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Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), iLife '07, and iWork '07 in March?
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Actually funny story behind that. While out and about with my girlfriend, we stopped by Fry's over the weekend to look at everything. We get to making our rounds (and hoping...just hoping that they would have an
tv) and as usual we stop at the laptops since she has been in the market for one (and will most likely end up getting a MB). They all had vista running on them. She started to play on one of them and it kept coming up with that annoying "You just clicked this, Cancel or Allow" (yes, I know I oversimplified the box). After a few minutes of frustration just trying to look around, she walks away stating "I can't believe people paid for that!" I giggled as I continued to play with the laptop I had my eye on....until it froze on me. 
*hugs his 24'' iMac*
It prolly shares some sort of new UI or something under the hood so that it has to wait for leopard.
I consulted time machine for a prediction of when leopard is coming out for the masses, and it crashed before it could provide the answer!
The good thing about having a time machine built into your computer is that it removes all lag.
The trick is that after the computer has spent 2 hours performing some task, it sends the result back in time to the exact instant you clicked your mouse... so it no longer has to perform the task. Everything becomes instant.
Of course there are those that say that this causes a multitude of minor paradoxes and muddies up the timelines with lots of stray time strands, but most people are willing to risk ripping a hole in the universe for the chance of saving a few seconds.
(Yes - converting a divx to AppleTV format becomes instant too.)
Apple OS X 10.5 Secret ....
Rumours and suspicions abound with regard to the secret functionality that Apple has held back from public announcement in relation to it’s forthcoming release of OSX 10.5 Leopard.
Steve Job’s mocked at WWDC ’06 that the reason some details were held back from public announcement was to prevent the competition, aka Microsoft, from being able to copy these secrets into what was, at the time, the impending finalisation of Windows Vista. I do love that line “Redmond, start your photocopiers.” though.
So why didn’t Steve announce the complete functionality of OS X 10.5 at WWDC - was it really to stop Microsoft copying some “new and you beaut” technology in the weeks between WWDC and Windows Vista RTM version? Of course not. We all know that was just some PR.
Could it have been because Apple was unsure whether the secret bits would not be finished in time to meet the release deadlines? Possibly, but I don’t think so - and I’ll explain why later. So we’ve just about ruled out competitive pressures and product feature completion as the reasons behind Apple not announcing the full functionality of OS X 10.5 Leopard.
And then along comes the iPhone announcement at Macworld. But! At MacWorld there was hardly a mention of Mac’s by Apple nor of OS X 10.5 Leopard. Apple, Steve, was conspicuously silent on both subjects except a brief mention that the transition to Intel had been completed ahead of schedule. That was it.
And where are we, as Apple product consumers, now (late March ‘07)? We still know nothing further of the secret features of OS X 10.5 Leopard, and a variety of forecasters are suggesting that all Mac models are overdue for upgrades.
Furthermore, iLife ’07 and iWork ’07 are due - and again not a word exists in the aether as to their release dates or possible functionality - save the spreadsheet and, less likely, database rumours. So why hasn’t Apple announced any of its secrets? Vista’s been released so what the heck!
There must be a legitimate and cogent business rationale for not disclosing what it is about OS X 10.5 Leopard that is so secret that announcing it early would create unrealistic expectations in the market that will not be met, or that announcing the full functionality would have harmed income and profit between the time of announcement and the time of release to market.
My vivid belief is that Apple has held back on all, but some innocuous, functionality announcements regarding OS X 10.5 Leopard for fear of creating such an expectation, anticipation and demand for an unreleased product that income and profit would suffer significantly between the period from the announcement to the release.
OS X 10.5 Leopard will introduce, in my opinion, a revolutionary user interface on a new line of Mac hardware models that will not require, but can use, a keyboard and a mouse. For support of this “guess” have a look at the way OS X has been implemented on the iPhone. Also have a look at Jeff Han’s presentation on revolutionary computer - human interfaces. The similarities are striking - and relevant.
I intentionally used the words “revolutionary UI” in the above paragraph. That is exactly what Steve Job’s said about OS X on the iPhone. Why would this sort of interface be made available by Apple ONLY on the iPhone. Why not capitalise on this multiple-touch sensitive screen on all Apple models with a screen.
