Object-X said:
Top Secret stuff? You mean like a movie download service? Or a Front Row PVR? iPhone software?
I find it interesting that he didn't say anything about Front Row and how it would be improved.
I was thinking about that just now as I watched the Keynote. Many of the features demonstrated today seem to have been specifically mentioned because of their importance to developers. They're either new or improved resources for the devs to work with, or they are "quality of life" improvements. Notice that a lot of items on developer/advanced user wish lists were granted today -- multi-user iCal, multiple iChat enhancements for teleconferencing and so forth, multiple desktops, various organization-related advances in Mail, automated backups (what developer
wouldn't want that?), and so forth. This is definitely "Developers! Developers! Developers!" type stuff. Some of the biggest complaints (valid or not) are centered around the lack of various programs for OS X. This is a big gambit, and we should be looking at it in terms of its potential, not of its explicit results to Apple's product line. This WWDC was very strategic in nature -- Apple's going for the throat.
The top secret features? I expect that the mention was made largely to allay Apple fanboy fears of a underwhelming OS update, to keep Microsoft nervous, and to keep developers on their toes as well. That being said, I think there's a large grain of truth in it. As previously-mentioned, a good number of the improvements mentioned today were at least debatably for power users (not the Mail stationery, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's a connection somewhere).
The features that sell us on Leopard (and convince stragglers and non Mac-users to buy new Macs) are going to be impressive in function and not have much bearing on developers (at least, not like the Intel switch
). I mean enhancements to Front Row, iTunes, Quicktime (Just give us the @#$%ing Pro features), and other media-centered technologies. Enhancements to Safari, Finder (I hope), iCal, Address Book. Enhancements to consumer hardware, like the Airport base stations and (possibly) a TV-capture device.
In other words, I think Apple's flanking their competitors in the media center world and are preparing to do with video what they've done with audio. They might even attempt to crush Microsoft right around the Vista launch, when consumer confidence is at a low, by making their OS's entire software library just another feature of OS X.
Now, this probably isn't so. Apple might be resting on their Tiger laurels. But I think, after careful consideration, that Apple is going for the throat.
