I’ve made the switch from Leopard to Snow Leopard today. First, I took the necessary steps, of course: checking this handy app compatibility list, running AppFresh, then SuperDuper!. While the overall install went smoothly on my mid-2009 iMac 24", I ran into some issues which I’d like to jot down real quick.
- Terminal.app has issues with my favourite programming font, Inconsolata. The font isn’t rendered at all, which is a pain. I went with Menlo (the new monospaced font coming with Snopard) for the time being. (In Textmate, Inconsolata renders just fine.)
- The Language & Text preference pane refuses to allow me to use the “German - Microsoft” layout. It’s a 32-bit vs 64-bit issue with MS' Intellitype software (which is needed for my Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000) — the 32-bit drivers can’t be used in 64-bit apps, and the keyboard reverts to its default “German” layout. According to this Apple support board post it’s not even clear whether there’ll be a 64-bit Intellitype software at some point. Saying this is inconvenient would be an understatement.
- I’ve switched from 1Password 2 to 1Password 3 Beta since 1Password 2 would’ve required me to run Safari in 32-bit mode; v3 doesn’t. Looking good. Can’t say more due to the NDA. :)
The rest seems to be fine. Standing out most:
- Booting the iMac seems to be faster now.
- Image Capture finally recognizes my CanoScan LiDE 200 scanner out of the box! (About time.)
All in all, not a bad update. The family license goes for €49, so I didn’t have to think long about it.
Update: I was able to fix the keyboard problem! Today I found Ukulele, an Unicode keyboard layout editor. After downloading it, I’ve poked around the DMG and found two files, LogitechGerman.keylayout and LogitechGerman.icns. After copying them to the /Library/Keyboard Layouts/, all that was left was opening the Language & Text preference pane and activating the “Logitech German” layout. Dynomite!
