Apple releases Snow Leopard 10.6.2, breaks Atom support

[Jos]

Apple released the second security update to Mac OS X Snow Leopard today, bringing the operating system up to version 10.6.2. As you might expect, the release contains a number of feature enhancements and dozens of bug fixes, including one for that infamous glitch that was destroying people's personal accounts after they purportedly or not logged in as a guest on their computers. Unfortunately for "Hackintosh" users, it has also been confirmed to drop support for Intel's Atom processors.

Among the general issues addressed in the update are a problem that could cause a system to logout unexpectedly, Spotlight search results not showing Exchange contacts, reliability of VPN connections, VoiceOver performance, video playback and performance issues with the latest iMac models. There are also fixes and improvements for handling fonts, graphics when using DVI to Mini DisplayPort adapters, Mail, MobileMe, AFP networking, printing, and better plug-in reliability in Safari.

You can read the complete Mac OS X 10.6.2 changelog here and grab the necessary update for your system on Apple's support downloads site or using their Software Update utility. The size of the download may vary from 157MB to a whopping 479MB depending on the current state of your system.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/36888-apple-releases-snow-leopard-1062-breaks-atom-support.html

 

[Guest]

Misleading title. A company can not "break support" for something they have never promised or agreed to support. Apple has never sold a mac that contains an Atom processor.

Hackintosh builds of OSX require a lot more mucking about to work OK on non-Apple machines, including netbooks, than merely "Atom Support" and I'm sure another hack will come out for that as well.

TechSpot can do better.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

You have misunderstood the title. It is not implying that Apple backed or "supported" the Atom in its products, but instead the emphasis is placed on Snow Leopard 10.6.2, which has indeed lost support for Intel's Atom processor. In other words, what was once a feature of that operating system is no longer present.

 

[Guest]

You are correct. I have misunderstood the title and I imagine I won't be alone which is why I deemed it misleading. A better title in my opinion would be simply "Apple releases Snow Leopard 10.6.2".

Hackintosh "support" is not and never was a feature of OSX and may even be illegal. By implying that the update "breaks support" for something that never was officially supported or needed IS misleading, spreads FUD, and can appear to be a shameless ploy for more hits. This is bad journalism and I feel TechSpot has been and is capable of better.

You may reply that Hackintosh users are a vital and important group that TechSpot must pander too but one would hope that legitimate Apple users would be of greater concern. Whether OSX functions on an Atom processor or not is completely irrelevant to legitimate Apple users.

Thanks for your reply though.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

I still think you may be misunderstanding the title -- or more specifically, the way "support" is being used. It isn't implying that there was an official backing for Hackintosh users, simply that the ability to use an Atom chip is no longer present with Snow Leopard 10.6.2, which is a very valid and newsworthy change in the latest release -- hence our title.

I'm sorry for the way that you feel, but I can't see how the title is in any way misleading, or spreading FUD. This has been an ongoing topic across the Internet for a week or longer.

 

[compdata]

IMOH I didn't find the title misleading.

 

[Guest]

Ok Matt. Perhaps I'm suffering from some myopic oversensitivity today. I do believe that there was no intent to mislead but it did mislead me.

Regards,
Guest

 

[freedomthinker]

Why does Apple always have to be such an *** ? Like a selfish kid , seriously ...

 

[ET3D]

I don't think it's a misleading title. It's pretty obvious to me that you (Guest) haven't been misled, since you obviously know the real situation. Most readers of this post will be familiar with the issue already, so certainly will not be misled. Seems to me that the only people to be confused by this title (and even then I don't think misled) would be people who don't know what an Atom is.

While "doesn't work on the Atom" might be better, the phrasing chosen it more catchy.

 

[Timonius]

'Support' for the Atom can be broken over and over. Hackintosh users will find a way around it.

 

[Puiu]

The title isn't misleading at all so don't worry Matthew. As you pointed out, Atom was supported (officially) and now it isn't.

 

[SNGX1275]

Where was it "officially supported", you will get nothing "official" from Apple regarding the Atom on any Tiger/Leopard/Snow Leopard public release. Just because it runs on it doesn't imply official support.