Snow Leopard takes up less than half the disk space of the previous version, freeing about 7GB for you — enough for about 1,750 more songs or a few thousand more photos.

One  of the reasons could be related to the PowerPC code removal within the universal binaries.  Secondly, it is related to the new compiler and linker, which generates a small size of target code.  The third reason, which not much people are paying attention to, is the way how to convert from bytes to KB, MB, GB, or TB.

For the past few years, Microsoft Windows uses the base of 10 to calculate storage size.  In computing world, 1MB = 1024KB.  On the other hand, 1MB = 1000KB in metric world.  In other words, a hard drive that has 10,485,760 bytes of available space will be shown as 10.49GB in Windows but only 10GB in pre-Snow Leopard.  Now, in Snow Leopard, we will see 10.49GB instead of 10GB.

Do you see the magic there?

Here is what I found:

1. My Epson Workforce 600 All-in-One Printer doesn’t work after installed Snow Leopard.  I have to download a new version of the driver and installed Rosetta in order to have my printer/scanner works.
2. iStat Menu does not work at all.  My topbar is naked now.
3. Developer Version Google Chrome crashes occasionally.

[Update: 09/01/2009 10:00am]

[Update: 09/02/2009 08:20am]

[Update: 09/03/2009 08:57am]

• The new iPhone like Chinese handwriting input method is very cool.  Your trackpad turns into a Chinese handwriting board.  There are 3 virtual buttons on the left hand side and the other 3 virtual buttons on the right hand side of the trackpad.  You write in the middle of the trackpad and you pick the words by hitting 1 of the 3 virtual buttons on the right hand side.
• Many people mentioned their Macbook Pro runs faster after installed Snow Leopard.  Honestly, I don’t feel any difference on my non-unibody 15″ Macbook Pro (the last model before the unibody model).
• Apple mentioned Snow Leopard can free up storage space due to the removal of PowerPC code in the binaries.  However, it seems Apple changes the way how to calculate storage size.  In computing world, 1KB = 1024 Bytes , 1MB = 1024KB, and 1GB = 1024MB.  As a result, a 524,288,000 bytes hard drive will be shown 500GB .  Using the new calculation, the same size of hard drive will be shown as 524.28GB.  Do you see the “magic”?
• iStat Menus for Mac 2.0 is just released on 09/03/2009.  The latest version finally supports Snow Leopard and it has a minor user interface upgrade.

As usual, Apple doesn’t list what is new in this release of iTunes. I was playing around with it and discover a couple of new features in this new version.

Tutorial

iTunes now comes with iTunes Hot Tips, which is a tutorial on how to use iTunes effectively.

Security

When you plug in an iPhone 3.0 phone, you have an option to enable encryption with the backup file.

Sync without Interruption

I am not so sure if it is a new feature in 8.2. In the past, iTunes stops syncing if there is a phone call. Since version 8.2, iTunes continues synching while the phone is in use.

Calendar

This is one of the built in application that we all rely on. I have pushed it a little bit more to the limit. You can read more about how I use Calendar with this post

Todo

There are lots of to-do/task management software for the iPhone. I have been used and experimented many of them such as OmniFocus, RTM, and Things. There are a lot of pros and cons of each application. I am not going to review any of them here since you can find a lot of good reviews in iTunes store or other iPhone related blog sites. I pick Appigo Todo because:

1. There are options to sync the data to my Mac via wireless network, Remember the Milk, or Appigo’s own webapp
2. There is quick task creation button so I can create task in any page within the app
3. Pretty stamp to show the task is finished
4. Inbox and Focus list

Evernote

I have been using this cross-platform application (Mac, Windows, Blackberry, iPhone, Windows Mobile, and iPhone) since the first data it releases to iPhone. However, I start heavily using this application just a couple weeks ago. I even pay the professional account so I can connect to their server via HTTPS. I use Evernote to store my wine tasting note and wine label, receipts for tax return, jogging down my though on the go, and using it to research.

iXpenseIt

I bought this application a long time ago but I have deleted it because it crashed on me every 5-10s. It was unusable in the old time. I gave it a try again about a week ago after I have learnt that they have improved the crashing problem (it still crashes periodically but it’s usable now). I can use it to keep track of my daily spending and keep a record of the receipt by using iPhone’s camera. I can email the expense with the receipt photo back to Evernote!!!

