How Stable Is Snow Leopard, Really?

I've been using Leopard OS 10.5.8 or some time now; I've stayed with it because It's been extremely rock solid and stable for me.
I'd like to give OS 6 a go; I balked when Snow Leopard was first introduced after I heard about so many folks having problems with it. A couple of my friends found it a time consuming nightmare dealing with all its buggy behavior and glitches, just like with many Lion users now. I won't even consider installing Lion at this point; I'll wait 'till Lion has matured and is well along in its version upgrades.
Snow Leopard Is now at v10.6.8 and I'd hope/expect that it's now essentially bug and grief free as was LEOPARD at v10.5.8.
What are your experiences with Snow Leopard's latest iteration? Smooth going and trouble free? Nothing less than an OS working at 100% will do me; I insist upon a grief free, virtually uninterupted work flow, something that OS 10.5.8 normally offered me.

Snow Leopard is very stable and you will see a performance increase, it strips out the PPC code and updates the video drivers for best performance. Avoid the upgrade and/or Setup/Migration assistant methods.
Your probably using iLife, so you have to fresh install 10.5 first to get it.
So backup user file folders to a external first, then c boot off the 10.5 disk and erase, HFS format, and install 10.5 then software update, then insert the 10.6 disk and upgrade, then software update. Then install programs, then finally return user files to their respective folders.
Keep in mind to use the same hard drive name and the same user name as before, this avoids the iTunes exclamation point issues where it can't find your music files because the pathnames have changed.
Snow Leopard retail disks doesn't have iLife, that's why you have to install 10.5 first.
Lion is terrible at the moment, especially on older hardware.
For great computer performance see my post here
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16226340#16226340

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How to make Snow Leopard fast again?

When I upgraded from Leopard to Snow Leopard about a year ago, I was amazed at how much faster Snow Leopard was. Everything was so fast and responsive.
A year later and my iMac is running slow. What I'd like to know is, why? What is it that makes Snow Leopard run slower over time? How do you get that responsiveness back?

See:
Mac Maintenance Quick Assist,
Mac OS X speed FAQ,
Speeding up Macs,
Macintosh OS X Routine Maintenance
Essential Mac Maintenance: Get set up,
Essential Mac Maintenance: Rev up your routines,
Maintaining OS X, and
Myths of required versus not required maintenance for Mac OS X .

How to install Snow Leopard on Macbook Pro? keep getting msg- cannot install Internal HD is used for Time Machine- this was reset to external HD and still get msg?

How to install Snow Leopard on Macbook Pro? keep getting msg- cannot install Internal HD is used for Time Machine- this was reset to external HD and still get msg?

At some point, your internal HD was selected for use as Time Machine backups, and a Backups.backupdb folder was created at the top level. So OSX thinks you're trying to install it on the same drive as your backups.
Open your internal HD with the Finder (you won't find it via a Spotlight or Finder search) and delete that folder.

How to get Snow Leopard for Mac 10.5.8 not Intel Based

how to get snow leopard to not intel based Mac 10.5.8

Is it a Mac Pro, or a Powermac?
At the Apple Icon at top left>About this Mac.
Then click on More Info>Hardware and report this upto *but not including the Serial#*...
Hardware Overview:
Machine Name: Power Mac G5 Quad
Machine Model: PowerMac11,2
CPU Type: PowerPC G5 (1.1)
Number Of CPUs: 4
CPU Speed: 2.5 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 1 MB
Memory: 10 GB
Bus Speed: 1.25 GHz
Boot ROM Version: 5.2.7f1

Is Lion 10.7.1 is stable as Snow Leopard 10.6.8?

Is Lion 10.7.1 is stable as Snow Leopard 10.6.8?

I wouldn't expect the 2nd iteration of an OS to be as stable as a 9th iteration, all things being considered. However I think Lion has a better base so should get there quicker.
If you want stability never upgrade to a new OS - wait till the dust settles.
Regards,
Shawn

How to install Snow Leopard on a Mac with busted dvd drive

My problem is that my Mac Mini doesn't read all CDs or DVDs - including the new Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard that I just bought. From the support articles, I figured that I could install remotely, as you do if you have a MacBook Air. I couldn't get it to work, until I read this article:
http://jasonevangelho.com/2008/11/02/how-to-really-enable-remote-disc-dvd-drive- sharing-non-air-macbook/
All it took was two commands in Terminal.
I hope this will be helpful for others too.

