lord_flash said:
Is there anyone who thinks that releasing an new version of the operating system and charging for it at least three times as frequently as Windows, when it doesn't do any more, isn't such a good thing for the end user? That's not to say I don't like OS X - it is nicer than XP and, for the most part does what it does better, but I get fed up when people talk about how 'cool' it is that they pay $450 in the same period that Windows people pay $150 or whatever the XP upgrade was.
Apple take more money from their customers than Microsoft and the alarmingly frequent operating system updates are just one example. Not only that but a lot of advertised features - new codecs etc. - are free upgrades for Windows users. Microsoft don't expect users to pay for the Movie Maker upgrade, etc. etc.
Now I like my Apple a lot, but I know I'm paying heavily for the privlege, and I'm not going to call it 'cool'.
I don't see it this way at all. The frequency of 'major' releases is greater than with Windows, to be sure. However, if you count Windows 2000 (released in '99) as the beginning of the current family, you see a new OS every two years (2k, XP, 2003, Longhorn [originally supposed to be out by now]), as opposed to the three retail versions of OS X since 2000 (10.0, 10.2, 10.3). Tiger will be the fourth major (paid, fifth overall) release of OS X, but will last longer than others as the platform matures. The current Windows line does not reflect this too well, but look back at the previous consumer line to see Microsoft doing the same (95, 95B [OSR2], 98, 98SE, ME)-- that's FIVE major/not free releases in 4-5 years.
As far as the value of the upgrades, full versions of OS X are $129, while full versions of Windows XP Pro are MSRP'd at $299. In the older windows family, the full version was $189-99. You could get discounted versions easily for Windows through OEM channels or buying $199 "upgrade" versions, but even these discounted versions were more expensive than the regular license of OS X (XP Home upgrade [$99] is cheaper than OS X retail, but more than OS X academic/discount/family pack per-unit), not to mention Apple's up-to-date program that MS does not offer.
So, compared to the NT5 codebase Windows family (2k/XP/2003), OS X has had somewhat faster releases, but the costs are substantially lower for full-price licensing and so I don't feel that Apple offers any comparative disadvantage in that department. As far as codecs and the like, your mileage will vary on both platforms (Windows Movie Maker and iMovie aren't all that close of a comparison, and the WMM upgrade requires you to use SP2, which in my case breaks compatibility with the DV camera--meaning I can't use the update). Apple publishes updates for OS X and iLife software regularly and for free. Major upgrades/new versions are packaged for retail sale just like every other vendor on the planet.
EDIT: Additionally, no one is forcing you to upgrade. If you can't see the difference between 10.0 and 10.3, either you didn't use 10.0 or you didn't need to upgrade and spend the money. C'est la vie.
