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Apple Ends OS X 10.8.4 Beta Testing Program, Suggesting Imminent Release
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I feel similarly. Changing Address Book to "Contacts" and iChat to "Messages" and maybe slightly tweaking them is fine. But this sandboxing app-centric model for the Mac is terrible.
I hope it has tighter integration with social media and forced cloud backups of ALL your personal data........(sarcasm off).
You just contradicted yourself. Do you even read what you write? The upgrades to several software ARE the new features the new OS brings. Stop being so stubborn.
It's a little bit more complicated than simply "ignoring" a stupid feature and applauding the minority of people that do use it. Apple's resources are limited and they have internal deadlines. That means working on useless eye-candy and silly-assed features for a minority of users only detracts the coders from working on more important things most all of us could actually use.
Apple's Close Notice
More likely: Apple wrapped things up for the reasons given in Apple's notice.
More likely: Apple wrapped things up for the reasons given in Apple's notice.
They still have it. It doesn't include betas of OSX though, and it has always been that way.
Exactly. People forget or never knew that Apple keeps a small team of iOS/OS X engineers and often moves them between departments. OS X engineers are often pulled into iOS development, resulting in OS X delays such as Leopard. However, Leopard's delays were forgiven as the iPhone launch was paramount to Apple's future in mobile computing. Many of us gave it a pass believing it a one time hiccup.
With Apple's monetary resources, it's time they hired more engineers and ended the "Jobsonian" need to keep small, tight knit interchangeable groups. The company has grown rapidly, requiring more in house engineers and designers. It's been apparent since 10.6 that OS X is suffering from a lack of engineering and focus.
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What I meant was, with a 1.5-2 year release cycle, Apple could put out several point updates. I assume: the more point updates, the more refined the OS, the more bugs taken out. It's a rudimentary assumption, but fairly logical. It's possibly a reason why people rave about Snow Leopard being so rock solid, when, in fact, at launch day, SL was a dog.
So, my reference to the last point update of those earlier OS versions was to indicate the larger number of point updates they had, in contrast to Lion which only had 5.
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I type fast, but thanks for reading my posts so often that you're able to notice a trend. It makes me feel special
I'm guessing they could hire "some" more. But rarely does multiplying software resources result in great software. More often velocity drops, random issues appear all over and talented guys spend their time coaching the newbies.
I don't think that perception is correct. We basically had the same OS from 2007 to 2011; Snow Leopard only refined Leopard. I really liked SL at the time, but for most end users there was no difference with Leopard. Lion really changed that and added a lot of new functionality. Now we get an OS update once a year, like in the first years of the development of Mac OS X.
A lot of functionality has been inspired by iOS, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Yeah, Launchpad is useless eye-candy, but so was Front Row in the Finder and iTunes. Overall I do think ML is a lot nicer to use than SL.
Fully agree but wishful thinking. It seems OSX and the hardware it runs on has been relegated to the basement:
- Mac Pro still in limbo
- 17" MBP discontinued
- Lackluster development with FCP/Aperture.
- Mac advertising is mostly non-existent these days.
But most importantly, and this is what puzzles me... with the lackluster sales of Windows 8, again Apple misses the opportunity to eek out a larger market share in the laptop/notebook arena. (It isn't dead yet). Yes, I know tablets are cannibalizing this market and Apple's mac sales are nothing compared to their iOS revenue but they are still producing macs so why not at least freaking try to sell more of them? I'm starting to feel like a legacy user.
You can add Logic to the "dustbin" list....
Agree with you and Krazy Bill and just about everyone. Also valid points from those re: engineers on OS X. Having worked for corporate I can honestly relay that engineering departments are stressed, if that is the reason for OS X bugs seemingly becoming more prominent or not I can't state. Many expressed frustrations with past focus on iOS in OS X and such, and Forestall's then influence. I'm hoping with Ive at the helm, he and Craig Federighi can work on fine tuning and improving the foundation of the system.
I don't care about Facebook, Twitter, or more social networking integration. Those of us in the photography business learned the hard way that Facebook does not bring in new business. Uploading your work via Aperture to a Facebook profile gets "Likes" yet 99% of the time people are interested in free services or services I don't provide. Most of my business comes from word of mouth or traditional advertising. I speak for a great deal of us who would rather Apple focus on updates to pro-apps aside from social networking. Notification Center and launchpad are useless and more of an annoyance, thus disengaged/unused. If Siri is added, I'll be stunned. I use it via my Infiniti's bluetooth handsfree system, but I don't need it on my desktop system. All these "features" require a great deal of engineering, which does take emphasis and focus off bugs and key foundations that have impacted OS X. I don't necessarily want new features, but a return to what made OS X great.
Improved multiple display support, OpenGL Core, Finder/HFS+ (tabbed browsing, dual windows/sidebars akin to XtraFinder, perhaps a new F.S.), stable WiFi, Wireless ac support, iTunes improvements, revamped iPhoto and pro-Apps (Lightroom 4 blew Aperture 3.0 out of the water), return server tools and functionality removed with 10.7, keychain and dock syncing, etc.
