Mac OS X version 10.6.3 Snow Leopard (Mac computer with an Intel processor required)

After resisting the Snow Leopard upgrade for nearly a year mainly due to initial reviews on the various glitches, I figured Apple has fixed all the initial woes of Snow Leopard and decided to take the plunge. I figured at $28, the upgrade is not shabby even if it is evolutionary, not revolutionary.Here is my upgrading experience.1) Ordered the Snow Leopard on 09/16/2010 from Amazon with free shipping (figured I'll be as cheap as possible with this upgrade)2) After taking its sweet time, Amazon shipped me the Disc on 09/22 which was their shipping estimate date.3) Disc arrived 09/25.4) Popped in the Disc and after a couple of clicks, I was on my way from OS X 10.5.8 (Leopard) to OS X 10.6.3. I did not bother to take a data backup and took a chance on Apple that the upgrade will be glitch free. I don't necessarily suggest every one do the same.5) After chugging for about 50-60 min without needing any of my input, my upgrade to 10.6.3 was complete without a glitch.6) After the restart, I ejected the CD and looked for software updates as I know 10.6.4 is the latest and greatest version of SL. I had about 7 different updates show up, one of them being the 10.6.4 update. This update took the longest and it took for ever to download all the updates which totalled about 840 MB. I spent about 75 minutes downloading and installing all the updates.7) Restart post 10.6.4 update and search for software updates again just to make sure I am up to date. To my surprise, there were 3 updates, 2 of them were security updates. So I did a rinse and repeat.** For people upgrading from Leopard, I suggest post SL upgrade, check for software updates till you get the 'You are up to date' message. I was surprised to see a 2nd round of updates after the 10.6.4 update(and associated updates) so make sure you check for software updates after the 10.6.4 update**OK now on to performance review of Snow Leopard.My MB Pro appears to be marginally faster. Nothing to write home about but just marginal performance improvement. It did clear maybe 5 GB of Hard disk space so that is atleast good.Snow Leopard 10.6.4 is very stable at this point and whatever review you are reading trashing SL are old news. I can safely vouch for 10.6.4 being a stable, hiccup free version so if you were planning to take the plunge for a while like me and was put off by the bad reviews....you are safe now. I can say it is very stable and mature now at this juncture.Final ConclusionDo I see any significant improvement from Leopard 10.5.8? Not really except marginal performance improvement. Maybe I am missing things I am yet to explore.Can you live without the SL update? Yes, but at $28, it is not bad. Not bad at all. That way you are up to date and maybe able to upgrade for cheap when Apple releases 10.7 with whatever cat name they fancy.Overall, I am quite happy and satisfied with the update and for less than $28, it is worth it if you are running 10.5.x

