OK, so what's the conclusion?

[nph]

Is Snow Leopard a good improvement for the MBA?
I have rev B w SDD and thinking about going to SL but I want to make sure it is a positive (or at least no substantial negative) impact on:
- Heat (still thinking about doing the Arctic Silver 5 reapply)
- Speed
- Memory use (given the 2 GB max I don't it to use more than Leopard)
- Battery Life (better or worse, since right now it is quite ok, +4h surfing)

Unless most of the items above are ok maybe it is worth waiting for 10.6.1 or so?

What do you all think that have upgraded, especially Rev B owners!

Thanks

 

[ayeying]

I'm actually on and off about SL. I'm triple booting just because I can't decide. So far, SL seems to be fine vs Leopard, except with a few Application bugs, random Safari crash, random Quicktime X crash... it's usable.

 

[dissolve]

I've got the same model as you and haven't had any major issues with SL. Initially, some apps weren't working, but most have caught up now. No real noticeable heat difference, although I have seen much, much better fan control. No more revving up to 6200rpm, but instead it will hover around an appropriate speed. Now, if I understand correctly, 64 bit applications use more memory by design. No way of getting around that (I think). With that said, I haven't encountered slow downs due to this, but it's something to consider.

 

[mackhydr4]

I have rev B and SL installed. Zero issue, not a single lockup nor crash.

 

[mhnajjar]

RevB with SL upgrade and ZERO issues. Even iStat works fine!

BTW, I noticed that the YouTube HD videos play better now

 

[nph]

Thanks for the quick responses.

However even if there are zero issues, was there any positive effects when it comes to speed and heat?

What is the one benefit you see that should trigger the upgrade to SL on MBA rev B?

 

[mackhydr4]

Thanks for the quick responses.

However even if there are zero issues, was there any positive effects when it comes to speed and heat?

What is the one benefit you see that should trigger the upgrade to SL on MBA rev B?

It works-

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/780646/

 

[DOUGHNUT]

I'm actually on and off about SL. I'm triple booting just because I can't decide. So far, SL seems to be fine vs Leopard, except with a few Application bugs, random Safari crash, random Quicktime X crash... it's usable.

Safari is far more stable in SL than Leopard due to flash crashing Safari in Leopard all the time. so far, Safari hasn't crashed on me once whereas I used to have Safari crash on me in Leopard at least a few times a day.

 

[ayeying]

Safari is far more stable in SL than Leopard due to flash crashing Safari in Leopard all the time. so far, Safari hasn't crashed on me once whereas I used to have Safari crash on me in Leopard at least a few times a day.

Mine's actually the opposite. I had no crashes due to Flash on Leopard but has been several times in SL. I have no idea why, I updated to the newest Flash in SL and in Leopard and it crashes in SL more than in Leopard.

 

[mackhydr4]

Mine's actually the opposite. I had no crashes due to Flash on Leopard but has been several times in SL. I have no idea why, I updated to the newest Flash in SL and in Leopard and it crashes in SL more than in Leopard.

That is weird. SL Clean Install or Upgrade?

 

[Young Turk]

Thanks for the quick responses.

However even if there are zero issues, was there any positive effects when it comes to speed and heat?

What is the one benefit you see that should trigger the upgrade to SL on MBA rev B?

Heat: same or less as Leopard.

Battery life: better than Leopard (about 15-20 minutes more).

Speed: noticeably faster than Leopard.

QB12

 

[ayeying]

That is weird. SL Clean Install or Upgrade?

Both. At first I thought it was because the upgrade created problems but a clean install had it also. I don't use any plug ins for Safari other than flash. I dont use much of any of Safari's features except browsing the web and flash.

 

[gooddeal]

Decided to upgrade my Rev. A 1.6 GHz today, I did the clean install. Everything seems to be working great now. I have been using the machine for emails and web for the last couple hours, the CPU temperature is around 47-49 and the fan speed is around 2499.

 

[Scottsdale]

I think the cons currently outweigh the pros.

Cons
- OpenGL is negatively affected.
- Snow Leopard seems to run warmer.
- Many Apps have compatibility problems.
- Hardware compatibility problems.
- SLOWER overall.
- 32-bit kernel (this really bugs me and bugs me even more that 32-bit kernel runs better than 64-bit for those who can run).


Pros
- Slightly better battery, I think.
- 64-bit apps
- OpenCL & Grand Central Dispatch (problem is no apps use tech currently).
- Save 7 GB drive space.


I think in the long run Snow Leopard will be better for the MBA. However, in the short run there are no apps capitalizing on SL and many apps not compatible. I am seriously considering reverting back to Leopard for a year. But I am thinking of waiting to see if 10.6.1 fixes problems and allows true 64-bit OS (I don't care that some say we should be happy with 32-bit as Apple has touted 64-bit is future).

When Apps are all working with SL, when 64-bit is really there, and when apps are capitalizing on the 9400m and both cores with SL technologies Snow Leopard will make a lot of sense; until then Leopard seems to make more sense as it's essentially bug free and 100% compatible.

 

[VS007]

Underwhelmed by SL on MBA.

Pros:
1. Safari is perceptibly more stable
2. Features like QuickTime X, expose on dock, slightly faster startup
3. Like the desktop b/g images
4. Preview of pdf and improved Finder
5. Stable wireless
6. Trash put back feature is nice( should have been there long time back)


Cons:
1. -29.99$ Could have been free, still would have paid.