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Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

Upgrade from Mac OS X Leopard with Snow Leopard, a simpler, more powerful, and more refined version of Mac OS X. It delivers a wide range of enhancements, next-generation technologies, out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange Server, and new accessibility features. It's the world's most advanced operating system, finely tuned from installation to shutdown.

Snow Leopard is an upgrade for Leopard users and requires a Mac with an Intel processor.

Upgrade your Mac experience.

With Snow Leopard, iLife ’09, and iWork ’09 all in one box, the Mac Box Set is the best way to upgrade your Mac experience, especially if you’re still using Mac OS X Tiger.

Find out which version you’re using

Buy the Mac Box Set

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Questions & Answers

324 Questions + 379 Answers

3.0

Based on 214 reviews

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Purchase Information

$29.00

Ships: Within 24hrs

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Overview

Better, faster, easier Updated

Snow Leopard enhances your entire Mac experience. In ways big and small, it gets faster, more reliable, and easier to use.

  • Activate Exposé right from the Dock.
  • Wake from sleep and shut down your Mac faster than before.
  • Install it more quickly and get back 7GB of disk space.
  • Enjoy dozens more refinements for everything from iChat to Preview and more.

Learn more about refinements

Next-generation technologies New

New core technologies in Snow Leopard unleash the power of today’s advanced hardware and prepare Mac OS X for future innovation.

  • 64-bit support, the next big step for the Mac. All key system applications are now 64-bit so they can take advantage of all the memory in your Mac.
  • Grand Central Dispatch, a revolutionary new way for software to get the most from multicore processors.
  • OpenCL, a new technology that unleashes the power of graphics processors to accelerate application performance.

Learn more about the new technologies

QuickTime X New

As the next generation of media players, it’s built on new core technologies and advances modern media and Internet standards.

  • Watch your videos in a clean, uncluttered interface with the new QuickTime Player.
  • Record audio or video using the built-in iSight camera and microphone in your Mac.
  • Trim your media to the perfect length.
  • Easily publish your media to MobileMe or YouTube.

Learn more about QuickTime X

Out-of-the-box
support for Microsoft Exchange New

Mac OS X Snow Leopard delivers built-in support for the latest version of Microsoft Exchange Server, something even Windows PCs don’t have.

  • Use your Mac at home and at work and have all your messages, meetings, and contacts in one place.
  • Easily set it up using the Autodiscovery feature in Exchange.
  • Use Mail, iCal, and Address Book to access your work email, calendars, and the Global Address List alongside your personal accounts.
  • Take advantage of powerful Mac OS X features such as Spotlight, Quick Look, data detectors, and more.

Learn more about Exchange support

Safari 4 New

The latest version of Apple’s blazing-fast web browser delivers up to 50 percent faster JavaScript performance and is more resistant to crashes than ever.

  • Use Top Sites to view your favorite websites at a glance, see which ones have been updated, and visit them in a click.
  • Complete search queries as you type with built-in Google Suggest.
  • Flip through full-page previews of your browsing history in Cover Flow the same way you flip through album art in iTunes.

Learn more about Safari 4

Universal Access Updated

Every Mac comes with built-in technologies designed to help people with disabilities experience it. Innovations in Snow Leopard advance accessibility even further.

  • Control your Mac using gestures on your Multi-Touch trackpad. And when you drag your finger across the trackpad, VoiceOver speaks the items you touch so you know how they’re arranged on the screen.
  • Snow Leopard includes support for over 40 braille display models, including Bluetooth models.
  • New accessibility features make web browsing easier, faster, and more enjoyable.

Learn more about accessibility in Mac OS X Snow Leopard

Visit the Mac OS X Snow Leopard site

What's in the Box

  • Installation DVD
  • Printed and electronic documentation

System Requirements

  • Mac computer with an Intel processor
  • 1GB of memory
  • 5GB of available disk space
  • DVD drive for installation
  • Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may apply.
  • Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and terms apply.

See all system requirements

Find out which OS and processor you have

Language Support

Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard is available in English, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, Brazilian Portuguese, Portuguese (Portugal), Russian, and Polish.

About the Family Pack

The Family Pack Software License Agreement allows you to install and use one copy of the Apple software on up to a maximum of five (5) Apple-labeled computers at a time as long as those computers are located in the same household and used by persons who occupy that household. By “household” we mean a person or persons who share the same housing unit such as a home, apartment, mobile home, or condominium, including students who are primary residents of that household but reside at a separate on-campus location. This license does not extend to business or commercial users.

