DailyTech - Apple Gifts Golden Master of Snow Leopard on Entire Developer Community

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Blog: Software Apple Gifts Golden Master of Snow Leopard on Entire Developer Community
Jason Mick (Blog) - August 13, 2009 12:00 PM

38 comment(s) - last by InsaneScientis.. on Aug 18 at 1:26 AM

Steve Jobs gifts a new OS to the loyal developers

Among the Apple loyalists one of the most eagerly awaited fall events is the release of OS X Snow Leopard. Bringing updated 64-bit versions of many popular Mac programs, and other updates, the operating system also comes at a wallet-friendly price point of $29 for one license.

Apple's Golden Master build (Apple's fancy way of saying RTM build) is typically delivered to company employees and a handful of developers. With the delivery of the Snow Leopard Golden Master, Apple has reportedly ditched the exclusivity and given all registered Mac OS X developers a chance to get in on the action.

The build is numbered 10A432 and it will be copied and released to customers on optical media in about a month. Also included is Snow Leopard Server, build 10A433, and potentially the final release of QuickTime 7, version 7.6.4. The client image is 6.1GB, while the server image weighs in at 5.5GB.

The OS's installation process recently went public this Wednesday, with few surprises. With no official release date exists for the OS, other than a tentative "September" target, it is unknown when Mac enthusiasts can get their fingers on it. However, given that the Golden Master build has aired, it appears headed for an early September release.

As evidence of the OS's popularity, a pre-order on Amazon was the site's top selling software product a week ago.

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RE: Correction

By Mojo the Monkey on 8/13/2009 12:36:03 PM , Rating: -1

OK MS fanboy. How is the new Mac OS any more of a "service pack" than windows 7 after vista? He is calling it what the company is calling it.

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RE: Correction

By rs1 on 8/13/2009 1:00:45 PM , Rating: 4

Meh. Because I dislike Apple due to their aggressive, manipulative, heavy-handed, and just plain not-very-nice business practices that automatically makes me a MS fanboy? You fail at logic

quote:
How is the new Mac OS any more of a "service pack" than windows 7 after vista?

Let's see:

1. You do not have to buy $1000+ worth of hardware from Microsoft to run Win 7/Vista.

2. The EULA for Win7/Vista has no stipulation about where it is and isn't legal to install it.

3. OS X is completely useless as a standalone product. Without dedicated hardware purchased from Apple, it cannot (legally) run.

...and even if you want to ignore those points, the fairly minimal amount of changes included in the new OS X release provide the basis for an entirely separate argument. I don't think that's necessary however, because the way the OS X license ties it only to Apple hardware makes it more like a driver or a firmware than an operating system.

quote:
He is calling it what the company is calling it.

While the company can call it whatever it wants, I would expect a tech journalist/blogger to have more integrity and more intelligence than that.

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RE: Correction

By Murst on 8/13/09, Rating: -1

RE: Correction

By Screwballl on 8/14/09, Rating: -1

By Screwballl on 8/14/2009 4:32:50 PM , Rating: -1

quote:
by Murst
quote: 1. You do not have to buy $1000+ worth of hardware from Microsoft to run Win 7/Vista.
You don't have to buy $1000+ worth of hardware to run OSX either...

1) look at the words: in order to run OSX in any form, you need to buy a computer. This computer is required to use Apple hardware. The cheapest Mac hardware (Mac mini) starts out around $500 new elsewhere, or around $1000 from Apple themselves. Using the low end hardware from Apple means you have a very slow and almost useless computer.
The point is that you do not buy a computer from Microsoft, you can buy it OEM, or at a computer shop, or build your own to your own specs, but Microsoft does not control what hardware it can be run on (except outdated legacy hardware which they just drop support for, but they do not make it illegal). According to Apple, it is illegal for you to buy your own parts, assemble them, and install OSX on that computer.

Yet if you build/buy a computer the exact same specs using Windows XP or 7, it runs fast and very well. So for Windows you only need to spend $500 to match the same specs as a $1000 Mac.

quote:

quote: 2. The EULA for Win7/Vista has no stipulation about where it is and isn't legal to install it.
OEM versions of windows actually do have this restriction. Considering that OSX is OEM also, it would be a pretty fair comparison.

Wrong, OEM versions do NOT have that restriction. Go buy an OEM version from Newegg or any online retailer. The only restriction is if you buy an OEM computer, and that license is required to stay on that original computer. This is the manufacturers requirement, not a Microsoft requirement. A large percentage of licenses sold for any version of Windows has been Retail.
Say your Mac crashes, does Apple allow for you to use build your own computer using your same license key from the dead computer to transfer it to a newer Mac? NO, Apple is the OEM so therefore controls what hardware it is allowed on, so therefore you buy a new computer with a new license and your old one is wasted, dead and gone. With Windows, if your computer dies (as long as it is not an OEM brand), you can use your same disc and same key and install it on another newer computer, without the requirement to pay some large cost to Microsoft for the OS.

quote:

quote: OS X is completely useless as a standalone product. Without dedicated hardware purchased from Apple, it cannot (legally) run.
Windows is also useless as a standalone product. Without hardware, it can't do much either.
I prefer Windows to OSX... I just don't see why you would use these faulty comparisons when there's so many more valid reasons why Windows > OSX

Again, READ the words: " without dedicated hardware purchased from Apple ". Yes any disc of any type is useless without a computer or hardware to install it on. The point is that OSX is useless because of their hardware restrictions, not because it comes on a disc. With a Mac, you can't build your own computer, you can't choose to upgrade your computer without first consulting Apple to see if it is approved hardware, you cannot install OSX legally unless you have a computer assembled and (initially) sold by Apple.

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RE: Correction

By Mojo the Monkey on 8/14/2009 1:37:00 PM , Rating: 3

but your points do not address the underlying argument at all. what i said had absolutely nothing to do with your numbered arguments. I am asking why this incremental step, being called derisively a "service pack" is any different than the incremental step between Vista and 7?

Do you get that argument? I am not pro-mac, but wondering why other OS's can pull the same behavior of minimally updating (basically a facelift) and call it a new OS and thats ok...

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RE: Correction

By web2dot0 on 8/17/2009 2:35:15 AM , Rating: 2

What exactly does Win7 do so much better than Vista as what Snow Leopard does to Leopard?

They both improve performance, and robustness features. Enhancements to all aspects of the OS. What exactly does Win7 do so evolutionary that warrants its elevated status?

You may not be pro-mac, but you're also not logical. Name me some cold hard facts, not personal opinion.

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RE: Correction

By Mojo the Monkey on 8/17/2009 12:47:13 PM , Rating: 2

You are misunderstanding my post. I never took the position that Snow Leopard was not worthy of the title if a "new OS". I think that both the Mac and Windows new operating systems are in comparable positions.

I took issue with singling out Mac, when the update is analogous to what MS is doing with Vista --> 7. Whether you want to call "worth of being a new OS, vs just an update" is up to you.

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RE: Correction

By SiliconDoc on 8/14/2009 11:25:10 AM , Rating: 1

Isn't a snow leopard an endangered species ?
roflmao

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"Nowadays, security guys break the Mac every single day. Every single day, they come out with a total exploit, your machine can be taken over totally. I dare anybody to do that once a month on the Windows machine." -- Bill Gates