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

[Tinyluph]

I honestly can't fathom how people manage to delude themselves so much over a simple name change. If you haven't already read John Gruber's article on Mountain Lion (http://daringfireball.net/2012/02/mountain_lion) I really recommend doing so because it's incredibly poignant.

But here are some choice words for people who seem to think OS X is falling by the wayside:

But, just as with Lion last year, it’s about sharing ideas and concepts with iOS, not sharing the exact same interaction design or code. The words “Windows” and “Microsoft” are never mentioned, but the insinuation is clear: Apple sees a fundamental difference between software for the keyboard-and-mouse-pointer Mac and that for the touchscreen iPad. Mountain Lion is not a step towards a single OS that powers both the Mac and iPad, but rather another in a series of steps toward defining a set of shared concepts, styles, and principles between two fundamentally distinct OSes.

Putting both iOS and OS X on an annual release schedule is a sign that Apple is confident it no longer needs to make such tradeoffs in engineering resources. There’s an aspect of Apple’s “now” — changes it needs to make, ways the company needs to adapt — that simply relate to just how damn big, and how successful, the company has become. They are in uncharted territory, success-wise. They are cognizant that they’re no longer the upstart, and are changing accordingly.

It seems important to Apple that the Mac not be perceived as an afterthought compared to the iPad, and, perhaps more importantly, that Apple not be perceived as itself considering or treating the Mac as an afterthought.

 

[Can't Stop]

I honestly can't fathom how people manage to delude themselves so much over a simple name change. If you haven't already read John Gruber's article on Mountain Lion (http://daringfireball.net/2012/02/mountain_lion) I really recommend doing so because it's incredibly poignant.

But here are some choice words for people who seem to think OS X is falling by the wayside:

Hey, sane people are not allowed in this thread.

 

[Northgrove]

Good. There's no ambiguity in which operating system OS X runs on.

Quite pointless to include "Mac" there.

People were rarely calling it the full "Mac OS X" to begin with.

 

[MartiNZ]

Wouldn't it be "xOS"? Then, that may be confusing, as some might use "XOs"

XOS would make good sense for how bloated it is getting .

 

[ownamac]

I used to wonder if OS X would increment to OS XI after Version 10.9 but perhaps someday double digits past the decimal. Or maybe OS X Version 11.0, etc.

 

[840quadra]

Perhaps they will also be dropping the Mac from MacBook, and MacBook Pro.

Never had the ring PowerBook, or iBook did in my opinion only.

Book or Book Pro would be fine to me.

 

[macbookguy]

the book, the i, and the pro.

+1

I should add that I could see "Mac" being replaced with Apple ... except with the iMac.

 

[imageWIS]

The Macintosh (as Tim Cook prefers to call it) brand is still alive and well, though Apple seems to be focusing that term on hardware, instead of software.

Didn't Jobs state that Apple is a software company, and that great software companies make their own hardware? I'm really confused by Cook's statement.

 

[Reach9]

I wonder what OS 11 will be called? OSXI? sounds like "Oh sexy".

Regarding the name change, I think somewhere down the line.. Apple will release a product that is a Macbook Air and iPad mix. It will have a keyboard that you can possibly flip or something, making it into an iPad. And be able to flip the keyboard or something, and make it into a laptop. It will run both OS X and iOS, depending on the flip.
By that time we'll have the 24hour battery life Intel has promised too.

Now that.. will be the ultimate computing tool.
My main computing tools will then be.. iMac, iPhone and the (iPad + MacBook Air mix).

 

[zarusoba]

Yeah and the scary thing is, many of those kids are salespeople.

If you have been to an Apple store before 2007, and been to one lately, I don't have to explain the demographic change in apple's customer base....

Speaking for myself here i have stopped going to apple stores as its to much like a Kindergarten for my liking[/QUOTE]

 

[AAPLaday]

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.

A Linux compatible Netflix is in the works, should be out before the end of the year at the latest

 

[zarusoba]

With regards to the branding itself, I think the "OS" acronym is redundant, but we're stuck with it.

Consumers don't need to know that they're running something called an "operating system": they should just be enjoying the experience.

The Windows and Android brands do just fine without referring to anything as geeky as an "OS".

 

[ABernardoJr]

Perhaps they will also be dropping the Mac from MacBook, and MacBook Pro.

Never had the ring PowerBook, or iBook did in my opinion only.

Book or Book Pro would be fine to me.

You don't think MacBook has a ring to it so you say AppleBook sounds better lol That'd be a step back

 

[boshii]

I predict there will be a home button on the new OS X machines.

 

[ferdinandcc]

People who say that dropping 'Mac' from the name heralds a new generation of clones and 'hackintoshes' are missing an important part of Apple's OS history.

