Snow Leopard to see HFS+ compression, default gamma switch
Details of Apple's first Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard build for developers since WWDC have been published on the web, including confirmation of a Cocoa Finder and HFS+ compression.
Cocoa Finder
The full build details published by World of Apple confirm that 10A190 now has a Finder rewrite in Cocoa, marking the first time it has moved away from Carbon since the introduction of Mac OS X.
The Cocoa object-oriented program environment has also been used for re-writes of "almost all" visible applications Apple ships with Mac OS X; the transition is expected be finished by the time Snow Leopard is available to the public.
64-bit kernel
The site leaking the details further notes that Snow Leopard's move to a 64-bit kernel is underway, although only some Macs can run natively in this mode with this early test version.
HFS+ file compression
Also, the new Mac OS X update is now known to include support for file compression to the HFS+ file system that focuses primarily on reducing the weight of Apple's system files and built-in apps in normal use. The compression applies just to read-only files and is also designed to be backwards-compatible in such a way that Tiger and Leopard systems won't render files unreadable.
New default display gamma
More conspicuous if still subtle changes have also been made, including one to the default gamma (luminance) settings for display output. Macs to date have typically employed a lower-contrast but lighter 1.8 gamma level, but the new Snow Leopard build now changes this to a deeper 2.2 gamma that was previously only an option in earlier Mac OS X editions. This is to appease both visual editors as well as the everyday user, according to Apple.
Applications
Individual apps have similarly been given a handful of changes, including rudimentary hooks for creating and viewing content pulled from Microsoft Exchange servers in Address Book, iCal and Mail. Automator can also send out its completed workflows as operating system services.
While many of these changes are significant, the new Snow Leopard build reveals a definite work in progress that reflects the several months to go before Apple's publicly planned mid-2009 release of the new software: several features are either suspended or exhibit quirky behavior.
Cocoa Finder
The full build details published by World of Apple confirm that 10A190 now has a Finder rewrite in Cocoa, marking the first time it has moved away from Carbon since the introduction of Mac OS X.
The Cocoa object-oriented program environment has also been used for re-writes of "almost all" visible applications Apple ships with Mac OS X; the transition is expected be finished by the time Snow Leopard is available to the public.
64-bit kernel
The site leaking the details further notes that Snow Leopard's move to a 64-bit kernel is underway, although only some Macs can run natively in this mode with this early test version.
HFS+ file compression
Also, the new Mac OS X update is now known to include support for file compression to the HFS+ file system that focuses primarily on reducing the weight of Apple's system files and built-in apps in normal use. The compression applies just to read-only files and is also designed to be backwards-compatible in such a way that Tiger and Leopard systems won't render files unreadable.
New default display gamma
More conspicuous if still subtle changes have also been made, including one to the default gamma (luminance) settings for display output. Macs to date have typically employed a lower-contrast but lighter 1.8 gamma level, but the new Snow Leopard build now changes this to a deeper 2.2 gamma that was previously only an option in earlier Mac OS X editions. This is to appease both visual editors as well as the everyday user, according to Apple.
Applications
Individual apps have similarly been given a handful of changes, including rudimentary hooks for creating and viewing content pulled from Microsoft Exchange servers in Address Book, iCal and Mail. Automator can also send out its completed workflows as operating system services.
While many of these changes are significant, the new Snow Leopard build reveals a definite work in progress that reflects the several months to go before Apple's publicly planned mid-2009 release of the new software: several features are either suspended or exhibit quirky behavior.
Comments
In any event it is always interesting to see how MacOS evolves overtime. I still see this as a more radical update then Apple wants us to believe. Sure userland won't change significantly but in many ways it looks like a good portion of the rest of the OS will. Hopefully all of these changes secure Apples goals for a faster more reliable OS.
Hopefully part of that fastness will come from Apple successfully making much of the OS multi processor aware. Finder is one place where lag seems really excessive. Of course some of that is I/O but hopefully that can be addressed to. I'm wondering too if they will get speedups from the GPUs for things like file compression and other CPU intensive operations.
All in all it looks like Snow Leopard ought to give me a couple of extra years out of my MBP!
Dave
While many of these changes are significant, the new Snow Leopard build reveals a definite work in progress that reflects the several months to go before Apple's publicly planned mid-2009 release of the new software: several features are either suspended or exhibit quirky behavior.
