Nonsense. This is virtually the equivalent of a Service Pack upgrade which for MS is FREE. can't get a lot cheaper than that.
in fact typical of Apple to charge us for them fixing their problems in Leopard, and everyone applauding them for it - amazing!
Generally windows Service Packs don't include
- decreasing the footprint of the operating system by roughly half
- across the board 64 bit support (in ONE version rather than having six+ versions of the OS, some 64 and some 32)
- rewriting the main navigation mechanism (the "Finder" - equiv. of the "Windows Explorer") in a new programming language
- adding graphics-card based acceleration frameworks
- adding easy-to-implement multi-core friendly threading
This may be a mostly "under the hood" improvement, but it is far more than a "service pack".
That said, most users aren't going to bum-rush the Apple-Store to pay the usual $129 for an "under the hood improvement". It greatly behooves Apple to have as many of the installed base zipping along with a faster/more-stable OS (obviously just repeating talking points here; we'll see if either of those turns out to be the case). So they make the price so attractive as to be an after-thought for most users.
As to something more up my area of expertise: Capture One will be tested and made to fly with Snow Leopard, but all the usual advice about changing ANYTHING on your production machine applies.
1) Don't upgrade right away, but wait for reports from people like me who are willing-guinea pigs-for-the-cause and who get meaningful reports (including verifying the source of the problems rather than just saying "it doesn't work") from dozens of techs/photographers/companies.
2) Don't upgrade unless you are after a specific new feature/improvement or a fix for a bug that you care about. In other words don't upgrade just for the thrill of it.
3) Test your "new setup" thoroughly in simulations of your actual usage before ever using it on a professional job.
4) Make a complete bootable backup (which you should have of your good setup anyway) using SuperDuper or CarbonCopy so that if you get FUBAR you can return to your known-good setup with virtually no effort.
5) Report your findings to the community so we can all benefit
Also, OS upgrades (meaning you install the new OS "over" the previous one) are a joke IMO for critical production work. Only ever format and install the OS clean. I wonder how that will work this time around since the $29 price is specifically an "upgrade" to "Leopard Users"
Doug Peterson
(e-mail Me)__________________
Head of Technical Services, Capture Integration
Phase One, Canon, Apple, Profoto, Eizo & More
National: 877.217.9870 | Cell: 740.707.2183
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