This past Friday, Apple unleashed the latest version of Mac OS X, 10.6 Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard looks amazingly a lot like Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, which is one of the reasons why Apple is only charging $29 for the OS upgrade. While Snow Leopard may not look very different from Leopard, the latest Mac OS X upgrade from Apple focuses on enhancements to the OS code rather than flashy new features.
Palm users, specifically those who are using Palm OS 5 and earlier devices, will want to take note of the changes in the latest release of Mac OS X.
As previously reported, Apple is no longer supporting the Palm OS sync conduit in the iSync software. If you want to continue to sync your Palm OS 5 and earlier device with Apple’s built-in PIM applications, you will need to purchase, or upgrade, to the latest version of Mark/Space The Missing Sync for Palm OS. As with every operating system upgrade, not everything transitions to the new operating system 100% cleanly. Mark/Space is reporting minor incompatibilities with their Mac OS production, which includes the Missing Sync for Palm OS. To help customers get everything working correctly again, Mark/Space has posted a Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard software compatibility matrix.
When installing Snow Leopard on my 2007 while MacBook, I was informed that parts of Palm Desktop 4.2.1 Rev D required the installation of the Mac OS X Rosetta module. Rosetta is the Apple module that allows you to run older applications written for the PowerPC platform on Macs that have Intel chips inside. Since I ‘m using a Palm Pre these days, I chose to not install the Rosetta software and instead uninstalled Palm Desktop from my Mac.
And speaking of the Palm Pre, I had no trouble mounting the Pre’s storage volume to my Mac’s desktop to copy files to and from the phone. I was also able to sync the Pre to iTunes 8.2.1 using the Media Sync feature; however that may change on September 9, when Apple is expected to unveil iTunes 9 along side new iPod models.
I should also mention that Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is the first version of Apple’s Mac OS X that only supports Macintosh computers that have Intel processors. If your Mac has “Power” in the name, like PowerMac G5, this is a not-t0-subtle hint that it is time to upgrade your Mac.