“Most people have some passion that would cause them to stand in line for hours — a playoff game, a rock concert, maybe even a gallery opening. At exactly 6 p.m. on Apr. 29, the lines at a shopping district or mall near you will be at the Apple Store, where Macintosh fans will be waiting to get the latest release of the MacOS software,” Peter Burrows writes for BusinessWeek. “Of course, software releases have a tendency to be anticlimactic because they’re filled with cryptic features people rarely use, and because they’re often late — sometimes real late. Just ask the folks at Microsoft, which isn’t expected to ship the long-awaited Longhorn upgrade to its Windows operating system until late 2006, five years since the last major release.”
Burrows writes, “But Apple’s new software, dubbed Tiger, could surprise on both counts. Apple announced its release plans for the new operating system on Apr. 12. For starters, ‘this is one of those rare occasions when a major software release is actually early,’ Apple Chief Executive Steven Jobs joked in an interview with BusinessWeek Online. And Apple claims the 200 new features in Tiger make it well worth a $129 retail price. ‘It has turned out just wonderfully,’ says Jobs. ‘It’s our biggest leap forward since the original Macintosh in 1984.’
“The big question is whether Tiger will add fuel to Apple’s recent momentum in the computer business. After years of losing share, Mac sales have been growing faster than the overall PC market — thanks, in large part, to added luster from the iPod’s ‘halo effect.’ In the short term, Tiger may not provide that much of a boost, says Deal. For starters, it’s hard for a software release to gain much attention when new hardware such as the Mac mini and iPod shuffle are already turning heads. Also, convincing buyers of new software’s benefits can take time. ‘Honestly, I don’t think new consumers are going to get really excited about it,’ says Deal. ‘They have to see the immediate value [to go out and buy an upgrade or get a new Mac], and it’s hard to communicate that in TV ads.’ Over time, Jobs thinks Tiger could be crucial in expanding the Mac base. ‘Tiger will give customers one more reason to buy a Mac, because it’s so far ahead of Windows,’ Jobs boasts. The people developing Longhorn ‘are trying to copy everything they can from it.’ With more than a year until Longhorn arrives, Microsoft is giving Apple’s most famous salesman a long time to convince the world of Tiger’s merits,” Burrows writes.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If an operating system can drive Mac sales, Tiger is the OS, especially in this “vaporous vacuum” created by Microsoft’s already stripped-down, and frankly, from what we’ve seen, not-very-compelling Windows “Longwait.”
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Why doesn’t Apple advertise Mac OS X on TV? – April 12, 2005
Analyst: Tiger proves ‘Apple is light years ahead of Microsoft in developing PC operating systems’ – April 12, 2005
Apple to ship Mac OS X ‘Tiger’ on Friday, April 29; pre-orders start today – April 12, 2005
Apple Announces Mac OS X Server ‘Tiger’ to ship Friday, April 29 with 64-bit application support – April 12, 2005
Analysts: Apple’s new Tiger operating system could really impact Mac sales – April 12, 2005
Piper Jaffray raises Apple estimates on Mac OS X ‘Tiger’ release news – April 12, 2005
I must say with all the buzz us mac heads are making of the Tiger’s release that this is off the mark. With everyone (with a mac and tiger) running around braging about h cool things there new system can do (virus and malware free, no less) the wintell crowders that have already thought about the Mac platform before will have another reason to think again. Plus a little demonstration (to show off) will go a long way in shoeing the wintellers what they are realing missing.
I can’t wait. I want my pet Tiger. Yea Ha.
excuse my typing I just woke up.
I just don’t see Tiger affecting market share. No other OS X release has done it. Why should this one? Spotlight and Dashboard just aren’t life-altering enough to matter.
That being said, I with Apple could figure out how to market Tiger, since the OS is so much better than Windows that it really *could* drive sales.
Oh…and my copy is already pre-ordered.
