By Erik Tollefsrud | erik@fndtn.com
Snow Leopard is a couple months old but I know there are a few people who have not upgraded yet and are still wondering if they should make the leap. As it is with every new product, software or hardware, there are plenty of good reasons for upgrading and plenty against. Snow Leopard is no exception.
Apple’s latest operating system promises some great new enhancements that should make everyone excited about it. The Snow Leopard website is full of positive descriptions like, “Better. Faster. Easier.” and, “Next-generation technologies.” If you’ve been paying attention to the past few operating system releases you’ll notice that Snow Leopard isn’t focused on new user features, but on optimizations and performance enhancements instead. Apple decided to make this release all about streamlining their code instead of slopping on new features that could potentially bog down performance. It is for this reason that Apple also decided to sell Snow Leopard for just $29.00 to anyone that already has Leopard. Bottom line, this means that you’ll get a sleeker, faster, and higher performing operating system for just $29.00 instead of the typical $129.00 that Apple normally charges for a new operating system.
But if you’re someone who has not yet upgraded, you’re probably not persuaded by shinny new anything anyway. I mean, new features and enhancements mean nothing if the code is still full of bugs, right? So are there bugs in Snow Leopard? Probably. In fact, Apple recently acknowledged that there is a bug after upgrading to Snow Leopard that could erase your home folder making all of your data unrecoverable.
Typically the caution minded folks wait until the first or second revision of an operating system, like version 10.6.1 or 10.6.2, before making the leap. I think we can all agree that an upgrade that speeds up your computer’s performance and cuts down on the space used on your hard drive and that only costs $29.00 is worth purchasing, but installing it and making it your primary operating system still carries a slight risk. Because there aren’t any I’ve got to have it features in Snow Leopard, it’s almost a toss-up between installing it and living in the fast lane, or holding off until version 10.6.2 or later which comes with the promise that you won’t have to deal with the new product bugs.
