Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, OS, Apple, Leopard
Thoughts on the Leopard delay announcement and TUAW comments
Apple may have just dealt us the bad news about Leopard, but already reactions are pouring in from across the web and even on our own comment thread. This announcement is huge, and it'll take a while to unpack it all, but I've had some early thoughts and reactions on what this all means, and I wanted to respond to some comments left at our original post of the news. There is quite a bit to deal with, but here are some ideas in no particular order:1) I agree with sentiments that some sort of OS upgrade time frame would be a great idea, especially since October is way too late for the EDU sales rush. Microsoft did it, and Apple makes their money from hardware sales, not boxes of Mac OS X. It would speak volumes and make - or break - a lot of customer loyalty. No word on whether Apple might actually do this - AFAIK, they never have before. Then again, they've never been this popular, and I don't think such a highly anticipated product has been delayed in light of another even more anticipated product before, either.
2) I also agree that I would rather have it this way than a craptastic release in June that's full of more holes than swiss cheese. Tiger is a damn fine piece of software and I'm happy to keep using it for a few more months.
3) We have to face that fact that the iPhone is likely going to sell more units than Mac OS X. In all likelihood, many more units. Mobile handsets sell in the billions each year; last year I think Apple sold around 6-10 million Macs. They sold double that in iPods over the 2006 winter holiday season alone. The iPhone is likely to be big - even bigger than we feel Mac OS X is.
4) With #3 out of the way: don't worry about the future of Macs or Mac OS X. Product launches like the iPhone are a tremendous effort for any company, but they typically herald in a period where many of that products resources can go back to their regularly scheduled focus. This certainly isn't always the case, but what I'm trying to say is that, in all likelihood, most of the engineers Apple said they had to commandeer from the Leopard wing at Cupertino for the iPhone will go back to Mac OS X development and, for the most part, stay there. The Mac isn't going anywhere.
5) In a few days, maybe a week or two, John C. Dvorak is probably going to pen part 2 of his 'Apple to trash Mac OS X for Windows' article, a concept which he loves to push our buttons with. I recommend you don't bother reading it, and highly recommend that you don't submit it to us as a tip. We're not linking to good ol' Johnny until he shows us some TUAW love for once first.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Eric Chiu said 6:46PM on 4-12-2007
Well. I want a Mac Pro in late Sept. But this probably mean I can't get it until November (shipping). I am graduating this year and my student discount / ADC membership ends @ Sept. Sad.
Luckily I'm a ibank graduate, not so lucky for many of my mac-fan m8s.
Bah.
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Dave Chartier said 6:59PM on 4-12-2007
Why can't you simply buy the Mac Pro before your membership expires and a copy of Leopard later?
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Michael said 7:03PM on 4-12-2007
I think that the demand for leopard is still relatively small. I mean outside of the people that frequent TUAW or are hungry for some new OS X software.
I think that the average consumer probably isn't even aware of Leopard and considering a large focus of Apple's marketing is geared towards new customers, the delay of Leopard is not going to be a deal breaker.
Tiger is not really in any means an outdated operating system. It is still a strong OS and I don't think that people are waiting around for Leopard because they NEED a new OS, just that they wANT one.
I like the idea of a free upgrade for customers who purchase a mac just before the release of Leopard. I just think it needs to be done in a way where it doesnt give Tiger an outdated look because that may deter potential new mac users
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cs0875 said 7:00PM on 4-12-2007
Apple should be worried about declining hardware sales. I remember reading hardware sales were down more than expected in the 1st qtr as people were waiting for Leopard. Well that means hardware sales will be down for 3 qtrs instead of 1. What could be worse is some of these people will just get a PC w/vista beacause they don't want to wait.
Also, Jobs has to eat some crow. How many jabs did he make at Microsoft regarding Vistas delay? Now he looks like them.
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Joshua Ochs said 7:05PM on 4-12-2007
However, take this in light of the fact that Apple's OS releases have been consistently slowing down. Mac OS X 10.1 shipped in 9/2001, 10.2 shipped in 9/2002, 10.3 shipped in 10/2003. Then Tiger shipped in 4/2005, and now we're looking at 10/2007 for Leopard. That's going to be two and a half years for Leopard, compared to the previous year to year-and-a-half schedule. BIG difference.
Quite frankly, there aren't as many big features in Leopard as in those previous releases, and it's taking MUCH longer. Sure, we are now on Intel and the iPhone is coming, but weren't a lot of the new API's and such in Tiger supposed to be done and/or settled down? Things like kernel API's and CoreData, etc. Shouldn't OS release schedules be shrinking, not growing?
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michael said 7:05PM on 4-12-2007
Dude, you get free OS upgrades for a year with a Student ADC membership. If you buy in Sept, you will get a free copy of Leopard, assuming it ships before Sept. 2008
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Dewey said 7:18PM on 4-12-2007
What gets me is that with the new bootcamp update to 1.2, just 2-3 weeks ago, wasn't there a line in the description claiming that leopard is still on schedule?