Mr. Burrows needs to burrow out from wherever his head is and ask why Tiger is the software outselling all the rest being sold on Amazon. And it’s for pre-orders!!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”raspberry” style=”border:0;” />
These Microwillies should wake up and smell the Tiger.
ron: Tiger is outselling all the other software on Amazon because it has only just been announced. All the other software on the list has been out for a while. It really doesn’t take a genius to figure that one out.
Magic word “chance”, as in “I really can’t figure out why people put so much effort into working the magic word into a sentence”
Dashboard has the potential to be life-altering – once Apple and third-party developers start cranking out “insanely great” widgets!
Now time for a more constructive comment from me.
I think Tiger could drive sales like no other OS for a few reasons.
– Apple didn’t have as many Windows people using iPods and considering switching to Macs before. This will pique their interest.
– I’m sure there are lots of people wanting to buy a Mac mini, but who are waiting until Tiger so that it comes pre-installed.
– Longhorn won’t be out for a year at least and what’s being included doesn’t appear to have been locked down, but Tiger is here now.
So, as an OS, it might not seem compelling, but there are enough feature in Tiger to appeal to lots of people. For some it will be voice recognition, for others Spotlight and for others Dashboard or Automator or a combination of smaller fixes.
My advice would be to give it time. Remember not being too impressed when you heard about Exposé, then being blown away when you actually saw it or used it? I think that Spotlight will have a similar impact. The people who have no clue how to organise files and folders so they can find things easily will love Spotlight, the Finder and apps like Mail 2 that incorporate Smart Folders. Apple might be pushing the big changes, but it’s the little things that will make a difference, especially when the little things like Smart Folders require no learning curve because they’re already present in iTunes.
A lot of attention has been focused on Mac marketshare and if Tiger will make a substantial dent in overall marketshare.
While Tiger is light years ahead of Blowhorn, the question remains if the average consumer gets it.
I personally believe that Apple is on the verge of one of the greatest comebacks in business history. The Mac loyalist will cite that “we never left!”, which is true, and that even though marketshare has been reduced, Apple is still cranking out the best possible product, on schedule nontheless.
I have a split mind:
I would love to see Winblows become a footnote in history.
I also don’t really care what everyone else is doing… I am excited about Tiger.
I think it’s brilliant that Tiger will go on sale at 6pm. This means that the lines outside the Apple stores will catch a certain amount of attention from other folks who are near these stores. I know if I saw a line stretching from a store in the mall (and it’s not December), I would certainly be curious as to what the specatcle is. It just might prompt me to take a spot in line too.
Secert word: Church, as in the Apple Stores will look like a church on Sunday.
Dear Apple…
Please make some good Tiger tv commercials – no more switcher ads. Show what the os actually does on tv and they will come in droves to the local store.
Why does everybody seem to concentrate on the ‘eye candy’? The Core Data, Core Image, Core Video, updated Core Audio, H264, improved networking and interoperability with Windows and Linux systems, improved Font Book, etc are way more important than the eye candy.
Want to see a cool video?
http://blogumentary.typepad.com/chuck/2005/04/once_you_go_mac.html
I think when Apple can improve the apparent difference in speed for gameing between Macs and PCs that they will convert a few more PC gamers over. Also if they can get their OS admin user password security set up to be the equivalent of Windows (and I am NOT talking about viruses) and enable file auditing THEN they may be able to crack more of the corporate market instead of just the graphic design/video, home user, education and scientific research markets. Other than that everything else is looking awesome
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
Why would you let gaming decide what computer you buy when you can get an X-Box or PS2 for $150? It’s a non-starter.
BTW- Apple is looking for people to work with ATI & NVIDIA to improve gaming performance on their Mac cards. If you know somebody, tell them to send their CV to Apple.
” At exactly 6 p.m. on Apr. 29″
Shouldn’t that read 6 a.m.? Won’t they all be sold out by 6 p.m.!!!