Apple are not forcing you to do anything. Back porting the final version of Messages would have taken a fair amount of work and there is no incentive for Apple to do so. People need to stop their sense of self entitlement.
It's not self-entitlement. It's a reasonable expectation for an operating system to continue to function for more than a flipping YEAR. I barely even noticed Lion existed before Mountain Lion came out and thus I still have Snow Leopard on my MBP.
It's great Apple wants to add new features to OSX, but maybe they should take a page out of OSX 10.4 and extend such basic things to the existing operating system through system updates rather than arbitrary "major" updates that feel like very small point updates to me. I just got a Macbook Pro 13" for my mother since she has a hard time with all the crap in Windows constantly updating and virus checking, etc. and just getting in the way of using the computer. She's ALREADY commented that OSX is nagging her to do software updates just like Windows did. Having not updated my day-to-day PPC Mac for ages and routinely having very few things TO update on my Snow Leopard machine, I hadn't realized how bad it would be to new user with a new computer using the latest OS.
Frankly, there's something to be said for a STABLE OS platform that is NOT updated every other week. Updating SOFTWARE (and Messages IS really just software) shouldn't mean updating the entire flipping operating system in order to update a simple application. It's getting ridiculous and it has a LOT to do with the speed at which the mobile market moves where technology is still rapidly developing and hardware is being constantly updated (unlike a desktop environment where you only need so much power to run things like Microsoft Word and a web browser).
It's all the more reason Apple should consider using public "development" operating system builds and leave things stable for major releases. In other words, until Mountain Lion is complete, Lion should not have to suffer any loss of function (i.e. the basic apps like iChat should be stable and not be getting messages like, "if you wish to continue using something that's been in OSX for the past decade, you MUST update to Mountain Lion and that means forking over money. If your computer CAN'T update, FRAK YOU. Go buy some newer hardware you LEECH!" And THAT is the truth of what Apple is REALLY saying, I'm afraid.
Microsoft should NOT be trying to emulate Apple's mobile success, IMO. They should be the ROCK that is STABLE and RELIABLE instead. Windows8 fails in that regard by negating the interface everyone is already used to. If they want a new interface, make it an OPTION for goodness sake, not the new default! I don't think Apple or Microsoft seem to get that some of us might like to CHOOSE how our desktop looks and behaves rather than someone else DICTATING it.
OTOH, let's get back to point updates versus major ones. I've now used OSX 10.8.2 and to be honest, other than the launch pad/mission control thing, it looks/feels EXACTLY like Leopard (10.5) and frankly, very similar to 10.4 and 10.3, etc. That's a GOOD thing for the most part, IMO because there's nothing wrong with the OSX interface (although things like multi-monitor support with docks/menus could use a BIG improvement and yet that's the one area Apple REFUSES to work on!!!)
The problem is when they start artificially limiting what software can run on what hardware. They want you to upgrade to 10.8. Fine. Hold on a second. There's an increasing list of hardware that isn't allowed to run 10.8. Is there something wrong with those computers? No. Apple would just prefer to 'encourage' you to buy hardware you don't need. How about ENTICING me to upgrade with actual hardware improvements that I care about rather than an aribitrary decision on some greedy accountant's part (oh wait that would be Tim Cook
🙄 ).
Sadly, the only thing the consumer can do is provide feedback and vote with their wallets. That appears to be the ONLY thing Apple understands.
