Plus sur Snow Leopard / More on Snow Leopard

Suite à mes posts sur Snow Leopard ici, et ici et bien que je n’ai toujours pas encore acheté ou installé Snow Leopard sur mon iMac Intel 3.06 GHz (j’utilise encore Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8), n’en demeure pas moins qu’au fur et à mesure que je lis sur les nouveautés que referme le plus récent système d’exploitation de Apple, j’ai bien hâte de me le procurer.

Les plus récentes découvertes que j’ai faites sur le web le rendent très attrayant. Les articles que j’ai trouvés sont malheureusement en anglais alors…

Cet article parle des petits et grands raffinements à l’interface apportés par Snow Leopard, Snow Leopard UI roundup. Quelques uns sont très subtils mais bof, c’est toujours le fun de savoir ces trucs-là.

Ce post-ci de TidBITS décrit certains raffinements qui sont un peu plus cachés aux yeux de l’utilisateur, Even More Hidden Refinements in Snow Leopard.

Et en tant qu’amateure de photographie digitale, cette nouvelle caractéristique me plaît énormément beaucoup : en fait, ne serait-ce que pour celle-ci, je crois que je vais trouver que Snow Leopard est un véritable petit bonbon. Mac OS X 10.6 Update: Image Capture.

En bref, cet article parle du logiciel qui s’occupe de récupérer les images téléchargées de caméras numériques faisant partie de OS X, Image Capture. Les codeurs chez Apple l’ont rendu plus mature en lui ajoutant une superbe caractéristique qui fait que ce logiciel est maintenant capable de faire la distinction entre différents appareils qui sont branchés. Ce qui veut dire que disons j’ai un Canon PowerShot SX20 IS, en plus de ma Canon EOS 50D, et que je préfère que le logiciel qui gère les clichés issus du SX20IS soit iPhoto, mais que ceux qui proviennent de la 50D soit Photoshop, je peux maintenant régler les préférences en ce sens.

Et ceci fonctionne pour d’autres périphériques comme le iPhone aussi. Pas mal du tout !

Following these posts of mine on Snow Leopard here, and here, and even though I still haven’t bought or installed it on my iMac Intel 3.06 GHz, it remains that the more I learn and find out about Snow Leopard’s new features I’m getting more and more anxious to get it as soon as possible.

The more recent finds I did on the web make it more and more appetizing to me.

This article talks about big and small refinements to the GUI in Snow Leopard, Snow Leopard UI roundup. Some of those are quite subtle but hey! It’s nice to know this stuff, to me anyway.

This TidBITS post describes certain refinements that aren’t all that much apparent to the casual user, Even More Hidden Refinements in Snow Leopard.

And this one is the best for me because I love digital photography so much and, if only for this feature, I’m pretty sure I’ll love Snow Leopard. Mac OS X 10.6 Update: Image Capture.

The article talks about OS X’s built-in software that downloads images from your camera and then launches the appropriate software to edit and store those downloaded photos, Image Capture. The Apple programmers have been hard at work to make Image Capture much more mature and capable. Image Capture can now make the distinction between different devices that you take pictures with and that you plug into your Mac to download the images you have taken. Which means that you can now link different software for the different devices!

Say I have a Canon PowerShot SX20 IS as well as my Canon EOS 50D. Say that I want all photos coming from the SX20 IS to be handled by iPhoto, but images provided by my 50D be treated by Photoshop. Well Image Capture’s preferences can be set that way.

And this works for other peripherals as well, such as the iPhone, for example. I find it very cool.

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard listes de compatibilité – compatibility lists

Trés pratique ! Vérifiez si vos logiciels sont compatibles avec la prochaine version du système d’exploitation du Mac, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard ici et ici.

Sans compter que Apple a sa propre liste, Mac OS X v10.6: About incompatible software.

Pour vérifier si le pilote de votre imprimante et/ou numériseur est inclus dans Snow Leopard, allez ici.

Pour les types de fichiers RAW de caméras digitales comprises dans Snow Leopard, il faut aller ici.

Pour les infographistes et photographes, il faudra prêter una attention toute particulière au Gamma. Historiquement parlant, le Macintosh a toujours utilisé un Gamma de 1.8 alors que les machines Windoze utilisaient un Gamma de 2.2 ce qui faisait des images délavées, sans contraste, insipides et sans âme. Je n’ai pas testé Snow Leopard, et je ne l’ai pas acheté encore ni même vu l’interface mais Apple a publié sur son site cette page donc j’imagine que malheureusement il y aura un changement à ce niveau ou du moins Apple prend le temps d’expliquer la différence, alors… Il semblerait que la valeur du gamma par défaut sera de 2.2 maintenant alors si l’on veut continuer à travailler dans le Gamma 1.8, il faudra bidouiller dans le système…

Cette nouvelle caractéristique de Snow Leopard est aussi expliquée, Mac OS X v10.6 : À propos de la réactivation sur demande.

Pour une impression préliminaire de Snow Leopard, MacInTouch ainsi que Macworld ont publié d’excellents articles. Dommage, il faudra savoir l’anglais pour les lire. Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: Preliminary Notes from the Lab, Review: Snow Leopard et Inside Snow Leopard’s hidden malware protection.

