Apple lets Snow Leopard off the leash

Apple has officially made available Snow Leopard, the latest version of the OS X operating system for its Mac computers, which makes better use of the capabilities in Intel processors, adds user interface enhancements, and builds in support for Microsoft's Exchange email server.

Snow Leopard, or OS X version 10.6, is now available from Apple stores and to order online, the firm said. It costs £25 as an upgrade from Leopard, while Apple said anyone with an Intel-based Mac can install the £129 Mac Box Set, which includes Snow Leopard along with the latest versions of Apple applications such as iLife 09. A family pack with five licences is also available for £39.

The new version is basically a refinement of the existing OS X 10.5 Leopard, with small enhancements to almost every aspect of the platform, according to European marketing director Erki Stannow.

These enhancements make the whole system snappier and more responsive, he added, while Snow Leopard is now almost entirely 64bit code, although it will run both 32bit and 64bit applications seamlessly.

Snow Leopard also drops support for PowerPC processor chips, meaning that users need an Intel-based Mac to run it. A side effect of this is that Snow Leopard requires 7GB less disk space to install than the previous release.

User interface tweaks include integration of the Exposé feature with the application Dock, enabling users to get a preview of the open documents in each individual application.

QuickTime 10 has been totally redesigned using the latest audio and video codecs, while the Safari 4 browser has improvements such as a Top Site view that shows thumbnails of favourite sites for easy access, and is the most industry compliant browser in the Acid3 web standards test, according to Apple.

One feature that might give Macs a boost in offices with Windows-based infrastructure is direct support for Microsoft's Exchange 2007 email server. Users can add an Exchange folder to Snow Leopard's Mail application, while Exchange calendar entries can be viewed using iCal and contacts via Address Book.

Under the hood, the greater 64bit support means that Snow Leopard can support a memory space up to 16 billion gigabytes, instead of the 4GB limit of Leopard.

A technology called Grand Central Dispatch provides greater multi-threading support, making it easier for developers to code applications for today's multi-core processor chips, Apple said.

Apple has also included support for Open Computing Language, which enables standard applications to take advantage of the number-crunching capabilities of high-performance graphics chips.

Snow Leopard requires an Intel-based Mac with at least 1GB memory and 5GB free disk space.