Of course this type of human-computer interface cannot be tested on anything but a computer with a touch sensitive screen in the vein of the iPhone or the screen technology used by Jeff Han in his presentation. Hence all developer seeds of OS X 10.5 do not include this revolutionary UI. It can’t be used by them, why include it.
Steve even alluded to this in the iPhone Keynote - saying that Apple had tried a variety of technologies before settling on the one implemented in the iPhone. Why would Apple amortise the cost of such research only on the iPhone?
A simple look at the facets Apple has included in OS X 10.5 are pointers:
* Core Animation
* Resolution Independence
* Garbage Collection
* XCode 3.0 (not released because to do so would give away the UI)
iMacs, Macbooks and Macbook Pros are all due for upgrades - if you are one who subscribes to a time based model for hardware upgrades.
If my guesses above are anywhere near the truth, then it follows that if Apple had announced this revolutionary UI at WWDC ’06, or anytime before product release, sales of Mac hardware would have fallen off significantly while consumers waited for OS X 10.5 Leopard to be finalised and released. An announcement of this kind would have dramatically affected the transition to Intel, and also the conversion of many Windows users to Mac / OS X users.
A couple of other rumours are germaine:
* Apple building a tablet PC. Well this is close to the mark but not quite on the money.
* OS X 10.5 Leopard is a 3D operating system (well Finder). Again this is close to but not quite the whole story.
Apple is a company in business. They do things for business and not emotive reasons. An announcement of such functionality in OS X 10.5 Leopard, or a major hardware model change (multiple-touch sensitive screens) would have impacted its bottom line significantly and weakened dramatically the impact of the Intel transition, and consequent switchers from Windows to OS X.
Oh, and I think that Steve didn't mention OS X, Macs or iLife / iWork at Macworld for 2 reasons:
* Apple didn't want to steal any thunder away from the iPhone - fair enough; and
* Apple didn't want to draw any attention to the feature set in OS X and, possibly, iLife and iWork '07, and they certainly didn't want to defer sales of new Macs if they announced touch screen technology was planned.
Is OS X Leopard a Windows Vista killer? No question of it, provided you, the consumer, have the hardware to support its revolutionary new interface.
So, thats it for me this autumn afternoon on the patio … time for another cold beer.
(Posted in OS X Forum as well)
Rumours and suspicions abound with regard to the secret functionality that Apple has held back from public announcement in relation to it’s forthcoming release of OSX 10.5 Leopard.
Steve Job’s mocked at WWDC ’06 that the reason some details were held back from public announcement was to prevent the competition, aka Microsoft, from being able to copy these secrets into what was, at the time, the impending finalisation of Windows Vista. I do love that line “Redmond, start your photocopiers.” though.
So why didn’t Steve announce the complete functionality of OS X 10.5 at WWDC - was it really to stop Microsoft copying some “new and you beaut” technology in the weeks between WWDC and Windows Vista RTM version? Of course not. We all know that was just some PR.
Could it have been because Apple was unsure whether the secret bits would not be finished in time to meet the release deadlines? Possibly, but I don’t think so - and I’ll explain why later. So we’ve just about ruled out competitive pressures and product feature completion as the reasons behind Apple not announcing the full functionality of OS X 10.5 Leopard.
And then along comes the iPhone announcement at Macworld. But! At MacWorld there was hardly a mention of Mac’s by Apple nor of OS X 10.5 Leopard. Apple, Steve, was conspicuously silent on both subjects except a brief mention that the transition to Intel had been completed ahead of schedule. That was it.
And where are we, as Apple product consumers, now (late March ‘07)? We still know nothing further of the secret features of OS X 10.5 Leopard, and a variety of forecasters are suggesting that all Mac models are overdue for upgrades.
Furthermore, iLife ’07 and iWork ’07 are due - and again not a word exists in the aether as to their release dates or possible functionality - save the spreadsheet and, less likely, database rumours. So why hasn’t Apple announced any of its secrets? Vista’s been released so what the heck!
There must be a legitimate and cogent business rationale for not disclosing what it is about OS X 10.5 Leopard that is so secret that announcing it early would create unrealistic expectations in the market that will not be met, or that announcing the full functionality would have harmed income and profit between the time of announcement and the time of release to market.
