Dear Apple……Thank you!

On Saturday I made a new software purchase.  Snow Leopard, Apple’s newest version of OSX.

In 2002 I switched to Macintosh.  I’m not one of those Mac junkies that blindly goes along with the company.  For many moons I was a Windows guy.  Windows 95, 98, NT, NT 4.0 (a favorite), and I was a system administrator for quite a while in the Windows world.  The switch to Mac came after the release of the first version of OSX.  I switched for a simple reason.

It’s Unix.

Running wireless networks, working with Lucent Switches, Solaris Platforms, HP UX platforms, and similar systems told me one thing.  Unix is the most stable operating system out there.  Our platforms in telecommunications depended on Unix.  They still do for the most part.  24 / 7 application?  Yeah, it’s Unix or nothing.

Since my switch to OSX in 2002 I’ve been a very happy camper.  A stable platform without real bugs.  My Macs have stood the test of time, starting with my first IBook which is still in use with my family 7 years after I purchased it.  That’s staying power.

Now, with the release of Snow Leopard I feel like my 2006 MacBook Pro has a new life.  See, since installing Leopard on it I’ve found it to be slower on the draw.  Applications took some time to launch, boot up took longer than it used to, and I was up against the wall on drive space.  I only had 9.1 GB of space remaining on my 80GB drive (yes, 80GB is now small).

After installation I had 21 GB free. Ah, some “junk” was removed!  And the speed improvements are beyond noticable.  Here I was thinking about a new system in the next 6 months.  Now I think I’ll be waiting a little while longer.  And I’m not the only person to perceive the benefits of Snow Leopard.

Also, since installing the new OS I’ve found that I’m taller, skinnier, and I have more friends.  All in one day!  Amazing.  😉

The big surprise came when I tested out Lightroom2 and Photomatix.  See, since my switch to the 5D Mark II I’ve found that things have become a little “painful.”  Off loading 21MP photos was extremely slow.  And merging them in Photomatix was an exercise in patience!  The major reason I’ve been considering a new laptop was due to the upgrade to my 5D Mark II.

However, there has been a marked improvement with the upgrade to Snow Leopard, and exporting huge files from Lightroom to Photomatix has gotten much quicker!  I’m pretty amazed.

So, Apple, Thank You!  Seriously, I was worried you’d gone “Microsoft” on us when I upgraded to Leopard on this system.  With the release of Snow Leopard you’ve shown me, you’re still serious about making my system run good, and not about forcing me to upgrade every few years.  For a small business owner, I’m grateful you’re letting me keep my system around a while longer!

By the way, I also installed the newest version of Photomatix yesterday.  They’ve gone and played with the interface again.  Now I’m poking around to see the new improvements, and I’ll let you know more about them this week.