But the revamped QuickTime X and Java engines should result in faster processing of streaming media and Java applets (such as on Web sites). But until apps are rewritten for 64-bit and the new Mac models support that kind of memory, there's little immediate benefit - ditto for multicore enablement in the Grand Central Dispatch engine. For example, Apple has revamped the kernel, included apps, and much of the OS itself to be 64-bit (to allow virtual addressable memory of 16 exabytes and physical addressable memory of more than 32GB).
Much of Snow Leopard's focus has been internal. (Note: The $29 upgrade price is for Leopard users if you have an older Mac OS X version, it'll cost you $169 to upgrade.) Instead, it provides many enhancements and some new features that Mac users of all persuasions will really like.
I agree with that price assessment (if only Microsoft had made the same judgment about Windows 7), but I don't agree that what Snow Leopard offers resides merely under the hood. Such may appear to be the case with Mac OS X 10.6, aka Snow Leopard, which Apple has positioned as an under-the-hood upgrade whose new capabilities won't be so obvious to users, and thus not worth the usual $129. When a new OS upgrade costs $29, you can be forgiven for thinking of it as a service pack.
