Mac OS X 10.6 "Snow Leopard" deliveries begin on August 28!

Although Apple’s web site clearly states that Snow Leopard “Delivers on August 28th,” it is unclear if other sources will be so punctual. We definitely expect Apple Stores to have plenty of stock on Friday morning, but what of Amazon.com pre-orders? Will they also deliver on Friday, or will those of us who pre-ordered there have to wait a few days for this undercover upgrade?

Who Gets What

Snow Leopard is really a major jump forward in terms of advanced hardware and software integration. It brings Grand Central, OpenCL, full 64-bit mode, and QuickTime X along with Exchange support and many tweaks. But many of these features are highly hardware-dependent, so not all Mac users will get everything.

Here’s a cheat sheet I put together based on Apple’s documentation:

This table is based on the following facts:

1. Snow Leopard only supports Intel-based Macs. PowerPC Macs need not apply.
2. Booting Snow Leopard in 64-bit mode requires 64-bit EFI, and many pre-2007 Macs have only a 32-bit EFI. You can check your Mac (and help me fix my table) by typing “ioreg -l -p IODeviceTree | grep firmware-abi” in a Terminal window. If it says “EFI64″, your system is capable of running 64-bit Snow Leopard (though it can still run 64-bit apps). But Snow Leopard defaults to 32-bit mode on ALL Macs other than the Xserve at this point, and no one is sure why!
3. Grand Central Dispatch requires a multi-core CPU. This eliminates the original base-model 2006 Mac Mini, since it used a single-core CPU.
4. OpenCL requires newer Nvidia or the ATI graphics chips. This leaves out many pre-2008 models and some iMac and Mac Pro configurations. Check Apple’s list if you’re not sure.
5. QuickTime H.264 Hardware Acceleration only works with the Nvidia 9400M chipset. This leaves out many pre-2008 machines and even the latest Mac Pros, though they probably have enough horsepower on their own.

Finally, if you’re excited about the new Microsoft Exchange support in Mail.app, iCal, and the Address Book be warned! In order for any of this to work, your server must be running Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 Update Rollup 4. And most companies still aren’t updated that far!

Update: Check my follow-up post on 64-bit Snow Leopard for more about this controversial aspect!

I’m Updating!

I held off on Amazon and placed my own order this morning with Apple. I’m with Mark Twomey:Upgrading to Snow Leopard is a safe day-1 activity. Most of the updates amount to new under-the-hood features and the OS has been through round after round of testing. Unlike the massive shift from Tiger to Leopard (which I missed, being a late switcher), Snow Leopard ought to be a lesser upgrade.

Why make the update at all? Here are a few of my reasons:

1. It’s cheap: Just $29 to update a single Mac, or $49 for up to five. Compared to Microsoft’s (expired) “limited-time-only” (and incredibly complicated) Windows 7 upgrade, Apple sets out a red velvet carpet.
2. It’s easy: There’s just one version of Mac OS X, and any system running OS X 10.5 “Leopard” can update to full-on Snow Leopard. There are no editions and no conflicts updating from 32-bit to 64-bit (like Windows 7).
3. It future-proofs your (Intel) Mac: Mac developers have a long history of quickly leveraging new OS X features since Mac users have a long history of quickly upgrading. Snow Leopard adds cool stuff like Grand Central and OpenCL that my Intel- and Nvidia-based Macs ought to be able to leverage. See below if your Mac can use these, too!

Sure, there aren’t any amazing features like Time Machine to set the world on fire. But the Snow Leopard update is still a slam-dunk for any Intel-based Mac user! My Late-2007 MacBook Pro will get everything but H.264 acceleration and my 2009 Mac Mini is all set to go!

Updated with Mac Mini and Xserve information. Keep the suggestions coming and test that EFI! Picked up, colorized, and reused (with permission) by the excellent Ed Bott in his ZDNet column!

Note: Some of these links include affiliate codes that help pay for this blog. For example, buying an Amazon Kindle with this link sends a few bucks my way! But I don't write this blog to make money, and am happy to link to sites and stores that don't pay anything. I like Amazon and buy tons from them, but you're free to buy whatever and wherever you want.

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2009. | Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard”: In Our Hands August 28!
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Snow Leopard is coming - will iSCSI finally tag along?

ZFS wasn’t the only AWOL storage technology in Apple’s OS X 10.5 – early builds of Leopard included a built-in iSCSI initiator. When the operating system was finally released in October of 2007, both ZFS and iSCSI were quietly dropped, making room for 300 other features Apple felt were more prime-time-ready.

With the next major OS X release, 10.6 “Snow Leopard”, just around the corner, many have wondered if iSCSI will join the reanimated ZFS support. Sadly, there has been no word from Apple on the fate of their iSCSI initiator. But silence does not necessarily tell a tale at the always-circumspect company, so hope springs eternal for the iSCSI faithful. If the rousing success of Microsoft’s iSCSI initiator is any indication, Apple is seriously missing out!

In the mean time, those seeking iSCSI connectivity within Mac OS X do have third-party options to consider:

• Studio Network Solutions offers a free (as in beer) iSCSI initiator for OS X Tiger and Leopard. The globalSAN iSCSI Initiator is the client-side portion of their SANmp storage sharing solution, and purports to support most of the required protocols. In practice, however, the company cannot support other targets than their own. globalSAN failed to mount any LUNs from my Windows Storage Server iSCSI test rig, and reports claim mixed results from EqualLogic and EMC SANs besides.
• ATTO Technology sells a commercial iSCSI initiator for OS X, Xtend SAN, and reports here are very favorable. Although the $195 price puts it out of reach for home users, corporations wishing to connect Leopard systems to an iSCSI SAN should look no further.
• Another commercial option is SmallTree Software’s abcSAN. Listed at $150, abcSAN lists EqualLogic among its functional targets, but the standalone initiator is nowhere to be found on SmallTree’s web site. They also have an ATA-over-Ethernet (AoE) solution for the true nerds in the audience!
• Ardis may also sell an iSCSI initiator for OS X.

All in all, iSCSI on OS X is in a sorry state of affairs. If only Apple had released the initiator seen in early Leopard builds! Let’s all hope Snow Leopard brings iSCSI to the party at last!

© sfoskett for Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat, 2009. | Will Snow Leopard Finally Bring iSCSI To The Mac?
This post was categorized as Apple. Each of my categories has its own feed if you'd like to filter out or focus on posts like this.