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JLL · Mar 14, 2005, 09:07 AM

Originally posted by Detrius:
There won't be powerbook updates within a few weeks, as they were just updated. If Tiger is updated within a few weeks, you'll get a free copy anyway (for like $20 shipping--past precedent). I wouldn't worry about it. If you need a new laptop now, go get it. They were just updated--there's no better time.

Usually you can only get the "free" update if you buy the machine after the announcement of the release date.

zzarg · Mar 14, 2005, 06:02 PM

Originally posted by JLL:
Usually you can only get the "free" update if you buy the machine after the announcement of the release date.

that's what I thought... hence the reticence about spending large on the PowerBook when I could wait a couple of weeks and get Tiger for nada

Angus_D · Mar 14, 2005, 06:51 PM

Originally posted by bmedina:
But the developer builds are still in the "A" stage. I think it will still be some months before we see the final.

I'm sorry, but it seems that you have no idea what the letter in the build name means.

zzarg · Mar 14, 2005, 10:45 PM

Originally posted by Angus_D:
I'm sorry, but it seems that you have no idea what the letter in the build name means.

Does anyone ? I was kinda curious myself... not being a beta tester but seeing all these different numbers bandied about I was wondering if there was any rhyme or reason to them.
If there was any inference from release numbers I imagine people would be using it to work out a real release data and tell us - with some facts behind it !
Of course they could be some secret in-house joke at our expense !

NeilCharter · Mar 15, 2005, 01:23 AM

I waited till Panther was announced before I bought my 17" PB. The PB had just been updated and I was willing to wait for a few weeks.

You have 2 weeks - probably worth it. But if April 1 passes with no annoucement then buy that puppy ASAP.

I had chance to look at 8A294 and on the surface that build looked a lot more mature than some dev. builds in the run up to the release of Panther and Jaguar.

So Apple haven't moved to 8B**. Not too sure if that is relevant.

The point that Apple needs to get Tiger so that all the new Apps can function fully is important. Apple will want that revenue stream and to cement it's reputation for outstanding software.

jocker · Mar 15, 2005, 09:04 AM

Now confirmed by eweek! http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1776012,00.asp

E's Lil Theorem · Mar 15, 2005, 12:35 PM

eWeek article:

Apple Preps Release of Mac OS X 'Tiger'

By Ian Betteridge
March 14, 2005

Apple is due to launch the next major release of its flagship operating system, Mac OS X 10.4, aka "Tiger," by the middle of April, according to sources close to the company.

Sources told eWEEK.com that Apple plans to make copies of Tiger available in its own retail stores as well as through independent dealers by April 15, with the official announcement of the product coming earlier in the month. On Friday, a report on the Think Secret Mac market news site predicted the announcement would fall on April 1, the 26th anniversary of Apple's incorporation.

An Apple spokesman declined to confirm the timing of the update's release, saying only that it would be "released in the first half of 2005."

Although Apple revealed in February that this June's Worldwide Developers Conference will focus largely on Tiger, industry insiders understood that the company wouldn't wait until the summer to release the final product.

Tiger is likely to be the biggest software release of the year for the company; it gained its initial public airing at last June's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference.

In his keynote speech last year to coders, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the product would include over 150 new features and compared Tiger directly with Longhorn, Microsoft Corp.'s next-generation operating system due next year.

"This is years ahead of Longhorn," Jobs said, while banners around the conference took potshots at its main competitor by proclaiming, "Redmond, start your photocopiers."

Tiger features numerous improvements aimed directly at users, including a new desktop search engine dubbed Spotlight, revamped versions of its key applications such as Mail, and a new "widgets" application called Dashboard. The update also adds a new application called Automator for visually scripting the operating system and some of Apple's other applications.

Potentially of more importance to the future of OS X, however, are architectural improvements designed to expand possibilities for developers, especially for content creation and scientific-technical applications.

In the core of the operating system, Apple will expand support for the 64-bit PowerPC G5 processors used in the Power Mac G5 and iMac G5 lines. Apple said previously that the changes will deliver faster math performance for all applications.

