In anticipation of August 28th's official release of Mac OS X Snow Leopard a multitude of sources have posted reviews of the new operating system.
The reviews all seem to point in the same direction, concluding that Snow Leopard is an enhancement of Leopard. Of interest Walt Mossberg posted that although officially those running Mac OS X Tiger cannot use the Snow Leopard upgrade disc it does indeed allow a clean install of Snow Leopard without the presence of Leopard.
- Walt Mossberg -Apple already had the best computer operating system in Leopard, and Snow Leopard makes it a little better. But it isn't a big breakthrough for average users, and, even at $29, it isn't a typical Apple lust-provoking product.
- David Pogue, The New York Times - Let's hope that Apple hurries up with its inevitable 10.6.0.1 update, too, to address the occasional Safari crash and cosmetic glitch I experienced, too.
Otherwise, if you're already running Leopard, paying the $30 for Snow Leopard is a no-brainer. You'll feel the leap forward in speed polish, and you'll keep experiencing those "oh, that's nice" moments for weeks to come.
- Andy Ihnatko, Chicago Sun-Times - Impressive and important, it's an update that will revitalize your existing Mac even though you'll be stumped for a quick five-minute demo that convinces the people around you that much of anything has changed at all.
- Jason Snell, Macworld.com - Snow Leopard is a great value, and any serious Mac user should upgrade now.
- Joshua Topolsky, Engadget - f you're a Leopard user you have virtually no reason to skip over 10.6, unless you've somehow built a mission-critical production workflow around an InputManager hack (in which case, well, have fun with 10.5 for the rest of your life).
- Brian Lam, Gizmodo - The changes here are modest, and the performance gains look promising but beyond the built in apps, just a promise. If you're looking for more bells and whistles, you can hold off on this upgrade for at least awhile.