August 24th, 2009
So what build number is Snow Leopard, exactly? (Updated)
There has been a lot of speculation that build 10A432 was declared as the Golden Master (a.k.a. GM) of Snow Leopard. The problem is that no one seems to know for sure.
A tweet by John Reid (later deleted) states that 10A435 is GM and that it will be available on the Apple Developer Connection Web site Monday (today). According to Reid the 10A435 build has a new intro movie.
9-to-5 Mac has posted alleged SL screen shots that show it as build 10A435 — with social media integration in Address Book to boot.
A Japanese user that appears to have received legit silk-screened Snow Leopard install media doesn’t know what build it is, although a MacRumors forum member claims that the final build is 10A436.
As of post time a new build hasn’t been posted to Apple’s ADC site (it still has 10A432), so I guess that we’ll have to wait and see.
Update - a poster on the MacNN forums notes that this type of build speculation has happened with every release of Mac OS X.
A build gets seeded that rumors say is GM. In every single case, people have brought up a newer build that is the supposed “real GM.” In every single case the originally rumored build is the GM and not the newer build.
- OS X 10.0: GM was 4K78. People swore that 4K83 would be it. Nope. In the box was 4K78.
- OS X 10.1: GM was 5G64. Then 5G68 popped up in rumors. In the box was 5G64.
- OS X 10.2: GM was 6C115. But rumors spoke of a “6C115b” (”b?” Really? Apple never used those little letters in official releases). In the box was 6C115. No “b.”
- OS X 10.3: GM was 7B85. Rumors had it that the 7Cxx branch was going to be GM. Nope. In the box was 7B85.
- OS X 10.4: GM was 8A428. Rumors said it’s really 8A432. In the box was 8A428.
- OS X 10.5: GM was 9A581. I’m not aware of a newer build that people said was the “real” GM. In the box was 9A581
- OS X 10.6: GM was 10A432. And now we have 10A435. But what’s in the box will be 10A432.
Jason D. O'Grady is the editor of PowerPage.org, which has been publishing daily mobile technology news since December 1995. For disclosures on Jason's industry affiliations, click here or to view Jason's full profile click here.
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