Comments on: Does Mom Need Snow Leopard?

By: Alexa

Alexa — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:13:08 +0000

Oh, so that explains everything! Thanks for clearing that up.

The question is, are you his tech support? I realize that you can’t exactly say to your father, “Dad, unless you get a Mac you can handle your own tech support.”

By: Galley

Galley — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:39:17 +0000

My Dad is perfectly happy with his crappy $400 Windows laptop that runs Vista and he constantly has problems with. Maybe I’m adopted.

By: Ricki

Ricki — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 23:05:47 +0000

My mom is on my old iBook 1.25Ghz, sosadly no Snow Leopard for her. But my sister is on a MacBook so I think I’ll give it to her as a “back to school” present.

We are 3 intel Macs at home so I’ll get the family pack tomorrow:)

By: elgarak

elgarak — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:36:06 +0000

The fact that Snow Leopard will stop the question “Why does my 400GB hard drive only has….?” dead in its tracks is reason enough for me to recommend it to less technically inclined people…

By: Kevin Ballard

Kevin Ballard — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:28:03 +0000

If your mother uses a Time Capsule to back up her computer, then it’s a definite yes. They sped up Time Machine backing up to a Time Capsule significantly. Similarly if she uses Exposé, then it’s also a big YES. Check out how Exposé works on Snow Leopard (and make sure to hit the space bar when hovering over an Exposé window!). And even if neither of those apply, I still recommend it. Snow Leopard is faster than Leopard and everything just plain works better. Even Mail.app now quits more reliably!

By: Roland

Roland — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 21:18:54 +0000

It’s a good upgrade for the macbook. I love the design and it’s very easy to handle.

By: Thomas Maier

Thomas Maier — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:58:38 +0000

“an über power user” ? I _am_ German and “über” is the German word for “over”, but that does that mean is this contect? ultra power pro user? :P funny. I thought that making umlauts on an English keyboard isn’t trivial :D anyway: nice story.

By: Amy

Amy — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 20:18:24 +0000

Well, I did mine and had to talk my mother thru her upgrade on her Intel-based Mac mini. She and I both made it through ok. The fun part will be talking my 85 year old grandfather, who has poor eyesight. Always an experience.

By: Mark

Mark — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:16:40 +0000

I am going to upgrade my macbook simply for the ms exchange2007 support. Should I go ahead and upgrade the wife’s imac as well? Any thoughts on running 10.5.8 on one and 10.6 on the other.

By: Lucas Arruda

Lucas Arruda — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:48:08 +0000

I think this question is more simple than it looks like.

From the point of view of funcionality, she does not need. But, thats only thing that counts? No.

The simple answer: If it`s a hardware limit, of course it doesn`t suit her, but if not, yes upgrade it.

Why? Mostly security, but also speed and minor things that also count a lot like speed, usability, stability. So, if you can and is doesn`t causes you headaches, update it. Otherwise, don`t bother because it will still suit them.

By: Adam Jackson

Adam Jackson — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:29:27 +0000

Short answer: no.

At the same time, did I need to have the new dual-band airport extreme. Did I need MobileMe? Did I need the iPhone 3GS.

These days, most Apple upgrades are “nice to have” and that’s how it’s been for a while now.

Parents could probably still be using an eMac 1.25Ghz w/ Panther and be just fine.

By: Davis

Davis — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:24:01 +0000

If there’s one thing mom’s need in a computer, it’s stability and ease of use. Snow Leopard (…perhaps 10.6.1) can only be a good thing. For peace of mind, if nothing else.

By: Neil

Neil — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:22:08 +0000

Ummm…I hate to bring this up, but aren’t you violating the Family Pack license by installing on your Mom’s machine who, presumably, doesn’t live under the same roof?

By: David Klein

David Klein — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:52:06 +0000

You caught me!

By: ryemac3

ryemac3 — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:44:15 +0000

My wife was in the same boat too. I use a Mac Pro and I am a power, power, power user. She has a Mac mini that she uses to pay bills online, look at pictures of the kids, and surf the internet. She doesn’t even use it for email, because she does that on her iPhone. I bought her the Mac mini a month or two ago because she said she wanted a machine that she could use at home in case she needed to catch up on paperwork for work.

So, does she need Snow Leopard? No, but I gave it to her anyway, and here’s why:

Because the Mac mini is no speed demon to begin with, it needs all the help it can get. She still has a stock 120G drive in there that’s filling up fast with the kids pictures.
She had 41 Gigs left before Snow Leopard, now she has a little over 50. I know that’s partly due to the number game they are playing with file sizes now, but a gain of 10 Gigs is a gain of 10 Gigs.

I also wanted it to have the same user experience as my Mac Pro just in case I happen to hop on there. I want Expose and Stacks to wok in the way that they work on mine. I wanted her to have the new Safari 4 enhancements. I think that it’s just better that all the computers in the house have a unified look and feel.

And trust me, as soon as I can, I’ll be putting it on my MSi Wind too.

By: Murphy Mac

Murphy Mac — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:40:33 +0000

Lots of good answers.

But the real question: Did David stop to see his mom to “Catch up” as he reported? Or was he too desperate to install to go all the way home first?

My 74 year old neighbor dropped by just as the installer was finishing up. He stayed for almost two hours. I don’t think he saw the tears.