leopard

Despite more than 250 new features, we aren't aware of any fundamental changes in Apple's new OS X Lion operating system that would affect performance after upgrading. It still offers 64-bit processing, and with Apple's tight control over Mac hardware components, there's no reason to anticipate a learning curve like Microsoft's partners had to deal with when Vista upended the Windows driver model.

Still, the version of iTunes that ships with Lion supports 64-bit processing for the first time. We also wonder about any performance impact from Lion's new auto-versioning feature. There's also the question of how well third-party programs will make the transition in these early days, since they might still be awaiting optimization.

With the 3.1GHz 27-inch iMac on hand from our review this past spring, we took the opportunity to see if Lion introduced any major performance variations compared with our Snow Leopard results on the same system.… Read more

The features and advancements in OS X Lion may make it an enticing installation; however, as has been mentioned previously, Apple is doing away with a few key features that have maintained compatibility with some popular applications. Some of these features, such as the lack of Java, can be remedied by installing support for them, but there is no workaround for others like Rosetta and support for 32-bit system extensions in the default 64-bit boot environment. And a number of (perhaps mostly relatively obscure) applications may have trouble running, as can be seen on the RoaringApps Lion compatibility database. As … Read more

The bottom line: Mac OS X Lion is definitely a worthy upgrade for all Intel Mac users. Featuring several interface enhancements and useful new features across all the core apps, Mac OS X Lion is an excellent update for the price.

Review: When Apple showed off Mac OS X Lion at the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote speech earlier this year, it was clear the company had paid attention to its successes with the popular iOS devices, and was now beginning to include successful iOS features in its flagship OS. Also, with Apple laptops and tablets now far outpacing desktop sales, … Read more

When Apple showed off Mac OS X Lion at the Worldwide Developers Conference keynote speech earlier this year, it was clear the company had paid attention to its successes with the popular iOS devices, and was now beginning to include successful iOS features in its flagship OS.

Also, with Apple laptops and tablets now far outpacing desktop sales, Apple has moved from a primarily desktop computer company to embrace mobile computing. This release of Mac OS X seems to be a reflection of Apple's successes in those categories.

With this eighth major release of the big-cat OS, Apple is … Read more

If you're planning on upgrading to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion tomorrow, you'll want to do a quick software update and be sure you've got Migration Assistant version 1.0 installed.

The update fixes an issue that prevents the migration of data from systems running Mac OS X 10.6.x Snow Leopard to systems running Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.

The update can be downloaded via Software Update on qualifying machines or directly from Apple.

Be sure to follow MacFixIt on Twitter and contribute to the CNET Mac forums.

Mozilla is preparing to patch a flaw affecting the Firefox 5 browser on Apple's Leopard and Lion OS X operating systems.

The bug within OS X 10.7 Lion causes Firefox to crash if it is using downloadable fonts. Mozilla "alerted Apple to the problem before the release of 10.7, but they did not fix the problem before 10.7 went to final release,", the company wrote in a blog post Friday.

There is also a Java flaw within OS X 10.5, Leopard. Mozilla said it expects to apply the fixes before the release of … Read more

Apple has released the anticipated version 10.6.8 update to OS X Snow Leopard. The key features of this update are that it gets the Mac App Store ready for the upgrade to OS X 10.7 Lion that is slated for release this summer. The update also improves support and addresses bugs with networking and Apple's Preview application. Additionally, it also adds more support for the removal of the recent MacDefender malware and its variants.

The update specifically addresses the following issues:

Updated at 12 p.m. With this page on Apple's Web site, we were able to confirm that Leopard users must upgrade to Snow Leopard before Lion.

A round of applause (among many) filled the room at WWDC this Monday when Apple's Phil Schiller announced that the next operating system, Lion, would be priced at a modest $29.

"I was hoping you were going to like that," Schiller said after giving the price tag and July release date.

Although developers rejoiced at the disc-free 4GB upgrade, the reality for current Leopard users is sinking in: Lion … Read more

While OS X 10.7 Lion is just around the corner, a number of people running older Intel Macs that came with OS X 10.5 Leopard or even 10.4 Tiger installed have written in wondering whether they should upgrade to the latest current release of OS X, version 10.6 Snow Leopard. Apple offers Snow Leopard upgrade DVDs for $29, but despite this relatively cheap price the decision to upgrade will depend on your uses. Here are some things to think about to help make the decision.

Upgrading from Snow Leopard to Lion will likely be easier This … Read more