Comments on: Snow Leopard Heresy

By: Obviousman

Obviousman — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:43:49 +0000

I upgraded to Snow Leopard and the $1200 appraisal turned into $800 overnight. So far the only tangible improvement was that it caused me to clean up my MacBook and installed a 500 gig hard drive in it.

By: Ima Macuser

Ima Macuser — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:39:42 +0000

OK, so that’s not my real name. Anyway…
You’re right. Snow Leopard isn’t a huge enough upgrade that people need to have it.

BUT, we are Mac owners. And Mac owners want the new OS as soon as they can get their hot little hands on it and shove the disk in the drive. That’s how we are. We’ll stand in line, we’ll pre-order—whatever it takes. Yeah, we’re living on the edge.

That’s what makes us different from PC people. We don’t fear upgrades we celebrate them!

My personal experience was a flawless upgrade on 2 Macs and my old Core Duo MacBook Pro now has 21 GB of free space instead of only 7. Yeah!

By: W. Stan Taylor

W. Stan Taylor — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:50:38 +0000

Like many, I felt a bit let down by Apple. Even to the point of trying to figure out a way to upgrade or trade my current mac quad — from PowerMax .
No way!!!. I found your article, very straight forward.
I hope a lot more of us contented (non-Intel) Mac owners get a chance to read your article and then get on with their work at hand. Stan

By: John Mason

John Mason — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:07:23 +0000

I guess that means my G4 (Quicksilver) is worth almost nothing. I have an Intel laptop; but keeping both machines on the same page is now impossible. I am retired so buying a new Intel tower is impossible. Then again; if I wait long enough, there will be a used Intel tower at Power Max that I can afford. Go Power Max!

By: J

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 22:04:49 +0000

While I certainly agree that there are lots of users for whom the upgrade is not essential, I have to say, it’s rare that I can spend $29 on new software and really feel a performance boost from that. The upgrade does what it claims it will do. I’m quite glad I spent the money.

By: Len Williams

Len Williams — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:10:47 +0000

Kevin, you’ve definitely nailed a major and incontestable truth. Snow Leopard is a wonderful upgrade, but just because it’s newly out, it doesn’t mean everyone has to have it RIGHT NOW. As Mac users, we’re used to our computers simply working with little or very few problems. We get lulled into a sense of our Macs being relatively infallible, and we snicker at our Windows-using brethren who quake at the mere thought of making ANY changes to their PCs. Upgrading one’s OS on Windows is not for the faint of heart, which is why millions upon millions of Windows users still run XP–and even Windows NT in many cases.

I’m a graphic designer and love to have all the latest and greatest software to help me keep up with the old bleeding edge of technology. I was almost in my car to drive down to the Apple Store the day of Snow Leopard’s release to get my copy, when the small pilot light of reason came on. Yes, my Macs work great and haven’t given me any problems for years. Leopard is running fine–but then I recalled that it took me about 2 months of various program updates so that everything was compatible when updating to Leopard–and exactly the same thing happened when I upgraded to Tiger.

My advice is the same as Kevin’s, although I add a caveat for power users and professionals who use their computers for work and can’t afford to have downtime: Let others take Snow Leopard on the shakedown cruise. In about 3-4 months most developers will have had the chance to upgrade their apps, plug-ins and drivers to full Snow Leopard compatibility, and it will make the transition to 10.6 a smoother activity with fewer surprises.

There’s nothing more “oh my god” aggravating than finding out that one of your key, job-critical apps doesn’t work under a new OS, AFTER YOU’VE INSTALLED THE OS. You then have the choice of: 1) not using the app (yeah, right), 2) reinstalling Leopard (oh joy, more time wasted), or 3) borrowing, renting or buying another Mac that still runs Leopard and using it until the developer fixes the glitches (expensive and time-consuming).

The solution is simple: Continue using Leopard as you’ve been doing, and around about December, January or February, take a look at the web sites of the developers of your favorite and job-critical apps to see if they’ve come out with fully compatible Snow Leopard updates. Call or email their tech support departments and ask if they’ve encountered any Snow Leopard bugs. Determine that all your “can’t live/work without” apps are good to go–and only THEN do the Snow Leopard migration thing. This proven system will save your hair, reduce ulcers, eliminate inter-office finger pointings, rotate your tires and whiten your teeth (OK, the last 2 I made up).

One other thing is important to mention. I’ve been purchasing new and used Macs through Powermax.com since the mid 1990’s, trading in our aging equipment and getting wonderful service and top trade-in value without the hassles of trying to sell on eBay. My hat is off to Kevin for keeping the company thriving, and to Michelle, my account rep for the last 5-6 years for her patience and unflagging ability to help me get what I need. Your service has been exemplary and greatly appreciated. You make my professional life so much simpler, and I thank you.

By: Snowdog99

Snowdog99 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 20:16:48 +0000

Although upgrading to Snow Leopard was easy, and I found many of the additional features and refinements to my liking, the wifi issues on an upgrade are unbelievably infuriating. So much so, I went back to plain old leopard. Wifi issues appear to be common w/ SL, and no real fixes have been identified as of yet.

So unless you want to do a clean install, I’d stick w/ Leopard until Apple gets the bugs worked out of SL.

By: Peter Visel

Peter Visel — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 19:04:10 +0000

Amen to your article, Kevin! As a Mac user since the day the Mac Plus was introduced, and speaking from experience, regardless of the upgrades available, you hit it on the nose with your statement, “There is no single piece of hardware or software that increases my productivity more than seeing more information on my screen at a time.” When the 20″ monitor was first introduced, I toured one of the largest computer distributors in the world. They saw the light immediately and switched have of their sales personnel to 20″ monitors, the remainder kept the 17″ standard. Within six months of that change, the half with the larger displays were over 70% more productive than those without. The larger monitor has always been worth every cent paid for me.

By: Michael Willis

Michael Willis — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:57:49 +0000

I’ve always tended to go after the new stuff right away and, more often than not, I’ve been burned both by incompatibilities and prices that drop right after I purchase. In regard to Snow Leopard, I pre-ordered and installed immediately. This has been the smoothest upgrade I could have imagined. Nothing earth-shattering, but a consistent uptick in speed, more space on my hard drive, and everything still works. I’m very happy with it … so go figure … a winner at under $30. Was it necessary? Of course not … but there’s something to be said for “bigger better faster” when it actually is.

By: Harry Stevenson

Harry Stevenson — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:38:18 +0000

I would just like to add that prior to Snow Leopard I was offered $1000.00 trade in for my G5 Dual 2.7. After Snow Leopard was introduced for the New Intel Mac’s I was offered $680 +/- a little. I guess that the older Mac’s are now considered un-upgradeable and not desirable. Oh well I guess that I will not have to worry anymore about upgrades.