Mac update question

[jerichoholicninja]

So I finally got around to upgrading to 10.6.

 

Now, that you've stopped laughing I have a question. After installing the update I have over 17 GB more of free hard drive space than before. Does this make sense?

[1992casey]

It's been years since Snow Leopard came out, but if my memory serves me, the OS was smaller than Leopard. A reduction of 17GB seems like a lot, though. Maybe it found an unusually large amount of extraneous stuff to clean up.

 

Now that you have Snow Leopard, will your computer allow you to upgrade further? Yosemite, which is the current OS, is free as long as the latest version of Snow Leopard or later is installed.

[Storm]

If I recall correctly. When we updated we had more usable space. Don't remember how much, I'm getting old.

 

Have had a Mac on my desk since 1984. Still have a Mac II that works.

 

You may find more help here: https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/

 

Mike

[1992casey]

Snow Leopard was a major code rewrite. While it looks just about the same as its predecessor, it takes up less disk space just because it's more efficient.

 

Also, over the years, Apple has pulled a lot of stuff that used to be included in the OS installation. Instead, you're prompted to download the extra software if you use something that requires it. I don't remember which OSes removed which features, though.

 

X11, which few people need, is gone. If you try to launch an X11 app, you'll be prompted to download the software to run it. And the OS used to include a boatload of printer stuff that's now online instead. Actually, with newer OSes (Mountain Lion and later, I believe), if you happen to buy an AirPrint compatible printer, you don't need software for it at all. It'll set itself up in about a minute. (If you have an iPhone or iPad, you really want AirPrint; the easy setup on a Mac is a bonus.)