Also included in the Tiger update is Core Image, a new graphics architecture that should let developers more easily build content-centric applications and take advantage of the latest graphics processors.

Expected along with Tiger will be QuickTime 7, a version of Apple's multimedia architecture which adds support for the H.264 video codec, used in both the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray DVD standards, allowing live resizing of clips during playback and higher-quality streamed video.

Apple has yet to indicate whether QuickTime 7 will be available separately for earlier versions of OS X.

Linkage

P.S. I didn't see jocker's post until after I posted this

giggs11 · Mar 15, 2005, 08:43 PM

Great, hopefully Apple confirms it soon.

cpac · Mar 15, 2005, 08:45 PM

Originally posted by giggs11:
Great, hopefully Apple confirms it soon.

Um... Apple can't confirm that they're going to announce Tiger without effectively announcing Tiger.

We'll know April 1st.

Shaddim · Mar 15, 2005, 11:22 PM

Originally posted by Detrius:
It's great, isn't it? I love enlightening people.

Just the other day, I explained a riddle to a buddy within a few minutes... that he had been struggling with for years. Oh well.

Oooo... Oooo... Tell us the riddle! I love riddles!

jock · Mar 16, 2005, 01:40 AM

Is there really an 8A 294? if so any details on the below problems
Cuurently in 8A293:
Mail to quit Slow , problem with sending mail, can go into an endless loop, a quit and restart of the app fixes it.
DVD player buggy.
Idexing slow to start, once started runs quick
Core video not implemented on ati 8500 or on 15inch imac 800 but works sweet on 17in PB.

Is it ready for april 1st, given that this build is three weeks old, and there are nightly builds at apple ( not all builds released to developers) I think so given NAB and this is the year of HD, think QT7.

NeilCharter · Mar 16, 2005, 02:23 AM

Jock - I think you mean 8a393

jock · Mar 16, 2005, 02:36 AM

Actually Neil, it was you that said "I had chance to look at 8A294 and on the surface that build looked a lot more mature than some dev. builds in the run up to the release of Panther and Jaguar."
Thats what aroused my curiosity to its existance as my latest build is 293

JLL · Mar 16, 2005, 05:05 AM

Originally posted by jocker:
Now confirmed by eweek! http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1776012,00.asp

Nick is often the source for eWeek articles (even wrote a few).

CatOne · Mar 16, 2005, 12:11 PM

Originally posted by jock:
Actually Neil, it was you that said "I had chance to look at 8A294 and on the surface that build looked a lot more mature than some dev. builds in the run up to the release of Panther and Jaguar."
Thats what aroused my curiosity to its existance as my latest build is 293

Jock,

293 or 294 are REALLY old builds. The latest ADC build is 393. 100 builds is 2 or 3 months worth of work... a veritable eternity.

NeilCharter · Mar 16, 2005, 12:13 PM

Hmm that's interesting Jock. I thought 8A294 was released over two months ago. The pirated builds that are circulating Carracho apparently are up to 8A393.

Pierre B. · Mar 16, 2005, 06:18 PM

Originally posted by NeilCharter:
Hmm that's interesting Jock. I thought 8A294 was released over two months ago. The pirated builds that are circulating Carracho apparently are up to 8A393.

Think Secret now reports build 8A414.

cpac · Mar 16, 2005, 06:27 PM

Originally posted by Pierre B.:
Think Secret now reports build 8A414.

And states that the build is very close to GM.

AppleInsider has also gone on the record as agreeing with TS's early April release time frame.

ManOfSteal · Mar 16, 2005, 06:35 PM

Any guesses on the GM build #?

8A457

alphasubzero949 · Mar 16, 2005, 06:57 PM

Originally posted by cpac:
And states that the build is very close to GM.

AppleInsider has also gone on the record as agreeing with TS's early April release time frame.

Nice to see that iDisk syncing still doesn't work. Then again, has it ever really worked in Panther?

cpac · Mar 16, 2005, 08:45 PM

Originally posted by alphasubzero949:
Nice to see that iDisk syncing still doesn't work. Then again, has it ever really worked in Panther?

