Leopard may be delayed
We've seen this before, of course, but today DigiTimes is reporting that Leopard may be as late as October...and it's Vista's fault (kind of).More of those infamous "reliable sources" are saying that Apple is busy adding Vista support to Leopard's integrated implementation of Boot Camp. The idea is that built-in XP support won't be enough to attract new switchers who want to use Vista.
Of course, this "reliable source" could be someone's Uncle Frank who never leaves the house, but the delay is being covered by a number of outlets. As usual, we leave you with this: Time will tell.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
James Snyder said 12:25PM on 3-23-2007
Honestly, I think this is BS. Boot Camp already makes it possible to install Vista, though a bit awkwardly. Really all Apple needs to do is roll in drivers for Vista and adjust the reboot cycles to match Vista. I can't believe that the few custom drivers needed for the special keyboard buttons, and startup disk support are going to delay Leopard until October. If anything is holding things up, it'd be nailing down the bugs in Leopard itself.. This has nothing to do with Vista.
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Martin Sketchley said 12:40PM on 3-23-2007
Yawn.
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Neven said 12:56PM on 3-23-2007
That sounds really bananas. So Apple would displease its loyal fan base in order to please the 1% of Vista schmucks who might run it under Boot Camp? Uh, how's this - they release Leopard whenever it's ready and update Boot Camp to support Vista when that's ready.
This would be like not rolling out a new version of iTunes (to add AppleTV support) because it may not work under Vista. Who cares? Roll it out to those it will work for and get to the riff-raff when you get to it.
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Jack Beckman said 1:01PM on 3-23-2007
Why does anyone report what "DigiTimes" says? They're *always* wrong. Always.
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ScottH said 2:36PM on 3-23-2007
I had an angry response all planned out, but Neven (#3) said exactly what I was thinking. Holding back Leopard for Vista compatibility? That's horribly wrong.
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John Proffitt said 2:51PM on 3-23-2007
While Leopard could be late -- even later than June -- I think October is too far out. Would Steve let the IT press mock him after all the Vista mocking he's done over the last couple of years?
Further, Boot Camp hasn't (so far) been a major push for Apple in the marketing space, as evidenced by their reference to Parallels in some of their TV advertising. Seems to me that if they wanted to make Vista dual booting more integrated / smoother, they could release Leopard with XP support sooner and then add Vista support later as a patch.
Having a dual boot system and supporting Vista is important, but important enough to delay the rest of Leopard?
Now, as for the new features of Leopard, I do think Apple's running out the clock a bit much here. The "top secret" features are going to have to be beta tested by someone before they ship and beta testers leak like sieves, so we'd hear about them in advance of release.
Hitting a June release date looks less and less possible to me with each passing day. I'm not sure I'd want to buy Leopard if some of the features -- especially the new ones -- haven't been vetted at least for a few months by an active beta community. And a June release is now just under three months away.
My bet... If we don't learn some of the super-secret features by April 15, then Leopard slips to an August Macworld release.
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Andrew said 3:44PM on 3-23-2007
I don't even know why so many websites, including AppleInsider, are reporting this nonsense. DigiTimes is just asking for attention.
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Mike said 3:46PM on 3-23-2007
Apple is trying to gain convertees from windows typically from users who don't know much about computers but heard from their friends that "if it doesn't work under the mac, you'll be able to boot windows and run it on that!" When these people walk into the apple store and ask "Does this iMac run Vista?" they have to get a yes answer. If they receive a "yes, but.." those users are going to go for the sure thing and buy a Dell.
It is extremely important that bootcamp which comes with Leopard runs Vista easily and flawlessly.
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Michael Gartenberg said 3:49PM on 3-23-2007
Not Accurate, confirmed with Apple.
http://weblogs.jupiterresearch.com/analysts/gartenberg/archives/2007/03/is_leopard_dela.html
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rahrens said 4:18PM on 3-23-2007
And all of those various sites reporting this cite Digitimes as their source.
Not exactly verified through the usual two additional sources, huh?
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Rubbinz said 4:41PM on 3-23-2007
If true, I want no part of it. Boot Camp should remain an optional, separate download for those that want it. Bundling it with the entire OS and then delaying its release would turn me away from Apple.
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Kol. Panic said 4:45PM on 3-23-2007
What a bunch of morans! There's nothing wrong except Boot Camp's Vista support? And Apple will delay a significant update - one that directly impacts the CS3 cash-cow - to support a few users who want to dual boot Vista (when most use Parallels anyway)?
There's nothing to prevent Apple shipping Leopard by June 21 and improving Boot Camp with the 10.5.1 or 10.5.2 update. I guess if the rumor came from Digitimes, that means Leopard will be early, not late.
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Mike said 5:22PM on 3-23-2007
First, Apple debunked it. Second, Microsoft was using a Macbook Pro to demo Vista before it was even release using Apple's beta bootcamp software. Why not use the best hardware to demo your own product? Makes it look better. You're giving the rumorers the attention they want. Just laugh at them.
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deep trance said 5:40PM on 3-23-2007
I find it hard to believe Apple would delay Leopard just for better Vista support. Extra support could be added as a later download for those who need it.
I agree with James - Leopard could be delayed (although my money's on June) but if it is, it won't be anything to do with Vista.
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Adrian vG said 7:07AM on 3-24-2007
#9: So if I write the same thing in my blog - it must be true?
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MILE said 8:05AM on 3-24-2007
Delaying the release of 10.5 just because they want to have more people use Windows on a Mac...?! Now that would really suck big time...
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sjmills said 10:06AM on 3-24-2007
From my testing of the latest seed, 10.5 is nowhere near ready. In fact, it's worse than the previous seed, like somebody forgot to do their job or wasn't paying attention when the manager said "everybody checked in and ready to go?"
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