Apple Officially Drops 'Mac' Name from OS X Mountain Lion

[faroZ06]

The brilliance behind an annual release via only the App Store is it assures Apple's software revenues will spike once a year.

Next they will require new hardware on an annual basis as well. As a result Apples ROI will increase faster than ever.

Big Oil has had it too good, for too long. Now it's time to pay Apple.

Apple will manipulate their words to make everyone feel warm & fuzzy, while completely controlling the billions of users. It's a big win for Apple Inc.

...Or you just don't upgrade. This kinda sounds like the Occupy morons complaining that the bank is "stealing their house". Don't get a loan you can't pay then!

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Why did you censor a word in my post that the forum didn't censor ?

And I think HP still sells their touchscreen computer, it's quite apt at what it is : A Kiosk PC or a POS system. Touchscreen PCs have been filling that niche quite nicely for decades now. As generalized desktops and laptops for everyday work ? Meh, Steve said it best, your arms would get sore.

Oh, CussOff must have done it. I got annoyed with all of the rage comments on YouTube and stuff. It's kinda funny when someone's post is mostly stars

And now that I think about it, touchscreen computers ARE good for those purposes. If you're only pressing a few buttons over and over again, you might as well lose the extra equipment.

 

[AidenShaw]

Won't be long till Apple Drops X86 either.

Actually, Apple has already dropped x86. You need an x64 processor to run 10.7.

 

[314631]

The brilliance behind an annual release via only the App Store is it assures Apple's software revenues will spike once a year.

Next they will require new hardware on an annual basis as well. As a result Apples ROI will increase faster than ever.

Big Oil has had it too good, for too long. Now it's time to pay Apple.

Apple will manipulate their words to make everyone feel warm & fuzzy, while completely controlling the billions of users. It's a big win for Apple Inc.

My concern is we'll no longer see any highly stable and reliable OS X releases. You won't be able to hang on to your old OS anymore as you wait for the .5 or .6 release. Because there won't be one.

As one release of OS X gets closer to stable, they'll be off launching the next big thing and abandoning the current release.

I don't care about paying $30 a year for OS X. I do care if we're consistently watching one OS X branch get abandoned for a new version that introduces new bugs and issues each time.

 

[ixodes]

My concern is we'll no longer see any highly stable and reliable OS X releases. You won't be able to hang on to your old OS anymore as you wait for the .5 or .6 release. Because there won't be one.

As one release of OS X gets closer to stable, they'll be off launching the next big thing and abandoning the current release.

I don't care about paying $30 a year for OS X. I do care if we're consistently watching one OS X branch get abandoned for a new version that introduces new bugs and issues each time.

It's very nice to read a post authored by someone like you that "gets it".

There's a lot of truth in your thoughts. I share your concerns.

 

[faroZ06]

Actually, Apple has already dropped x86. You need an x64 processor to run 10.7.

And you needed x64 for Java SE 6 for Mac. Why doesn't Oracle make Java for Mac OS?

 

[kalsta]

This is exactly like when "iPhone OS" was renamed to "iOS".
Something's coming.

Time to dust off that old ix.Mac.MarketingName rumour?

 

[faroZ06]

Time to dust off that old ix.Mac.MarketingName rumour?

Wow, that's mysterious. If a name change led to this kind of complaint, that article must have over 9000 "MAC AND IOS ARE MERGING" posts on it.

 

[MorphingDragon]

All I gotta say is Ubuntu better finish getting its crap together and get Adobe Creative Suite and Netflix developed for them, because I'm seriously headed in their direction.

RHEL would be developed for before Ubuntu.

 

[dampfnudel]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

I like this. Apple is making a very good move here.

It's just the beginning. I have a feeling an "i" will make an appearance in the next couple of years as in iOS.

 

[sunspot42]

Times Have Changed

Steve Jobs would have absolutely never have allowed this. Read his bio, though his quotes it's pretty clear he considers that to be the equivalent of... IDK... serving a great meal on a dish made of fecal matter. Is the content good? Sure, but you'd really rather not have it served to you that way.

Except Apple could still easily control which machines get to run OS X. They could build in all sorts of requirements, and perhaps even only partner with one or two manufacturers for products specifically targeted to professional markets (servers and the like), keeping the consumer business (laptops, iMacs) for themselves.

This would keep support costs low for Apple and not run the risk of consumers having to deal with wonky hardware from HP or Dell or whoever, while giving professional users the kind of hardware and support they expect.