  • Get Snow Leopard, iLife '09, and iWork '09 all in one box
  • Snow Leopard Up-to-date
  • Mac OS X Server Snow Leopard
 
 

Ratings & Reviews

3.0

Based on 214 reviews

Write a review

Most Useful Reviews

  • Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

    3.0

    Two steps forward, one step back

    Written by ML from Montreal

    Sep 30, 2009

    The speed increases are significant, and probably worthwhile in the long run, but applications - Apple and non-Apple Intel applications included - crash fairly regularly. All the non-Apple applications have crashed several times since I started using Snow Leopard a few days ago, and Apple applications such as Mail, iPhoto, and Safari have also crashed. While the speed increase, and some of the layout improvements, make it overall a good product, the number of bugs means it's probably worth waiting for some updates before buying it. …More

    794 of 869 people found this useful

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  • Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

    2.0

    Too many issues to bother with now

    Written by AK from Kansas City

    Oct 1, 2009

    Luckily I had only had my computer for two months before I attempted this, because it was utter ____. I've lost a couple of things because I had to revert back to leopard, and Firefox was one of the main ones. My office 2008 is buggy now and I've tried to fix it, but I think its even past my help. My advice is to wait a few months, and back up your computer first if you do attempt it. Luckily I did. …More

    563 of 663 people found this useful

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  • Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

    2.0

    Playing nice with other software

    Written by EH from Minster

    Oct 1, 2009

    Beware. If you are using Adobe Products such as CS4 or Nikon products such as Capture NX2. Snow leopard does NOT play real well. locks up (Beach ball of death) alot. Also Snow Leopard will cause your legit copy of Lightroom 2.5 to expire.

    Other than that nice savings to the HD and noticeable speed increase.     …More

    519 of 614 people found this useful

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Most Recent Reviews

  • Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

    1.0

    Terrible.. I can't believe its Apple..

    Written by HA from Alexandria

    Nov 24, 2009

    I had Tiger it was awesome, then leopard and it even got much better.. and THEN comes Snow.. What a mess.. Why did you mess up such a great OS.. Please loose the snow and let the Spring come back to Apple.. …More

    1 of 5 people found this useful

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  • Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

    2.0

    Battery consumption

    Written by NM from Playa Vista

    Nov 24, 2009

    At first I was impressed by the upgrade until I started realizing it quickly drains the battery power like you wouldn't believe. Now I have to consider spending more money on a new battery that can handle the upgrade. Apple sure knows how to drain your wallet one way or another. …More

    3 of 6 people found this useful

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  • Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard

    4.0

    Better for Stability

    Written by DO from YUMA

    Nov 24, 2009

    Installed it on day one and it was kinda nice. That was up until I discovered my Mac mail account was hosed. I called Apple and they couldn’t associate my problem with Snow! They suggested it was something else. Fortunately I had a back up so off it went. A full month later I reinstalled it and again I lost my mail. Apple again stated that Snow was not to blame! Eventually I got of hold of someone at Apple that understood the problem. I simply needed to delete and re-enter my mail account and everything returned.

    Now, I understand that Snow wasn’t designed for any wow-factor, and it’s the bases for future improvements. I’m Ok with that as I appreciate the more stable platform and the more robust updates that will follow.
    …More

    3 of 3 people found this useful

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Questions & Answers

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  • My Mac is still with the Mac OS X Tiger, can I upgrade to the snow?
    • Asked by FI
    • Sep 30, 2009
    Best Answer

    As I said before - your processor - i.e. the age of your Mac is key to this. If you have an Intel processor (the newer Macs) - then yes you can install an upgrade to Snow Leopard 10.6, if not then no, you are stuck with Tiger 10.4.

    Look on the Apple Store site for hardware requirements of Snow Leopard 10.6.

    Apple stores do not sell older operating systems - such as Leopard 10.5 - you will have to get Leopard 10.5 if you want it from Ebay or somewhere similar.     …More

    • Answered by JW from BEXLEYHEATH
    • Oct 1, 2009
    • 67 of 82 people found this useful
    • 2 more answers
  • My Imac is Mac OSX Version 10.5.8 Would I benefit by upgrading to Snow Leopard, or have I already got it.
    • Asked by CW
    • Sep 30, 2009
    Best Answer

    You have the most up-to-date release of Leopard, but not Snow Leopard. Snow Leopard is version 10.6 - you only have 10.5.8.

    And to answer your second question, no, MS Word is not included with Snow Leopard - you have to buy it separately. It's about $150 US.

    Hope this helped!

    Daniel James     …More

    • Answered by DD from Ohaupo
    • Sep 30, 2009
    • 27 of 31 people found this useful
    • 10 more answers
  • Lots of bad reviews. Should I wait to upgrade?
    • Asked by AM from Hoffman Estates
    • Oct 11, 2009
    Best Answer

    In my opinion, research the programs you are going to use most frequently and see if there is any mention about them being upgraded for snow leopard, many applications have been upgraded already, and more are on their way. It's entirely possible that most, if not all of the applications you use have already been upgraded and are ready to use. If not, wait a little while, or find a replacement product from a company that responds faster.
    At the very least, the apps that have been upgraded already tell you a bit about the efficiency of the company you received the software from, and tells you if you can rely on them for speedy updates or not, which is often one of the most important parts of any software company.
    And with that said, many applications that worked for 10.5 (Leopard) will work fine on 10.6 (Snow Leopard) such as Firefox, VLC, and various messenger apps, so also look up if the application doesn't need to be upgraded at all, perhaps it works as it is.
    Hope this helps. =)     …More

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