My vivid belief is that Apple has held back on all, but some innocuous, functionality announcements regarding OS X 10.5 Leopard for fear of creating such an expectation, anticipation and demand for an unreleased product that income and profit would suffer significantly between the period from the announcement to the release.
OS X 10.5 Leopard will introduce, in my opinion, a revolutionary user interface on a new line of Mac hardware models that will not require, but can use, a keyboard and a mouse. For support of this “guess” have a look at the way OS X has been implemented on the iPhone. Also have a look at Jeff Han’s presentation on revolutionary computer - human interfaces. The similarities are striking - and relevant.
I intentionally used the words “revolutionary UI” in the above paragraph. That is exactly what Steve Job’s said about OS X on the iPhone. Why would this sort of interface be made available by Apple ONLY on the iPhone. Why not capitalise on this multiple-touch sensitive screen on all Apple models with a screen.
Of course this type of human-computer interface cannot be tested on anything but a computer with a touch sensitive screen in the vein of the iPhone or the screen technology used by Jeff Han in his presentation. Hence all developer seeds of OS X 10.5 do not include this revolutionary UI. It can’t be used by them, why include it.
Steve even alluded to this in the iPhone Keynote - saying that Apple had tried a variety of technologies before settling on the one implemented in the iPhone. Why would Apple amortise the cost of such research only on the iPhone?
A simple look at the facets Apple has included in OS X 10.5 are pointers:
* Core Animation
* Resolution Independence
* Garbage Collection
* XCode 3.0 (not released because to do so would give away the UI)
iMacs, Macbooks and Macbook Pros are all due for upgrades - if you are one who subscribes to a time based model for hardware upgrades.
If my guesses above are anywhere near the truth, then it follows that if Apple had announced this revolutionary UI at WWDC ’06, or anytime before product release, sales of Mac hardware would have fallen off significantly while consumers waited for OS X 10.5 Leopard to be finalised and released. An announcement of this kind would have dramatically affected the transition to Intel, and also the conversion of many Windows users to Mac / OS X users.
A couple of other rumours are germaine:
* Apple building a tablet PC. Well this is close to the mark but not quite on the money.
* OS X 10.5 Leopard is a 3D operating system (well Finder). Again this is close to but not quite the whole story.
Apple is a company in business. They do things for business and not emotive reasons. An announcement of such functionality in OS X 10.5 Leopard, or a major hardware model change (multiple-touch sensitive screens) would have impacted its bottom line significantly and weakened dramatically the impact of the Intel transition, and consequent switchers from Windows to OS X.
Oh, and I think that Steve didn't mention OS X, Macs or iLife / iWork at Macworld for 2 reasons:
* Apple didn't want to steal any thunder away from the iPhone - fair enough; and
* Apple didn't want to draw any attention to the feature set in OS X and, possibly, iLife and iWork '07, and they certainly didn't want to defer sales of new Macs if they announced touch screen technology was planned.
Is OS X Leopard a Windows Vista killer? No question of it, provided you, the consumer, have the hardware to support its revolutionary new interface.
So, thats it for me this autumn afternoon on the patio … time for another cold beer.
(Posted in OS X Forum as well)
<severely snipped>
While you may be as completely wrong as I - and others - will likely be, that was nonetheless one of the most cogent and possibly prescient analyses thus far on the entire OS/Hardware update saga.
A good read. Thanks much!
I was about to say the same thing as John.
While the interpretation is a stretch and may be wrong, it is one of the most thoughtful analyses on the current state of Apple's plans that I have seen, far exceeding many of the "analysts" we see out there. And I've read a lot.
Thank you
ps.
On a related note, I was watching the AppleTV screen saver on a small screen, seeing lots of great pictures go by. Occassionally I wanted to touch the screen and push a picture to the right or left so I could look at something behind it... it seemed such a natural thing to do.
Every analogy fails at some point of course. And that's because in any comparison you'll find other properties that don't line up with your point. I was exclusively making a comparison with that of functionality; not appearance or longevity. As you validly distinguish, this analogy only works on that very isolated portion of it. Perhaps we should revise the comparison to a new 1960 Cadillac vs. a new 2007 Cadillac.
"You know, selling an operating system is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman..."
LOL. The fabulous Swiss Tony, if only he worked for Apple.