I think Apple merging OS X and iOS entirely and abandoning the PC space is a more likely outcome somewhere down the road, but it might be advantageous to them to maintain a "professional" OS utilized by enterprise hardware manufacturers if not so much by Apple. I mean, the more stuff that runs on OS X, the more OS X and iOS-experienced software developers you have floating around out in the world. That's certainly never a bad thing for your platform, provided the cost of maintaining a foothold in that space isn't too extreme (not so much in dollar terms, but in terms of distraction from their core consumer business).

Might also help them if they want to push iPhones and iPads as post-PC universal client devices into the enterprise. They could offer the enterprise a unified, Unix-based stack.

 

[Stella]

And you needed x64 for Java SE 6 for Mac. Why doesn't Oracle make Java for Mac OS?

In the beginning, Apple wanted to develop the JavaVM for themselves to give the UI the same OSX look.

The OSX Java will be developed through Oracle / OpenJDK.
http://www.cultofmac.com/69512/appl...opment-to-oracle-through-openjdk-partnership/

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Except Apple could still easily control which machines get to run OS X. They could build in all sorts of requirements, and perhaps even only partner with one or two manufacturers for products specifically targeted to professional markets (servers and the like), keeping the consumer business (laptops, iMacs) for themselves.

This would keep support costs low for Apple and not run the risk of consumers having to deal with wonky hardware from HP or Dell or whoever, while giving professional users the kind of hardware and support they expect.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Apple allow Mac OS X server to be run on non-Apple hardware (now that they no longer make Xserves.) I guess I could see them doing the same thing with the Mac Pro.

I wonder what kinds of terms Apple would have with the companies? Would they be required to make their hardware as aesthetically appealing as Apple's? Would Apple want the company to downplay its existence (like they do with Intel - there are no stickers about "Intel Inside" on Macs like there are on PCs.) Or would Apple require the company to differentiate itself and not make hardware resembling an Apple product (it'll probably help them defend themselves in court.)

 

[arifazizi]

my 2 cents

i think its because:

1. obviously Macs run Mac OSX so there's no need to repeat the "Mac" in there.
2. to move ahead and standardize the naming to "OSX" so that there will no longer be a continuation with names such as "OSXI" in the future.

all iDevices will go on iOS and Macs will simply run OSX, whatever the version may be. who's to say they wont go OSX 10.10, 11, 12 etc.

 

[sunspot42]

OS X On Non-Apple Hardware

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Apple allow Mac OS X server to be run on non-Apple hardware (now that they no longer make Xserves.) I guess I could see them doing the same thing with the Mac Pro.

Apple most certainly does not allow OS X to run on non-Apple hardware at the moment, and I doubt they'd ever allow it to run on just any old Intel-based hardware.

However, if they did migrate most consumers over to iOS-based devices - even for traditional desktop/laptop "PC" applications - they might consider keeping OS X around as a server-class OS and allow a handful of manufacturers to produce machines bundled with it.

I don't think it's likely, but it's not impossible. It would certainly keep their options open to reenter that space as a manufacturer at some point themselves, without requiring a ton of investment on their part (they'll be maintaining iOS already - this would just be a variant).

I wonder what kinds of terms Apple would have with the companies? Would they be required to make their hardware as aesthetically appealing as Apple's? Would Apple require the company to differentiate itself and not make hardware resembling an Apple product

These devices would likely be limited to the backshop - servers and such. I doubt they'd allow anyone to make client PCs. Maybe high-end workstations, but even that seems unlikely - it's still customer-facing.

 

[Ferry888]

Bad move. The word "mac" stands for long history of products made by Apple. Why should you get rid of it? Makes no sense to me.

 

[Phishliveon]

I am not a fan of this. Why take away the history of a computer that defined the company that apple is today. You lead the market in design you don't have to beat them by being simple it's the history to me.

 

[arifazizi]

Since they a getting rid of the Mac name in Mac OS X, why are they going to still have Mac in the Mac App Store? Wouldn't getting rid of the Mac moniker mean that they are focusing Mac on the hardware?

Maybe I am reading into it, but it something worth discussing, I think. Thoughts?

by that logic, then buying apps on your iDevices should be done via the "iOS app store".

