10.6.3 update makes Snow Leopard blood-free

When you compare the snow leopard that graces the front of the Mac OS X Snow Leopard box with the same picture that's in your Mac's built-in desktop pictures, you'll notice a very subtle difference... assuming you're running a version of Snow Leopard prior to 10.6.3, that is. In earlier versions of Snow Leopard, the big cat in the OS's desktop pictures has some slight flecks of blood on its lower jaw, and its lower teeth are also slightly visible. The same picture has been "cleaned up" for the front of the Snow Leopard retail box, as well as the install disc itself; the blood has been removed, and the snow leopard's lower teeth have been Photoshopped out. I guess Apple thought that the original image was a little too menacing for its marketing purposes?

Left: Friendly neighborhood salescat. Right: Soulless, enraged killing machine?

Well, the sanitization has spread into the desktop pictures on the Mac, because after installing the 10.6.3 update, the snow leopard desktop picture in your Library/Desktop Pictures/Nature folder has been changed to match the "kinder, gentler" version on the retail box and install disc. When you zoom in really close, you can see that the Photoshop work they did on the poor cat's mouth when they hid its fangs was kind of a hackish job, too. Click "Read More" to see some closeups of the unkindness done to this noble carnivore.

Original: Just back from lunch. Mmmm, ibex is tasty.



Photoshopped: What have you done to my teeth?!


Your blur tool privileges are REVOKED, sir.

Thanks to TUAW reader Peter for the tip!