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curan · Apr 3, 2003, 06:10 PM

Does someone here have a accurate timeline of Mac OS releases, and how much they cost?

This would be a handy reference in case I get into another argument who complains that Panther came too early, or costed too much.

Thanks in advance!

PS. I tried to google it, but couldn't find it...

OptimusG4 · Apr 3, 2003, 07:06 PM

Mac OS X PB: Sept. 13, 2000 ($29.95)
Mac OS X 10.0: March 24, 2001 ($129; $99 if you bought the PB; $39 if you bought the PB and were an educational student)
Mac OS X 10.1: Sept. 24, 2001: ($19.95 upgrade; $129 full)
Mac OS X 10.2: Sept 24, 2002: ($129)

I could be off by a few days in the September releases, but this is what the roadmap of OS X looks like so far.

pliny · Apr 3, 2003, 07:50 PM

Originally posted by kuran:
Does someone here have a accurate timeline of Mac OS releases, and how much they cost?

This would be a handy reference in case I get into another argument who complains that Panther came too early, or costed too much.

Thanks in advance!

PS. I tried to google it, but couldn't find it...

This is great for MacOS, MacOS history, this for Macs history

Brass · Apr 3, 2003, 10:37 PM

Originally posted by OptimusG4:
Mac OS X PB: Sept. 13, 2000 ($29.95)
Mac OS X 10.0: March 24, 2001 ($129; $99 if you bought the PB; $39 if you bought the PB and were an educational student)
Mac OS X 10.1: Sept. 24, 2001: ($19.95 upgrade; $129 full)
Mac OS X 10.2: Sept 24, 2002: ($129)

I could be off by a few days in the September releases, but this is what the roadmap of OS X looks like so far.

10.1 was actually free (UPGRADE only). It was not available for download, but you could go to an authorised Apple reseller, and get a copy of the upgrade CD for free (although in most cases, you needed to bring your own blank CD, but you were not prevented from makeing other copies and distributing them). The $19.95 was for postage & handling (apparently).

Rickster · Apr 4, 2003, 12:46 AM

Prior to Mac OS X, all so-called "major" OS releases sold for $99 (or thereabouts).

Going backwards, this category includes 9.0, 8.5, 8.0, and 7.6. (7.6 was only on the shelves for a matter of months, and for the latter majority of its retail lifetime it included a free upgrade to 8.0.) Beyond that, my memory's a little hazy, but I think it also includes 7.5 and 7.1. "System 7 Pro" was a full-price retail product, but I don't remember whether it was in the $99 ballpark -- I think it might have been more. (In any case, it didn't last for long, as it was subsumed by 7.1.) If I recall correctly, System 7.0 was the first paid upgrade, but I'm not sure whether it was $99 or something less than that.

"Free" updates include 7.0.1 (7.1.1 and 7.1.2 were hardware-specific releases), 7.5.1, 7.5.3 (7.5.2 was a hardware-specific release too), 7.5.5 (7.5.4 was hardware-specific), 7.6.1, 8.1, 8.5.1, 8.6, and all revisions to OS 9.x.

Critics of Apple's recent OS pricing policies would do well to note that the above sequences show little to no correlation between version number increment and full-price/"free" status. About the only thing that is consistent is time -- it's always been at least (often almost exactly) one year between "major" releases.

What with the forthcoming "Panther" being supposedly a late-summer/early-fall major release, Apple would be at least historically justified in charging full price for it whether they decide to call it 10.3, 10.5, 11, or XX. Of course, whether it's a good idea overall is another issue... for another debate.

nobitacu · Apr 4, 2003, 01:08 AM

Cool, looks like we will be aiming at Sept 24th, 2003 for Panther. That's still a long long away though...

Ming

Originally posted by OptimusG4:
Mac OS X PB: Sept. 13, 2000 ($29.95)
Mac OS X 10.0: March 24, 2001 ($129; $99 if you bought the PB; $39 if you bought the PB and were an educational student)
Mac OS X 10.1: Sept. 24, 2001: ($19.95 upgrade; $129 full)
Mac OS X 10.2: Sept 24, 2002: ($129)

I could be off by a few days in the September releases, but this is what the roadmap of OS X looks like so far.

CharlesS · Apr 4, 2003, 01:14 AM

Originally posted by Rickster:
Prior to Mac OS X, all so-called "major" OS releases sold for $99 (or thereabouts).

Going backwards, this category includes 9.0, 8.5, 8.0, and 7.6. (7.6 was only on the shelves for a matter of months, and for the latter majority of its retail lifetime it included a free upgrade to 8.0.) Beyond that, my memory's a little hazy, but I think it also includes 7.5 and 7.1. "System 7 Pro" was a full-price retail product, but I don't remember whether it was in the $99 ballpark -- I think it might have been more. (In any case, it didn't last for long, as it was subsumed by 7.1.) If I recall correctly, System 7.0 was the first paid upgrade, but I'm not sure whether it was $99 or something less than that.

Small corrections - System 7 Pro was obsoleted by System 7.5, not 7.1. It came out after 7.1 did, IIRC, and some of its features, like Keychain, made it into 7.5 although they definitely weren't present in 7.1. Also, if my memory is accurate, I believe 7.1 was the first paid upgrade, and that 7.0 was free. Might be wrong about that last point, though.

Rickster · Apr 4, 2003, 03:04 PM

No, I know my folks had to be talked into paying for System 7.0 back when I was but a wee lad.

I just don't know how much.

Agent69 · Apr 4, 2003, 03:25 PM

Originally posted by Rickster:
No, I know my folks had to be talked into paying for System 7.0 back when I was but a wee lad. I just don't know how much.

That's because prior to System 7 the operating system was free.