Version 10.5 Leopard
Mac OS X Leopard (version 10.5) is the sixth major release of Mac OS X, Apple’s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Leopard was released on October 26, 2007 as the successor of Tiger (version 10.4), and is available in two editions: a desktop version suitable for personal computers, and a server version, Mac OS X Server. It retailed for $129 for the desktop version and $499 for Server. Leopard is the final version of Mac OS X to support the PowerPC architecture as Snow Leopard functions only on Intel based Macs.
According to Apple, Leopard contains over 300 changes and enhancements over its predecessor, Mac OS X Tiger, covering core operating system components as well as included applications and developer tools. Leopard introduces a significantly revised desktop, with a redesigned Dock, Stacks, a semitransparent menu bar, and an updated Finder that incorporates the Cover Flow visual navigation interface first seen in iTunes. Other notable features include support for writing 64-bit graphical user interface applications, an automatic backup utility called Time Machine, support for Spotlight searches across multiple machines and the inclusion of Front Row and Photo Booth, which were previously included with only a few of Mac models.
Version 10.6 Snow Leopard
Mac OS X Snow Leopard (version 10.6) is the seventh major release of Mac OS X. Snow Leopard was publicly unveiled on June 8, 2009 at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference. On August 28, 2009, it was released worldwide, and was made available for purchase from Apple’s website and its retail stores at the price of US$29 for a single-user license. As a result of the low price, initial sales of Snow Leopard were significantly higher than that of its predecessors. The release of Snow Leopard came nearly two years after the introduction of Mac OS X Leopard, the second longest time span between successive Mac OS X releases (the time span between Tiger and Leopard was the longest).
Much of the software in Mac OS X was extensively rewritten for this release in order to take advantage fully of modern Macintosh hardware. New programming frameworks, such as OpenCL, were created, allowing software developers to use graphics cards in their applications. This is also the first Mac OS release since System 7.1.1 that does not support Macs using PowerPC processors, as Apple now intends to focus on its current line of Intel-based products. Snow Leopard is the last release of Mac OS X to support the 32-bit Intel Core Solo and Intel Core Duo CPUs.
Leave a Reply