One of the things that amazes me most about operating system upgrades is the contrasting pricing structures. Apple has kind of got a reputation for making the more expensive computers but on the flip side they typically sell their operating system much cheaper than Microsoft does. While I am admittedly critical of Microsoft for being slower to release new versions of operating systems, I think that Apple takes it to the other extreme.

MacRumors reported this past Saturday that Amazon has a pre-order available for Mac OSX 10.6. At first my reaction to this report was the same as most people’s in that I was excited to see this new release from Apple nearing the finish line. With a sale price of only $29 it is not exactly an expensive update so this should make me happy, right?

The real question is, “Why should users pay $29 for what should be free?”. Microsoft has been asked that same question regarding Windows 7 but the difference is that Microsoft did a lot more work than just service pack Windows Vista and sell it as Windows 7.

Mac OS X 10.6 Changes and Improvements

• Stacks will allow viewing a subfolder without launching Finder. Stacks have also been modified to include scroll-bars for folders with many files.
• Contextual menus which come out of Dock icons now have more options and have a new look, with a semi-transparent charcoal background and white type.
• Exposé can now display all windows for a single program by left clicking and holding its icon in the dock.
• Faster PDF and JPEG Icon refreshes.
• Selection of columned text in PDF documents by analyzing the page layout.
• Faster startup, shutdown, installation, Time Machine backup and connection establishment.
• Smaller OS footprint on disk
• Microsoft Exchange support out of the box
• Built-in applications have been rebuilt to leverage the 64-bit addressing space (excluding iTunes and DVD Player applications)
• Quick Time X
• Grand Central dispatch has been added to help utilize multiple processors and increase efficiency
• Open Computing Language (OpenCL) for graphics processing units (GPU) can be utilized in any application now, not just 3D or graphics intense applications.

Maybe it is just me but nothing there looks really ground breaking, or worth $29. Of course maybe it takes a Apple Addict to really appreciate paying for operating system updates.

Check It Out> MacRumors, Amazon, Wikipedia

One of the most awaited release dates has been that of Windows 7 and Microsoft has not even hinted at a possible date.  People are eager for it due to the lackluster release of Windows Vista but the real question is “how long will people wait for Windows 7?”.

Things have been heating up between Microsoft and Apple in the OS war and Apple is starting to look like they are about to win yet another battle.  This last Saturday World Of Apple announced that Apple was releasing yet another build of OS X Snow Leopard to testers.  This is pretty incredible seeing as the previous release was only a week earlier.

Why is Apple pushing development so hard on this one?  They want to beat Microsoft to the marketplace and at this rate they are going to win.  Microsoft has been rumored to be close to Release Candidate for the last month but it is more important for Apple to be first to grab the publics and the medias attention.

This most recent OS X beta is a good step forward for a final version but there are still quite a few big hurdles for Apple to overcome.  Many people doubt that Apple can beat Microsoft but I am really rooting for them on this one.  Hopefully they do not make a Microsoft type mistake and push out Snow Leopard before it is ready.

Check It Out> World Of Apple

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is not going to be a major upgrade to the operating system but there are turning out to be some nice changes to the OS.  Thanks to World Of Apple there are some new screenshots available that give away some nice clues as to the updates it contains.

• Minor UI changes in System Preferences
• Keyboard Shortcuts Preference screen has improved usability
• The majority of applications have been rebuilt in Cocoa and 64 bit
• Lower application footprints
• Some applications have the option to be opened in 32 bit mode
• “Put Back” option to allow deleted items to be returned to the folder it was deleted from
• QuickTime now has all options enabled by default and no longer requires upgrading to Pro.
• Stacks make browsing installed applications easier

Check It Out> World Of Apple