Snow Leopard? Careful with upgrading your OS!
Posted By Chris on August 27, 2009
UPDATE – After a successful install, my major programs continued to work: Cubase 5, Sibelius 6, Final Cut Express 4. Presonus is offering a Beta driver for Firestudio and StudioLive. Sibelius issued an upgrade to 6.03 for Mac users only. Cubase 5 works, but is very sluggish (VU Meters, etc.) The main things that didn’t work for me were Safari and Mail plugins (Glims, WideMail, GrowlMail, etc.).
The new OS from Apple is coming out tomorrow: Snow Leopard OS X 10.6. I’m pretty excited and can’t wait to upgrade. There’s a lot of under-the-hood changes made in this version – 64 bit processing for core applications, improved iChat video resolution with lower bandwidth usage, Finder and Exposé improvements, just to name a few.
But if you use any audio or video software or hardware, you may want to wait a bit before upgrading. Apple has compiled a list of software that currently isn’t working with 10.6, and end-users are also compiling their own list.One of the products we sell, the Line 6 Toneport UX8 has appeared on the official Apple incompatible list. They say to contact the vendor for an updated version. With my experience, this can take a long time. Another manufacturer took about 6-8 months to get a new driver for their audio products when Leopard 10.5 came out!
So if you’re in the middle of a project and use any of the software or hardware listed below, maybe hang on for a bit before you do a complete update of your OS. Always, always, check the manufacturer website for the latest drivers for hardware, and latest versions for software or updates to see when you can let your new Snow Leopard pal record your next Top 10 hit.
Brands with computer connectivity:
M-Audio | Presonus | DigiDesign | Lexicon | Vox
Steinberg | Sibelius | Finale | Line 6 | Yamaha
Fast Track Series | MBox Series | Firestudio | Firepod
StudioLive | Toneport Series (UX8, etc.) | NRV10
PodStudio | JamVox | Oxygen series | Axiom Series
AudioBox | FireBox | Audiogram | ProFire
Note: Not all manufacturers, software and hardware are listed above. Please consult the manufacturer website for more details.
I’m currently using Sibelius 6, Cubase 5, Presonus FireStudio, Final Cut Express and M-Audio Fast Track Pro for my projects. Sibelius is saying none of their current versions are compatible, and I’m sure the others (with the exception of FCE which is an Apple product) will have problems on the initial OS launch.
My plan is to back up my current 10.5 installation to an external drive, partition my Macbook Pro internal Harddrive, upgrade the current 10.5 installation to 10.6, then reinstall the 10.5 version on the new partition. I might also just use Parallels to run my 10.5 installation while I’m in 10.6! Confusing? A bit. But I dare not chance my hardware and software not working during the middle of my projects.
So I’ll see you at the Apple Store tomorrow! Hmm… I need a new keyboard too…
– Chris
Chris is Easy Music Center's General Manager and Webmaster - webmaster@easymusiccenter.com
Category: Chris's Conundrum