Un FAQ, questions et réponses que MacInTouch a montées pour aider le nouvel usager, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard FAQ.

Et il faudra sûrement jeter un coup d’œil sur cet article de Macworld, Snow Leopard: What’s gone where. Certains trucs changent d’endroit dans le système ou encore disparaissent complètement parce que certaines autres applications maintenant englobent leurs fonctionnalités. On pourrait donc parler d’une nouvelle hiérarchie ou, disons, distribution de tâches pour quelques applications.

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Ajout du 4 septembre 2009 :

Un article qui décrit des petits bonbons cachés dans Snow Leopard, More Hidden Refinements in Snow Leopard.

Et comme c’est son habitude, Ars Technica nous écrit un joyau de review extrêmement étoffé, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: the Ars Technica review.

Ajout du 7 septembre 2009 :

Un peu plus d’infos sur le changement de gamma juste ici, Why your Web content will look darker on Snow Leopard.

Very useful! Check to see if your apps are compatible with the next Mac OS X version, 10.6 Snow Leopard, right here and here.

Not to forget that Apple has its own compatibility list, Mac OS X v10.6: About incompatible software.

To make sure the driver for your printer and/or scanner is included, go here.

For digital camera RAW file format support included in Snow Leopard, go here.

For photographers and design artists, you might want to check out this Apple Support page explaining Mac OS X v10.6: About gamma 2.2. Historically speaking, the Macintosh has used a 1.8 Gamma while the WinBoxes used a 2.2 Gamma which made the images bland, without much contrast and they lacked personality. I haven’t beta tested Snow Leopard, I haven’t bought my copy yet and haven’t tried it in a store either but just the fact that Apple takes time to post about it makes me wonder a little about what’s up with that… It would seem that the Snow Leopard Gamma default is set at 2.2, so for anyone wanting to continue to work in the 1.8 gamma will have to mess around in the system…

This new feature is also explained, Mac OS X v10.6: About Wake on Demand.

MacInTouch as well as Macworld have posted excellent articles. Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: Preliminary Notes from the Lab, Review: Snow Leopard and Inside Snow Leopard’s hidden malware protection.

MacInTouch has put together a FAQ helping new users have a better idea of what Snow Leopard brings, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard FAQ.

And a must see, this Rob Griffith article, Snow Leopard: What’s gone where. Some apps have changed places, while others have entirely disappeared either because some apps have gained their functionality or they are not needed anymore in Snow Leopard. So in a sense, we could say because of this there is a small restructuring of the roles some apps play in the OS.

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Added September 4th 2009:

Read this article that describes little talked about tweaks in Snow Leopard, More Hidden Refinements in Snow Leopard.

And as usual, Ars Technica published an extensive review well worth a read, Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: the Ars Technica review.

Added September 7th 2009:

A bit more info on the gamma change right here, Why your Web content will look darker on Snow Leopard.

Snow Leopard packaging?

Vrai ou pas vrai ? Cliques sur le thumbnail…

Fake or real? Clicky…

Some font changes in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

Via John Gruber’s Daring Fireball

Ars Technica has an article on the font changes Snow Leopard users (well, mostly coders…) will see. Goodbye Monaco, we knew you well…

Font changes coming to Mac OS X Snow Leopard:

Several changes are coming to the way Mac OS X handles fonts with the release of Snow Leopard. The changes likely won’t affect many users, but the Mac has always attracted a number of users who are sticklers about typography. One change, though, signals a sort of end of the line for the veritable Monaco monospaced typeface. …

… If you’re not a developer, the change probably doesn’t mean much to you, but monospaced fonts are particularly important for writing code. Choosing an ideal font for typing code is actually a hot topic of discussion amongst developers, in particular those who develop for Macs. Monaco, especially its 9pt bitmapped variant, has been a long mainstay of Mac development and, until recently, was the default font for Terminal as well as the popular BBEdit editor. …

And bookmark this web page. That’s where on June 16, 2009 you’ll get all the info on the upgrade program to Snow Leopard.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard Up-to-Date Program

Mac OS X Snow Leopard refines the elegant Mac OS X user experience with lots of little touches and performance improvements that will make using your Mac even more enjoyable. It also includes a few big foundation technologies designed to tap the power of today’s computer hardware and provide a strong base for innovation. If you purchased a qualifying system or Xserve on or after June 8, 2009 that does not include Mac OS X Snow Leopard, you can upgrade to Mac OS X Snow Leopard for $9.95.*

Edited June 16th 2009:

It might not be a rumour anymore, after all… After all these add-ons in Snow Leopard, it would be easy to make and implement: Snow Leopard features hint at Apple tablet.

Snow Leopard screenshots

Right here, you can see Snow Leopard (Build 10A354) Screenshots. A few things have changed and they seem to be very logical and user-friendly.

One thing I’m glad of, no more bloody country flag for the Character Palette, it’ll have its own icon in the menubar from now on.

And there are a couple of things that Leopard left as unfinished business that are being completed now in Snow Leopard it seems. Read the comments and captions, they have some info on this.