Mac OS X Snow Leopard Installation Details

A list of changes to the Mac OS X installation process for Snow Leopard has been posted by AppleInsider.

This information was provided by their sources which also confirmed that build 10A432 went Gold Master earlier this week.

- Although Rosetta and Quicktime 7 are both included on the Mac OS X 10.6 installation DVD, both are designated as optional installs by default. However, if Mac OS X 10.6 is being installed on a Mac that contains a registration a key for Quicktime 7 Pro, the installer will install Quicktime 7 automatically.

- Options to "Erase and Install" and "Archive and Install" are no longer present in the Mac OS X 10.6 installer. According to those familiar with the software, this was done for convenience, so that users do not accidentally erase and install their Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard partitions. However, "Erase and Install" remains available through Disk Utility, which is also included on the installation DVD.

- If you need to reinstall 10.6, it automatically archives and installs for you.

- A reinstallation will not affect your Mac OS X version number. In other words, reinstallation of Mac OS X 10.6 on a Mac that contains Mac OS X 10.6.1 (when it becomes available) will not overwrite any new components delivered by 10.6.1. So when the re-install is complete, you will still be running Mac OS X 10.6.1. This will save users considerable time.

- There is no "Previous System" folder at the root level after reinstalling.

- If a power outage occurs, installation will pick up from where it left off.

- To prevent the Blue Screen error that plagued some users when upgrading to Mac OS X 10.5, a software compatibility check is included that has a list of known "bad" apps, and disables them. Those programs are moved to an "Incompatible Software" folder.

- Unlike Mac OS X 10.5, you cannot install Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard on computers where the hard drive reports a S.M.A.R.T. failure.

- Installation initially triggers a large chunk of data to be copied from the installation DVD to the user's primary hard drive. The bulk of the installation is then managed from the hard drive, speeding up the installation process considerably. After a successful installation, that large chunk of data is automatically removed.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard is available to pre-order on Amazon for $29:

Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
Mac OS X Snow Leopard Family Pack (5-User)
Mac OS X Server 10.6 Snow Leopard

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