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Liam said 7:28PM on 4-12-2007
Im not bothered really, my mac pro works well with tiger and does everything i want it to do, i will get leapord but i can't say im gutted by the delay.
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Rich said 7:25PM on 4-12-2007
I still can't believe people are still justifying this as not a tragic continuation of Apple deemphasizing the "Computers" side of the business. MacWorld should have been renamed "iPhoneWorld". Computers removed from the name. Delaying an OS because your 20K employee company is focusing their efforts on a cellphone.
I love my Mac. I wouldn't want to use anything else. I could care less about the delay. It's the reasoning that's damning. If Dvorak came out with an article tomorrow about how the iPhone (likely an excellent potential product in a completely political / bureacratic / red-tape laden industry) could be the end of Apple, I couldn't dismiss it completely (even though he is a mental pygmy).
How can I justify to my organization to buy 100 Xserves when the company is more concerned about a freaking phone than the core operating system? Looks like more Dell 1950's. At least they understand their core business and priorities.
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DrMax said 7:34PM on 4-12-2007
October? Crud. Still, think of everything Apple has done over the past year and a half: transitioned from Power PC to Intel, invented an iTunes link to HDTV's, invented a revolutionary new cell phone. I guess something had to give. Imagine Microsoft doing any one of these things without delays. Hell, Vista was 5 years late and feature neutered, I guess I can put up with 4 months.
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Doug Stewart said 7:38PM on 4-12-2007
I'm less depressed over losing the desktop OS and more over losing Leopard Server. We had high, HIGH hopes for getting our calendaring situation under control. Alas and alack, it'll now be 4th quarter '07 before we can even think of rolling it out on our Xserves.
*sigh*
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Le Citadin said 7:46PM on 4-12-2007
OK, now Apple is acting like Microsoft and I don't like it.
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Colin said 8:09PM on 4-12-2007
The iPhone isn't a cell phone- it's the network computer reincarnated and in the pocket of everyone in the world. As long as they enable javascript and flash, you'll be able to type away on your Google Docs, IM over Meebo, and be connected wherever you go. This is HUGE- much more so than a software update.
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Paul said 8:02PM on 4-12-2007
For those of you that say Apple and its fanboys are hipocritic, think again. Microsoft took five+ years to develop Vista, and that's AFTER they removed all of the new features that were going to be included (the new filing system). Vista is an improvement over XP, but it's nothing revolutionary. It takes Apple about three years, and each release brings signifigant new featues to the table. So, in short, it takes MS five years to develop nothing, and it takes Apple about three years to develop something worth noting. I don't mind waiting a few more months if it means that I get the features I was promised and a system that actually works.
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Paul said 8:05PM on 4-12-2007
Also, the iPhone is a completely new product for Apple, and they want it to be perfect for its launch so Apple doesn't look like amateurs, while Mac OS X is already an established platform/
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systemsboy said 8:22PM on 4-12-2007
This really does suck for educational institutions. For once I was looking forward to Apple releasing something in the summer, early enough for us to test it and then upgrade the lab by the end of summer. I'll have to think long and hard before upgrading my lab mid-year. Long and hard. There's just too much that can go wrong. Which means we might not upgrade until next year. Which just kinda sucks.
Crap.
-systemsboy
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Michael said 8:26PM on 4-12-2007
Concerning the release dates getting longer and longer. Steve came out a while back and stated that they would be taking a more relaxed schedule... Being a person who has experienced non-stop crunch modes... its fully understandable.
Some comments are 100% right. OS X 10.4 is not an out-dated system. It is very much in the now... if not still ahead of the curve!!!
MAN! I want my 10.5 - and all of those applications that will take advantage of it. But I am not one who likes to see a rushed release. Its silly. Also remember... that this delay is not the same type of delay that we saw for vista (btw - no vista DID NOT have its freatures stipped... Vista is not Longhorn - it is a different code base from the blackcomb tree - MS 'fibbed' to the shareholders about what happened ). 3 months is not going to kill the product.
Just give me my iPhone now please. ;-)
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Tyrone Rugen said 8:57PM on 4-12-2007
One person mentioned this in the other post, and I'll reiterate: what does this mean for iLife and iWork? Will they be available in June, Leopard-featureless, if that's what they're depending on? Or will we get the '07 versions in October? Or will they just be sheepishly renamed '08?
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Slippy Jenkins said 11:29PM on 4-12-2007
What does this mean for the release of new macs? I was hoping they'd update the macbooks for Leopard. But now do I have to wait till October if I want a Leopard-optimized laptop? That stinks.
Here's to hoping they release a Leopard-Ready Macbook book this summer....
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Matthew Ross said 9:49PM on 4-12-2007
What about all the software developers that are writing new applications or releases of their current software that are Leopard specific? They now have to wait months longer to even start selling their software. I think this is a horrible way to treat 3rd party developers. For what? To release the iPhone that is a closed platform. How many 3rd party companies would be hurt of delaying it's release? A few hardware vendors that pay heavy iPhone logo royalties? I truly believe this fully demonstrates where Apple's new priorities are at.
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