BofA

The new version of BofA application is not just a shell to the BofA mobile site anymore. It is an actual application that I can check my balance and transfer funding on the go!

I totally understand it is not the fault of Ecto. However, I’m really too busy to redo the patch every time I updated WordPress. I’m a 99% Mac user and I use TextMate for most of the non-Java programming. Why don’t I use Markdown with TextMate for blogging? Since Markdown is using a syntax very closed to MediaWiki, I should be able to pick up the syntax very quick.

I installed the PHP Markdown Plugin to my blog and tried a new workflow in this post:

1. Write the article using Markdown using TextMate
2. Post the article to WordPress using TextMate’s blogging bundle
3. In case needs to modify the post, use TextMate’s blogging bundle to retrieve and modify

The experience is great and nature. I don’t need to worry too much about HTML details.

If Pixelmator is my choice of Photoshop replacement on Mac OS X, Paint.Net definitely the same choice on the Windows platform. Pixelmator still costs 50 bucks, but Paint.Net is completely free!!! It supports layers, filter (effects), brushes, etc. I know a lot of people suggest The GIMP as the Photoshop alternative. However, The GIMP is pretty hard to use for most of the people although it is free of charge as well.

Pixelmator just released version 1.4 recently. It was started as a very light weight photo editor tool using OS X Cocoa framework and the power of CoreGraphic. The new version has obvious performance improvements and adding Adobe Photoshop brushes compatibility. You can now not only using brushes but you can import Photoshop brushes as well. In addition, the new clouds generator can generate realistic clouds.

S3Fox Organizer is a cross-platform (WIndows, Mac OSX, and Linux) Firefox plugin to access the S3 directly just like the other 3rd party FTP client. It offers the ability to upload and download files with the S3. The S3Fox Organizer is a donateware.

S3Hub is a Mac OS X native application to access the Amazon S3 service. You can use S3Hub to view, upload, download, and set permissions with the S3. The user interface is very simple and self explained. It is also a freeware.

The last one is the Jungle Disk Desktop Edition (no screenshot). It is also one of the oldest S3 storage clients. Jungle Disk is very different with the other S3 clients. It uses WebDav to create a mount point on your Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. On the other hand, the Jungle Disk server, which runs locally on your computer connects with the S3. In other words, you can access S3 just like the other network drives. You can perform all the file operations on S3 using Jungle Disk just like operation files locally.

Generally speaking, netbooks are small size notebook computers with 7″ – 10″ screen size. They cost about US$250 and use low cost operation system such as Linux or Windows XP. Although they are so cheap, most of the netbooks come with a wallet or sleeve.

The Acer Aspire One comes with a plastic pouch as well. However, it does not have any side pocket so it cannot hold my USB 3G modem or power supply. It is very inconvenience so I am searching a good netbook case/sleeve/wallet for my AA1.

The Bumoaa Mini-Notebook case fits well on the Acer Aspire 1 with 6-cell battery. It also contains a small side pocket which can be used to store the charging cord and other small items. The memory foam provides good protection for the netbook itself.

“Black Neoprene Netbook 8.9″ Laptop Sleeve Case“

This sleeve is the combination of the previous 2 cases. It contains a decent size side pocket that can hold the charging cords, mouse, and other accessories. Instead of using leather, this sleeve uses soft material that can provide a very good protection to the netbook.

The Tucano Neoprene Sleeve is pretty much the same as the previous Black Neoprene Netbook Sleeve without the side pocket. I found out nothing really special about this sleeve.

The Tucano Netbook Wallet is the perfect bag for the netbook. It is stylish and fits perfectly with the Acer Aspire One. The bag comes with shoulder strip so it can be used like a mini messenger bag. However, I am unable to find this bag in the Tucano USA site but only can be found in Tucano Italian site.