Mac OS X v10.6

Infobox OS version
name = Mac OS X v10.6 "Snow Leopard"
family = Mac OS X
developer = Apple Inc.
website = [http://www.apple.com/macosx/snowleopard/ apple.com/macosx/snowleopard/]
source_model =
license =
kernel_type =
preview_version = 10.6.0 (10A96)
preview_date = June 10 2008
preview_url = http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/06/10/apple_seeds_iphone_build_5a331_os_x_10_6_build_10a96_safari_4.html
release_version =
release_date = June 2009 (approx.)
release_url =
first_release_date =
first_release_url =
support_status = Private Beta for Registered Developers

Mac OS X version 10.6 “Snow Leopard” is an Apple operating system currently in development that is planned to succeed version 10.5 "Leopard". Announced briefly by Apple CEO Steve Jobs at WWDC on June 9 2008, the software is scheduled to ship "about a year" after the announcement.cite press release
url=http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2008/06/09snowleopard.html
title=Apple Previews Mac OS X Snow Leopard to Developers
publisher=Apple Inc.
date=2008-06-09
accessdate=2008-06-11]

The new system will not focus on new features, but rather on improving performance, efficiency and reducing its overall footprint. A developer preview has been seeded to developers.cite news
first=Sam
last=Oliver
authorlink=
coauthors=
title=Apple seeds iPhone build 5A331, OS X 10.6 build 10A96, Safari 4
url=http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/06/10/apple_seeds_iphone_build_5a331_os_x_10_6_build_10a96_safari_4.html
work=Apple Insider
publisher=
date=2008-06-10
accessdate=2008-06-11] Leaked documents from Apple's Developer Connection program show that the current developer preview will only install on a Macintosh computer using an Intel processor. [cite web
url=http://www.logicielmac.com/news5041/Snow_Leopard__adieu_les_PPC_.html
title=Snow Leopard : adieu les PPC !
work= LogicielMac.com
date=2008-06-11
accessdate=2008-06-11
language=French]

Changes and improvements

Apple has stated that Mac OS X Snow Leopard will include the following changes and improvements:
* Support for connecting to Microsoft Exchange 2007 servers will be included in Address Book, Mail, and iCal.cite web
url=http://www.apple.com/macosx/snowleopard/
title=Mac OS X Snow Leopard
work=Apple.com
accessdate= 2008-06-11]
* Faster installation times and lower hard drive footprint.cite web
url=http://testmac.net/osx-106-snow-leopard-preview/
title=OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard Preview
work=testmac.net
accessdate= 2008-06-30]
* Support for up to a theoretical 16TB RAM by further developing 64-bit kernel technologies.cite web
url=http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/snowleopard/
title=Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard
work=Apple.com
accessdate= 2008-06-11]
* Grand Central: a parallel-programming technology [cite news
first=John
last=Markoff
authorlink=
title=Apple in Parallel: Turning the PC World Upside Down?
url=http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/10/apple-in-parallel-turning-the-pc-world-upside-down/
work=Bits
publisher=New York Times
date=2008-06-10
accessdate=2008-06-11] by Apple that aims to have the OS take full advantage of multi-core CPUs and Graphics Processing Units (GPUs).
* QuickTime X which will feature optimized support for modern codecs.
* OpenCL (Open Computing Language): allowing developers to code applications to use the GPU for non-graphics purposes.
* A 64-bit kernel which provides a complete 64-bit environment for applications, along with 32-bit support for older Macs. This completes a long running attempt by Apple to completely unify their products in 64-bit capabilities, harking back to Apple's original adoption of the PowerPC in 1994 which was planned to become natively 64-bit with the PowerPC G5 and slowly built into OS X starting with OS X 10.3. [cite news
first=Prince
last=McLean
authorlink=
title=Road to Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard: 64-bit
url=http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/08/26/road_to_mac_os_x_10_6_snow_leopard_64_bits.html
work=Bits
publisher=AppleInsider
date=2008-08-26
accessdate=2008-08-26]

The next version of Mac OS X Server will include all of these features and other server-related features. Apple also states that they will include ZFS write support, but current documentation indicates that ZFS-Write support does not currently exist in the latest seed (build).

Version history

References

External links

* [http://www.apple.com/macosx/snowleopard/ Snow Leopard] at Apple.com
* [http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/snowleopard/ Snow Leopard Server] at Apple.com