OS X... and the name game

Bluefusion

Bluefusion

Into the Breach
OS X is at a strange point in time. The "X", while cool, no longer has its meaning. Updates named 10.1.4 and 10.2 are making the whole thing incredibly confusing ("Mac OS X 10.1.4)... and for the people who don't use/know about Macs, it's a three-letter acronym that makes no sense (Mac OS X?)

The question is, what is Apple going to do when it hits v. 11? 11 is a very bad number for most things, and it's been avoided historically because it just doesn't sound right. Many people thought ten wouldn't work either, but almost everyone figures 11 just doesn't work. I wonder what Apple will actually do when the X gets out of triple-digit upgrade numbers? I think they need some sort of new name, a fresh starting point. Calling the next OS v. 10 really messed up the plans for having a brand-new naming system, but I still think it would be a good idea.

What does everyone else think?
 
I think I remember Steve saying that Mac OS X would last a good 10 years or so. So my guess is that once the 10.2, 10.5, etc. is done and we have no more '10' to work with, it could be called something along the lines of "Mac OS X v11.0". Remember, Mac OS X Server was in the begining version 1.2 (i think).

It could be confusing to new users, but who knows, Apple can always surprise us (look at Jaguar).
:)
 
Well OS 9 lasted for 4 years. OS X will last for 4 years. Then the OS will be called OS 11. Simple as that.
 
Okay... *sigh* let's keep this thread. :)

Mac OS X Server 1.0 through 1.2 made sense. As long as the 'X' was a character rather than a number. But that changed with the arrival of Mac OS X 10.0.

Let's face it: Steve f*k'd up here. With version 11 the 'X' must go. It makes absolutely no sense to call the OS 'Mac OS 10 11.0' (spoken). So it *CAN'T* be 'Mac OS X 11.0' or 'Mac OS X v11.0'.

Whenever it comes, it will either be 'Mac OS 11.0' or something 'completely different'. And I hate it when people rename products just because of marketing issues. I want it to be Mac OS 11. Not something like Mac OS 2003.
 
The whole purpose behind using the "X" after Mac OS was to let people know - Hey, this isn't your old Mac OS anymore... . Apple wanted to clearly draw distinction between the old and the new for it's customers, and obviously, for marketing reasons.

Apple can handle this many different ways. It can, as has been suggested here in the past, use a numbering scheme that gives a .dot release inicating which year it debuts - ie, 10.2 in 2002, 10.3 in 2003, etc.

Or, it can use the standard numbering scheme 10.1, 10.5, 10.6, etc. And when they finally run out of numbers for point releases, they can change the name of Mac OS X to something else, like Windows2000 did with WinXP.

Potential next generation Mac OS names:
Mac OS NG
Mac OS MX (ooops already taken)
Mac OS 11
Mac OS X2
or even just plain ol Mac OS (insert version # here)...
 
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