Before you dive in and install Snow Leopard over Leopard, be sure to do a complete backup of your drive! I cloned mine with Carbon Copy Cloner, just in case something didn't work. I haven't needed it, but I'll keep the clone for a few weeks, just in case. I have known two people who were very glad they did this, because they hosed their installations and had to re-do them!OS X continues to grow and evolve. This "under the hood" upgrade paves the way for many great things to happen in the world of OS X software. As such, users won't see a heck of a lot of difference in their computers right away, if they were using Leopard. Yes, you gain back some space, because support for Power PC chips is gone. Your hard drive suddenly seems to have more gigabytes of maximum capacity, because 1 GB = 1000 MB, instead of 1024 MB in previous systems. This was intended to relieve some confusion over how drive manufacturers market their disks, but will inevitably add its own confusion to the mix...Oh, there are at least 100 things new, here, but they're very subtle. [...]Everything is a bit zippier due to the native code, and due to most of the system running in 64-bit mode. Yeah, the kernel starts in 32-bit mode by default, but that is a VERY good thing, for compatibility with older drivers and other third party software that is not yet updated. Certain high-end systems will run in 64-bit by default - mostly servers - but the rest of us will benefit from the kernel's staying in 32-bit unless we start up while holding down the 6 and 4 keys.Check out[...] lists of applications that are, and are not, compatible with this upgrade. You will inevitably have to download some updates and patches to get some of your software and hardware to run, especially if you haven't done that in a while.Yes, Rosetta still works, so you can run older programs that are not Intel-ready. It's off by default, but you can do a custom installation of OS X to install it, or you can connect to the Internet the first time you need it, and Software Update will load it for you. I finally gave up on Office 2004 and upgraded to Office 2008, though, because the speed gains in Office 2008 in Intel mode are substantial. I only wish my company used Exchange Server 2007 so I wouldn't even have to use Office! Snow Leopard works very well with Exchange Server 2007, according to friends who use Mail, iCal, etc. with it.With any major "point upgrade," there can be unknown anomalies and incompatibilities. So far, I haven't had many issues*. I'm still running Tiger on an older Power PC machine, though, just in case. It has saved me a lot of angst to always keep an old machine around when I get a new one, just so I can be sure my older software will run until it's stable on the new platform, or I've learned its replacement.*Check your printer manufacturer's website to be sure there's a compatible driver. If you use any exotic hardware, such as an eSATA Express Card, be sure to find the latest drivers for it before you upgrade. If you use Adobe Creative Suite 3, or Photoshop CS3, read the forums regarding compatibility issues. I haven't found any, but it's not supported by Adobe, so you'll have to decide whether to upgrade to CS4 (which is only 32-bit, but is supported), or wait for CS5 (which should be 64-bit). I'm waiting... Adobe suites are pricey, and I don't need the few new goodies in CS4 badly enough to upgrade. But CS5 should be worth it.All in all, Snow Leopard will add finesse, speed, and drive space immediately. It will add even more speed and power down the road. If you have kids, the new system allows you to set timers on their computer usage and keep them away from porn sites. However, the most important advances will be for power users, because they allow easier multi-threaded, multi-processor number crunching, and use of the graphics card processor to do heavy data lifting. If you edit video, do lots of higher math, or process images for gargantuan prints, you know what I mean. If you just surf the 'Net, do email, and simple office work, this upgrade is less important. Still, at $[...] or so, it's a no-brainer. Do it cautiously, but do it.

i have a 2008 MacBook, this is a perfect solution to upgrade your Mac to latest softwares. Very prompt delivery.

It was a hard to find item. That's why I gave it a 5.It was advertised as used. But looks virtually brand new.This was for a refurbished Mac Pro that is 7 years old.It sat around for 5 of those years not doing anything.So basically it should have some life left in it yet.Anyone who needs to upgrade an aging Mac to makeit useful again will find this useful.

Muy bueno. Perfecto estado..lo instalé en mi iMac donde anteriormente tenía el triguero y quizás no va tan rápido porque el ordenador necesita más RAM pero funciona bien

Après avoir longtemp retardé l'échéance je suis passé sous macOS 10.6. Je l'ai pris essentiellement car 10.5 ne sera plus supporté au travail d'ici qq jours. J'utilise essentiellement des distribution linux, mais pour qq applications spécifique j'avais besoin d'un os apple.Le DVD a été livré sous blister l'upgrade s'est faite sans souci... bref rien a dire.

Was soll man sagen!? "Mac is Mac" !!!Kurzum: Das Produkt ist 100% MAC - eben Perfekt :-))))Früher war natürlich alles besser als Apple noch der Underdog war, Intel der Klassenfeind und Windows der Goliath ...Ich habe die Entwicklungen von Apple meistens begeistert teils aber auch skeptisch verfolgt. So wollte mir 2000 der Mehrwert des iPods oder später des iPhones zunächst so überhaupt nicht einleuchten, ebensowenig der des Intel Core Duos 2006. Heute nutze ich täglich mein iPhone 4 und trage den Shuffle zum Sport und auf dem Schreibtisch steht ein imac Core Duo 24 neben einem Performa 475 in allerbester Eintracht :-)Steve Jobs früher zunächst belächelt und geschasst, hat über die Jahre mit seinem Team Visionen und Antworten auf das digitale Zeitalter entworfen und gegeben, die einen in der Rückschau immer wieder zum Staunen bringen !!!Steve Jobs ist ein wahrer Visionär des 21 Jhs - dies wird immer deutlicher !!! Bitte noch lange weiter so !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!