Apple's Newest Snow Leopard (10A314) Shows Steady Improvements

I hope we do get a demo in June, I am looking forward to seeing this in action.

I hope we do get a demo in June, I am looking forward to seeing this in action.

Same here my friend.

I hope we do get a demo in June, I am looking forward to seeing this in action.

Dying to get my hands all over it too.

It's a bit hard to believe. Obviously Apple's doing a lot of intense work on the OS, and there are surprises waiting for us, but they outlined a pretty limited and achievable feature set that was locked in a long time ago. I'm sure they will ship it when it's ready, but it will be given to dev's (I'm sure at the dev conference) before it gets released to the general public, and that will give us a much better idea about release dates. One of the reason they wait so long to announce the dev conference dates is so they can be sure they are putting this kind of thing in our hands.

It doesn't mean that it won't get pushed out until late in the year, but I wouldn't bet on it. Apple will give dev's a month to get their apps into shape and ship it (assuming there isn't anything terribly dodgy about it.)

it about time people stop with the speculations. Apple will announce Snow Leopard at WWDC and it will get released a bit after that to everyone. You probably won't see all of the changes in the test releases until WWDC. Also it's not a big deal that there is no marble interface in the new dev release. After all it's a skin that does not really need to be tested by a large number of people and all that is if it really does exist. Either way it doesn't really change anything.

2 random questions, but seems as good a place as any to ask

1) How much does the new OS usually cost. (£ Pounds)

2) When installing it, will I have to back up my stuff on an external, or will installing it not delete anything?

There are still lots of performance enhancements need to be made. The release is stable but generally slower than Leopard itself. Lots of work to be done, I don't think this will be ready for June, not at all.

it about time people stop with the speculations. Apple will announce Snow Leopard at WWDC and it will get released a bit after that to everyone. You probably won't see all of the changes in the test releases until WWDC. Also it's not a big deal that there is no marble interface in the new dev release. After all it's a skin that does not really need to be tested by a large number of people and all that is if it really does exist. Either way it doesn't really change anything.

Sounds like you are fairly new to the Mac scene? Or maybe you're just new the rumors scene? Anyway, a September release of Snow Leopard would not be unrealistic at all. Leopard (10.5) didn't come out until October 2007. And the Marble interface is much more than a "skin", as you alluded to... it's a very critical aspect of the user experience, so yes, extensive testing is needed.

2 random questions, but seems as good a place as any to ask

1) How much does the new OS usually cost. (£ Pounds)

I'm guessing about £89, based on $129 USD.

2) When installing it, will I have to back up my stuff on an external, or will installing it not delete anything?

During installation, you have 3 options:

1) Upgrade
2) Archive & Install
3) Erase & Install

Both Option #1 and #2 preserve your files. Option #2 is best since it moves the existing system aside and does a fresh install of the system files. Your home folder is not touched.

I hope we do get a demo in June, I am looking forward to seeing this in action.

We'll definitely have a demo at WWDC. No doubt in my mind.