[das]

Lately, there's been much heated debate about what OS X will be when it is released on March 24. Rather than continue to beat this corpse of a horse, let's concentrate on what Mac OS X will be:

1. The most significant operating system release from Apple; perhaps from any manufacturer.

2. A welcome, needed, in some ways drastic, change from the old Mac OS that will carry Apple to new heights in markets it has been languishing in recently, and some it has never been in at all.

3. In its initial release, a very significant window into the future of Apple's operating systems strategy, as well as a catalyst for third-party application and driver development.

4. A complete core operating system, which will be useful to thousands of people who will adopt it immediately and, inevitably, fall in love with it.

Many of you may remember my earlier post regarding Mac OS X (a common sense perspective). That still applies. But, you need to be prepared for the possibility that Mac OS X doesn't fulfill every single one of your needs and desires on March 24. This is a first release of an extremely complicated product, one which I'm certain Apple will execute better than Microsoft has ever been able to do with a new OS. For all its problems at the beginning, the transition will no doubt be as smooth as Apple was able to make it in the timeframe they gave themselves.

I think it goes without saying that Apple is working very hard to bring the entire iSuite to Mac OS X in all its glory, to bring in OS extras that may not have made the first cut, and helping third-party developers like Adobe and Microsoft to bring their products to this new platform as quickly and smoothly as possible. Apple knows how important Mac OS X is, and they will leverage it in every way possible.

It's important to remember that the intial release is just that: initial. Mac OS X will continue to mature, and over the next few months, and further out, we'll all be thoroughly impressed with what Apple, and all of us by being early adopters, have accomplished.

I'm afraid, though, that some people may be disappointed on the 24th. I don't want that to happen. To those of you who are expecting something on the 24th that's significantly different that what we've seen lately: please avail yourself of the possibility that it may not be. Mac OS X is an undertaking of ridiculously large proportion. Many people at Apple have worked long hours to make Mac OS X the best it can possibly be.

Please consider this when you get your shiny shrinkwrapped copy on the 24th!

Regards,

Dave Schroeder
University of Wisconsin - Madison

[This message has been edited by das (edited 03-17-2001).]

[dn15]

I completely agree. I think the Public Beta was already very good (I have had almost no problems with it, and it is certainly more stable than OS 9). As far as I'm concerned, it already had the promised stability. Now they just need the added features and speed. And all signs are indicating that this isn't something to worry about.

[Cipher13]

Originally posted by dn15:
I completely agree. I think the Public Beta was already very good (I have had almost no problems with it, and it is certainly more stable than OS 9). As far as I'm concerned, it already had the promised stability. Now they just need the added features and speed. And all signs are indicating that this isn't something to worry about.

What signs would those be? All signs are indiciating one slow-ass, feature deprived OS.

Cipher13

[tooki]

Well, from what I hear about speed, the latest builds are just as speedy as 9 (I wish I remember the URL of where I read that... oh well). But as for features, you are so right, Cipher! Don't even get me started on my list of what's missing, I'll go on for hours.... LOL

The sole thing that impressed me about the beta was the stability, it didn't crash once. Now if only it did anything...

tooki

[DaveGee]

Originally posted by Cipher13:
What signs would those be? All signs are indiciating one slow-ass, feature deprived OS.

Cipher13

Cipher13... If you are correct then why did Apple just upgrade my 'free ground shipping' (on my pre-ordered OS X) to Fed Ex Saturday Delivery (and yes Apple is still 'footing the bill' for the charges).

If the final 1.0 release of OS X was indeed 'a slow-ass feature deprived OS' then you'd think they would leave things as they were and not incure the added expense. Apples 'move' indicates they want to get OS X into the hands of as many people as possible and as quickly as possible... Not someing you'd do if the OS were less than what it is being made out to be.

D.

[ctt1wbw]

Has Microsoft ever upgraded anyone's order to a FedEx delivery without the consumer paying for it?

[fats]

no

[typoon]

everyone seems to forget this is only version 1. 0 If you are like some people Don't get it. Wait til 1.1 or something comes out. Hey at least its not Windows. hmmm Wonder what XP 1.0 is going to be like. Probably nowhere near as Stable as OS X or as cool. So chill people It's only 1.0 and a good 1.0 step it is. This is not your ordinary OS update. This is an entirely new OS.

[the_sisko]

I think in everyone's desire to fulfill their desires now, everyone has forgotten about the future. Apple didn't create this operating system for April 2001, July 2001, or even for the next year. Apple created this operating system for the future.

Apple had to rip half of the code out of its operating systems to come up with systems 8 and 9, but with the titanium-solid foundation that is at the core of Mac OSX, Apple should be able to use the next 10 years to improve on the OS by adding more features, not by having to rip out its core and start all over again.

OSX may not be the best thing when it first comes out (though in my opinion it'll be the best operating system on the planet), but the next few years, or even the next decade, is when we'll really begin to reap the benefits of all the hard work that Apple has put into this thing.

[Spirit_VW]

Originally posted by Cipher13:
What signs would those be? All signs are indiciating one slow-ass, feature deprived OS.

Cipher13

Edited in the spirit of goodwill.