Snow Leopard (SL) upgrade in my mac mini failed part way through and when I tried to re-do the upgrade, it would give me a blue screen (via DVI to my HD TV).
So, following the advice I found elsewhere, I did the following:
Booted up my 24" iMac, inserted SL disk into iMac.
Turned off mini, connected mini to iMac w/firewire cable.
Started mini and pressed and held the T key on the mini keyboard until it mounted on my iMac (seen in Finder) as a hard drive.
Started SL installation icon (iMac) and indicated that I wanted to install on the mini hard drive.
It went through a number of steps, then asked AGAIN which drive I wanted to install SL.
Then took quite a long time (upwards of 1.5 hours) to install, and the estimated time left during the install would sometimes appear frozen at 40 minutes, but the blue bar kept extending indicating it was making progress.
I was able to then boot SL on my iMac off the mini hard drive and configure everything (making sure that back to my Mac/mobile me was up and running and the proper in home network was correct).
Then "shut down" the iMac (which was still running off the mini hard drive), then powered down the mini.
Moved the mini out to it's normal place and reconnected to the HD TV and started it up and everything was perfect.
BTW, as many people know, if you're having video out difficulties with your mac mini, it's nice to be able to go "back to my mac" via another iMac to adjust the configuration. It's saved me a couple of times.

Does anybody know how to install Snow Leopard on an external HD with Lion?

My MacBook Pro came from apple with Lion OS X 10.7.1 installed and it doesn't operate with Pro Tools LE 8.0.5 (or any other version for that matter and PT 9.0.5 is only in beta) So, I'm looking to partition Snow Leopard OS X 10.6 to my external HD so I can bypass the issue without compromising and downgrading my MacBook Pro (which I've been told is not possible anyway but I'm sure there is a way) and having to A) Pay out more money to avid and get PT 9 ( BETA) or B) Run a different DAW (Also costing more $$$) Any help would be MUCH appreciated!!!

Yes it's possible, you need another Firewire capable Mac#2 that can hold c boot off the 10.6.3 Snow Leopard Retail Disks and a Firewire cable and if necessary a FW 800 to 400 adapter.
First you boot into Lion on Mac#1 and use Disk Utility to Erase Free Space, this will take a few hours.
Then backup your data off the Mac#1 Lion partition to a external drive and disconnect. (for safety sake)
Then you create a second partition on the drive in Disk Utility, formatted OS X Extended (Journaled) under the Partition Tab.
While that is all going on, on the other Mac#2 that can boot off 10.6.3 disks, you do the same thing,
First you boot into Snow or Lion on Mac#2 and use Disk Utility to Erase Free Space, this will take a few hours.
Then backup the data off the Mac#2 main boot partition to a external drive and disconnect. (for safety sake)
Then you create a second partition on the drive in Disk Utility, formatted OS X Extended (Journaled) under the Partition Tab.
Hold c and boot Mac#2 off the 10.6.3 Retail Snow Leopard Disk (won't work with grey disks unless it matches the target machine model) and install onto the new partition on Mac#2, reboot holding option key and select the 10.6.3 partition, once in, use the Combo Update to get to 10.6.8. (must do)
Reboot holding T this Lion Mac#1 so it's in Target Disk Mode, connect the Firewire cable to the other Mac#2, then hold option key and reboot into the second partition on Mac#2. Download and use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the new partition of Mac#2 to new partition of Mac#1
Reboot Mac#1 holding option key to boot into Snow partition on the factory Lion Mac#1.
If that doesn't work, you need to combine the 10.6.3 and the 10.6.8 Combo Update together in this process at the link below, and apply the 10.6.3 + 10.6.8 combined image in the same Target Disk mode fashion
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3264421?start=0&tstart=0
Another method is if you can convince Apple to send you the 10.6.6 install disks for your machine, then use the Target Disk Mode approach to circumvent the firmware which is preventing you from booting off install disks from any previous version of OS X.
For example, my new 2011 MBP came with 10.6.6 grey install disks, but can't boot off the 10.6.3 Snow Leopard Retail Disks.
Another method would be to find another same exact machine as yours, came with 10.6.6 from the factory (even if upgraded to Lion it should still boot 10.6.6), thus will boot off the 10.6.6 install disks and install it onto your parttion.
Needless to say, after going through all this, you really need to make a clone of the partition once it's successfully installed.
Set the startup disk in system preferences to Snow.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/16276201#16276201

How to have Snow Leopard, Mavericks with built-in recovery, and Windows 7 (Bootcamp) on my iMac (Intel)?

I would like to have Snow Leopard, Mavericks with built-in recovery, and Windows 7 (Bootcamp) on my iMac (Intel). Is this possible? If so, how? Currently, I have Snow Leopard and Windows 7 (Bootcamp) running on my iMac. I have enough disk space to split my Snow Leopard partition. I have read that if I split my Snow Leopard partition, clone my Snow Leopard partition to the new partition, and boot to the new partition, that I may have problems with the Maverick's upgrade because it may not be able to create the recovery parition, or that it may erase the Windows partition, or that it may mess up the Windows boot process.

