Earlier today Avid release Media Composer version 4.0.4.  This version adds support for MacOS 10.6, or Snow Leopard.  GREAT news for all those people who bought new Macs that only come with Snow Leopard installed.  If you have Leopard, 10.5, then you can stick with what you have (MC 4.0.4 is compatible with Leopard, version 10.5.8.).  I still see absolutely NO need to upgrade to Snow Leopard if you don’t have to.  No benefits for anything I do, and it only makes a lot of the software I use no longer useable.

But, if you want to upgrade to Snow Leopard, Avid recommends that you do a clean install of the OS, rather than a simple upgrade.  The ReadMe states:

You cannot perform an upgrade from the Leopard to the Snow Leopard OS. You must perform a clean install of Snow Leopard in order for the editor installer to install properly. See your Apple documentation for information on performing a clean install.

The upgrade also states that it fixes a bug with Nitris and Mojo DX systems, where Fast Scrub would cause much-too-frequent waveform redraws.

NOW…I hope that people who run Avid MC edit bays will actually get out of the old Avid mindset of not upgrading the software for long periods of time.  Avid was known for slow updates and long times between bug fixes.  This has changed…for the better.  PLEASE do your editors a favor and upgrade the systems with every new dot.release. Don’t leave poor Walter Murch stuck editing on Avid MC 2.8.3 because you have an Adrenaline and think that Avid MC 4.0 no longer supports the Adrenaline.  IT DOES!  So don’t leave your editors in the dark…dealing with bugs.

Thank you.