By popular request, we put forth here a brief list of informational guides and reviews of Snow Leopard that have been published by various tech sites:

Ars Technica’s thorough review of Snow Leopard

Apple’s list of software that is incompatible with Snow Leopard

Apple’s support document on printing and adding printers in Snow Leopard

Macworld’s guide to installing Snow Leopard*

*NOTA BENE: We always recommend that our clients check in with us before installing ANYTHING.  For all other Mac users out there who are itching to install Snow Leopard, please make sure you backup your machine before installing!

The Mac OS X 10.5.8 Update was released yesterday and you can update by running Software Update from the Apple menu on your machine or by downloading the Update here from Apple’s website.

The following improvements and fixes are included in the update:

• Upgrades Safari to version 4.0.2.
• Improves the accuracy of full history search in Safari 4.
• Resolves an issue in which certain resolutions might not appear in the Display pane in System Preferences.
• Dragging an Aperture image into Automator now invokes an Aperture action instead of incorrectly invoking an iPhoto action.
• Resolves an issue that could prevent importing of large photo and movie files from digital cameras.
• Improves overall Bluetooth reliability with external devices, USB webcams and printers.
• Addresses an issue that could cause extended startup times.
• Improves iCal reliability with MobileMe Sync and CalDav.
• Addresses data reliability issues with iDisk and MobileMe.
• Improves overall reliability with AFP.
• Improves overall reliability with Managed Client.
• Improves compatibility and reliability for joining AirPort networks.
• Improves Sync Service reliability.
• Includes additional RAW image support for several third-party cameras.
• Improves compatibility with some external USB hard drives.
• Includes latest security fixes.

As always, please BACKUP before you install the update.  Also, you may want to visit MacFixIt’s site here and here for reports of issues that some users have experienced with this update.

So far neither our techs nor our clients have reported any incidents with the latest Leopard update, 10.5.7.  However, Macfixit has had a number of users write in with certain problems that they have experienced after updating.

So far they have noted issues with the following:

• Computer hangs at the blue screen upon start-up after the installation of the upgrade.
• Disappearance of certain display resolutions.
• Buffalo external hard drives are not being recognized post-update.
• A few users have reported video issues on their MacBooks and MacBook Pros.
• Inability to print to PDF and some programs crashing when during printing.
• Bluetooth ceasing to work after the update.
• Option to disable trackpad when using a mouse appears to disappear in certain MacBooks with the new update.

For info on workarounds and solutions where available, check out MacFixit articles here and here.  As always, the team at Need Mac Help recommends backing up before the installation of any update.  We also recommend installing the combo update.

As our mac support experts have recommended in the past, it is wise to wait a little bit before jumping to upgrade your operating system.  There may be certain applications that you have on your machine that might not play nicely with 10.5.7 and we we’d like to get feedback from our trusted Need Mac Help techs after they’ve tested the new operating system.

For users who feel they absolutely must upgrade right away, please read Apple’s support document regarding the update.

Yesterday Apple released updates to iMovie, Aperture and Server Admin tools.

iMovie 8.0.2 fixes an issue with projects having a size of 0 KB.  Trying to open these projects caused iMovie to quit at launch.  This update also patches a problem where full-screen mode wasn’t able to be accessed on some systems.

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/application_updates/imovie802.html

Aperture 2.1.3 improves overall stability and provides fixes for issues related to the integrity of the Aperture Library database and compatibility with specific file types.

For more information on the image compatibility and Aperture Library fixes, see the Apple Support document about the update:

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2683

According to Apple Support, Server Admin Tools 10.5.6v1.1 provides several improvements, among them:

System Image Utility – when deploying a system image created from a volume, the target computers will no longer have identical local KDC files.  Also adds NetBoot/NetInstall model filters for the latest MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air computers.

Server Admin – fixes an issue that could cause Server Admin to stop responding when propagating permissions on a folder which is on a volume other than the boot volume.  Also adds NetBoot/NetInstall model filters for the latest MacBook, MacBook Pro and MacBook Air computers.

The download for Server Admin Tools 10.5.6v1.1 can be found here:

http://support.apple.com/downloads/Server_Admin_Tools_10_5_6v1_1

I’ve been reading through the support forums and blogs about various problems that users have been encountering with the new upgrade to OS X 10.5.6.  Some of the issues reported thus far include:

• Freezing at “configuring installation” screen
• Mail crashes
• Network issues
• Time Machine backup failure
• Problems with DFU mode

If you are anxious to install the upgrade, we recommend first reading the instructions on Apple’s website and to consider installing the larger Combo update.