How does everyone feel about the Macless Macworld?

[Mikuro]

Originally Posted by rubaiyat

Apple drifted from a regular annual update of OSX (which Steve used to deride Microsoft) to saying Leopard might take 18 months to release, to now taking over 2 years.

It's not 2 years just yet. IIRC, Tiger was released in late April '05. When Apple first previewed Leopard at WWDC, they said it would be released in "early" 2007 (were they as specific as "Q1 2007"?).

There was a lot of "reasonable" assumptions that it would be released in late '06, but I think it was all just speculation based on their previous release frequency.

That said, I am seriously bummed that there was no word at all on Leopard at Macworld. I wasn't expecting it to be released, but the thought that we wouldn't have any new info at all honestly hadn't even crossed my mind. No release date, no expanded preview...nothing. I'm a month or two away from raiding Cupertino with pithfork and torch in hand.

[rubaiyat]

I am going on the anticipated schedule. It will be over 2 years by the time we see it.

As for picking the low hanging fruit, seems to me they can't quite figure out whether that fruit is a pear, peach or grapefruit. Definitely not Apple as I knew it.

I saw a fairly measured and level headed assessment of Vista on a recent site, where the writer said whilst Vista may not have quite the flash of OSX at least it has a more consistent look. None of OSX's various flavors of Aqua, brushed metal and other oddments.

Aesthetics aside I'd like Apple to take a long hard look at polishing the functional details in OSX. Productivity is where a truely great OS wins out. Even when Classic Mac OS lacked stability it shone in transparency, consistency and speed.

I'm tired of pointing out on Apple's feedback site, the inconsistencies, failed GUI and bugs that never get eliminated.

[eric2006]

Originally Posted by rubaiyat

I saw a fairly measured and level headed assessment of Vista on a recent site, where the writer said whilst Vista may not have quite the flash of OSX at least it has a more consistent look. None of OSX's various flavors of Aqua, brushed metal and other oddments.

Woah - what? Have you used Windows lately? Sure, the system may look good, but practically every application has it's own appearance and UI. In OS X, you get the same general feel for every application.

That aside, I think that they're just building pressure for the release - showing half-baked features in Leopard would just make everyone want it sooner, or turn people off about it. By keeping it secret (as Apple is so good at), they make it's release more dramatic and - ultimately - profitable.

[Natobasso]

As has slowly occured with graphic design software (see InDesign vs. Quark) the incumbent platform can be ursurped by the upstart/underdog very quickly if it makes a serious misstep.

Unfortunately, Apple's shooting itself in the foot in the service department (I see great comments all the time on this site that we are quicker and better than Apple's Customer Support!) and so it 5% share of the pc market could be much bigger by now.

[fryke]

I find it strange how people are "fed up with" or "angry with" Apple for not keeping up with those people's expectations. To talk about "how Leopard slipped in recent years" is _hilarious_ - if you think about how its development was only announced about 7 months ago. rubaiyat said: "Leopard's release date has slipped steadily in the last couple of years." Do you _really_ believe the things you say there?

Microsoft released Windows XP in 2003 (late, might I add, according to the original Whistler plans) and will release Vista in 2007 (very late, might I add, according to the original Longhorn plans), whereas Apple released 10.0 in 2001, 10.1 in 2001, 10.2 in 2002, 10.3 in 2003 and 10.4 in 2005. I'd say Apple's pretty predictable about those releases. The frequency was more quick at the beginning, because there was a _lot_ to be fixed. But from Jaguar onwards, Apple could breathe a little more. I'm personally glad that Apple takes the time it needs for Leopard.

[Lt Major Burns]

Tiger was released 18 months after Panther. it wasn't totally finished. i;d prefer a finished product to buggy rubbish, with leopard.

why do you really want this so bad, rubayiat? what is stopping you from doing what you need to do on Tiger, the best OS in the world?

Leopard probably won't be stable and thoroughly usable until about 10.5.3/4, which is easily going to be around august time, if not later.

buy a mac now. Tiger is just so powerful and stable. then in 9 months time, upgrade to Leopard. or don't.

[rubaiyat]

My son would like to start the year with a new computer of his own. I'd like to get him off mine.

If we buy now it is bleedin' obvious it will be superceded in short order. Which means having paid too much for it or got short changed on features which will be crucial eg a 2nd internal hard drive to make Time Machine usable or Blu-Ray to read new media.

Both iLife and iWork need updating, that will cost A$119 each if they are upgrades. Leopard will cost A$199. These alone make a difference of A$436 if bought too early. Similarly there will be a major difference in the iMac 24" price.

It is the uncertainty that is painful. We expected to know by now when and if the upgrades would be available. Now it could be soon, or much later. My experience of Apple is little delays drag out into big delays and sometimes ultimate total disappointment. They can also make a major switch and leave you in the lurch if you moved too soon.

I have bought Macs previously to instantly regret them. My G4 AGP I grew to hate after having spent a small fortune on it. I don't want to do that again.

[Lt Major Burns]

this could be endless though. iMacs won't ever have 2nd hard drive bays - that's what Mac Pro's are for; Time machine is designed for use with external hard drives.
blu-ray will be far too expensive for any realistic gain for at least a year from now, so i'd scratch that off the list for now.
iLife 04 is still very much usable. i don't want or need any of the features in the bloated 05/06 or even 07 releases. hell, if i could ask for a new mac with iLife 04 on it i would, i really can't see why moaning about a point release is that much of a deal. and iWork doesn't get sold with new macs anyway.

basically, i think my point is, is that the computer you actually want, the one you are putting off buying now, won't be released for at least a year. the computer that runs leopard perfectly, the one with blu-ray, et al.... it's just not viable in the next 2-3 months. and in a years time, you will be facing the same dilemmas...