Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: The First Impressions and iCal Delegation

Yesterday I installed Mac OS X 10.6 on my work computer to become familiar with the new operating system.  Unlike other Mac OS X IT instructors, I haven't had access to the seeds for 10.6, so I couldn't beta-test the OS.  But, the wait has definitely been worth it. 

1. The first thing I noticed is the install:  No longer do you have to select the Printer drivers you want to include because it will detect the printers you are using and install only those drivers!  This saves a ton of space on the computer, and part of the reason why the install is so small.  You also have optional installs for Rosetta. 
   


2. The next thing I noticed is automatic software installs on demand.  For instance, I needed to install Adobe Photoshop CS2, which runs in Rosetta, because it's a PowerPC app.  While running the Installer, Mac OS X 10.6 realized that Rosetta was necessary for the app to run, and as such installed Rosetta for me then and there.  Brilliant! 
   


3. In Stacks, you can now navigate through folders within your Stacks folder, so you don't need to open into Finder if you don't want to.  This is far more useful than using Finder all the time, keeping the search all within one flow. 
   


4. Exchange Support:  The first and best thing is exchange support!  Finally!  I don't have to feel like an outcast at the University of Utah because everyone else is using Outlook and the best I could come up with is Entourage (which is embarrassing, to say the least).  Now iCal and Address Book both support Exchange.  When you set up your Exchange email (you don't even need to set up any of the server information if there is automatic configuration available), it will give you the option to configure your iCal and Address Book as well.  And that's it, that's all you need to do.
   
   If you want to add your delegations, you do so through the Preferences.  Click on iCal, then Preferences, and then Accounts.  Select your Exchange calendar account, and click on the Delegations pane.  To add an account you are delegated to, click on the + and start typing in the name of the person you are a delegate of.  It will add the user info, as well as the permissions you have been given. 
   
   To add delegates to your calendar, click on the Edit button, and then the + sign to add a new delegate.  You can set their access (from read only, read and create, read and write, or no access) for both your Calendar and your Tasks.  Click OK, and you are all set!  They can now manage or view your calendar. 

There are a couple of other minor things I like, but that will be it for now.  So far, it's definitely worth the $29.00 price for an upgrade, as long as you have an Intel Mac on which to install the OS.