Mac users were able to celebrate a small anniversary yesterday, Wednesday: it was the 15th anniversary of the release of macOS 10.6 aka Snow Leopard (then officially called “Mac OS X Snow Leopard”). The operating system update has a special place in Apple’s computing history: it did a thorough job of improving and stabilizing its predecessor, Leopard (macOS 10.5), which was released just two years ago. Apple engineers said at the developer conference that “zero new functions” have been integrated WWDC 2009 with.
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Stabilization from installation to shutdown
The idea that it is not necessary to have a new macOS every year has been adopted by Apple only once since then: the switch from Snow Leopard to macOS 10.7 aka Lion (then officially called “OS X Lion”) in 2011. Since then, a new Mac operating system has been released year after year: including macOS 15, aka Sequoia, which will be released this autumn, and 13 additional versions.
Snow Leopard was a stopgap at the time. After the “300 new functions” available in the predecessor Leopard, it was observed that the implementation had not gone smoothly by any means. Apple’s software boss at the time, Bertrand Serlet, himself admitted this and said, among other things, when introducing Snow Leopard that they had not changed the Finder interface, but were aware of it internally More Modern Cocoa Changed. Users responded positively to the update, which was finally revealed on August 28, 2009: “An improved user experience from installation to shutdown” (O-Ton Serlet) ensured a more reliable Mac.
An idea whose time has come again
Even today people want Apple to think the same about macOS. But the 13 new versions from macOS 10.7 to macOS 15 speak a different language. Every year new functions are added, some old ones are removed or simply redesigned. Security – some users would even say: improved – is being refined. Sometimes there are internal modifications that many users miss, for example in the Preview app.
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Craig Federighi shows off Snow Leopard (Video: Apple).
However, what annoys longtime Mac users the most is that the annual update means that existing apps no longer work, or at least don’t work the way they used to. MacOS updates are always open-heart surgery. Avoiding it is not a good idea: after all, only current macOS versions really get all the security fixes. And so the hope remains that 15 years after Snow Leopard, Apple might remember the idea: a macOS every two years really would be enough, right? Instead, one that is (even) more stable.
(B.Sc.)