(1) never had any problems with iDisk syncing in Panther

(2) My guess about why this "doesn't work" is that the additional services that are integrated into .Mac and whatnot may not yet be deployed on the servers. I don't think it means (essentially)that what worked in 10.3 doesn't work for 10.4, but I could be wrong.

NeilCharter · Mar 17, 2005, 02:24 AM

It's coming!

Goldfinger · Mar 17, 2005, 09:24 AM

exciting !

Randman · Mar 17, 2005, 09:47 AM

Originally posted by cpac:
(1) never had any problems with iDisk syncing in Panther

Me (2).

Millennium · Mar 17, 2005, 12:59 PM

Originally posted by NeilCharter:
It's coming!

Not by April 15. By all accounts, Tiger is still at least one build away from GM, and possibly longer than that. Assuming the most optimistic estimate of one build, that means about a week until the last FC build -if it is the last- and at least another week of QA, and at that point if some major bug is found QA may refuse to declare it GM.

Still, let's assume that the next build becomes the GM. That gives Apple two weeks to stamp out several hundred thousand discs, package them inboxes with manuals (this assumes that they're already printed; that's risky but not unheard of), and ship them out to stores. That's not going to happen.

This said, an April 30 release certainly isn't out of the question; the extra two weeks should provide enough of a cushion. An April 1 announcement isn't out of the question either. But an April 15 release? No.

Eug Wanker · 03:06 PM

Hmmm... If they they could release another build in the next several days, then maybe they could have it on store shelves by April 15.

But yeah, it seems it'd be cutting it rather close. Perhaps they just need a releasable build ready for NAB (late April), and then would have the actual boxed versions a couple weeks later as you suggested.

I may just wait until X.4.1 anyway for my main machine.

jock · Mar 18, 2005, 04:19 AM

Toast now burns correctly, DVD player now fixed (393 had artifacts), Mail does not hang on quit(might have been related to indexing) ,not sure what hapens yet when you add in GPG, may try over the w/end, spotlight has been given a rev up as its even quicker.
Ps Neil, sorry my mistake, I should have said build 393 instead of "293"

Taliesin · Mar 18, 2005, 06:22 AM

Originally posted by Millennium:
Not by April 15. By all accounts, Tiger is still at least one build away from GM, and possibly longer than that. Assuming the most optimistic estimate of one build, that means about a week until the last FC build -if it is the last- and at least another week of QA, and at that point if some major bug is found QA may refuse to declare it GM.

Still, let's assume that the next build becomes the GM. That gives Apple two weeks to stamp out several hundred thousand discs, package them inboxes with manuals (this assumes that they're already printed; that's risky but not unheard of), and ship them out to stores. That's not going to happen.

This said, an April 30 release certainly isn't out of the question; the extra two weeks should provide enough of a cushion. An April 1 announcement isn't out of the question either. But an April 15 release? No.

I agree, april 15th is very unlikely, the only legtimate reason for a 15th-release is to have Tiger shipped before the new pro-apple-apps are unveiled.
Since every MacOSX-release happened on a 24th or 25th of the respective month, it is likely that Tiger will be released on 24th april, if it won't be a weekend.

Taliesin

NeilCharter · Mar 18, 2005, 12:13 PM

I'll be happy if Tiger is released any time in April, since I was really expecting to have to wait until June.

I'm sure Jobs will want to use the NAB as a launch pad for Tiger - either announcing it or releasing it. All those new apps that are rumored to be coming out either need Tiger or will be enhanced by it.

Apple are going to sell a lot of software next quarter. And if the rumors about the new G5s are true then they are going to be selling a lot of high end macs too.

shell-like · Mar 18, 2005, 02:32 PM

Well, whenever the release is, don't forget the most important part:

Weevil - Bytecry

Ya heard it here first

G0Ducks · Mar 18, 2005, 03:35 PM

Originally posted by Garage81:
you think the education discount on this gonna be 69 bucks like panther is now?

Im one of the lucky ones... My university is paying for a site license. I could get it for free, however I want the CDs for the measly price of $15. All you get are the CDs. No box, no art, no book... I go to the University of Oregon.

