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Apple To Slow Pace Of Major OS X Releases

Apple To Slow Pace Of Major OS X Releases

by , 8:00 AM EDT, May 19th, 2004

At a technology conference in San Francisco, Apple Chief Software Technology Officer Avie Tevanian said that Apple would slow the pace of major OS X releases. In coverage of the event from CNet, Mr. Tevanian is quoted as saying "We're slowing that (pace) down a little bit...because that's not a sustainable rate. But you'll still see us go really fast."

Apple has been releasing one major Mac OS X release per year since it was first released in the early part of 2001. The most recent version, Mac OS X 10.3, or Panther, was released in October of last year, while the next version, Tiger, will be unveiled during June's WWDC event.

CNet reports that Mr. Tevanian also discussed Apple's appeal to business:

During his talk, Tevanian said Apple has made great progress in making its products a good fit for businesses but said it will take time before they are seen that way.

"We've not been strong in that market in the recent past at all," he said. "We don't expect people to automatically just believe that this product is the best thing for them."

"Our goal right now is to just have people take a look," Tevanian said. "I think most people who take a look and have an open mind will be very pleasantly surprised."

There's more information in the full story, which we recommend as an interesting read.

The Mac Observer Spin:

We consider this to be good news. We've long been critical of Apple's yearly paid updates in that it fragments the market, and is simply far too much for many, if not most, Mac users to keep up with. It's easy for techies, as most of those reading this article tend to be, to lose sight of how overwhelming a major OS upgrade can be to many people. Most folks simply don't like change, especially when it comes to their computers.

We would love for Apple to return to its practice of releasing semi-important upgrades every 12-18 months, with paid major upgrades coming every 2-3 years. With Apple clearly seeing OS upgrades as a revenue stream, we don't expect that to happen, but even 18 months between these major upgrades would be better for the platform.

In the meanwhile, we welcome not only this news, but Apple's openness in discussing it.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Guest
Subject: As a developer...

...the more time you have to work on something the better it will be. Apple's engineers are some of the best around, but even OS X has it's share of bugs. The longer between releases, the better they will be. People that don't professionally program don't understand what it is like writting software, especially applications. Not only does the customer get to be a pain in your ass about how the product works, so does your Team Lead, your Director, your VP, your design team, your product team, your QA team, your CEO and dozens of others....

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Not enough time in each day.

Though I have been running a stealth campaign to get my (still fairly young and small) company to switch over to macs, I am still posting this on some random piece of pentium 4 crap. When I get home I have too little time to be learning the nuances of mac OSX.x especially with the changes that come each year (yes year!) It is enough for me to be able to take a little time to get a few things done or play a game for a while, that I never really get the tricks of the OS into my mind.

Thus I look at this announcement as a Good Thing(tm) because it offers me consistancy for the few tricks I do pick up. Not to mention reducing the 130$ annual staying current tax.

Close Name:Biff Posts: 1479 Joined: 08 Apr 2004
Subject:

Hurry up Guest! You're gonna be late for that project meeting!

Close Name:Guest
Subject: WHEW!

Good. Because some book publishers can't seem to keep pace with Apple either.

And, speaking of books, now I don't have to buy that new OS X bookshelf (for books -- not the OS X packaging) I was eyeing!

Close Name:pyxl8 Posts: 171 Joined: 24 Dec 2003
Subject: Productivity hit

Thank you Apple! Slow incremental improvements are vastly preferred to yearly sweeping UI changes. Slowing the pace lets me settle into SOME kind of comfort level and become a power user again on my Mac! We who make a living with our Macs can't afford the all-too-frequent productivity hit that occurs with every major OS revision.

Now if only Adobe would slow down with their friggin' upgrade pace too, then life would be good!

-Ken P

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Thanks Apple!

On behalf of the remaining cat breeds, thank you Apple. With the popularity of Mac OS X Puma, Cheetah, Jaguar, and now Panther, Mac officienados have been collecting pelts of these cats for their offices. This has led to a severely dwindling population, even though the Mac market share is very tiny. Imagine if the Mac had its 1992 market share. Most of these magnificent cats would be gone.

I also applaud the change of namings to common house cats. Mac OS X 10.4 Himalayan will be a fantastic release!

Signed,
Felix the Cat

Close Name:Sydde Posts: 1821 Joined: 30 Aug 2001
Subject: Expecting another ADKC tick for Rob the Champ

Well, Mr. E? You got something to say about this? Has Apple lost too much money to support their R&D, or something like that? I wait with bated breath for the latest FUD

Close Name:Guest
Subject: reason for quick osx updates

i think the reason that apple had made so many fast updates was because they werent satisfied with where osx was as far as how mature of an OS it is. i think didnt want to wait for their OS to be criticized for its shortcomings. and personally, i'm glad for panther with its speed improvements. if each yearly paid updated offered speed improvements, i would go for it. but i understand that many companies cant do this every year.

have you ever heard of a newer version of windows being faster than a previous one?

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