Unsanity.org: Too Much Too Fast

May 19, 2004

Too Much Too Fast

In a move that I've been expecting for quite some time, Apple has publicly gone on record saying that they'll slow down the pace of Mac OS X updates.

Frankly, I've been impressed that they were able to deliver so much so quickly up until this point. Overall I think they did exactly what they had to. Mac OS X 10.0 went out the door with a lot of rough edges, but it came at a time when showing something rather than nothing was critical for Apple.

They then hit us with rapid updates to address the problems and add features. (kudos to the developers!) I think we're sitting at a pretty solid point in the OS evolution right now. I love Panther. It is by far my favorite revision of the OS to date. Sure this is expected, but I do know a fair number of users who have opted, for one reason or another, to stick to Jaguar. (and if you're still running 10.1...well, we need to talk.)

So the question is, why the slower pace? Is Apple trying to give their developers a bit of a break? Has the OS really grown beyond their ability to maintain that pace? Combination of the two? Or yet another reason?

I feel that they are probably just ending up with too many loose ends. That sort of thing can happen in the development process. Features are added at a breakneck pace and some of the polish is left for later. Later comes and rather than add that polish and tie up loose ends, the developer is hit with a request for additional features and deadlines. Cycle begins again. :)

So the speculation of the hour is what will happen with Tiger? Will it be the last of the line of yearly updates? Or will it be the first to be on a new schedule? I am predicting the latter. I expect a preview to be given at WWDC, but I don't envision developers walking out with a pack of CD's to install. (side-note: what's up with the Panic boys being the poster children all over ADC? I seem to find them in another collage every week or two... there is some kind of conspiracy here, I just can't put a finger on it!)

So let's hear the votes, CD's in hand at WWDC or not?

Posted by brian at May 19, 2004 11:21 AM

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Comments

They'll be some CDs, but nothing as close to the final release as the last two years.

Posted by: CyberZorn on May 19, 2004 12:54 PM

Apple is also sort of teetering on the balance with positive press coverage of their OS updates. It wouldn't help them if they started getting lots of nasty press about what some people consider continuous $125 bug-fix updates. It might even be a good idea to make the next update free/cheaper for the good PR and good will.

Posted by: brian w on May 19, 2004 1:29 PM

brian w - While I wouldn't mind seeing that happen, I give it about a 1% chance. Companies deal with bad press a lot better than they deal with lack of or loss of revenue. I think we'll be paying for Tiger.

Posted by: Brian on May 19, 2004 1:38 PM

I would bet there will be at last a CD with a DP of the next version of Xcode. This software is asking for more bug fixes and UI flexibilities. This is one of the reasons why people are not switching to 10.3 (another one being the sluggish and ugly Mac OS X 10.3 Finder).

As for a DP of the new OS, it's almost certain. Nothing forces them to provide all the new stuff in the DP 1. Remember Mac OS X DP1 and DP2, Aqua was not there.

Posted by: Anonymous & Coward on May 20, 2004 5:09 AM

They probably need a breather to finish off OSX's 64 bit compatibility, since we are now moving rapidly in that direction with the G5.

Posted by: Tom Barta on May 20, 2004 2:27 PM

If Apple slowed a bit on OS patches it would not seem to be copying Gates mob. Get it right FIRST TIME! AppleScript has always been such a simplistic, beautiful attribute of the Mac. I used to send some few lines of it to friends disguised as a text document. It would place Finder in trash (but not delete) & restart. It's no wonder this easy "friendliness" used extensively in X can now be "malwared" inviting Gates' "A patch a day keeps virii away," Perennial solutions?

Posted by: catweazle on May 25, 2004 5:25 AM

Posted by: x on July 8, 2004 6:38 PM

Posted by: x on July 8, 2004 6:41 PM

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