"Several people who tested [Mac OS X] were surprised
to discover such omissions in the operating system, which had been
subject to repeated delays ostensibly to add a long line of
features."
- Joe Wilcox, Mac OS X Missing
Some Key Elements, Cnet, 3/20
When debating what the topic of this article should be, I considered
writing about how irresponsible Apple is to release a new operating
system before all of its own software products are compatible with it.
It is irresponsible of them.
Creating a new operating system is a learning experience. The amount
of knowledge that the Mac OS X team has obtained in the past few
months alone is probably worth more than 4 years at Yale
University.
Apple has surely realized by now that it's not a smart move to
introduce an operating system that's not compatible with the hottest
technology, so there's no need to shove it in their faces. That's why I
say this: Enough with the criticism, already! Apple deserves a
break.
I like to think of the March 24th OS X release as a second
beta, if there were such a thing. Apple received lots of feedback from
the first beta and adjusted the operating system accordingly. Now, at
the "official launch," many features are still left out - but that's
OK. The way I see it, the target customers for this release are the Mac
faithful, who have been waiting for Mac OS X for years.
Novice and moderate Mac users may find the transition to Mac
OS X a little overwhelming and having to upgrade the OS to work
with optical drives a little too complicated. That's why I predict that
Apple won't spend much money promoting Mac OS X until summer, at
which point the majority of applications will be carbonized (fingers
crossed), and Mac OS X will be compatible with a wider variety of
third-party devices.
Whenever starting a new project, it's always a good idea to start
simple and get whatever it is your trying to do working - then
expand from there. It's the same thing with OS X, although the
"getting it working" part is equivalent to getting it on the shelf. As
of Saturday, Mac OS X will be on shelves for those who want it,
and Apple will continue to expand on the in-store version by offering
downloadable upgrades via the Apple web site.
You're not going to die if you have to pass up on burning the latest
music CD on your Mac; we've gone without it for years. And if you can't
live without your handy CD-RW, than this version of Mac OS X is
not right for you. The Mac OS X team has been working on this
project for years; how do you think it feels to have critics focusing
on everything that's not included in the first release? So take
it or leave it, but don't complain.
This Saturday should be a time to celebrate the arrival of
OS X, not mourn what isn't there. Getting Mac OS X on store
shelves is a huge step, and those who aren't willing to sacrifice a DVD
or two should stick with Mac OS 9 or go buy a PC (you'll be
crawling back to Aqua within minutes, trust me on that one).
Let's be procrastinators: spend this weekend celebrating X, and
leave figuring out how to make it work with all of our existing
hardware and software for another time.
