Differences between Leopard (Mac OS X) and Snow Leopard (Mac OS X)
Contents
Comparison Article[edit]
Mac OS X Snow Leopard (version 10.6) is the successor to Mac OS X Leopard (version 10.5). Apple released Snow Leopard in August 2009, nearly two years after Leopard. The update focused on refining the existing feature set, improving performance, and increasing efficiency.[1] Apple stated that the release had "zero new features," instead highlighting the under-the-hood technical improvements.[1]
A primary difference between the two operating systems was the discontinuation of support for PowerPC-based Macintosh computers.[2] Snow Leopard was the first version of Mac OS X to run exclusively on Intel processors, which allowed Apple to focus on optimizing for that architecture.[3] Leopard, by contrast, was a universal release that supported both PowerPC and Intel hardware.[4]
The shift to an Intel-only operating system was part of a larger transition to 64-bit technology. While Leopard had added support for 64-bit applications, Snow Leopard expanded this by rewriting most system applications in 64-bit code, including the Finder.[1][5] This allowed the system and applications to address significantly more memory than the 4GB limit of 32-bit processing, leading to performance gains in memory-intensive tasks.
Comparison Table[edit]
| Category | Mac OS X Leopard (10.5) | Mac OS X Snow Leopard (10.6) |
|---|---|---|
| Processor Support | PowerPC and Intel | Intel only[2] |
| System Architecture | Mixed 32-bit and 64-bit applications supported[5] | Most system applications rewritten as 64-bit |
| Finder | Carbon-based | Rewritten in Cocoa, 64-bit[1] |
| QuickTime | QuickTime 7 | QuickTime X (new interface and framework) |
| Core Technologies | Standard multi-core support | Grand Central Dispatch and OpenCL for improved multi-core and GPU processing |
| MS Exchange Support | Required Microsoft Entourage | Native support in Mail, iCal, and Address Book[1] |
| Installation Footprint | Standard installation size | Reduced footprint, freeing up to 7GB of disk space after upgrade[1] |
| Upgrade Price | $129 | $29[1] |
_versus_Snow_Leopard_(Mac_OS_X)_comparison.png)
Performance and Refining[edit]
Snow Leopard introduced new technologies to better utilize modern hardware. Grand Central Dispatch (GCD) was a framework designed to make it easier for developers to take advantage of multi-core processors. OpenCL (Open Computing Language) allowed applications to use the graphics processing unit (GPU) for general-purpose computing, offloading heavy processing tasks from the CPU. These additions were intended to improve overall system responsiveness and performance, especially in optimized applications.
The update also focused on reducing the operating system's footprint. After upgrading from Leopard, users could recover up to 7GB of disk space.[1] This was achieved by removing PowerPC code, refining system components, and installing printer drivers on an as-needed basis rather than pre-installing a large library.[1]
64-bit Architecture[edit]
Leopard was capable of running 64-bit applications on compatible Intel hardware, but the kernel and many core applications remained 32-bit.[5] Snow Leopard advanced this transition by moving most of the operating system's key components to 64-bit. This included rewriting the Finder and other system applications in Cocoa, Apple's modern object-oriented programming framework.[1] While Snow Leopard was largely 64-bit, on most Mac models it booted with a 32-bit kernel by default to maintain compatibility with third-party kernel extensions that were still 32-bit. However, it was still capable of running 64-bit applications regardless of the kernel mode.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 "wikipedia.org". Retrieved January 25, 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "lowendmac.com". Retrieved January 25, 2026.
- ↑ "youtube.com". Retrieved January 25, 2026.
- ↑ "reddit.com". Retrieved January 25, 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "superuser.com". Retrieved January 25, 2026.