Simplest is to install Mavs on an ext HD, using FW or TB. I don't do windoze, so can't advise about the Boot Camp and multiple volumes issue. Since there's no Boot Camp, I have four volumes running SL through Mavs.

How to remove Snow Leopard (or any OSX system) from a volume

Hi,
when I installed Lion I cloned my Snow Leopard system on another volume, in case I would encounter problems. Since then this second but unused system resides on that volume, beside other files.
How can I remove Snow Leopard without erasing all of the files. Does deleting the OSX folder Users, Library, System, Applications and so on do the trick? Are there any invisible folders ? Is there an app, that can do it?
Thanks in advance!
Philipp

Click on the spotlight logo in the top right, search disk utilitys, select the 10.6 partition then erase it

Anyone Figured Out How to Get Snow Leopard Working on a Retina 15" ?

Hi All,
Has anyone figured out a way to get Snow Leopard to install and run stable on a Macbook Pro 15 Retina?
Just like Lion, Mountain Lion is flaky, and just isn't as rock solid as Snow Leopard.
Media, Finder, and a host of other system level attributes that were perfect in Snow Leopard are buggy in Mountain Lion.
Examples: Finder is weird now, and 19 full length movies that played perfectly in Snow Leopard under iTunes and my iPhone were wiped from my iPhone and deemed "not compabitle" under Mountain Lion.
As I posted when Lion came out, sometimes different is not better, it's just different. I now wish I hadn't sold my '09 Macbook Pro 17 to buy my Retina 15.
The big obstacle, of course is the fact that the Snow Leopard install doesn't have the correct drivers for video and other subsystems for my new Retina 15.
So, anyone figured out a work around?
Thanks,
Mark

You have got to be kidding if you think Windows 2000 was the most stable and bug free. And it quickly aged itself out of business and you could not connect any peripherals that appeared 2 years after its release. I think Windows 7 is far more stable and my second choice would be Windows XP.
Mountain Lion is running just fine on my late 2011 MPB and running fine on my 2 friends who have the rMBP. And they like to rub it in that they both have the rMBP.
And most people who rate such things claim Tiger was the most stable. You should have seen all the threads here with complaints about SL when it was released.

How To Boot Snow Leopard Retail DVD

Hello,
Would you be able to help me out with my concern?
Alright, Before we begin I've recently bought Apple's Snow Leopard 10.6 and would like to install it onto my Asus G73Jw Notebook. Currently running,
Windows 7 Home Premium, and would like for you to be able in assisting me with my issue which is quiet simple.
How Can I Install my Apple Snow Leopard Retail DVD onto my Notebook Step by Step would be appreciated.
Thank You
System Specifications:
Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit
Intel Core i7
Nvidia GTX 460M 1.5GB
6GB Ram

Not comaptible unfortunately.
At least not without some serious work.
Have a look here:
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-install-mac-os-x-on-a-pc-without-using-a-mac /
-Graham

How to buy snow leopard currently?

Hi,
i wanted to update an old leopard mac (which is supported) to mountain lion now that it is out.
Turns out snow leopard cant be bought in the mac store anymore and telephone support says it should be bought at retail sellers.
However i phoned three retailers and none have them in stock anymore.
Is there still a way to buy a Snow Leopard Licence directly or buy a full licence for Montain Lion from Apple?

Sen10 I'm also a consultant and equally "freaked out"
I called back and asked for the sales department and explained the back and forth I've been going through between the forums and 1-800MYAPPLE.
The rep was much more helpful and had to "search the store", something the previous rep did not take the time to do while I was on the phone. So you guys are right, they seem to have old info. The rep also confirmed to me that 1-800-MYAPPLE was now the only place you can buy Snow Leopard.
Another interesting tidbit (to me): She confirmed to me that they cover both US and Canada so I wont have to wonder about that anymore.
No telling how long it will be available for so get em while theyre hot.
Thanks everyone for the prompt replies!

HOW-TO: Integrating Snow Leopard w/LDAP & Automounter

I just finished a week-long personal project where I figured out how to get my three Snow Leopard Macs at home to authenticate against an Ubuntu 9.10 Linux LDAP server (running slapd 2.4.18). It also uses autofs/automounter to automatically mount each user's home directory to when the login to an LDAP account.
There's not a lot of documentation about how to do this out there, so I thought I'd post it here in order to give back to the community:
http://www.backupcentral.com/content/view/306/47/

Is there a way to do this for Macs connected to a PC network? How do I get the Mac to mount a Win shared folder automatically using the username and password of the person logging in tot he Mac. Also, is there a way to invisibly hide the volume (without disconnecting it)from prying eyes on the Mac? I know it can be done thru the Finder->Preferences->Connected Servers but this isn't a foolproof view of hiding it because the user can still always turn this feature on again and can also "see" the volume mounted on the sidebar.
On the PC side "hiding" shared volumes from public/user view was possible while being able to retain access if you knew the exact "path" the hidden server/folder/file.

