Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard Faster & Easier

Apple is set to release its latest version, called Snow Leopard, on Friday, ahead of its previously announced September availability. The Apple release, officially Mac OS X 10.6, also precedes Microsoft’s Windows 7, scheduled to debut Oct. 22. In ways big and small, Mac OS X Snow Leopard makes your Mac faster, more reliable, and easier to use. Snow Leopard is seriously faster than its predecessor. Apple happily furnishes bar charts touting 1.4x to 2x speed boosts in common tasks all through the user experience.

Apple refers to other changes in the operating system as “refinements.” Many of these focus on performance: 64-bit versions of the Finder and most core applications speed up the system in general; Time Machine backups are faster; and Safari 4 (already available) gains speed and reliability under Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard is also significant in that it only runs on Macs powered by Intel processors; older PowerPC-based Macs are no longer supported.

Snow Leopard is a $29 update to the company’s Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, which powers recent Mac computers. A five-license family pack costs $49. Owners of the earlier Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger can upgrade by purchasing the Mac Box Set for $169, which includes Snow Leopard, iLife ’09, and iWork ’09 (these most recent versions of iLife and iWork require at least Mac OS X 10.5 to run).