Snow Leopard: Great news for Windows 7, too
OS X 10.6 includes Boot Camp 3.0, a new collection of software drivers that make Windows run much better on Mac hardware.
(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)Every time I see the "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" ads on TV, I can't help but wonder, "Why not both?" And it has never been a better time for that.
Overall, personally, I found that while the new Mac OS doesn't warrant a "wow," it's still definitely worth the $29 upgrade price. Snow Leopard offers an even more streamlined Mac experience than Leopard and noticeably faster interface responsiveness. The application performance, however, is slightly slower than it is with Leopard, at least on the MacBook Pro we used as our test machine. As the OS is now a pure 64-bit operating system, expect the application performance to improve over Leopard as you add RAM or use it with a high-end desktop.
Mac users can read more about Snow Leopard in my colleague Jason Parker's full review. On the other hand, for Windows users, especially Windows 7, the release of Snow Leopard is straight-on great news.
Boot Camp 3.0 enables Windows to read files from OS X's partition.
(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)I recently blogged about running Windows 7 on a 15-inch Unibody Macbook Pro, which required some tweaking with Boot Camp 2.1. Snow Leopard comes with Boot Camp 3.0, which makes installing and running Windows on a laptop a much more pleasant experience.
First of all, the new Boot Camp includes all the drivers necessary to run both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 smoothly on the Mac hardware.
(Note that you only need to run the Boot Camp Assistant, BCA, if you want to dual-boot OS X and Windows on the same machine. The utility will then create a new partition for the installation of Windows. In this case, make sure you run the BCA first when the computer boots up to avoid file errors. If you want to run just Windows and skip OS X altogether, you can boot from the Windows 7 install DVD and start the installation the way you would install the OS on any PC from scratch.)
After the installation is done, Boot Camp 3.0 can be installed from the Snow Leopard DVD. Then, without further ado, you got yourself a great Windows computer.
The second really nice thing about Boot Camp 3.0 is the fact that it includes a software driver to make Windows able to read the Mac partition (somewhat like MacDrive minus the ability to write). This means that when you dual-boot OS X and Windows, Windows now can browse and read files that reside on OS X's partition without any extra software install.
The last major improvement of Boot Camp 3.0 that I am very happy about is the battery life. Windows 7 now has much improved battery life compared with what it had with Boot Camp 2.1. I haven't tried Windows Vista or Windows XP, but Windows 7 now has about the same battery life as Snow Leopard.
Other little things have also been improved. The double-tab right-click works right away and the multitouch pad is now less sensitive (though still a little too sensitive). With Boot Camp 2.1, it was so sensitive you just couldn't use the "tab to click" feature because of the extremely high risk of making accidental clicks. The sound and video chat are also much more stable now than before.
Apart from Boot Camp 3.0, Snow Leopard comes with tools that make a PC become part of a MacBook Air.
(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)If you want to nitpick, there are two little odd things Windows users will find on Mac hardware. First, the MacBook's keyboard doesn't have two separate "Backspace" and "Delete" keys, which come in handy when you want to remove text. Second, the Boot Camp control panel doesn't include an option to change the sensitivity of the multitouch pad and there's no separate "tab to click" options for the right and left clicks, either.
Other than Boot Camp 3.0, Snow Leopard comes with two other tools that make a Windows computer work better with a MacBook Air. The first is called Remote Install Mac OS X and it allows for installing the new OS remotely onto a MacBook Air. The other is the DVD or CD sharing that allows the MacBook Air, which doesn't come with an optical drive, to use the PC's DVD or CD drive as one of its own.
Overall, I have to say Boot Camp 3.0 takes the Windows experience to a new high on Mac hardware. To me, this is about as exciting as the release of Windows 7 itself.
So there you go, Windows fanboys, don't say Apple never does anything for you. And Apple fanboys: the truth is that inside every new Mac there's a PC just waiting to jump out.
CNET Editors' note: This story has been edited since it originally appeared.
Dong Ngo is a CNET editor who covers networking and network storage, and writes about anything else he finds interesting. You can also listen to his podcast at insidecnetlabs.cnet.com. E-mail Dong. 
I had serious overheating issues under Windows on Mac Book PRO and Apple tech support rep told me that they do not support Windows on MBP. And I'm stuck with MBP unable to run windows correctly.
Maybe Bootcamp 3.0 will solve my issues, but I am not going to spend any more money on Apple stuff.
Use delete.
Want "Forward Delete" ? (on MB, MBP, MBA)
Hold "Fn" (function key) and press "Delete"
I like my dedicated delete key please and thank you"
Then install a keyboard to your liking on the Mac.
No. He had a whine and I gave him a solution.
http://www.macworld.com/article/133028/2008/04/building_mac_clone.html
and this:
http://www.uselessninjas.com/guides/msiwindosx/
That depends on how you read the EULA. The way I read it, if you take one of those apple stickers they give away, and stick it on your computer, it's Apple Branded and you are good to go.
Nothing in the EULA says, "Apple Made" of course not even Apple could comply with that so best if they don't go there themselves.
That depends on how you read the EULA. The way I read it, if you take one of those apple stickers they give away, and stick it on your computer, it's Apple Branded and you are good to go.
Nothing in the EULA says, "Apple Made" of course not even Apple could comply with that so best if they don't go there themselves.
@blondepianist
They have made great progress in installing OS X on a non apple computer. I'm ready to jump. I just bought the Snow Leapard family box pack to make sure I have the install CD and enough lisences to give this a try.
ROTFLMAO! Dude, that would mean we could put Apple stickers on a crappy eMachines notebook and sell 'em as genuine Apple notebooks! EXCELLENT ADVICE! While you're at it, you could stick Corevette emblems on a Jetta and sell 'em as the high perf sports cars that everybody wants at a bargain price. EVERYBODY WINS.
