These FAQs provide information on Snow Leopard at Towson University.
1. What is Snow Leopard?
Mac OS 10.6 Snow Leopard is the current Apple operating system that ships with Apple computers. Towson University developed a standard Snow Leopard configuration to install on university-owned Mac computers, see details below.
2. What is the standard university Snow Leopard configuration?
Towson University develops standard configurations for Mac and Windows operating systems. These configurations are developed and tested to work with university network products and services. The standard Snow Leopard configuration is recommended for all new university-owned Macs and includes common campus applications including: Microsoft Office, ClamXav antivirus, and Firefox. For details see: MAC OS 10.6 Standard University Configuration.
3. What if standard university configurations are not used?
Departments that do not use standard university computer configurations will need to assume primary responsibility for supporting these Macs. OTS can provide limited assistance, on a case by case basis, for non-standard configurations. OTS staff are able to provide more effective service and assistance on university standard configurations because they are familiar with them.
When a situation exists that requires technology outside of university standards, OTS staff will work with departments to assist with selection and purchases; and to determine the level of support OTS can provide for the non-standard technology. Contact Jack Stark (jstark@towson.edu) if you have questions on non-standard technology.
4. Do I need to upgrade from Leopard to Snow Leopard?
No, computers that were shipped with Leopard should continue to use the Leopard operating system for the remaining life cycle of the computer unless there is a specific reason to upgrade. Generally, unless there there is critical need to upgrade to Snow Leopard, review the Snow Leopard Upgrade Guidelines for details on the upgrade process.
6. Is Snow Leopard available for campus computer labs?
Yes, computer labs are encouraged to use the university Snow Leopard image. OTS has image files that it shares with local IT to adapt it for their labs.
Contact Jack Stark (jstark@towson.edu) if you are interested in obtaining the Mac images.
7. How do I purchase Apple computers for the university?
8. What about upgrading to Snow Leopard on personal Mac computers?
If you are considering an upgrade on a personally owned Mac, you will want to do research and check with hardware and software venders to verify that there are no compatibility issues between Snow Leopard and the hardware and software running on your Mac.
Searching the web can yield good documentation for upgrading to Snow Leopard. How-To: Upgrade to Snow Leopard-The Right Way is one example of a good upgrade article that considers the “best practices” for installing a new operating system.
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