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New OS X in 2004? Would you upgrade?

SiliconAddict

SiliconAddict

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jun 19, 2003
5,889
0
Chicago, IL
Does anyone think Apple is going to release another version of OS X in 2004 or hold off and do more in 2005? The once a year upgrade HAS to be wearing on the wallets and purses of many Mac users. Another question. Lets assume that Apple does release 10.4 this fall and it has the same incremental upgrades as the jump from 10.2 to 10.3 would you upgrade? Admittedly I'm guessing most Mac folk would need to see what Apple is offering before biting but humor me on this.

I'm just curious on the stance of Mac users when it comes to upgrading on a yearly basis. Granted I would prefer a yearly upgrade to Microsoft's 3+ years adventure in code writing but still. Thoughts?
 
Re: New OS X in 2004? Would you upgrade?

Originally posted by SiliconAddict
Does anyone think Apple is going to release another version of OS X in 2004 or hold off and do more in 2005? The once a year upgrade HAS to be wearing on the wallets and purses of many Mac users. Another question. Lets assume that Apple does release 10.4 this fall and it has the same incremental upgrades as the jump from 10.2 to 10.3 would you upgrade?
Click to expand...

According to the release dates of the 10.x:
10.0 = March '01
10.1 = September '01
10.2 = July '02
10.3 = October '03

10.0 >> 10.1 = 6 months
10.1 >> 10.2 = 10 months (= + 4 months)
10.2 >> 10.3 = 15 months (= + 5 months)
10.3 >> 10.4 = 21 months??? (= + 6 months based on the difference of 1 month extra wait each time... ;) )

So 10.4 will be released July in 2005 :D

And yes, I will probably buy it assuming that Apple does release 10.4 (next summer) and it has the same incremental upgrades as the jump from 10.2 to 10.3
 
I'd say Christmas at the very earliest. And I think it would have to be some pretty big update, as Panther has most of what people need. (Bug fixes will come as minor updates).

This would leave the field open for new innovative things.

Luckily, Apple hasn't left Jaguar users in the dark (they can still run everything that Apple offers) so you don't need panther. Always tempting though! Again, with 10.4, you won't have to get it, and your Mac will run fine without it. But you know you'll want it really.

Maybe when 10.4 comes out they should let owners of 10.1 upgrade to Jaguar for free? They have paid for OS X once after all...
 
If the new version has significant upgrades to Panther then I'd get it. Based on past experiences it will have significant upgrades. I have no idea what they could be though--I thought Jaguar was pretty perfect until Panther came out.
 
Re: Re: New OS X in 2004? Would you upgrade?

Originally posted by MacsRgr8
According to the release dates of the 10.x:
10.0 = March '01
10.1 = September '01
10.2 = July '02
10.3 = October '03

10.0 >> 10.1 = 6 months
10.1 >> 10.2 = 10 months (= + 4 months)
10.2 >> 10.3 = 15 months (= + 5 months)
10.3 >> 10.4 = 21 months??? (= + 6 months based on the difference of 1 month extra wait each time... ;) )

So 10.4 will be released July in 2005 :D

And yes, I will probably buy it assuming that Apple does release 10.4 (next summer) and it has the same incremental upgrades as the jump from 10.2 to 10.3
Click to expand...

Here's a list to second that:

http://www.theapplemuseum.com/index.php?id=tam&page=timeline&subpage=os
 
expose and FUS were two reasons i upgraded. so unless 10.4 offers something substantial, i won't bother upgrading immediately like i did with panther.

if 10.4 came with "iLife '05" or whatever they might call the next version with improvements in each of iApps, then i'd consider more strongly. as is, there's no definitive word on whether iLife and OS X are now completely separate things or not...
 
I'll prolly stick with 10.3 till 10.5, unless you know they bundle iLife with it.


EDIT: lol, to anyone complaining about the numbering style of OSX, look at OS7. 1991-1997 and only reaching 7.6.1
 
Originally posted by 7on
EDIT: lol, to anyone complaining about the numbering style of OSX, look at OS7. 1991-1997 and only reaching 7.6.1
Click to expand...
I like the numbering system now. They had to get up to 10 (hence OS 9 not being very long) so that they could use the 'X' and help differentiate this OS from the classic OS. Otherwise, people may have gotten confused about it, thinking it was just another, more refined, step upgrade.

Notice too how 10.3 is marketed as "Panther" to the extent that "10.3" is generally omitted. This is another good thing IMO as you immediately know what they're talking about and it sounds much different to Jaguar. Granted, 10.2 was branded "Jaguar" but they still referenced the "10.2" a lot more in the text.

Question is, when do they start Mac OS 11/XI?
 
keep in mind most of Apple's OS upgrades are worth the upgrade price...Even though Apple takes around a year to release a new update, that update is just as major as one of Microsoft's.
So its sorta cheaper...
Besides you dont *need* the latest OS with the latest updates to use it, its jsut that some apps are 10.3 only etc. and some apps wont work in 10.3 blah blah...
(you could always solve that by partitioning your drive and installing different versions on different partitions)

so imho I'd love to upgrade, no matter what the cost. It's completely worth the $70 :) (edu price)
 
minimum requirements?

what do you suppose you'll need to run 10.4 when it comes out? i've got a 500mHz imac, i'm wondering whether 10.3 is the last one i'll be able to run and maybe i should upgrade to that as i'm on 10.2 now. but then haven't i heard of some guy running panther on the first gen imac or something?
if i can, i'd like to hold out untill 10.4, cause yeah, i can't really justify the 100$ a year upgrade thing as a poor student.
 