I hope WWDC is a return to the "pro" market. With Adobe dropping a bomb with a subscription based CS suite, this would be a great opportunity for Apple to win back those who jumped ship after the Final Cut Pro X fiasco as Adobe stepped up their game, drawing in film and design firms in addition to Avid. The latest FCPX update finally brought back key features making it much better.
If WWDC doesn't pull in pro-app updates, a new Mac Pro with a better display line akin to the CCFL LCD 20"/23"/30" sizes while improving the notorious LED LCD panel issues that have plagued them since the 24" iMac release, I may be one of the remaining few who makes the switch to Windows.
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You can add Logic to the "dustbin" list....
People have been saying that, but I don't buy it. If they were killing Logic, they wouldn't keep working on point releases. Compare to apps like STP which went years without any updates at all before being killed off.
No question Logic is a lower priority, but we should finally see Logic 10 this summer or fall. The question is how big an update it is, it could be a big disappointment, only adding the bare minimum as an excuse to charge for an update, or it could be pretty major considering how long it has been in the works. We'll see when it ships.
Honestly, I think the iLife and iWork apps are as big a concern as Logic is. Apple hasn't had major updates to many of their apps for a long time, not just the pro ones. I have to wonder if they're considering getting out of the apps for sale business period.
Just a reminder Microsoft, Google, and just about every other OS maker is moving to a yearly update - It means the OS is fresh and current (current with trends).
I hear you on the additional features being of limited benefit. What Apple could do better is shed the things that we don't use (though that can be dangerous as it offends the people who start using something and then miss it).
I beta tested 10.8.4 and it's quite a bit more stable. Let's hope 10.9 is better.
Agree. I've been a developer since, well, let's just say a long time
. Before 10.7, beta's were released weekly or biweekly for at least a year as dmg's that required burning to a DVD and a clean install. This allowed for less chance of beta "updates" conflicting with third party apps or previous beta data. Currently, beta development consists of 4 DP's then the GM (so far, this may change), over a few months. Developers have noticed less stability and more open bugs acknowledged but never closed. This rarely occurred pre-10.7. Apple also lowered OS X developer memberships from hundreds of dollars to $99, in step with their iOS membership. Great way to bring more people into software development, but also added more flame to the fire with bug reporting and confusion from those unfamiliar with beta testing.I'm pretty sure there were more than four betas for 10.8. They were named strangely, only four were labeled as DPs but there were more betas in between labeled as updates.
Edit: looks like there were nine including the GM.
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I see your point, and it may make sense from that perspective - in fact, I would much prefer to return to the good ol' days of TRUE major upgrades every two years instead of these ridiculously disappointing paid releases that add little more than iOSified crap to OS X.
I still remember the days of System 7, Jaguar, Tiger etc. when we REALLY had something exciting to talk about when a new OS version was released, both in terms of under- and over-the-hood improvements.
What do we get now? Reminders? AirDrop which I've used only ONCE in like what, a year? Messages? Gimme a break.
While I see your point, innovation in any sector is eventually going to stagnate and OS development is no exception. Refinement necessitates that at some point, once you find something that works, you stick with it rather than continue to make sweeping changes that risk alienating your user base.
I'm fine with incremental improvements. I also appreciate that when I use my 'legacy' machines (such as my older MBP running Snow Leopard) the UI isn't so drastically different that it requires continual readjustment, but at the same time, there are newer features that genuinely improve my workflow (such as touch gestures) that I immediately miss.
I think the next big change, for better or worse, will be support for suspending background apps for the sake of battery life. As someone whose battery life can fluctuate significantly depending on what I'm doing, this is potentially an appreciable change. It just depends on implementation.
Really? Huh, I was way off. Maybe it was Lion I'm thinking of. I remember DP1, DP2, DP3 and DP4, then the GM release. I still have em actually. Also kept a few beta's from Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard as they had some great features that didn't make GM due to licensing issues.
I believe Apple realized they haven’t done a great job with the look and feel of the last few OS updates.
Adding incongruent features like Launchpad (I never use) and iOS features that most people don’t need may be their way of moving Mac OS towards iOS slowly vs. Microsoft’s quick UI change in the Windows 7 to Windows 8 (which should really only run on touch screen computers). That move has brought it a lot of critical feedback.
Regarding leaps in the OS from version to version: System 7 to Jaguar to Tiger were each huge leaps – The core OS needed it!
Currently the more frequent updates have reduced the leaps to minor jumps yearly. Part of that reason is that the core OS is stable, for the most part, compared to previous editions.
For example - I remember having to fix permissions, and run weekly/monthly crons to fix issues on my friends macs with 10.4 - 10.5 - That's now a rare occurrence. I would install Applejack on their systems to make this process easier – Today most people don’t know what Applejack is because we no longer need it.
We should hopefully see a better integration of iOS and Look/Feel of the OS. 10.9 should be more pure, cleaner with less "faux leather trim" and hopefully better integration.
As to price: The incremental updates cost ($29), which are a lot cheaper than Windows (My Ultimate license cost me $300 retail) requires with each version update. That may change now that MS is planning more frequent updates.
If Apple fails on this, they will pay a heavy price…