Apple launches "Snow Leopard" operating system in Friday

"Sina Science and Technology," Beijing time of August 24 Evening News, according to foreign media reports, Apple announced in Monday, will start from August 28 (this Friday) to launch the latest version of the Mac OS X operating system "Snow Leopard" (Snow Leopard).

Apple has previously said that the "Snow Leopard" will be listed in September, but the Apple Network store mistakenly sent a message in Wednesday that the operating system plans to be released as part of the Mac box software suite within 24 hours. Though the site then withdrew this information, rumors about Apple's early release of the snow leopard were intensifying.

Apple announced the launch of the "Snow Leopard" operating system as early as the "2008 Global Developers Conference", and then confirmed that the operating system would improve system performance, improve the kernel, and optimize its original functionality. The most prominent new feature of "Snow Leopard" is support for 64-bit applications, GCD, and OpenCL. GCD is the abbreviation for the Grand Dispatch, which enables the performance of multi-core processors to the fullest, while OpenCL allows the system to use the GPU (graphics processor) to improve processing performance. In addition, the "Snow Leopard" supports Microsoft's Exchange Server 2007 in Mail, Address Book, and personal calendar applications.

The "Snow Leopard" improvements in the kernel also helped improve performance, Apple said, and the operating system was quicker to wake up from installation, hibernation, and shutdown. In addition, the "Snow Leopard" operating system takes up about 6GB of the installation space, less than the previous "Jaguar" operating system reduced by about half. The interface of the new operating system has also improved, Exposé (the tool that manages windows in MAC OS X) is more organized in the management of Windows, and can view all the windows of an application by using the dock (Mac OS X is used to start or switch the functionality of a running application, similar to the taskbar). The new stacks (similar to shortcuts) feature provides scrolling browsing mode and allows users to browse subdirectories. The new services menu also becomes more user-friendly and convenient.

"Snow Leopard" has also added a small amount of new features. The date and Time option allows the user to automatically set the time zone based on the Mac's location, and the preview feature provides a convenient way for users to select text by column in the PDF, and QuickTime Player's improvements may be the most user-friendly, not only the interface, but also the video editing and sharing features.

Apple, announcing the "Snow Leopard" operating system at the 2008 Global developer conference, said the price of upgrading from Jaguar to the operating system was $29, with 5 licensed home editions priced at $49. Users who upgrade to Snow Leopard from an earlier version can buy a 169-dollar MAC Box kit, which includes ilife 09 and iwork 09, and can also buy a home page for 229 dollars. Anyone who buys Mac users without a "Snow Leopard" operating system after June 8 can participate in Apple's "Snow Leopard Discount Plan" and upgrade to the "Snow Leopard" operating system by December 26 at $9.95. Installing the operating system requires that the MAC computer be installed with an Intel processor, with at least 1GB of RAM and 5GB of free hard disk space.