Why is Nick Farrell so negative - sounds like he has an axe to grind with Apple. This is journalism?

If this is strictly a Seagate issue, then Seagate should be accountable too...It's not the first time they have a disk firmware problem, remember the 500G and 1TB frozen on data transfer ? However it could be an OS problem too, like a default integration of Seagate disk into the core programming of Snow. There is only 3-4 disk manufacturer, Seagate and Hitachi, dominating the notebook market. The question is who missed the mark here ? We will never know because Apple is not know for transparency.

"I'll take that hard disk slow down over the DLL-hell that is Windows or the patch-hell that is Linux."

What is this, 1994?

That they can always switch back to Windows 7 if they want a reliable OS

"You do have to remember that it could be the end user that is causing these so called bugs to come up with what they are doing on their machines"

Considering that most Apple-converts are ex-Windows users that were so retarded that they managed to break their Windows machines due to "end user actions", I found this bit hilarious

It seems that supporting the old PPC platform had an added benefit of having a number of bugs show up long before they got released into the wild. This Intel Only attitude at apple is not good for their users and in the long term it will not be good for their stock holders either.

I'll take that hard disk slow down over the DLL-hell that is Windows or the patch-hell that is Linux.

Dear Mr. Farrell:
This is not a Snowy problem — it is SeaCrate problem. I bought one of the first early 2009 MacBook Pro notebooks with a 320 GB Hitachi drive and never encountered this problem until I replaced the drive with a 500 GB Seacrate in July. I've since had the problem about 4 times total on both 10.5 & 10.6. Therefore it cannot be a Snow Leopard problem since if failed on 10.5. It is a bitch of a problem since you can't shutdown or do anything other than wait or force power off. It is not a crash since if you have the patience and fore-bearing of a Job, it will eventually return to normal whatever that is. Hopefully this "patch" will correct this MINOR performance hit which only affects Macs with a SeaCrate drive as per your list above.
I enjoy your articles; however I do wish you'd direct a fair portion of your acid tongue venom in M$'s direction.

Apple: it's operating systems are very much like any other, with the exception they try their best to hide bugs & problems and thus present a stronger brand name front.
How unfortunate that underneath that front is the usual amount of dirt.

Apple; more for less, but it's really shiny.

I know that PC folks are a bit upset at Apple for constantly mentioning Vista bugs but there is no need to go to the level that you know is unfair to retaliate. Both MS and Apple are businesses not your best friend, think of them as protecting their butts as much as possible - both MS and Apple. As a software engineer I know that a new OS is a lot tougher to design than most folks know. Missing the minor issues and hitting all of the major issues is a win for a release such as this. Testing invariably misses something, and you fix 'em as they show up. MS will get their chance to pretend they are perfect (too) in the next couple of weeks. We should relax and feel comforted that we get fixes in a timely manner and we don't have to write these things ourselves, because this stuff is getting really technical. Thanks for the heads up on the problem, but lets not throw stones just yet.

If a leopard did not come to a full stop, she may have been a cheetah.

I must say, the difference of philosophy regarding support is rather staggering between Apple and MS. Microsoft seems to deny at first then admit the flaw, and clearly fix it. Apple denies all the way, fix it and hide it behind a false pretense (Isn't this called propaganda somewhere ?). You can only feel that they want to live like their TV ads, but that the reality is another game. Treating your costumer for a 4 years old tho...isn't very good in the long terms.

Learn what? Learn to buy a PC with Windows? I don't use Macs, but that's just an awful piece of advice.

Lol Apple, Lol Apple buyers. When will you guys ever learn?

I have lots of time so I have used many os's on several computers. Although illegal I have run os x Leopard on my home built desktop that costs about $600.00 less than my Imac. It runs faster and crashes less tan the Imac.For the most part OS X is better than windows but the hardware is nothing special, and the pc can use almost any hardware unlike mac.
A mac is just a pc without the bios pretty much.I can replace anything on my desktop and most components have a least a 3 year warranty and some are lifetime.I have even less problems running Ubuntu 9.04. I think mac's used to be better quality but like everything now there just using there name to make so-so products.My mac days are over and I I just try to buy the best hardware for the least money now and run linux. Every os has its pros and cons but at least Ubuntu is free and has lots of online support and has many apps that are better and free. They try to improve it every 6 months instead of coming up with a whole new os.

Nick Farrells mom is more buggy than her predecessor.

I also have a machine that falls into the 'at risk' category but have experienced no problems. Thank you for the info - though I'm not sure what the Vista references are for? I have both Macs and PC's and I like when they both work properly. I also have a toaster and a Microwave - and I don't like my toaster more if my Microwave doesn't work <? ... but if you do, that's cool.

I have 3 macs and they are all upgraded to snow leopard and all work perfectly. You do have to remember that it could be the end user that is causing these so called bugs to come up with what they are doing on their machines. I've used a guest account and not had a problem with the home folder on my main account. My late 2008 macbook air works perfect so does my early 08 macbook pro and my early 08 imac. hopefully windows 7 is great . The only problem is that every windows computer i have owned has been a piece of crap in 6 months to a year and i would have to reinstall windows to clear up the problems. Also all the crap that i could do without that is installed on a windows pc what the hell did i need vongo for. You have a much nicer user experience on a mac in my opinion. That's why I switched.