Mac's the platform and anchor brand, OS X runs the hardware. I think they removed Mac from the OS X name just to reflect the obvious; that its just the software. Apple will retain the Mac, unlike what others may suggest. Mac will still prevail as a product category such is the iPads, iPhones etc.

with the new name, Apple would be able to maintain the OS X name rather than migrating to OS XI in the future. with Mac in the name of the OS, the name was focused on being "Mac OS". now its just plainly stored as OS X. get it? I hope ppl can see the difference here.

from my previous post, OS X would likely be the standard in reference to Mac OS in the future while iOS should stay on iDevices. and no, i dont believe they will ever merge OS X with iOS.

 

[nec207]

Can yall do a collection of "more info" type things like:

- iCal is now Calendar
- Address Book is now Contacts
- Mac OS X is now OS X
- Safari now has omni search
- etc

Is this joke ?

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Maybe this is their endgame... By removing the "Mac" from the name, it can be installed on something other than a Mac. With Windows 8 not due out until the end of 2012, they could roll this out to all PCs by summer and cut it off at the pass. Everyone with a PC and an iPhone would be considering that upgrade.

No I don't think so ( apple likes to control things and run/own things look at iTunes and app store and how tight iPad and iPhone is with only apps from apple). If any thing it is a plan to integrated iOS with OS X .

My biggest fear is apple moving away from OS X .

One can look at windows 8 and the Linux distro now they are moving away from classic look too It is looking more like touch screen and iOS .All the OS makers are into this new fad.

 

[gary001]

Is it weird that the thing I've taken away from this is the font change where it says "OS X"? Useless, random fact... but it exists haha

 

[nec207]

Because as Jobs said we are entering the Post PC era and iDevices are the future of Apple. This is just another step in bringing the Mac and the iDevices closer together and eventually phasing out the Mac as we know it.

I'm not concerned because Windows PCs will always be available for professional applications and content production, but for us who are content consumers this will only make the future Apple products even more user friendly for us.

It will be interesting to see where the Mac Pro goes in the next few months. I think that will tell us a lot about where Apple is heading.

No one uses desktop computers now unless you hardcore gamer For college and university it is laptops and notebooks now.

When comes to government or office / businesses it still desktop computers with windows XP than any other OS they do not like apple and most them do not even like windows vista and windows 7 despite microsoft trying very hard.

When comes to graphic arts it is iMac .When comes to photographers and journalist it is Macbook pro. When comes to video editing and multi media it is iMac or Mac pro.

So I do not see iMac ,Mac pro or Macbook pro being obsolete.

For the college and university kids or your mom or dad apple will be promoting the macbook air and ipad or at very least 13 inch Macbook pro that is what they want some thing small and very light that they take with them well on the go.

 

[AppleComputer]

...And you got "AppleComputer" as your username?!

Can't believe that wasn't taken. Props to you!

Thanks, I was just as surprised myself.

----
Anyone else still running an Xserve...?

Same here, only question is how long will that hardware last, and when it fails what do you replace it with?

+

or
Mac Mini +

Don't thank me, I laughed really hard as well.

 

[benjo765]

What Apple has planned is this...
I'm saddened by this as I'm not a fan of Apple integrating the two. Apple is under the illusion that the popularity of their iPhone/iPad means that people also want their desktops to operate the same way. Wrong Apple Wrong. But.......... too late, because the damage is done.. everyone already owns an iPhone/iPad

Exactly, the people who use a Mac as a serious tool - and not just as an expensive toy - want a credible computer OS. Not a phone, not a media play-thing. You don't design a building, compose music score, or edit a feature film on something by fisher price.

They're very sadly mistaken if they think they have reached the zenith of what a computer OS can be... by the fact they haven't made any major improvements for several years I fear they do think as much.

 

[AppleComputer]

They are not "dumbing-down" They are actually keeping the OS intact, while adding iOS-like features. That was me when Apple announced Lion, I was like "NO, iOS and Mac OSX merging!". Then after 3 months, I got used to it. Everyone will like Mountain Lion since it's just Lion with added features.

Another reason for me to dissociate.

 

[Ayemerica]

It's an ecosystem. The iOS formed because of the advances of OS X. Now iOS is advancing OS X (or in many eyes-devolving). OSX will always be a desktop OS, but the desktop is evolving. Apple is ahead of the cure so it looks scary, but in reality everyone is doing this it's just apple when they do something it gets magnified by 100000000000000000. (add more zeros on how much you love apple).

 

[rcp27]

I hope they just leave Macbook a Macbook and it wont be iSomething

It would be such a shame if they renamed it something like iBook.