R

G0Ducks · Mar 18, 2005, 03:41 PM

Originally posted by shell-like:
Well, whenever the release is, don't forget the most important part:

Weevil - Bytecry

Ya heard it here first

whahh? Don't get it...

R

shell-like · Mar 18, 2005, 04:07 PM

Originally posted by G0Ducks:
whahh? Don't get it...

R

K&D - Sofa Surfers

Royksopp - Eple

...

G0Ducks · Mar 18, 2005, 11:24 PM

Originally posted by shell-like:
K&D - Sofa Surfers

Royksopp - Eple

...

Am I missing something... What the heck is this? A link maybe to something?

R

Deimos · Mar 19, 2005, 06:13 AM

Originally posted by G0Ducks:
Am I missing something... What the heck is this? A link maybe to something?

R

It's a reference to the bit of music you hear just after you install OS X. I think shell-like is saying that the new tune is weevil's, 'bytecry'.

Nice.

NeilCharter · Mar 19, 2005, 12:22 PM

Thanks for that titbit.

Here's a link to the song:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/collective/tracks/bytecry.ram

Enjoy

zzarg · Mar 19, 2005, 08:07 PM

according to AppleInsider 10.3.9 is due in the 'next 6 weeks' but 10.4 is due in the next two weeks if we beleive the April 1 story.

So does this mean 10.3 will continue to get patches and fixes for at least one release post 10.4 ?

Also, it's interesting that the release notes apparently also ask people to focus testing on some areas that are still reported to not be working in Tiger... which implies the code has a fair bit in common... so either the 6 weeks, or the 2 weeks figure is probably wrong !

If 10.3.9 ships this week, then maybe I'd give a bit more credence to an April 1 announcement / April 15 ship date on the grounds that the code is then tested and working and they won't want to muddy the waters with two announcements at the same time ("we've finally fixed buys in 10.3.9 or you can buy 10.4" - not a good marketing message ... but then again "hey, then new shiny 10.4 is out, but we've not forgotten our loyal fans.... here's a bunch of fixes to 10.3 for them" - does put a good slant on it)

In August we'll all look back at this thread and wonder why we got so excited. We'll have Tiger installed and purring away and we'll be pissed at a new set of bugs, and there will be a heap of threads complaining that 10.3 did X better than 10.4 or 10.4 hasn't fixed buy Y that's been around since 10,0 !

Chuckit · Mar 19, 2005, 08:19 PM

Originally posted by zzarg:
("we've finally fixed buys in 10.3.9 or you can buy 10.4" - not a good marketing message ... but then again "hey, then new shiny 10.4 is out, but we've not forgotten our loyal fans.... here's a bunch of fixes to 10.3 for them" - does put a good slant on it)

Since Apple doesn't generally market its point releases, I don't see how marketing is a concern at all.

Eug Wanker · Mar 20, 2005, 10:14 PM

Originally posted by Taliesin:
I agree, april 15th is very unlikely, the only legtimate reason for a 15th-release is to have Tiger shipped before the new pro-apple-apps are unveiled.
Since every MacOSX-release happened on a 24th or 25th of the respective month, it is likely that Tiger will be released on 24th april, if it won't be a weekend.

Well, it could go Gold Master for the 15th, for NAB, with a later date for Tiger on shelves. I really do think that some of the apps will require Tiger to make use of all their features.

And like NeilCharter, I'd be glad if they released Tiger any time in April. I too had originally predicted June 6.

Starry Night · Mar 21, 2005, 04:28 AM

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
Well, it could go Gold Master for the 15th, for NAB, with a later date for Tiger on shelves. I really do think that some of the apps will require Tiger to make use of all their features.

And like NeilCharter, I'd be glad if they released Tiger any time in April. I too had originally predicted June 6.

Unfortunately it appears all of this Tiger chatter has won our young friend at Think Secret a bit of a lawsuit.

Chuckit · Mar 21, 2005, 04:43 AM

Originally posted by Starry Night:
Unfortunately it appears all of this Tiger chatter has won our young friend at Think Secret a bit of a lawsuit.

1. This story (not the article, but the Think Secret story) is approximately 50 years old. Or a couple of months. One or the other.

