There is little reason for most users to upgrade to Apple's next-generation Snow Leopard operating system this Friday, but at least the price is reasonable. Or is it?
People with multiple Macs can upgrade up to five of them with using the $49 Snow Leopard "family pack." That's what I have ordered and it is hard to complain about upgrading the OS for $10-a-machine. (Single licenses cost $29).
But, I must complain since the real benefit for current users, Microsoft Exchange Server compatibility is something Apple has been claiming to have for years. It never worked right, at least not for me, which explains the need for Snow Leopard.
Watch out, however, because Snow Leopard is only compatible with Exchange Server 2007. If your company isn't using that version--and many are not--Snow Leopard won't help you.
My reading of the Snow Leopard coverage suggests that while I may regain some hard drive space and there are a few mildly interesting business features (detailed here by Tony Bradley) that I probably won't notice much once the new OS is installed.
When Apple talks about the new under-the-hood technologies in Snow Leopard, they seem to be talking about future hardware running future applications, not about cool stuff my two-year-old iMac will be doing very soon.
I don’t consider to be Snow Leopard in any way competitive with Microsoft Windows 7 in terms of features or functionality. Their timing vaguely coincides, but I don't think they charge the competitive landscape too very much.
While I think most Mac users can live happily ever after without a Snow Leopard upgrade, for $10-a-Mac, I am willing to give Apple generous benefit of the doubt and expect many more will do likewise.
Industry veteran David Coursey tweets as @techinciter and can be contacted via his Web site.
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