I can usually figure out why one piece of gear, or software is better than another, but in the case of OSX 10.5 VS 10.6, I just don’t get it. From a “making music” perspective I don’t know why I should bother.
10.5.8 (Leopard) runs perfectly fine on my fairly new MacBook Pro and the software and plugins I use all work too. If I update, (even months after the release of 10.6) there’s a good chance that will change and I won’t have the powerful and stable recording computer I have today. I’m still seeing a lot of complaints from Pro Tools users about their Snow Leopard update, or from those that had no choice because their mac came with 10.6 on it.
On one hand I hate being without the latest and greatest, on the other I want to avoid sources of frustration, it’s hard enough for me to be productive.
From what I’ve read, the only benefit of the update (for me) is a few GB of HD space reclaimed, other than that it seems looks and operates the same, but perhaps not depending on what software you use.
So now I’ll turn it over to my readers that have updated to 10.6.
Why update to OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard?
Please comment below with your experience both good and bad.
Also Interesting:
Some nice enhancements. I love the new organization in the Dock and the cleaned up Services (only relevant ones show up in apps now). Cool to option-click the volume icon in the menu bar to select audio sources. Some haven’t liked the new Expose organization, but I dig it. Don’t know what you’re using, but Logic 9 works fine with SL. I’ve got a new TC Electronic Impact Twin that’s coming tomorrow; hopefully there’ll be no problems there.
This feeling that you are trying to put across is nothing new, eventually you will find yourself just as those who are still running OS9 because “it still works with my plugins”.
The reason to upgrade is for new possibilities on your system. New upgrades in the system will enhance the ability of software to run faster and more efficiently on new hardware (and on some old hardware). It’s up to software designers to really validate the immediate upgrade. (Avid et al actually utilizing the “grand central” process distribution and true 64bit architecture)
Don’t upgrade if you are keeping the same but upgrade if you know that there are software vendor enhancements that you wish to partake in.
Eventually we all have to upgrade (PPC anyone?)
I use allot of different DAWs and pug-ins and have had a few problems when I made the upgrade to SL. For me, PTLE 8.0.3 is running better than ever and the HD systems up at school are running great as well. Logic 9 is running smoother. Live 8.1.1 is running like it always has, as well as Peak Pro 6. I think that the main problem PT users are complaining about has to do with the CAD, which is a POS. It has been since day one. Even the old HAL plug-in used back in OS 9, on which the CAD is based, sucked! If you don’t have an Eleven rack and are willing to take the extra time of doing a clean install, you should have a little to no real problems with the update. As far as the issues with the CAD, that will not change until Digi/Avid rewrites the code from scratch. That is not going to happen anytime soon.
@ @andy I use M-Audio hardware with PT so Core Audio isn’t an issue.
Thanks for the comments so far, keep them coming.
I’m staying put – I know something wills crew up if I upgrade and I just can’t be bothered with the pain!
This Pro Tools 8.03 READ ME says it all:
“Don’t Show This Again” Option Added to Some Error and Warning Dialogs (Item #119037)
Pro Tools 8.0.3 adds a new “Don’t Show This Again” option to some common error and warning dialogs. By checking this box in the error dialog, Pro Tools will no longer post that specific dialog or warning. Once checked, this setting is saved with the system. The list of dialogs which have been chosen can be cleared/reset at anytime in Setup > Preferences > Display by clicking the Reset button next to Reset “Don’t Show This Again” Settings.
It’s a confession and they provide you with an option to cover up their faults. I know, I know, *shoulder shrug* and continue with your projects
I don’t really see how that feature is useful at all, playback or recording just stops without a reason why now? Great!
I wish they’d a) fix it so those errors never occur (ha!) or b) provide more info like possible causes or solutions to the problem.
I tend to be one OS behind. When OS 10.7 comes out, I’ll upgrade to 10.6… love the blog!
OS 10.6 + PT 8 was a catastrophe for me until I cleaned out my plug-ins folder, getting rid of (almost) all the ones that didn’t match the Digi Plug-In Compatibility Grid. For some reason, all these plug-ins that were completely stable under 10.5.8 & PT 7.4.2, became time bombs under the updated system. I wasn’t even using any of them in a session, but I was getting constant crashes anyway.
Now I’m strictly on the PT Compat diet, plus Redline Reverb, Breverb, and Line 6 Pod Farm, all of which are not on the grid at all, and all of which I can’t live without, and things seem pretty stable now, knock on pvc.
~peter in oakland
I’ve had nothing but bad experiences with Snow Leopard. It’s taken months for things like Cubase, Omnisphere, Kontakt and several other manufacturers to update their software. Many of them still don’t work and some plug-ins like Rob Papen Blue or Plex refuse to work at all.
I lost a bunch of extensions like WindowShadeX and numerous other software refuses to work like MasterWriter, Visual Thesaurus etc etc..
Not to mention that I’ve had to re-input all of my registration numbers again. I’m sorry I ever upgraded to Snow Leopard.
Really? Wow. I haven’t had issues like that. Reaktor is working fine. I hadn’t tried it, but I just opened Visual Thesaurus 3 and had zero problems. Also didn’t have any issues with serial numbers. Can’t speak on haxies like WindowShadeX…don’t use ‘em. Snow Leopard for me has been positive, and my new audio interface–Impact Twin–works great in SL, though some Flash audio can be choppy depending on its level of compression.