Back in the day, we had System 6. And then System 7. Not Mac OS 6 or 7. In fact, 7.6 was the first one to be called "Mac OS," and the very REASON for that was so that the Mac brand would still live on, as Apple had just opened their OS for licensing to clone manufacturers. Despite not being Macintosh hardware, Apple thought it was important to brand the SOUL of those computers as Mac.

Getting rid of Mac from the name doesn't signal a move towards clones or hackintoshes. Just the opposite.

I'd assume they trimmed the name down because saying something like Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion is quite the mouthful. And because every single Mac already has 'Mac' in their name, so the Mac brand isn't going to be weakened any.

 

[bungiefan89]

I'm against this because OS X is a dumb name.

OS X is shorthand for Operating System Ten... WHAT? So just generic "Operating System Number Ten"?

This is like Windows 8 being re-named just 8. Say what you will about simplifying the name of the operating system, but what's so complicated about "Mac OS X" or "Mac OS 10.8"? WHY does it have to be just "OS X" or "OS 10.8"?

Makes absolutely no sense. Dick move. Hope they change it.

 

[thekeyring]

I still don't think Mac OS X and iOS will merge fully. Simply put, you don't need a desktop OS with desktop applications and windows on your mobile phone. I can see putting OS X on iPad with a touch-UI, or a touch-screen iMac needing a touch-UI, just not a full blown OS on an iPhone / iPod touch.

 

[GermanyChris]

A Linux compatible Netflix is in the works, should be out before the end of the year at the latest

If that is true, I Linux will again be my primary OS.

 

[840quadra]

You don't think MacBook has a ring to it so you say AppleBook sounds better lol That'd be a step back

I don't say it in my head like that, I Just recognize the symbol. But yes, if you actually verbalize it, it does sound more off than "MacBook".

 

[Drunken Master]

In before all the handwringing and bitching about how Apple's lost its way.

LOL, too true.

Sad thing is, your post is at -3 and all the whiney posts are at +32, or what-have-you.

A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.

Your computer is still a Mac, whether a Macbook, iMac, Mac Pro, Mac Mini.

Hell, they could change the name to another Apple like Fuji. A Fujibook Pro would still run fine.

 

[brdeveloper]

Not a fan of dropping the Mac.


So what will it say under the  about this OS...

They're preparing a subtle transition to the iOS X.

 

[AustinIllini]

I'm against this because OS X is a dumb name.

OS X is shorthand for Operating System Ten... WHAT? So just generic "Operating System Number Ten"?

The name has outgrown its original meaning. Other examples, BP used to mean something, it doesn't anymore, National Public Radio doesn't exist anymore (now just "npr"), "Campus Crusade for Christ" is now "Cru". There's nothing dumb about it, everyone calls it OS X, no one calls it Mac OS X.

 

[Magpie-23]

I think the suggestion that Apple will drop the name Mac from it's computers because they appear to be dropping Mac from OSX is a knee jerk reaction, but one I can understand why some people have made. I myself suspected that the new MacBooks being released in 2012, and according to many, to be a merging of the Pro and Air might drop the Mac moniker after first reading today's announcement. But look harder at the marketing on Apple's website, watch the video announcing Mountain Lion's features - they refer to the Mac constantly and consistently. They had the opportunity to use terms like notebook or laptop in many instances but they are keeping the term Mac at the forefront of your attention throughout. When I look at Apple's website and watch that video I see nothing to suggest the new notebooks, or desktops, will not be Macs. It's a strong brand and one which has become synonymous with any personal computer that runs Apple's proprietary operating system. One day we might have iBooks as a brand name again but not yet. The Mac is alive and kicking.

 

[brdeveloper]

I predict there will be a home button on the new OS X machines.

Just get rid of dashboard function and replace it with home functionality.

 

[bungiefan89]

The name has outgrown its original meaning. Other examples, BP used to mean something, it doesn't anymore, National Public Radio doesn't exist anymore (now just "npr"), "Campus Crusade for Christ" is now "Cru". There's nothing dumb about it, everyone calls it OS X, no one calls it Mac OS X.

No, there IS something dumb about it.
It's the company changing their name just to imply they're no longer the service they orriginally were before.

Take BP for example. They used to be British Petroleum. But with the rising cost of oil, that sort of name can have negative connotations. So they change their name to BP and say their trade is "energy" and change their logo in to a green-energy-friendly-looking sunflower, which is meant to imply that oil production and distribution is just ONE of the MANY things they do as a company... even though the business spends the vast majority of their money on fossil fuels and a comparably tiny percentage on other forms of "energy".

Now, you can be a fanboy and defend these practices as just an improvement over the "cumbersome" ways of the past and claim "no one" calls their Mac operating system "Mac OS X" anymore until the cows come home, but you'll just be sucked in to the consumerism trap these corporations have laid out for you.