Snow Leopard 10a335 released

Installing on a MacBook Air

Users who have mounted the DVD using the DVD or CD Sharing feature from another Mac or PC can now perform the installation by simply opening the 'Install Mac OS X' application. It is no longer necessary to follow the unique procedure using the Remote Install Mac OS X application. Note that you will need to ensure that 'Ask To Use' must be unchecked on the host machine which is sharing the DVD drive.

An extra disk partition is created as part of this process and should be removed after a successful installation. If the partition still exists after an installation, please report the issue and use Disk Utility to manually remove it.

Remote Install Assistant may fail over AirPort. Run the Install Mac OS X application as described above instead.

Installing Rosetta

Rosetta is now installed on demand and no longer needs to be selected in the Mac OS X Installer. Please try this if you have applications that require Rosetta and report any problems you encounter.

PowerPC apps are crashing for some users after installing Rosetta. Running 'sudo update_dyld_shared_cache' in Terminal and then rebooting will typically work around this. Note that you will be prompted for your admin password.

Other Installation Notes

- Custom install sizes are sometimes inaccurate, which may result in the Installer failing due to disk space issues.

- Migrating users over a network connection may result in a hang. Connect the machines via Firewire to workaround this.

- It may take several minutes to get to the Mac OS X Installer when using a DVD.

- Some settings such as Mobile Me login info and Keyboard settings are not migrated correctly.

The following are currently under investigation by engineering. No bug reports are needed for these. We will update this list to keep you informed of other known issues as we become aware of them.

- Custom install sizes are sometimes inaccurate, which may result in the Installer failing due to disk space issues.

- Migrating users over a network connection may result in a hang. Connect the machines via Firewire to workaround this.

- It may take several minutes to get to the Mac OS X Installer when using a DVD.

- Some settings such as Mobile Me login info and Keyboard settings are not migrated correctly.

- Some Rosetta applications crash on launch.

- 'Repair Permissions' in Disk Utility reports spurious errors.

- configd crashes can cause DNS lookups to fail.

- QuickTime Player may crash when playing DRM protected content in 64-bit.

- PowerPC apps are crashing for some users after installing Rosetta. Running 'sudo update_dyld_shared_cache' in Terminal and then rebooting will typically work around this. Note that you will be prompted for your admin password.

Below are a few focus areas that we would like you to help us test in Snow Leopard. For each area we have provided some things that you can try. Concentrate on those areas that you are familiar with and that you have the right test environment for. Feel free to go beyond what we have listed here. These are just meant to help get you started.

If you do run into problems testing any of these areas please be sure to submit a bug report using the link on your main AppleSeed page.

Exchange

If you have access to Exchange Server 2007 you can use Snow Leopard's built in support to access your Exchange email, calendar events and contacts. Try configuring Mail, iCal and Address Book to access your Exchange data.

Time Machine

Try backing up your system, browsing the backed up files, and then restoring them. You can use external FireWire and USB drives or an internal disk partition. Use the Time Machine preferences to configure your backup settings. Also, try launching Time Machine while Address Book is active to restore specific contacts. Check that you can enter Time Machine while Mail is running. You can use Time Machine in the installer to restore a complete system backup. More information on using Time Machine can be found at: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

MacBook Air

If you have a MacBook Air, try installing the build using a variety of methods such as over wireless, via an external optical drive or over ethernet. Also check that you can share optical discs hosted by other computers.

WiFi Access

Check that you can connect wirelessly to the internet and that you able to remain connected for extended periods of time. Try waking from sleep to see if you automatically reconnect to your wireless network. Also, try changing locations from one wireless access point to another to see if you re-establish a connection at the new location.

Device Syncing

Contacts and calendars can be synced to several portable devices including iPods and certain models of PDAs and cell phones. iPod syncing is handled via iTunes while PDAs and cell phones are synced using the iSync application.

MobileMe Syncing

Use the MobileMe preference pane in System Preferences to configure the items you are interested in syncing. You will need a MobileMe account to use this. Try syncing the different types of data and then check that any changes you made appear as expected. You can sync Bookmarks, Calendars, Contacts, Keychains and Mail settings, Dashboard widgets, Dock items and preferences. You can use iDisk syncing to access your iDisk even when you are not connected to the internet. This can be turned on under the "iDisk" tab of the MobileMe System Preferences. Check that you can sync your iDisk data between multiple computers.

Application Compatibility

Try installing your favorite applications and check for unexpected dialog boxes and error messages. Look for general application stability and performance issues as well as any cosmetic drawing problems that weren't there in Leopard. You may also wish to verify that you can print from all applications.

Networking Connectivity

Make sure you can connect to the internet via your ISP. If you have access to multiple networks try changing your network location and reconnecting. Switch between ethernet and wireless network links. Make sure you can reconnect to the network after waking from sleep. If you have access to AFP and SMB servers, try connecting to them from the Finder.

Printing

Some things to try include printer set-up, configuring the printer preference panel, driver installation and using options/settings specific to your printer model.

iChat

Try text, voice and video chats, multi-way voice and video chats. Try sending files to and receiving files from on-line buddies. Video effects, video backdrops and iChat Screen Sharing are some other things to try.

Spotlight

Try searching for files using the Spotlight menu. Use searching in Mail to find specific e-mail messages. If you have removable hard drives, try searching for content on them. Drag the drive icons to the trash to verify that they can be unmounted.

Dashboard

Try installing new widgets. Look for differences in third-party widget functionality compared to how they function on Leopard. An extensive list of widgets can be found at http://www.apple.com/downloads/dashboard/