This morning the iPhone Dev Team released updated versions of the redsn0w and PwnageTool applications for jailbreaking iOS devices. While redsn0w is a simple tool for performing a jailbreak, PwnageTool creates a custom version of your phone’s operating system, allowing you to make deeper changes, for instance changing the boot logo or including a carrier unlock utility. But PwnageTool doesn’t run on Windows, you need a Mac to user it.
Enter Sn0wbreeze. It’s basically PwnageTool for Windows, offering most of the same options. Sn0wbreeze can create a custom IPSW file for your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, or Apple TV, complete with custom boot logos and other custom packages.
Sn0wbreeze 2.7 was just released, like the latest versions of redsn0w and PwnageTool, it adds support for iOS 4.3.3 as well as Verizon iPhones running iOS 4.2.8. You can also use Sn0wbreeze to apply the ultrasn0w carrier unlock — but in order to do this with the latest versions of iOS you’ll need to make sure not to update your phone’s baseband. That’s one of the primary reasons to use sn0wbreeze instead of redsn0w — since the former doesn’t let you preserve your baseband when upgrading iOS.
You can download sn0wbreeze 2.7 from the ih8sn0w web site, and if you need help using the tool you can find step by step instructions at Redmond Pie.
It’s probably worth noting that because sn0wbreeze creates custom firmware for your device, it will erase all of your existing settings — so you’ll want to make sure your apps and settings are backed up to iTunes, allowing you to restore everything after you jailbreak your device. If that sounds scary, you might want to stick with redsn0w, which should preserve all of your data while jailbreaking. Just follow my step by step instructions for jailbreaking a device with redsnow.