------------------
Kevin Buchanan
The Spirit of Volkswagen
The Retro New Beetle Headquarters
Webmaster, Fort Worth VolksFolks Club

[This message has been edited by Spirit_VW (edited 03-17-2001).]

[Jamie_H]

I'm sure that I will be happy whatever it turns out to be like!

[cmoney]

I posted this in response to another topic on these boards, but it seems more appropriate here so I'll repost:

Personally I don't feel depressed. You have to take into account the fact that OS X is a BRAND NEW Mac operating system and as such, you really shouldn't expect to be able to change your workflow instantly. If you use your computer on a professional basis, unless you can somehow get 75% of your daily work done in OS X native, don't run OS X just yet. I think it's unreasonable to expect an operating system transition to happen overnight! Unfortunately, many consumers and especially analysts see the future of Apple this way. If OS X isn't an instant success, the future of the company is in the air. Oh no! Pack the bags, Wintel here we come! NOT!

Think a little bit longer term. If Apple can get the major apps and developers transitioned to OS X in a timely manner they will have been successful in creating an incredible platform upon which they can build the future of the Mac. That's the importance of OS X, not how well it runs TODAY.

Yes your current apps will be slower in OS X than OS 9. A big factor in that is Classic. Expect things to be up in the air for at least 6-9+ months! Classic is not a solution, it's a workaround. The solution is OS X native apps.

And finally, don't forget that OS 9 won't suddenly expire come the 24th. DVD Player or no, OS X won't be "complete" until most major apps are on OS X native. If OS X doesn't suit your needs just yet, wait a few months. So, this post may not help your particular situation, but seeing OS X and OS 9 side by side shouldn't be a cause for depression. The speed will come, it always does. (except in 2000 when we were stuck at 500MHz, god forbid that happens again!) The transition to OS X won't be cheap, it won't be easy, but I think Apple and the Mac has a whole lot in store for us in the coming months.

[tanhauser]

Good post Dave.

I'd have to agree with you, Mac OS X as it will be released on the 24th is the start of a whole new era for Apple. I'm glad to be part of the early adopters of this new operating system.

Just the other day I was talking with my girlfriend's roommate (who's studying computer science) and she was telling me that even those who are not familiar with the Mac were starting to take notice of OS X.

I for one can say that I will be absolutely blown away by the release version, I only paid for and played with the Public Beta and that blew me away, I'm glad I didn't pirated any of the later builds, I have full confidence in Apple.

Can't wait...

F

[Mk]

Yeah, stop the whining and let's all celebrate..
especially that Apple seems to be lacking some of its own.
Apple is so quiet about this, nothing on its site at all
except for a small days-to-go counter on the front page.
no os x commercials, no balloons...

I read from some posts that Apple shouldn't be making too
much noise over this release because it's not that great yet.
The real party is on July. But by being quiet on 24, it only makes
things more obvious to the press. Apple is keeping quiet on
its crummy OS. It's not ready. Oh, they will love this one..

Maybe the balloons will come on Monday,
or maybe i'm just too excited than i really I ought to be

[Since EBCDIC]

As a user of UN*X for three decades I have a message for those of you who will soon be using OS X GM: you will be amazed once you get into the swing of having a completely different paradigm behind the GUI.

OS X has *power* in a way that users of Mac OS 1 to 9 have no idea.

My prediction: a year from now we'll see a completely different power user base of Mac OS X. Y'all will be up to speed on all the tools available to you from decades of UNIX development. You'll have your favorite command shells and will be using Perl or Python to manipulate files and data with ease.

And we'll still have the best GUI front end around.

Stand straight. We are one lucky bunch of geeks.

Originally posted by Mk:
Yeah, stop the whining and let's all celebrate..
especially that Apple seems to be lacking some of its own.
Apple is so quiet about this, nothing on its site at all
except for a small days-to-go counter on the front page.
no os x commercials, no balloons...

I read from some posts that Apple shouldn't be making too
much noise over this release because it's not that great yet.
The real party is on July. But by being quiet on 24, it only makes
things more obvious to the press. Apple is keeping quiet on
its crummy OS. It's not ready. Oh, they will love this one. . . .

Apple may not be making a lot of noise about X at this point because it does not want _everyone_ to buy it now. X is a whole new game . . . and for a lot of current Mac users, it would be confusing. Not to mention that it'll take some more time for the applications to arrive. So I think Apple has purposely chosen a rollout that gets the attention primarily of the geeks who are willing to put up with the lacunae in return for the promise of power.

This is _not_ Apple's version of the switch from Windows 3.1 to 95. It would be more similar to a switch from 3.1 to NT, and MS never did a huge promotion to get its users to switch en masse to NT or 2000, either.

------------------
Marienbad
http://www.appassionato.org

[tdominey]

Apple may not be making a lot of noise about X at this point because it does not want _everyone_ to buy it now.

I totally agree. Media people have been questioning the pre-load date of July for quite some time, but I think its a smart move. Apple will make just enough noise for the hardcore Mac user base to take notice and grab it, but the general iMac-consumer user will wait.

What would happen if someone bought an iMac NOW, received it, then went out to CompUSA to buy some software? The boxes would read "OS 9.0 required" or something like that. We all know it would work fine in the Classic environment, but the general user may not.

Just a point worth thinking about in the big picture of things.