Nearly two years after releasing Mac OSX Leopard, Apple has released its latest cat-named operating system to the Mac-owning masses: Snow Leopard.

Snow Leopard, released last Friday to the public, focuses on minor improvements to Leopard, which Apple called "the most advanced operating system ever". So, did Apple manage to make the best even better? Or is this an upgrade worth passing on?

Upgrading to Snow Leopard is extremely simple, in fact, once the disk was in and installation began I did not have to press one button or make one click in the 40 minutes that it took. My desktop came back up exactly how I left it before installation.

Spotting the differences in Snow Leopard is almost as hard as spotting an actual snow leopard, and that's the point.

Spotting the differences in Snow Leopard is almost as hard as spotting an actual snow leopard, and that's the point. Many of Snow Leopard's improvements are hidden deep within its coding. Things you and I will never see but we will experience the benefits of in the future.

One new addition is what Apple calls "Grand Central Dispatch", a technology that takes advantage of multi-core processors. If you have an Apple computer made in the last 3 or 4 years you have one of these processors. What does this mean for you? Faster and more efficient programs that take a smaller amount of power, means more battery life, which in turn equals more time to stalk people on Facebook. Sorry, I mean, diligent note taking in class.
If that doesn't make you squeal with excitement, perhaps the new QuickTime X will do the trick. Although, truth be told, there isn't much to see here, and oddly enough that is clearly what Apple was aiming for. Interestingly, there is no window or bar around your video, allowing for a more efficient use of screen space. Scrolling over the video area activates the controls. Like many features in Snow Leopard, Quicktime's speed has been improved and I noticed videos loading faster.

What truly makes Snow Leopard, however, is the small refinements. By themselves, they won't sell a new operating system, but together they present quite a package. First: Stacks. Stacks are the icons on the far right of your dock that pop out when you click on them. Their original purpose was to help you organize files. I found them just to be a mess. Fortunately, Apple has fixed this allowing for more control over how stacks are organized and how they can be viewed.

I am also quite fond of the new Exposé. Exposé is the feature that allows you to view all of your open windows at once. Now, if you just want to see the windows of a particular program you have open, you simply click and hold on that program's icon and all of the other windows disappear leaving only that program's windows open.

There has been one thing missing in previous Mac operating systems that has puzzled me. Before there was no simple way to "restore" programs back to where they came from if you have put them in the trash. Snow Leopard finally introduces this feature. And speaking of small things: you can now also see Wi-Fi signal strength for password-protected networks when viewing available connections.

I have no real complaints about Snow Leopard, but then again, I had no real complaints with Leopard. The operating system is smooth and fast as well as seemingly bug free. I do have one bone to pick though: still no Solitaire! Steve Jobs must not be a fan. The improvements I've mentioned here merely scratch the surface, for a more in-depth list visit Apple's website.

So, the question still remains: should you go out and purchase Snow Leopard? Absolutely. It's just $29 if you have Leopard ($9 if you purchased a Mac on or after June 8). If you don't already have Leopard (and why in the world do you not?) you'll have to pay $129 for the privilege. While there's nothing mind blowing for people who have used Leopard, the minor improvements and promise for faster and more advanced programs in the future make this a worthwhile purchase.