Key Difference: Mac OS X Leopard (version 10.5) was the sixth major OS that was released by the company in October 2007 and served as Apple’s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Mac OS X Snow Leopard (version 10.6) is the seventh major OS released by Apple. It is an upgrade to the original Leopard version 10.5.

If you have ever worked with Apple computers and laptops, you probably know what Leopard and Snow Leopard are. However, in addition to them being beautiful creatures, these are also the names of OS (operating systems) that are launched by Apple. Mac OS X Leopard (version 10.5) is the sixth major OS released by Apple, which was then followed by Mac OS X Snow Leopard (version 10.6). Hence, Snow Leopard is just an upgrade of their already available Leopard OS.

Mac OS X Leopard (version 10.5) was the sixth major OS that was released by the company in October 2007 and served as Apple’s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Leopard was the final version that would support the PowerPC architecture, with the latest ones running solely on Intel based Macs. Wikipedia states that the Leopard, when launched, boasted new features such as: new and improved Automator, Back to My Mac, Boot Camp, Dashboard enhancements, new Desktop in look and design, updated Dictionary, Finder, Front Row, iCal calendar sharing and group scheduling as well as syncing event invitations from Mail, iChat enhancements, Mail enhancements, improvements in Network file sharing, updated Parental controls, Photo Booth enhancements, Podcast Capture, Preview, Quick Look, Safari 3, Spaces, Spotlight with additional search capabilities, Time Machine (automatic backup utility), etc. It also offered developer technologies and security enhancements.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard (version 10.6) is the seventh major OS released by Apple. It is an upgrade to the original Leopard version 10.5. It was launched in August 2009 and was sold as an upgrade for an additional price of $30 for a single user license. The main objective of Snow Leopard upgrade was improved performance, greater efficiency and the reduction of its overall memory footprint. Much of the software was rewritten in order to for the OS to take full advantage of a modern Mac computer. It also offered new programming frameworks such as OpenCL, which allowed software developers to use graphic card in their applications. This is also the first system that does not support PowerPC architecture. It is also the last release to support the 32-bit Intel Core Solo and Intel Core Duo CPUs. It was succeeded by Mac OS X Lion (version 10.7) which was released in July 2011. However, it is still available online in order for users to be able to upgrade to Lion.

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