June 8, 2009: Apple introduces OS X Snow Leopard, a model of its Mac working system that ranks among the many firm’s best desktop updates.
Showcased at Apple’s Worldwide Builders Convention in San Francisco, Snow Leopard doesn’t appear as flashy as another Mac working system upgrades. The truth is, Apple famously features a slide in its WWDC presentation touting “0 new features.” Nevertheless, OS X Snow Leopard greater than delivers on Apple’s core values, paving a path to a brilliant future for the Mac.
Mac OS X Snow Leopard optimizes options
On paper, the improve wasn’t an enormous shift from its predecessor, Mac OS X Leopard. A bit like 2018’s macOS Mojave, it didn’t add a plethora of recent options and horny gimmicks. As a substitute, it caught to the fundamentals, optimizing what was already there by way of options and efficiency. Oh, and it did this whereas taking on 6GB much less cupboard space than its instant predecessor.
“We’ve built on the success of Leopard and created an even better experience for our users from installation to shutdown,” stated Bertrand Serlet, Apple’s senior vp of software program engineering, in a press launch. “Apple engineers have made hundreds of improvements so with Snow Leopard your system is going to feel faster, more responsive and even more reliable than before.”
Provided that Leopard overreached in some senses, Snow Leopard restored Apple’s repute for high quality merchandise that “just work.” It’s no shock that it hung round for a very long time. (That’s presumably additionally as a result of it being the final model of OS X that ran on early Intel Macs.)
Mac updates get cheaper
The 2009 improve modified the sport in one other approach, too. Earlier variations of OS X price $129, however Snow Leopard solely set consumers again the comparatively paltry sum of $29. The worth minimize prefigured Apple’s resolution to put off many software program costs altogether a couple of years later. 2013’s OS X Mavericks could have been the primary free desktop working system from Apple, however Snow Leopard marked the way in which.
Finally, Mac OS X Snow Leopard turned a vital replace for Mac customers. It targeted on getting issues proper, correcting earlier errors, and listening to under-the-hood enhancements somewhat than user-facing ones.
You may watch Craig Federighi, VP of Mac OS engineering on the time, run by means of the software program’s refinements within the video beneath from WWDC 2009:
Did you run Mac OS X Snow Leopard?
Do you’ve fond reminiscences of utilizing this working system in your Mac? What’s your favourite macOS replace through the years? Depart your feedback beneath.