As of today, a new Apple's operating system – Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard – is available. It's the first Mac operating system that doesn't bring revolutionary new features, but rather entirely focuses on processing acceleration and optimization, i.e. enhancements "under the hood". Also, it is the first OS X running exclusively on Intel architecture. First announcements and user reactions say that this is going to be the fastest selling Mac OS ever! Why? Well, keep on reading...

Od danas je dostupan novi Appleov operativni sustav - Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. To je prvi Macov operativni sustav koji ne donosi revolucionarno nove mogućnosti već je u potpunosti fokusiran na ubrzanje i optimizaciju samog rada, tj. poboljšanja "ispod haube". Isto tako, to je prvi OS X koji radi isključivo na Intel arhitekturi. Prve najave i reakcije korisnika govore da će ovo biti najbrže prodavani Mac OS ikada! Zašto, pročitajte u nastavku…

To sell an OS looking almost identical to the old one at a full price would definitely be a bad business move – regardless of all the novelties that a regular user doesn't see right away (and there are more than three hundred of them!). Apple knows it very well, and regular users usually react only to what they see. But... if one offers such an OS for ridiculously low $29 (only 239 Kn in Croatia), everybody is going to buy it! This is especially good opportunity for smaller businesses to make a cheap transfer to the legal zone with minimal investment.

Prodati za punu cijenu OS koji izgleda gotovo identično starom bio bi poslovni promašaj - bez obzira na sve novine koje korisnik ne vidi odmah, a ima ih preko tri stotine! Apple to jako dobro zna jer prosječni korisnici obično reagiraju samo na ono što vide. No, ako se takav OS ponudi za smiješnih 29$ - ili kod nas za samo 239 kuna, kupit će ga svi! Pogotovo je to prilika za manje tvrtke da se jeftino prebace u legalnu zonu uz minimalnu investiciju.

Unfortunately, the great Apple still despises this small and profit-wise insignificant Croatia, so a there-is-no-word-to-describe-it small quantity has been prepared for Croatian market. Therefore, no Croatian should hope that they can buy their copy today. However, there are also good news: although we can warmly recommend to all Intel Macs owners buying Snow Leopard right away, we can just as well advise everyone not to rush, keep cool and do not install it immediately.

Nažalost veliki Apple i dalje ne voli malu Hrvatsku i za naše tržište osigurao je tek smiješnu količinu. Zato se nemojte nadati da ćete odmah danas moći kupiti svoju kopiju. No, ima i dobra vijest - iako odmah u startu mogu toplo preporučiti kupovinu svim vlasnicima Intel Macova, isto tako savjetujem da nikuda ne žure, da zadrže hladnu glavu i Snow Leopard ne instaliraju odmah.

Where's the catch? Initial incompatibilities and old PowerPC software! Prior to installation be sure to google out does this pussycat actually run all software important to you. Some older utilities written in PPC code have problems. Naturally, it's all temporary because updates are on the way, but it simply isn't wise to rush. For instance, those with older AppleTalk printers report problems and getting stuck without your printouts can be a real pain.

Gdje je kvaka? Inicijalne nekompatibilnosti i stari PowerPC softveri! Prije instalacije obavezno izguglajte radi li na ovoj mica-maci sav vaš bitan softver. Neki stariji utility programi u PPC kodu imaju probleme. Naravno, sve je to samo privremeno jer nove verzije su na putu, ali jednostavno ne treba žuriti - npr. oni sa starijim AppleTalk printerima prijavljuju probleme, a to može biti prava neugodnost - ostati bez ispisa.

We've gotten into a problem, too. Naturally, word "problem" in the computing world is always first associated with Microsoft and there is no reason whatsoever not to continue this tradition. Microsoft Office 2004 started behaving strangely, sometimes ignoring keyboard entry and mishandling or entirely loosing some fonts. We know that it's an "old" PowerPC software and that there is a new Office 2008 working impeccably, but many – like the company we work with – didn't want to upgrade to Office 2008 that doesn't bring any relevant novelties. So, we turned this problem into something we've been preparing for a long time – dragging Microsoft Office to Trash and installing the free Open Office 3.1. Working flawlessly so far, and incredibly fast in comparison to the Microsoft "original". We even came across some Apple's own apps not working any more, but these are not really worth mentioning – same as a few of iTunes plug-ins that stopped working, too. Also, a lot of noise arose about whether Adobe Creative Suite 3 is working under Snow Leopard, or only the newer one – CS4. In a word – it definitely works, the panic was needless.