You sure reading comprehension is your strong suit?
The keyboard functions are typically much more efficient than using a mouse. Even for those who never used word perfect. I have noticed the Apple desktops have more of the missing keys to where they are just about the Windows and Linux equivilent. Still I use all the diretional keys from an AT style keyboard. Home, End, PgUp, PgDown, Insert, Delete, and Backspace. Plus the arrows. It makes a transition to any laptop difficult. Until I found the layout of the thinkpads (and some Biz clones) was fairly good I used to plug in a full size keyboard to my laptops. Since getting a MacBook the missing keys drive me nuts. I can work my way around the less ergonomic keyboards out there but I can't do it when the key are just gone.
"Still I use all the diretional keys from an AT style keyboard. Home, End, PgUp, PgDown, Insert, Delete, and Backspace. Plus the arrows. It makes a transition to any laptop difficult."
All of those exist on my MPB. Just use the fn key along with the arrow keys to get home, end, etc. I strictly use the keyboard on my mac, as I hate the mouse.
The reasons are being blamed for sensors, power supplies, and ... software development.
Personally, I don't buy into the sensor problem. And the power supply issue may be directly related to bad software development that prevented the orbit from facing the right direction. That is important for many reasons. The problem last week was corrected last week with the assistance of other "scientitst" according to reports.
Once the craft was pointed to the moon, it is almost a matter of a long ride. Once it reached the moon to orbit, the softare plays a huge roll in success or failure.
I hope CNET will discuss the software development, test, and maintenance issues involved in this failure.
As with launching any product (business, marketing, or space craft) disclosure on what was right and what went wrong is the only thing that could be salvaged from this effort.
The macbook keyboard is why I'm playing close attention to the Hackintosh projects out there. I'd rather run OS X on a Thinkpad than a Macbook. Now if Bootcamp works on a Thinkpad that would be interesting.
I am not so sure with this one - Parallels or Fusion?
hahahah
I said this long before it was released. Your mac can't go to sleep for 5minutes. Screen saver don't work. quicktime x is a flop. the list goes on.
@ckh1272 Can you explain how features from leopard did not appear in snow leopard? I guess thats how they manage to free up about 10gb of hard drive space. Softwares are slow in SL many are not even working. when vista had such issues it was a great deal. now this is nothing new. Windows 7 right now works so great, its like the final release and i can't ask for more. but you guys always laugh at M$ about service pack so why wait for 10.6.1? Some say this is the worst upgrade from apple so far. as the speed they advertise is harly seen."
@goodspeed8701--Can you explain how features from Vista did not appear in Win 7?? BTW, the space is freed up by having PowerPC code anymore. Now you know. Regarding your other statements, and I know this won't matter to you and your bias, but those problems are in the minority. It will be interesting to see how the Win7 release goes. I'll be waiting patiently to see if it really worth upgrading from Vista. Personally, Vista has run just fine on my Macbookpro, but Win 7 taking up less space as well could be a big plus for me.
Before people jump on me, I know they weren't invented by Apple, but Apple did make them mainstream.
Mac folks who have never used anything else, would not miss what they never had. Those of is who did have the use of a buch of great keys, do miss an efficient tool. I have not seen anything on the Mac side that is nearly as efficient.
Mac folks who have never used anything else, would not miss what they never had. Those of is who did have the use of a buch of great keys, do miss an efficient tool. I have not seen anything on the Mac side that is nearly as efficient.
@myles taylor
First mainstream GUI. Yes. First in anything else? Not really. It's like the touch. Nothing new anywhere, but how they brought it together, that's what makes it work.
Check your biases. I grew up in DOS and used PCs since the first incarnation of Windows. I hated Apple products up until the day they adopted a UNIX backend and switched a couple years after OS X released. I do not miss these "missing keys" that do actually exists with key combos, and I personlly find OS X _extremely_ more efficient than Windows, particularly when compared loading cygwin on Windows to get my work done. Death to IE and death to the DOS filesystem, IMHO.
Then again, if I had to leave Windows I would go to a Linux machine, so I obviously have my own biases. Windows is just for gaming from my point of view, and that's just because most games are only made for Windows.
On the other hand, I can't wait to load Windows 7 on my bootcamp partition when my 1/2 TB drive arrives in a couple of days. It should be a great platform for browser testing. ^_^
@ckh1272
Mac folks who have never used anything else, would not miss what they never had. Those of is who did have the use of a buch of great keys, do miss an efficient tool. I have not seen anything on the Mac side that is nearly as efficient."
And that is where you are wrong. I have used Windows since 3.1 (work and home) and I just don't see the big deal about one stinking key. As some others have said, release your bias. I can navigate the keyboard just well (without that key) as I can with it. All a matter of personal taste I guess.
Goes to show you that - Windows is obviously BETTER, Rules the World in Business and Home, and there's 100 fold more Apps for Windows.
***** Envy ********??? Oh YES!!
It sure is a lousy ruler.
http://www.9to5mac.com/snow-leopard-64-bit-32-bit-firmware-efi
That way, everybody wins.
I suppose Apple could have made the distinction clearer in its marketing but most mortal, non-techy users are quite happy to let Apple pace the transition for them. By the time more than 4GB of memory becomes the norm this won't even be an issue.
- by Macbrewer August 31, 2009 10:43 AM PDT
- >Wow, did not know a simple Delete button would cause so much stir in the Mac community. Were you guys this excited when they gave you Copy and Paste as well? Drag and Drop must have been huge!
- Like this Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (76 Comments)Yeah, it was all huge, because when it came out on Mac, it was all new. Not like Windows where everything decent came out on Mac first, then you jokers pretend it's new.