So Apple has publicly confirmed that they are having a mid-2009 release for Snow Leopard? The early assumptions were for a January 2009 Macworld launch which I always thought was too soon. I wonder if they'll release before WWDC 2009 so that development sessions will be available at WWDC or will they release a near-final build to developers at WWDC for a final round of testing and then ship in time for back-to-school. They probably want to get it in with a decent gap before Windows 7 since Microsoft seems to be rushing it in time for a late 2009 release.
Zfs.....
haven't heard about zfs in months. Since before leopard.
So Apple has publicly confirmed that they are having a mid-2009 release for Snow Leopard? The early assumptions were for a January 2009 Macworld launch which I always thought was too soon.
Whose "early assumptions" were those?
Jobs talked about Snow Leopard at WWDC 08 and said it'd take about a year. That suggests Apple's target is WWDC 09. And there have been no auguries to suggest otherwise.
So Apple has publicly confirmed that they are having a mid-2009 release for Snow Leopard? The early assumptions were for a January 2009 Macworld launch which I always thought was too soon. I wonder if they'll release before WWDC 2009 so that development sessions will be available at WWDC or will they release a near-final build to developers at WWDC for a final round of testing and then ship in time for back-to-school. They probably want to get it in with a decent gap before Windows 7 since Microsoft seems to be rushing it in time for a late 2009 release.
I've long assumed the latter.
Also: don't be surprised if 10.6 slips a bit, in a similar manner to 10.5, although hopefully not as much. The work described in the article sounds like a man-hour mountain, and Apple is still of course busily extending the iPhone OS as described in another of today's articles.
Snow Leopard is a vital release for Apple. I seriously don't expect to get my boxed copy in much under a year from now.
Apple is really lucky to have gotten far enough ahead on features and then having the sense to step back and go over everything with a fine-tooth comb while they have some breathing space in terms of competition.
Whose "early assumptions" were those?
Jobs talked about Snow Leopard at WWDC 08 and said it'd take about a year. That suggests Apple's target is WWDC 09. And there have been no auguries to suggest otherwise.
Citing a person familiar with the situation, the technology website confirms several details of the next major Mac OS X upgrade first reported on Tuesday, including a scheduled release as soon as Macworld 2009 this coming January, and that it will not introduce any major new features.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...rd_report.html
Well the rumors of a possible Macworld 2009 release were reported on AppleInsider itself. And Steve Jobs has said that he'd like to maintain a 12-18 month period between OS X releases. Now AppleInsider reports a mid-2009 date. I'm just wondering when that changed. In any case, given that many of the new features aren't fully implemented yet, a January 2009 launch is highly unlikely.
haven't heard about zfs in months. Since before leopard.
ZFS will be a supported, non bootable, read/write filsystem on Mac OS X 10.6 Server.
And probably unsupported on Client.
ZFS will be a supported, non bootable, read/write filsystem on Mac OS X 10.6 Server.
And probably unsupported on Client.
Wow, that's useless to me, and basically every other OS X user. Regular Mac users will never see OS X Server.
Apple is really lucky to have gotten far enough ahead on features and then having the sense to step back and go over everything with a fine-tooth comb while they have some breathing space in terms of competition.
Yeah, sometime I pity MSoft, imagine the pressure they have for Windows 7. People don't want to see another Vista and Microsoft need to show improvements (adding more features...good and bad), so that is a lot of pressure for a new OS which is basically Windows Vista SE.
I could definitely be ok with delays. Apple should work on making it clean and beautiful for end users.
Snow leopard has me excited
Looks like they're really trying to push the OS's footprint down, I bet its with the long term expectation of the OS being installed on smaller devices (like a netbook).
They won't call it a netbook, but I agree with you.
The point of Snow Leopard is to make it fit nicely on iPod devices and the iPhone. The last time Steve spoke about the Netbooks he said Apple's iPhone fits nicely in that category.
(Surprisingly, I don't actually notice much difference.)
I guess Macs and PCs will now share the same gamma. I liked Mac's gamma better, but standardizing on one setting sounds good too.
Wow, that's useless to me, and basically every other OS X user. Regular Mac users will never see OS X Server.
http://blogs.sun.com/timf/entry/zfs_on_your_desktop
Seeing as how Sun hasn't managed to get ZFS ready for the desktop I'd be willing to wager that both OpenSolaris and OS X Snow Leopard will have this before Linux Btrfs:
http://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Main_Page
This won't reach Linux until 2010/2011.
ZFS for the desktop will be a reality long before Btrfs.