I ja sam uletio u problem. Naravno, riječ "problem" u informatici uvijek prvo asocira na Microsoft, pa se ta tradicija nastavila. Microsoft Office 2004 počeo se čudno ponašati, ponekad zanemaruje ulaz s tipkovnice, a dio fontova ne prikazuje kako treba - ili čak uopće. Znam da je to "stari" PowerPC softver i da postoji novi Office 2008 koji radi bez greške, ali mnogi, kao i tvrtka gdje radim, nisu željeli platiti upgrade na Office 2008 kada ne donosi ništa bitno novo. Ja sam problem iskoristio za nešto na što se dugo spremam - bacio sam Microsoft Office u smeće i instalirao besplatan Open Office 3.1. Za sada radi bez greške i nevjerojatno brzo u usporedbi s Microsoftovim "originalom". Naišao sam čak i na neke Appleove programčiće koji ne rade, ali to su sitnice - kao i par iTunes plug-ina koji su prestali raditi. Diglo se mnogo prašine i oko toga radi li Adobe Creative Suite 3 ili samo novi 4. Ukratko - radi provjerno, panika je bila bezrazložna.

Those were the really bad news. Now we just need to go through several small disappointments and then we move to the good stuff! If you are one of those users that have dozens of current projects icons on your desktop, before upgrading be sure to make a screenshot (CMD+SHIFT+3) because the new iconing system is going to "arrange" it all for you. Not right away, mind you, but only after second restart. Now, even gigantic 512x512 icons are possible! The installation itself lasts about 35 to 45 minutes and it mostly depends on your hard drive's speed. A really pleasant surprise is that a new OS takes up about 4 to 7 GB less space on your hard drive than a 10.5 system.

To su bile glavne loše vijesti, a sada još par sitnih razočarenja, pa možemo preći na sve ono dobro! Ako ste od onih korisnika koji na desktopu imaju desetine ikona s projektima na kojima radite, prije upgradea napravite screenshot ekrana (CMD+SHIFT+3) jer će novi sustav za prikaz ikona sve "posložiti". To neće učiniti odmah, nego tek nakon drugog restarta. Sada su moguće i gigantske 512x512 ikone! Sama instalacija traje od 35 do 45 minuta i najviše ovisi o brzini hard diska, a ugodno iznenađenje je što novi OS zauzima i od 4 do 7 GB manje prostora na disku od 10.5 sustava.

You will quickly notice the new QuickTime Player 10.0 that from now on uses hardware video decoding on many newer graphic processors, starting from GeForce 9400M. The window is ultimately optimized, simple cutting options are added, visual chaptering enables quicker searching, we now have a quick content sharing for iPhone, iPod and Apple-TV, but an especially useful new feature that previously required a 3rd party app – is Screen Recording. Excellent for tutorial making, and it works fast enough even at 2560x1600 screen resolution!

Brzo ćete primjetiti i novi QuickTime Player u verziji 10.0 koji od sada koristi hardversko dekodiranje videa na mnogim modernijim grafičkim procesorima počevši već od GeForce 9400M. Prozor je optimiziran do krajnjih granica, a dodane su i jednostavne opcije za rezanje, vizualna poglavlja za lakše snalaženje, brzi share sadržaja za iPhone, iPod i AppleTV, a posebno je korisna nova opcija koja je prije tražila zaseban program - to je Screen Recording. Sjajno za izradu tutoriala, a radi dovoljno brzo čak i pri 2560x1600 rezoluciji!

But, there's a confusing thing now – the new QuickTime X is not a Pro, as one would expect! Multimedia professionals might just get a heart attack when they find out that the "Export" feature is gone! However, things are under control. Namely, the old QuickTime 7 Pro Player is now hidden inside the Utilities folder and there it's patiently waiting them creatives to find it. If one needs access to the old QuickTime control panel, the whole System Preferences will restart in 32-bit mode to serve you. Let's hope that Apple is preparing also the QuickTime X Pro for the near future.

