Apple has just announced that they will reduce the
frequency of major Mac OS X updates. Perhaps they are
responding to critics of the $129-per-copy pricing (and I still say
that a discount is in order), or perhaps
it's the software developers who are complaining.
Regardless, this is both good and bad news for Mac users.
On the positive side, it gives Apple more time to work out the
bugs in current versions of the Mac OS - the small security issues,
as well as the extremely annoying hardware/software integration
issues that the Mac OS sometimes has with newly released Apple
hardware.
Having fewer OS updates also will allow third party developers
to spend more time making sure their software is compatible with
the current version of the OS. After that, instead of trying to
make it compatible with a new version they can spend the extra time
adding features and otherwise improving the product.
Another potential positive: Apple hardware will now be able to
be up-to-date a little bit longer. Since newer versions of the Mac
OS often drop some hardware (10.0 dropped pre-G3 Macs, and 10.3
dropped the beige G3s and WallStreet PowerBooks), if the Mac OS is
updated less frequently, older hardware will remain in use with
current OS for longer.
There is, however, still no word of a discount for people who
have upgraded OS X in the past. Many have spent hundreds of
dollars on Mac OS X software updates - and what do they get
now? Fewer updates, but at the same cost. Perhaps it's more
affordable, but don't forget, the updates aren't yearly like they
used to be.
There's always the possibility of being behind when it comes to
features. If something new comes out in Longhorn that Apple doesn't
immediately add to its OS, people will be very quick to say, "You
can do this in Windows, but you can't on a Mac." Fast user
switching was an example of this: XP has had it since it's release
in 2001; it took Apple two years to add it to OS X.
I guess it really remains to be seen what effect, if any,
Apple's announcement will have on consumers, software developers,
and even Apple itself. My guess is that it will ultimately lead to
a more secure, less buggy Mac OS because Apple will be able to do
more product testing before the software's final release.
As much as I love seeing new Apple software (and especially
OS X) releases, what I really like is when that software is
for the most part bug-free, reliable, and useable right away -
unlike, for example, Mac OS X 10.0. Other consumers appreciate
this, too. It means fewer updates for them to install (especially
those wonderful, 60 MB updates that seeming to take forever to
download even on a broadband connection), and less for them to
worry about from day one.
And wasn't security supposed to be one of the Mac advantages to
begin with?
