IS a free upgrade for me... because my school will religiously update all students' MacBooks so all of our disk drives eject properly. Meanwhile, as I install Windows 7 under BootCamp and Ubuntu 9.04 under VMware Fusion...

25 August 2009, 7:55 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Tin (Senior Forumologist):

Yes... It is very annoying when you can't figure out what's still got files open. Vista is particularly painful about it. We often have to reboot the Vista box at work when we're done with external hard disks.

25 August 2009, 10:26 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Kryogenix (New user):

i'm still waiting for a company to bring out a PC component that release a fragrance over time to make the user more relaxed :P

25 August 2009, 11:47 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Izzy (New user):

Personally I disagree that it's a service pack. The 64bit code is reason enough to say it's more than that. But it's not a new OS either. I would say it's equal to a Vista-Windows 7 upgrade (comparatively only).

I welcome my 10.6 overlords and will worship appropriately.

26 August 2009, 1:20 AM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Raindog (Senior Forumologist):

Fools and their money! Not much else to be said.

26 August 2009, 8:38 AM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

jijusr (User):

Fools are the ones who spend money on a
Windoz PC/OS

26 August 2009, 10:12 AM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Raindog (Senior Forumologist):

Quoting jijusr:
Fools are the ones who spend money on a
Windoz PC/OS

No foolishness can take different forms. $39 for a software caps lock key is foolishness in any money, its just as foolish as spendings $100s for what is essentially an eye candy revision of W2K.

26 August 2009, 10:19 AM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

NetR@nger (User):

Quoting jijusr:
Fools are the ones who spend money on a
Windoz PC/

Jijusr,as most of the planet use windows-there must be a lot of fools out there then.I think we all know who the real fool is eh.

27 August 2009, 10:58 AM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

jijusr (User):

thers lot of misers, poor & illitirate people too in this world

28 August 2009, 11:47 AM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Bry (User):

Isn't Microsoft going to charge us for Windows 7, yet it is really just a tweaking of Vista to actually run nicely with a few added gimmicks. Wondering whether they'll offer upgrades for $39? Betting not!

26 August 2009, 9:25 AM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

petert (Senior member):

Quoting Bry:
yet it is really just a tweaking of Vista to actually run nicely with a few added gimmicks.

For Vista Ultimate users, it is more like removed gimmicks. Latest reports are that the very few supposed 'extras' included with VU will be removed in W7U. Ah, there's no-one like M$!

26 August 2009, 9:43 AM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Bry (User):

Quoting petert:
For Vista Ultimate users, it is more like removed gimmicks. Latest reports are that the very few supposed 'extras' included with VU will be removed in W7U. Ah, there's no-one like M$!

I think Vista Ultimate ended up being Vista Ultimate Rip-off, the extras they shipped were just a joke, certainly not worth the extra expense.

26 August 2009, 2:11 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

jijusr (User):

who ever wrote this article lol
please watch the following ad
http://www.apple.com/getamac/ads/
"Top of the line"

26 August 2009, 10:30 AM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Aubrey (Advanced member):

I have been waiting for an OS with a "Turbo Disk Eject" option. The slow, almost relaxed, CD tray eject action is fine for newbies but power users really want to see that silver disk fly across the room and take out an eye. If CD/DVD trays came with a swivel and tilt function we could have a joystick aiming function too. (This idea is hereby released under the GPL Version 3.0)

26 August 2009, 12:12 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Pauly (User):

Wonder who the brave apple employee was that threw that snowball at the leopards head. It doesnt look impressed

26 August 2009, 12:40 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Wazza (User):

hahahahahaha, funny

26 August 2009, 2:05 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Phil in NZ (User):

wow! apples closing the gap on redmond, or is that the other way round. Underwelming "features" and still crowing about them...

26 August 2009, 3:16 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Rohun (New user):

Why don,t they mention that its a UNIX operating system, that's been around much longer than Windows, and provides some of the most secure servers for IT. And that it was what Linux was based on. The main reason that I would consider using Mac.