No, sada nešto zbunjujuće - novi QuickTime X nije Pro kako se očekivalo! Multimedijski profesionalci mogli bi dobiti srčani napadaj kada ustanove da je "Export" opcija nestala! Ipak, stvar je pod kontrolom, naime stari QuickTime 7 Pro Player se po novome sakrio u Utility mapu i tamo strpljivo čeka vrijedne kreativce. Ako je potreban pristup starom QuickTime kontrolnom panelu, cijeli System Preferences će se restartati u 32-bitnom modu kako bi vas uslužio. Nadajmo se da Apple priprema i QuickTime X Pro u skoroj budućnosti.

And now the really important stuff! Is Snow Leopard faster? You bet it's faster! Faster boot, faster shutdown, faster Finder, and the main news is that now all relevant system parts are 64-bit. New multi-core processor generations will be put to much better use through Grand Central Dispatch technology that manages task assignment among cores and processors. That technology will take its full breath only after the programmers start to actively use it, but the ground is set now. Big news is the OpenCL (Open Computing Language) technology that we already wrote about. Briefly, it's now possible to write applications that use the surplus processing potential of powerful graphics processors (the strongest among them even pass 1 teraflops!) for various general calculations and processings. That is a small revolution itself, but its results will only be seen in the future. Are you among the chosen for OpenCL? Yes, if you have a Mac with NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, GeForce 9600M GT, GeForce 8600M GT, GeForce GT 120, GeForce GT 130, GeForce GTX 285, GeForce 8800 GT, GeForce 8800 GS, Quadro FX 4800, Quadro FX5600, ATI Radeon 4850 or a Radeon 4870 graphic processor.

Sada ono zaista bitno! Je li Snow Leopard brži? Jest! Brže se podiže, brže se gasi, Finder je brži, a glavna novost je da je sada sve bitno u samom sustavu 64-bitno. Nove generacije višejezgrenih procesora bit će daleko bolje iskorištene dolaskom Grand Central Dispatch tehnologije koja brine o rasporedu poslova među jezgrama i procesorima. Ta tehnologija disat će punim plućima tek kada je programeri počnu koristiti, ali sada im je teren pripremljen. Velika novost je OpenCL (Open Computing Language) tehnologija o kojoj smo već pisali. Ukratko, od sada je moguće pisati aplikacije koje koriste višak snage moćnih grafičkih procesora (najjači prelaze čak i jedan teraflops!) za razne obične izračune i obrade. To je prava mala revolucija, ali rezultate toga ćemo vidjeti tek u budućnosti. Jeste li među odabranima za OpenCL? Jeste, ako imate Mac s NVIDIA GeForce 9400M, GeForce 9600M GT, GeForce 8600M GT, GeForce GT 120, GeForce GT 130, GeForce GTX 285, GeForce 8800 GT, GeForce 8800 GS, Quadro FX 4800, Quadro FX5600, ATI Radeon 4850 ili Radeon 4870 grafičkim procesorom.

How fast is Snow Leopard in present general applications? All the tests that we made gave an equal result or the differences were marginal. Therefore, all these technologies are primarily a token for the future. But there is a whole line of new ergonomy subtleties that helps improving workflow speed. For instance, we were delighted by a new Dock option – "Exposé from the Dock". A long click on an active application icon gives you a contextual Exposé of that application's open windows only! Dock Stacks are perfected, especially on smaller screens.

Kakva je brzina Snow Leoparda u običnim dosadašnjim aplikacijama? Sve testovi koje sam napravio dali su jednak rezultat ili su razlike bile marginalne. Dakle, sve ove tehnologije su prije svega zalog za budućnost. No, postoji niz novih finesa u ergonomiji kojima korisnik postaje brži u radu. Npr. oduševila me nova opcija na Docku - "Exposé from the Dock". Dugim klikom na ikonu aktivne aplikacije dobivate kontekstualni Exposé otvorenih prozora samo te aplikacije! Usavršeno je i ponašanje Stackova na Docku, pogotovo na manjim ekranima.