How to reinstall snow leopard without install disc

Hi guys,
I recently took my computer in to an authorised repairer (MyMac Flinders St., Melbourne Australia) to get my LCD screen replaced under warranty, as it had developed a yellow line running down the right hand side of the screen. Whilst it was in the shop I decided to have a new 1TB hard drive put in, and get the OS updated to Snow Leopard (they loaded it up, I did not get install disc). Since then, I have had massive problems with my computer. The computer sometimes would not turn on, turn off, or simply freeze. I took the computer back in and was told it was a software issue, so they did a format reinstall, and told me the problem was fixed. Within hours of getting the computer home, the same problem occurred. I took it back, was told the same thing, and with the same end result (computer not working). I then took it into the Apple store in Chadstone Melbourne, and was told it was the hard drive that was at fault, and not the software at all. I then tried to get the hard drive replaced through MyMac Flinders St., as I now thought it might be the hard drive that was the problem, and with great reluctance and many minutes on the phone they finally agreed. I had big problems getting this agreed to, because my computer was now out of warranty. So, I guess this is a two part question:
1. I've got the computer back now, with the new hard drive, and it seemed to be working fine, but i've since discovered my phone was not syncing up correctly, and was told by Apple support to check my iSync.. to which I was greeted with the error message "iSync can't be launched iSync Manager not available" to which Apple support gave me a step by step instruction download to fix:
In the Finder, choose Utilities from the Go menu.
Open Terminal.
In the Terminal window that opens, type or paste the following command on a single line:
/System/Library/Frameworks/SyncServices.framework/Versions/A/Resources/resetsync .pl full
Press Return.
When the operation is complete quit Terminal
The only problem being.. the Apple Terminal was missing. The program logo was there, but unable to launch. I figure my best bet will be to do a reinstall of Snow Leopard, but I am unsure of how to do this without the physical install disc. I have a backup on an external hard drive.
2. With my computer being now out of AppleCare warranty, I would like to know my options if this problem is unfixable, as my computer was fine before I took it into the authorised repairer, and also in warranty. I don't think I should wear the financial costs of replacing this computer.
Your help would be greatly appreciated.
Steve

I assumed it was normal to load up an OS without giving the disk..
Absolutely not.
Are you 100% sure they have acted outside the law here?
If you are absolutely sure that they didn't give you a disk, then yes, what they have done is essentially software piracy. Of course, it could simply be construed as a mistake. It is not unusual, however careless it might be, for repair folks to assume you were running SL when they reinstall your system.
However, if you specifically asked them to upgrade you to SL, as it sounds like you did, and they charged you a fee for that upgrade but didn't give you a disk, then that's theft pure and simple.
Oh, and that link you sent for AHT.. It's telling me I'd have to have the install disk to run the hardware test. Is there a way to do it without the disk?
It requires one of the gray disks that shipped with your machine, not the retail SL disk that you don't have. If you have misplaced those disks, then you're a bit hosed... Apple will replace the gray disks for a small fee, and that's the only way you're going to get AHT.
Newer machines apparently have a small hidden partition with the AHT boot system on it, but if your machine didn't ship with SL, I don't think it'll be one of those.

How to install snow leopard

.How to install snow leopard

Upgrading to Snow Leopard
You can purchase Snow Leopard through the Apple Store:Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard - Apple Store (U.S.). The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will be sent physical media by mail after placing your order.
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store. Access to the App Store enables you to download Mavericks if your computer meets the requirements.
     Snow Leopard General Requirements
       1. Mac computer with an Intel processor
       2. 1GB of memory
       3. 5GB of available disk space
       4. DVD drive for installation
       5. Some features require a compatible Internet service provider;
           fees may apply.
       6. Some features require Apple’s iCloud services; fees and
           terms apply.
Clean Install of Snow Leopard
Be sure to make a backup first because the following procedure will erase
the drive and everything on it.
     1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
         with your computer. Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.
         After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see
         a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
     2. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue
         button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu.
         After DU loads select the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive
         size.) Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Set the number of
         partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button
         and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended
         (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.
     3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed
         with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
     4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup
         Assistant. After you finish Setup Assistant will complete the installation after which
         you will be running a fresh install of OS X. You can now begin the update process
         by opening Software Update and installing all recommended updates to bring your
         installation current.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.

How Stable Is Snow Leopard, Really?

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