26 August 2009, 4:15 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

The Big Baboo (User):

Yup :) That's just what we all need now More Fluff.Does this mean I'll have to have my vacuum cleaner permanently turned on if I run "Snow Leopard" and is that because it's constantly moulting. Ah dear :( Think I'll have to go back to Tasmania where they haven't heard of PC's yet.

26 August 2009, 5:48 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Phil in NZ (User):

Snow Leopard or Fluff Ball Windows 7 or Vista SP2. You say tomato I say tomaeto Lol

26 August 2009, 6:52 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Michael J (Cornerstone member):

it appears that spamming the submit button creates multiple posts...how odd...
:)

26 August 2009, 7:02 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Michael J (Cornerstone member):

Quoting The Big Baboo:
Think I'll have to go back to Tasmania where they haven't heard of PC's yet.

I live in tasmania, and we have heard of pc's! I, at least, have a slightly decent computer:
e7400
4gb ram
500GB hdd
asus p5kpl-cm mobo
ati radeon 4670 g/c
22" HD screen

I also know someone with a core i7 dream machine! dual core i7, 24GB ram, 256GB ssd, three 2tb hdds, 24mbps internet with 250GB/150GB download.

I admit that tasmania is a hole in comparison to the rest of australia, but WE DO HAVE PC'S!!! one thing we don't have is good internet (generally) I only live 2.5Km from an adsl exchange but i am forced to pay through the nose for telstra wireless or get satellite broadband. I went with the second option. it costs heaps. it's expensive.it's prices are extremely high. It's slow. It lags. IT SUCKS.
at least they're starting the nbn in tassie :)
(it's taken me three tries to get this to post; it keeps timing out!!!GRRR)

26 August 2009, 7:10 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Bry (User):

The i7 system is making me drool, the Internet account/speed too. Off to sulk now!

26 August 2009, 8:26 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Tin (Senior Forumologist):

i7 is still Intel. And the heatsink clips are still a pain in the arse.
24mbps internet makes me sad though. All I want is faster outbound speed, but being stuck with a Telstra only exchange means it's 384k or a ripoff.

26 August 2009, 8:32 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

gankul (Cornerstone member):

I still prefer intels heatsink clips, which i have no problems with, compared to AMD's wierd clips for theirs. After a year or two, getting one off can be a biatch. I just give up in the end.

28 August 2009, 11:33 AM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

Raindog (Senior Forumologist):

Quoting Michael J:
I admit that tasmania is a hole in comparison to the rest of australia,

The mainland has its share of holes too. (name of relevant national capital withheld)

Quoting Michael J:
but WE DO HAVE PC'S

Those'll be real handy once you all get the power on. :>

Quoting Michael J:
one thing we don't have is good internet

Like the rest of the nation, don't hold your breath waiting, unless blue is your colour.

Quoting Michael J:
at least they're starting the nbn in tassie

Going rate for initial connections is set at $20K (excluding usage of course). Shop early to avoid the rush.

26 August 2009, 9:02 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

The Big Baboo (User):

Quoting Michael J:
I live in tasmania, and we have heard of pc's! I, at least, have a slightly decent computer:

Ok.ok :) Keep your hat on matey :) At least and I hope that this is true that you don't have the mighty K.Crud visiting you every week telling you what a good job he's doing for national broadband and the country in general :( I apologise most sincerely :) Still friends :)

27 August 2009, 12:16 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

jijusr (User):

apart from ejecting disks it also has
http://www.apple.com/macosx/what-is-macosx/
http://www.apple.com/macosx/technology/
http://www.apple.com/macosx/security/
and for Windoz fans
http://www.apple.com/macosx/compatibility/

26 August 2009, 9:34 PM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend

cootified (New user):

Always good to see Mac vs. PC comments. You cannot compare OS X to Windows technically. I think Apple knows how to stay ahead of the game? This OS X can utilise your graphics GPU for basic application processing. I think most people forget how advanced OS X actually is...

27 August 2009, 8:13 AM (6 months ago)report abuse Send to a friend