You can count on 10.4 to only run on G4s and G5s. The 10.3 milestone was reached by saying it could only run on new world ROM machines. The next major advancement in Apple's hardware architecture was the switch to G4s. I'm sure there will be people upset about it, but it seems inevitable that at some point they will drop G3s. Doesn't mean your G3 isn't a perfectly good machine, but Apple has to draw the line somewhere, otherwise overtax its support staff.
 
I'm a poor student but I will find the money to upgrade to 10.4. These upgrades have always proven to me to be worthwhile and important. I have no doubt that 10.4 will make me wet myself when I see specs and details concerning the added and updated features over Panther.
 
I think in the last Keynote Steve Jobs said that 'The transition is over'. This was when he was describing the OS upgrades since OS9.
So I don't believe there'll be upgrades as frequently as there has been, apart from updates of course.
This is unless they don't release an update to 10.3 to make it fully 64bit.
In which case 10.4 might just be a 64bit upgrade for G5 owners. If that doesn't happen, then maybe our next major upgrade (10.4, XI?) might not be coming for at least another couple of years.
Just my opinion.
 
What with the "transition", there's more money to be made from updating the OS.

I expect they'll keep to their regular-ish schedule, not slow down.
 
I hope that they manage to do it sometime around the Sept./Oct. window. I'm planning on buying a new G5 and cinema display that night since they tend to offer 10% discounts at those occassions.
 
I wish apple would release a *great* every two years than a half-ass os (i.e. jaguar) every year. Im really getting tired of these yearly os upgrades.:rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by gopher
You can count on 10.4 to only run on G4s and G5s. The 10.3 milestone was reached by saying it could only run on new world ROM machines. The next major advancement in Apple's hardware architecture was the switch to G4s. I'm sure there will be people upset about it, but it seems inevitable that at some point they will drop G3s. Doesn't mean your G3 isn't a perfectly good machine, but Apple has to draw the line somewhere, otherwise overtax its support staff.
Click to expand...
Apple has focused on G4s upward recently, but I can't help but feel that they'll be plenty of annoyed iBook owners if they cut out the G3s next time. iBooks were G3 until October remember.
 
I don't see Apple cutting out the G3's until 10.5 at the earliest. And I think it won't be at least until 11/XI until they go to 64-bit, otherwise they'd be cutting off everyone with a G4, which should be capable of running 10.x, and maybe even 11 depending on how far they go with the 10.x scheme.
 
I expect Apple to keep innovating and keep turning out great OS's every once in a while, although I wouldn't expect them to do it this frequently. Innovation is what Apple is all about, and the superior OS compared to Windows is one of the big reasons why Apple has such a loyal fan base. Since all Microsoft does is copy Apple, they have to keep releasing new things to stay ahead of the competition. Even if Microsoft copied all of the features of OS X they wouldn't get it as perfect, but we Mac users need some things to show off to PC users (like Expose).

Like some others have said, I would rather they took more time to develop the OS and make it work perfectly before releasing it. The recent problems such as the Panther Firewire disk problems and the 12'' PB fan problems in 10.3.2 come to mind. Not to mention the frequent security updates that have been released recently. They're nowhere as frequent as Microsoft, but the less there is, the better.
 
Originally posted by jxyama
expose and FUS were two reasons i upgraded. so unless 10.4 offers something substantial, i won't bother upgrading immediately like i did with panther.

if 10.4 came with "iLife '05" or whatever they might call the next version with improvements in each of iApps, then i'd consider more strongly. as is, there's no definitive word on whether iLife and OS X are now completely separate things or not...
Click to expand...

This post is exactly what I was going to write. To be honest, I'm a little disappointed with Panther. It's not noticeably faster (on my machine, at least) and I don't seem to use a lot of the new features. Expose is pretty cool but I don't think it's worth the price tag. I have found Fast User Switching to be helpful. I can log my 2-year old son in and still download stuff in the background without worrying about him wrecking things.

I also think that they should include iLife with the OS. It would make a lot more people feel better about paying for frequent updates.

Squire
 
I would definately upgrade. I like having the latest and greatest features. I also like having the latest software. If I hadn't gotten Panther, I couldn't use Safari 1.2.

As for requirements, I'm betting on built-in FireWire. That would shut out the first iMacs up to 400 Mhz. They won't cut out recent G3 users for some time. It was five years before they shut out Beige G3 users (1998-2003) with Panther. As long as your system has decent hardware, why shut out older users? That would just hurt OS sales. According to that, G3s should be supported until 2008.
 
Yes, but it's about time for another free major upgrade.

There were plenty of speed and stability upgrades in 10.3 but it's definitely not the end. It still feels as if it's only 75 percent done. After the little bits from 7.6 to 9.0 which were paid releases, I'm glad to see more meat, but it's difficult to make up 17 years' of progress when you're practically starting all over again.
 
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