The Finder has been rewritten from the ground, using the new technologies and we instantly noticed many corrected bugs (we have several years long Finder bug list). However, many limitations are still here. Well, you can't make everyone happy! You'll immediately notice the new icon contents navigation trick – per example, a PDF document on the Desktop can now be flipped through even without activating QuickLook! As if it's not enough, you can preview a video on the spot in the same way – i.e. while still iconized, without any opening!

Finder je "napisan od nule" koristeći nove tehnologije i odmah sam primjetio da je dosta bubica ispravljeno (imam listu Finder bubica koju slažem godinama). Ipak, mnoga ograničenja su ostala, ali tko bi sve zadovoljio? Odmah ćete primjetiti i novi trik s navigacijom kroz sadržaj ikone - npr. PDF dokument na desktopu sada može listati čak bez ulaska u QuickLook mod! Da stvar bude luđa, možete na licu mjesta tako pogledati i preview videa - dakle, dok je još u formi ikone, bez ikakvog otvaranja!

Owners of older MacBooks that have a multi-touch trackpad without three- and four-finger gestures are now equal – Apple supported that machines as well. The new Safari doesn't need much talk, it's already known, but, from now on, every Mac gets a ticket to the Microsoft Exchange Server using companies. Yes, from now on, it's supported from Mail, iCal and Address Book right out of the box. Great!

Vlasnici starijih MacBook strojeva koji imaju multi-touch trackpad, ali do sada nisu imali podršku za geste s tri i četiri prsta, sada su ravnopravni - Apple je dodao podršku i za te strojeve. O novom Safariju ne treba mnogo pisati, već je poznat, ali zato od sada svaki Mac dobiva ulaznicu u poduzeća koja koriste Microsoft Exchange Server. Da, od sada je "out of the box" podržan u Mail, iCal i Address Book aplikacijama. Super!

Even our favorite iChat's been improved. It now needs 1/3 less bandwidth for the same image quality, and Quick Look is functional even from it – a very neat feature when your buddy sends you something to preview. Many applications have been refined by a number of such minor improvements, like Preview, that now has intelligent text selection, scanning from the application itself (previously done from Image Capture tool), and the document search is significantly accelerated.

I moj omiljeni iChat je poboljšan. Od sada traži trećinu bandwidtha za istu kvalitetu slike, a QuickLook radi čak i u njemu - jako zgodno kada vam kolega šalje nešto na preview. Nizom takvih sitnih poboljšanja rafinirane su mnoge aplikacije, pa tako i Preview koji sada ima inteligentno selektiranje teksta, skeniranje iz same aplikacije (prije bi se to radilo putem Image Capture alata), a pretraživanje dokumenta je znatno ubrzano.

The persons needing better accessibility haven't been left behind, too. Snow Leopard offers a VoiceOver trackpad control, a wider support for the blind persons assistance devices, while the people with diminished eyesight have a number of features for easier web browsing at their disposal.

Nisu zaboravljene niti hendikepirane osobe. Snow Leopard nudi VoiceOver kontrolu trackpada, širu podršku za uređaje za slijepe osobe, a za slabovidne je tu niz opcija za lakše pregledavanje web stranica.

To name, let alone to describe, all the new details would be difficult, to say the least. In time, each user will discover them with use. Nobody can say that Snow Leopard is a perfect operating system, but one would have serious trouble to argue against the stand that this is the best OS ever. Microsoft Windows Vista was a failure and the new Windows 7 have a heavy task to compete with such a vicious top-pedigree cat!

Nabrojati, a kamo li opisati, sve nove detalje bilo bi teško. Svatko će ih vremenom otkriti u radu. Nitko ne može reći da je Snow Leopard savršen operativni sustav, ali netko bi se dobrano namučio da obori tezu da je ovo najbolji OS ikada. Microsoft Windows Vista bila je promašaj, a novi Windowsi 7 imaju težak zadatak da konkuriraju ovako opasnoj mačketini s najboljim pedigreom!

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard pro et contra

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard pro et contra

English translation / engleski prijevod: Emil Prpić