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Apple lifts lid on 2009 iteration of Mac OS X

by Parm Mann on 10 June 2008, 16:28

Tags: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)

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Apple's iPhone might be getting all the headlines, but that hasn't stopped the Cupertino-based giant from taking the time to preview the next major release of its Mac OS X operating system.

The forthcoming release, v10.6, has been dubbed Snow Leopard and takes a different approach. Instead of focusing on the addition of new features, it'll provide "a new generation of core software technologies that will streamline Mac OS X, enhance its performance, and set new standards for quality", says Apple.

Though Apple has already began to tout Snow Leopard as the best thing since...well, Leopard, details on the OS are still few and far between. Here's what we know, so far:

  • Snow Leopard will feature out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange 2007 via Mail, Address Book, and iCal. Apple is continuing its push for business users, and with Exchange now coming to the Mac and iPhone, it'll certainly be a big contendor.
  • There'll be support for "breakthrough amounts" of RAM, up a theoretical 16TiB, says Apple.
  • Mac OS X v10.6 will be optimised for multi-core processors, thanks to a new set of technologies code-named "Grand Central". It promises to make all of Mac OS X multicore aware.
  • Snow Leopard will introduce QuickTime X, a streamlined platform that optimises support for modern audio and video formats. On the media front, Apple also claims that Snow Leopard's Safari browser runs JavaScript up to 53 per cent faster.
  • The OS provides further support for the OpenCL (Open Computing Language), which allows any application to utilise the GPU power previously only available to graphical applications.

It's enough of a sneak-peak to catch our attention, but there's no doubt that Apple has a lot more in store. With Windows 7 scheduled to land approximately 6-7 months after Snow Leopard, Apple will be wanting to make a statement. Mind you, it already states that Snow Leopard "is the next major version of the world’s most advanced operating system" - that's a statement in itself.

Official press release: Apple Previews Mac OS X Snow Leopard to Developers

Official product page: apple.com/macosx/snowleopard



HEXUS Forums :: 6 Comments

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and i just bought 10.5 for the office. poot.
Sounds like a good idea. I'm all in favor of putting in lots of effort to optimizing what is there to be fast, not adding zillions of extra features.
Up to 16TiB of RAM? It'll take Apple a decade to release a machine capable of taking that much & judging by their current RAM pricing it'll cost £250,000!
It is not going to be released for a while, and of course - no one will ever have 16TIB in an Apple system (well not in the near future) but I suspect when putting in the addressing the thought of ‘hell, why not…’ came to mind?
I thought that most BSDs had little problem addressing upto the 64bit memory?

The question is normally a case of what to reserve for what. Hardly news is it?

As for multi-core optomisations, does this mean basically their not using linux threads? instead opting for BSD uThreads?

Whats interesting here is how apple are trying to get taken seriously as a business machine, making sure that they have better office integration.

But for the upgrade price, doubt its really going to be worth it for most people.