Differences Between Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard

If you're a Mac user, chances are good that you're excited about Snow Leopard and how it differs from Mac OS X Leopard. Below are some of the major changes.

Windows partitions can copy and read files from HFS+ partitions via Boot Camp. Support is also now available for the features on Cinema Displays, as well as a Startup Disk Control Panel command-line.  

There is better video chat resolution now in iChat and the bandwidth upload requirements have been lowered.

In order to take advantage of fresh technologies first seen in Snow Leopard, the Finder has been entirely rewritten in 64-bit Cocoa. Therefore, the OS footprint is littler now, and only uses approximately 7 GB less space than the Mac OS X v10.5 utilized. Printer drivers need only be installed or downloaded as necessary, instead of being added in one fell swoop as before, which is why there is now a lot of recovered disc space. Only drivers necessary for a small subset of printers and existing printers is contained in the default install.  

Four-finger gestures have been enabled in the MacBook Air and other multi-touch enabled notebooks, which makes them fully multi-touch now.

You will also notice the integration of Microsoft Exchange support in Address Book, Mail, and iCal applications. But customers with Microsoft versions prior to Microsoft Exchange 2007 will need to upgrade or utilize Microsoft Entourage.

QuickTime player's latest version, QuickTime X, isnow a complete 64-bit Cocoa application, and is built upon the media advancements in Mac OS X, which include Core Video, Core Audio, and Core Animation for playback. The QuickTime user interface now looks like a QuickTime full-screen view, the way it appeared in previous versions. Now, the whole window shows the visual and controls, like the title bar, appear and disappear, as necessary. HTTP live streams are now supported by QuickTime X, and ColorSync is incorporated making for the reproduction of high-quality color. QuickTime is also able to utilize its video decoding technology for reducing CPU load when Snow Leopard has been installed on a Mac equipped with nVidia GeForce 940m graphics card.

Artificial intelligence algorithms, which allow Preview to infer the paragraph structure in PDF files, has been added.

There is speedier backups and Time Machine establishments in Snow Leopard.

Browser crashes from plug-ins are now reduced due to expanded standards support for the Safari 4 features of Cover Flow, VoiceOver and Top Sites.

Snow Leopard has also improved VoiceOver. Auto Web Spots has helped to improve web page readings—specifically for page areas created for quick access. Trakpat gestures on later model Apple portables are now enabled to control multiple Voice Over functions. One of these functions is the "rotor" gesture, initially introduced in the iPhone 3GS VoiceOver, which enables VoiceOver navigation choices via finger rotation on a trackpad. Bluetooth Braille Display is also improved and supported now.

Although there are also many other changes between the Mac OS X Leopard and Snow Leopard, these are some of the major ones. With this information, you now have a better idea of what to expect from the new Snow Leopard.