Apple has just issued a
press release statement announcing that Mac OS X 10.5
Leopard has been delayed until October. The reason?
iPhone: "
we had to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from our Mac OS X team, and as a result we will not be able to release Leopard at our Worldwide Developers Conference in early June as planned." However, Apple will still be displaying a "feature complete" version of Leopard at
June's WWDC event, and will be giving beta versions for developers to take home and help put the finishing touches on.
This is a pretty significant announcement, especially considering that Apple has fallen under criticism as of late for dropping 'Computer' from their name and seemingly shifting their focus from computers to consumer devices such as the iPod, Apple TV and now Mac OS X-delaying iPhone. In a way though, I'm not surprised either, as a number of Mac OS X developers have expressed disbelief that Apple was going to hit a June release with Leopard in its currently buggy and fairly unfinished state.
On the bright side, this hopefully can be taken as a sign that Apple
is still committed to releasing quality software, even if slightly late this time around. The company could simply have shipped in June and issued 'Service Pack 1' later to patch all the gaping holes their customers found. But that wouldn't be very Apple, would it?
[
Update: Still nothing at apple.com/pr, but it has been posted to Apple's Hot News site:
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
4-12-2007 @ 4:50PM
derek said...
Can this be prooven? If it isn't on Apple.com, I wouldn't believe it.
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 4:55PM
Michael P McHugh said...
It's on Apple.com now... :-(
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 4:56PM
John Hawley said...
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
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4-12-2007 @ 4:59PM
Dave Chartier said...
The press release I received is from a reputable PR service that many companies use to help distribute their releases. In fact, they often send out these releases before companies post them on their own site.
Sadly, this is legit.
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 4:59PM
Daniel said...
" The company could simply have shipped in June and issued 'Service Pack 1' later to patch all the gaping holes their customers found. "
I'm pretty sure you're joking... right? Cuz it's not funny.
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 5:00PM
David said...
Daniel....uh, yes. It's definitely a joke. Give Dave Chartier some credit. :-)
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 5:04PM
philip said...
well, crap. its confirmed. i really hope this is a late april fools, but thats unlikely.
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4-12-2007 @ 5:04PM
Mark (UK) said...
So is the new OS name Mac OS Vista.....
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 5:06PM
Andre said...
*cry*
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4-12-2007 @ 5:08PM
Jonathan said...
Altough I agree this delay is good for the software side, but hasn't Microsoft come under criticization for delaying (granted this is only a few months)?
But, yea.
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4-12-2007 @ 5:17PM
Goobimama said...
Noooooooohohoho!!!! Waaaaah!!!! Tears form in my eyes (for real). I was waiting on this one for so long now...
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4-12-2007 @ 5:18PM
Tom said...
After all the criticism of Windows, this is not going to be good for Apple.
And what about us people who aren't interested in the Apple phone? (Sorry $500+ for a phone, no thanks.) Seems like a really bad idea to me.
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 5:21PM
Dirk S said...
I was not waiting for the iPhone, I am waiting for Leopard and for iLife and iWorks 2007.
I wish they would finish what they started first before they did these other new projects. The first cracks are starting to appear from my persepctive.
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4-12-2007 @ 5:22PM
Ahmad said...
I was hoping to be able to purchase Leopard before the fall semester.... but I guess it doesn't really make a difference now that it's coming out in October. As long as everything works right and looks pretty, I'll be happy.
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 5:22PM
Embrace said...
Hm,
Vista - Completly new OS coding delayed and mac fanboys jump all over it "OMG HAHAHA DELAY"
OSX Leapord - Update to an older Operating system only including a few new programs which Windows and Linux have had for years gets delayed and mac fanboys cry... and praise apple for it... "Oh its ok apple... we still love you"
WTF?!
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 5:22PM
cavemonkey50 said...
Now with Leopard's release so far away, I really wonder if we'll see a 10.4.10 or 10.4.9.1 release.
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 5:25PM
Jules Stoop said...
If I were Apple I would offer those buying Macs in the back to school season a free (or at least inexpensive) upgrade to Leopard.
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 5:26PM
David said...
Being a Mac fan myself, I think this is one of the perks of actually releasing a good OS. You can delay the release of the newest version and I don't really care because I like the one I have now and expect them to get it ready for me to use (as bug free as possible) before they release it.
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4-12-2007 @ 5:28PM
running said...
HA HAA! I said that a month before and everybody on TUAW was like "hey what do you think, why do you believe some developer guy" and "When Apple says spring, it will be spring, because I am biggest apple fanboi." Now I am self-satisfied. :)
Reply
4-12-2007 @ 5:30PM
Tanner said...
I am a student hoping to purchase a new laptop before the Fall semester, and I was planning on buying one with Leopard, but I'm not going to buy a laptop in August only to have it upgraded in October. Apple needs to institute free (online if possible to avoid hassle) software upgrades for all computers bought after WWDC to make up for the delay.
With said delay, they are now alienating their core Mac customers more than ever, many of which do NOT want an iPhone (myself included, the thing rocks, but I don't want to be locked into a subscription plan). They are really banking A LOT on the phone, and the results could be catastrophic.
I wonder if we also won't be getting iLife in June as well, as they were rumored to be bundled.
Any thoughts from you guys?
Reply