With Snow Leopard coming out tomorrow (28aug2009) there are a lot of people nervous.  Here’s the main reason why:

Very few digital audio professionals rune one app or hardware on a (computer) Mac.  A new OS release provides the opportunity for some hardware and software to work on the new OS leaving a patchwork of compatibility seriously hindering performance and work.

So far the big fail is coming from Presous (no compatibility until later October). In the interest of keeping this professional, talk to me directly on my Presonus experience.  Here is a CDM article for more info.

Create Digital Music also has this article compiling the score as the information becomes available.  So far CDM seems to be the most comprehensive coverage on the OS migration from a digital audio perspective.

If you know anything send it through to us or get your comment on in the CDM post(s).

What ever you do – procede carefully – here are a few tips:

• Don’t upgrade right before a gig
• Back up everything
• Know how to roll back
• Contact your hardware / software vendors regarding the new OS
• Test your new gear (I usually run Ableton in the background for 24 hours or more while poking at the CPU with a sharp stick)
• Have a back up plan
• Consult your local pagan computer guild on what you should sacrifice to appease the digital gods in this time of great change

As for Ableton specifically I have already collected varying advice, all from reliable sources.  Here is the link from Ableton (forum), a few notes I will pass along:

• Regarding 8.0.4  : “While Live 8.0.4 may work without problems, we cannot guarantee compatibility yet, as internal tests are still ongoing.We will release a free Live 8 update in the next few weeks which will officially support Mac OS X 10.6″
• What about 7.x? Should work, will lag in testing.
• And what about 64 bit? Coming…not yet.
• What should you do? “If your main concern is stability, we don’t recommend upgrading to 10.6 until compatibility for Live and all of your third-party software and hardware products has been assured by the responsible companies.”

This link will return a search for “Snow Leopard” in the forums.

I am (seriously) not a Mac person.  My little white bastard box stumps me on a regular basis.  It does, however, play Ableton perfectly with almost no downtime.  I will be watching the digital airwaves for news and pass along anything valid to our user group.

Good luck everyone – see you soon.

–Marc