Hacker News Reader

Comment by donw | Hacker News Reader

I just finished upgrading my desktop and laptop, and I have to admit Apple wasn't kidding about this being a snappier release -- almost feels like I'm working on a Linux box again, in terms of snappiness.

I'll be interesting to see how the underlaying changes impact me, though, as everything I'm doing right now is on the JVM...

View on HN

> I have to admit Apple wasn't kidding about this being a snappier release

So you recommend the switch? (I was going to grab a copy tomorrow anyway, but it's always nice to get actual experience by actual users)

Overall, yes. You'll need to re-install MacPorts (just download the DMG from their site) and XCode (from the CD) afterwards, but other than that, everything (for me) works. Although the Java 6 JVM that comes with Snow Leopard seems to be quite a bit slower -- not sure why, yet.

One caveat -- as I've heard, CS3/CS4 has some problems.

> You'll need to re-install MacPorts (just download the DMG from their site) and XCode (from the CD) afterwards

I was intending a complete reinstall anyway, so I'm cool with that.

> One caveat -- as I've heard, CS3/CS4 has some problems.

I've heard CS3 has issues as well, but given I don't use it…

The reports that Cyberduck doesn't work correctly annoys me more.

"The reports that Cyberduck doesn't work correctly annoys me more."

You want lftp. As far as I'm concerned, it's the One True file-transfer program. And of course it's available in MacPorts (and even if it wasn't, it builds cleanly from source on OS X anyway).

Transmit is my personal favorite, especially in a workflow with Textmate.

Yeah but transmit isn't free, and I don't use FTPs enough to pay for it (though I paid for flashfxp on windows a few years ago)

Cyberduck used to be good and then they added all those features.

One caveat with MacPorts. Not everything is building properly. I had problems compiling libsdl (used by ffmpeg/VLC) and python26. There's a compatibility list here: http://trac.macports.org/wiki/snc/snowleopard.

For people upgrading their MacPorts, be sure to not only grab version 1.8, but recompile your ports (if you want) so they're 64-bit.

The reports that Cyberduck doesn't work correctly annoys me more

There are Cyberduck beta's that work fine on 10.6, just hasn't been pushed to stable yet.

So you recommend the switch?

What would happen if you didn't switch? Would you be allowed to use the next service pack?

Things seem to perform about the same for me, but I'm noticing more of a solid overall feel. I think this has to do with polished-up graphic effects, improved animation timing, and fewer lock-ups or periods of inexplicable waiting.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com