2. The suit against Think Secret (which, if I recall, Apple won) was just to get Nick to rat out any Apple employees who have been leaking information. It's not really about "all this Tiger chatter."

Starry Night · 11:17 PM

Originally posted by Chuckit:
1. This story (not the article, but the Think Secret story) is approximately 50 years old. Or a couple of months. One or the other.

2. The suit against Think Secret (which, if I recall, Apple won) was just to get Nick to rat out any Apple employees who have been leaking information. It's not really about "all this Tiger chatter."

The NYT story was posted w/in the past 24 hours to the NYT's website. Thus the NYT's story is not old at all, hard to be much fresher than it is. If you heard about the suits from another source at an earlier date, then bravo for you, but it's not like I posted an archived news story from "50 years ago". Anyone who spends much time reading the Macnn forums will read information that they already know. How does it add to the dialog for someone to say "I already know that, why did you post that info?" Just because you know the story doesn't mean everyone else knows it as well.

Secondly, the Apple lawsuit, as the article was titled, was to stop online "chatter" that spills the beans about Apple's future releases. One would have to be extremely naive to believe that things like Think Secret's "Tiger Chatter" had nothing to do with the lawsuit. The lawsuit explicitly targeted Think Secret because of the "chatter", be it Tiger chatter, powerbook chatter, whatever.

I remind you, this thread is about a Think Secret article, hence the reason I posted the NYT article about Think Secret.

adam1185 · Mar 21, 2005, 11:56 PM

In other news, both appleinsider and macosxrumors.com pulled articles referring to build 8a414 at the request of apple legal. I don't think that's happened before unless they had screenshots included.

OptimusG4 · Mar 22, 2005, 11:30 AM

Could this be another sign of Tiger coming soon? Apple RSS for their support page. Interesting nevertheless.

Truepop · Mar 23, 2005, 03:13 AM

Don't know if it's a sign but that's pretty cool.

RevEvs · Mar 23, 2005, 08:08 AM

Originally posted by OptimusG4:
Could this be another sign of Tiger coming soon? Apple RSS for their support page. Interesting nevertheless.

Pretty sure that thats been there quite a while.. well a few months at least

Eug Wanker · 01:18 PM

$35-50 rebate at Amazon for Tiger. Must order by the end of May though.

Eug Wanker · 07:51 PM

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
Hmmm... If they they could release another build in the next several days, then maybe they could have it on store shelves by April 15.

But yeah, it seems it'd be cutting it rather close. Perhaps they just need a releasable build ready for NAB (late April), and then would have the actual boxed versions a couple weeks later as you suggested.

AI is now saying that Tiger 10.4 8A420 is out, and reaffirming that next week Tiger will go gold.

EDIT:

Think Secret:

"Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Build 8A420 corrects all but one known issue that was listed with Build 8A414, released one week ago. The lone issue involves 1.33GHz 14-inch iBooks with SuperDrives being unable to boot from the installation DVD."

Eug Wanker · Mar 29, 2005, 10:11 AM

macnews: Tiger 8A425 is Final Candidate 1

Shortly after the last build, Apple has now seeded 8A425. More info to follow. The note to the build mentions two smaller problems, one about Japanese character search in Carbon applications and a glitch on nVidia GeForce cards.

Although still having two minor issues, 8A425 is apparently considered the first final candidate version of Tiger at Apple. Reports are in that several smaller glitches in 8A420 have been fixed by now, and the new build gets rid of the "Pre-release" badge in the "About this Mac" dialogue.

Garage81 · Mar 29, 2005, 10:25 AM

Originally posted by Eug Wanker:
macnews: Tiger 8A425 is Final Candidate 1

Shortly after the last build, Apple has now seeded 8A425. More info to follow. The note to the build mentions two smaller problems, one about Japanese character search in Carbon applications and a glitch on nVidia GeForce cards.

Although still having two minor issues, 8A425 is apparently considered the first final candidate version of Tiger at Apple. Reports are in that several smaller glitches in 8A420 have been fixed by now, and the new build gets rid of the "Pre-release" badge in the "About this Mac" dialogue.

wahoo! thanks for posting that, i dont have much time at work to check all the rumor sites, much appreciation.