Snow Leopard time?

The new version of Mac OS X operating system is now available. It is named "Snow Leopard" since it's actually only version 10.6, so it's a neat twist on the previous version 10.5 which was just called "Leopard" (previous versions were Tiger and Panther - spot the theme?). The question is, do we need it?

There are a lot of fancy, behind-the-scenes improvements apparently, especially if you're using a 64-bit machine, but most of us won't notice the difference. Luckily, it only costs £25 to get an upgrade that you didn't know you wanted, and don't notice that you've got!

Except if applications start to misbehave. You should be OK with 2008/2009 versions of all major software, but older and customised stuff might just take exception to the new OS. Luckily you don't need to find out the hard way - just click on over to the Wikidot compatibility page where you'll find a list of applications and a status marker against each. You'll note there are problems with some Adobe applications, and there's a question mark against Apple's own iPhoto and iDVD programs, so if these are important to you it might be worth holding back a while longer.

Do you need to take the tried and tested Microsoft OS approach - i.e don't touch it until they release Service Pack 2? Probably not. This certainly isn't Vista, but it would seem sensible to let the new OS bed in at other people's expense before you take the leap of faith.

The Snow Leopard page over at Apple UK is here.