[Macpartners] Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) – Current Status and Recommendation to WAIT

[Patrick M McNeal]

Good afternoon,

On Friday, August 28, Apple will release its newest operating system,  
Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard).

Based on preliminary testing of prerelease versions, Information  
Services and Technology (IS&T) recommends that Macintosh users WAIT to  
upgrade and continue to use Mac OS X 10.5 while IS&T completes its  
review and testing of Mac OS X 10.6.

WHY WAIT?
----------------------------
As with any new operating system, especially one that has as many  
under-the-hood changes as 10.6, there are some incompatibilities,  
bugs, and an associated learning curve. Some programs that are  
important or critical to productive and safe computing at MIT do not  
work with 10.6 including TSM 5.5.2.3-r1, VirusScan 8.6.1p1, and  
OpenAFS 1.4.11. For more information, and a list of other known issues  
and workarounds, please see:

<https://wikis.mit.edu/confluence/x/drCEAg> [CERTIFICATED REQUIRED]

Based on past releases, it is expected that Apple will release  
frequent updates addressing some of these incompatibilities.

LIMITED SUPPORT
----------------------------
The IS&T Computing Help Desk is offering limited support on getting  
connected to MITnet and basic configuration issues for new machines  
arriving with OS X 10.6 installed. As critical application issues are  
resolved, more in-depth support will be available.

LICENSING
----------------------------
IS&T will have a limited number of Mac OS X 10.6 licenses available  
for MIT faculty and staff. We are working with Apple to acquire these  
licenses and will share more details as they become available.

EXCHANGE
----------------------------
Mac OS X 10.6 includes out-of-the-box support for Microsoft Exchange  
in Mail, iCal, and Address Book. Though initial testing indicates this  
will be a viable solution, IS&T recommends that Microsoft Exchange  
users remain on their current Exchange client (e.g., Entourage, OWA)  
while we thoroughly review and test 10.6's Exchange support.

Questions regarding Mac OS X 10.6 should be directed to the Software  
Release Team at swrt at mit.edu.

--Patrick

Patrick McNeal
Team Lead - Software Release Team
ISDA, Information Services and Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
W92-143
Cambridge, MA 02139
+1 617 253-0196
mcneal at mit.edu