Thanks Weeks. I saw this mentioned on many of the Mac related sites.

I suspect there will be demos of Snow Leopard at Macworld [macworldexpo.com] in January.

Still on Tiger and love it on my iBook G4. Installed leopard when it was 10.5.0 but it was a big mistake for numerous reasons (bugs, slow running on my old comp, etc). I think I also got the 10.5.1 update but that didn't help much, so I reformatted and went back to Tiger.

I've never really felt compelled to always have the latest versions of software (unless it's for major security reasons). I still have Dreamweaver 8, Photoshop 8, Office 2004 - all old apps, and not once have I found myself at a loss due to an absent feature that's only available in the newer OS / software version.

From my perspective, the most important thing is to become fluent with the tools you have, which allows you to use them with maximum efficiency. Updating or changing the tools too frequently just reduces efficiency because you then have to readjust. That's why I'll be sticking with Tiger until my mid-2005 ibook dies completely, at which point I'll be FORCED to upgrade since none of the newer machines come with Tiger installed, and I don't believe that downgrading them is an option :(.

Look forward to seeing what they have in the new OS though :)

chico-loco: in the mean time 10.5.5 is out, they fixed a number of the 10.5.0 problems in the mean time.

Take care with sticking with old versions of exposed software (mainly the OS, browsers and stuff like office that gets to open downloaded content): vendors typically only provide security related patches for a limited number of versions or for a limited time. I think -can't find confirmation right now- apple's policy for the OS is two versions only, so that would leave Tiger (10.4) out in the cold when Snow Leopard (10.6) comes along.

>>bugs, slow running on my old comp, etc

Wonder why John Hodgman ("PC Guy") never brings this stuff up when the Mac Guy is hammering him about Vista? ;)

Apple is great at marketing...

Basically, what's being released next year is a new FreeBSD version with modern OS capabilities and packed with a whole load of patches.

That's basically Apple OS X Version 10.6.

Wonder why John Hodgman ("PC Guy") never brings this stuff up when the Mac Guy is hammering him about Vista?

Because he's using Vista, ergo his computer is crashing too frequently for him to surfing the Web and reading articles and forums such as this fine one, so he's oblivious to the fact :P Just kidding!

[edited by: Chico_Loco at 5:53 pm (utc) on Nov. 20, 2008]

Chico, I think you make a heck of a good point about working with what works. Still, after a while it gets painful. One of my primary service vendors is still on Tiger and it's getting to be a problem for her.

And, Spotlight (a desktop search) is awesome. I really could not work without it now.

Speaking of awesome, I think the best new recent feature is the "Quick Look" function. I have yet to find anything that will not open up instantly for a quick look including excel docs and pdf's without having to launch the native app.

What'cha talkin' 'bout?

I have Vista, and with ReadyBoost it's almost as functional as Windows ME.

Vista. Now why does that sound familiar? Wasn't that a Ford SUV? ;)

I am reading this forum on a Mac PowerBook G3 with OS 8.6 on a Mozilla 7.0 browser. The computer is 1998 vintage, as is the OS. I have another Mac desktop with 10.4 and it's faster, but this old sucker still runs great.

Some stuff (certain flash video, web apps) doesn't work with this Mac, but that's why I have the other G3 indigo with 10.4. This one is grat for writing, posting, email.

travelin cat: I agree, Quick Look is great. I have found one thing it doesn't display, however. You can't see the web page in a .webloc, it should be able to go get the page.

i upgraded to 10.5 a few months back, and my mac is acting more like a pc than hodgman looks like a south park character;

after reading your take, i'm going to put the eye of the tiger back in it.

I can't imagine going back to tiger. I can't imagine my mac without quick look and spotlight.

I downloaded and tried Quicksilver 'cause everyone told me how they love it so, and I couldn't get the hang of it, just so much of it didn't seem intuitive to me...

A let us not forget Time Machine! How many of us never backed up our personal computers before Time Machine? I can't imagine having a mac without it, as well...

I'm still on Tiger and will remain so until Snow Leopard comes out.

Spotlight is on Tiger BTW - I loathe it, mind you. Give me simple "find it by filename" any day of the week. And Time machine, meh. I run automated daily backups anyway.

As I understand it, Snow Leopard is not about features (bloat), and all about stability, compatibility with other technologies and speed increases. Which, if true, has to the first time that any major OS has been released with those goals in mind. And that suits me down to the ground.

There is nothing under Leopard that I need and Tiger works like a dream (other than the same display bugs that have plagued it since version 10.0).

Anyway, I look forward to 10.6 eagerly. Please don't disappoint me Apple.

Spotlight was in Tiger, but it works much better in Leopard.

It may work better in Leopard, but I still don't use it. Apple is heading towards removing the whole 'desktop as metaphor' approach and I don't like it. Spotlight is handy for home users who can't manage to organise their files properly. But hierarchical files and folders is the most logical way to store files, especially in the production environment that I work in.

As in lots of computer software, there's more than one way to do things. Like clicking with a mouse or typing the keystroke instead. I know where my files are, I just find it easier to type the first few letters of the filename in Spotlight than to navigate through finder to get to the file's actual location.

Indeed. Horses for courses. Unfortunately, I suspect that Apple are heading for the iPhone way of doing things. No desktop, no finder, no 'files'... no choice. As a 15 years Mac user, I'm a bit concerned.

I suspect that Apple are heading for the iPhone way of doing things. No desktop, no finder, no 'files'... no choice.

Let's not forget that under the hood there is a freebsd derived "unix" OS that has as a fundamental basic idea that everything is a file. Spotlight won't change that for many years to come IMHO.

Oh, under the hood are many things. I'm talking about the interface that the user interacts with. Apple can change that whenever they want.

Sure, a techie can always drill down into the file system, but that's no use to 99% of Mac users.

I see Spotlight as just one technology that is going the way of abandoning the file system way of working. I'd make a guess that OS 10.7 or 10.8 will finally putting paid to any form of hierarchical file storage system.

I can't wait for the announcement from Apple that just like floppy disks, folders and files are no longer a relevant paradigm. OS X was step 1, iPhone was step 2.... step 3 will be ...?

Maybe. Of course, there is a small chance that I am talking nonsense. ;)

I am going to stick to the old Leopard! I heard stories about system crash after upgrade...too risky now!

But of course it's more than interesting to install something new and enjoy if it works better :)

Leopard was awful when I first tried it, back when it first came out. I went back to Tiger pretty quickly.

Now I'm using and loving Leopard. The updates have made it not only usable but much better than Tiger.

Snow Leopard .... probably ditto.

When it comes to software, especially the OS, I rarely want to be the first kid on the block. But ultimately it usually ends up being better.