“Reader Luzia Choupina Borges asks a question on a lot of Mac lovers’ minds,” Stephen H. Wildstrom reports for BusinessWeek.
Do you know when new Apple computers like the MacBook Pro (not desktops) will come to the market with the new Intel Core 2 Duo and new software?
Wildstrom reports, “Unlike every other computer maker, Apple refuses to discuss plans for incorporating new processors as they become available. Now that Macs include Intel chips, Apple finds itself on the same Intel road map as other computer makers. I hope that means Apple will be more forthcoming. But I’m not going to bet on it.”
“As for software, Apple announced last January that a new version of OS X, called Leopard, is in the works. As usual, the company has remained mum on a release date, but my guess is that it will come no later than Mac World [sic] Expo, the second week of January. I think Apple would dearly love to steal Microsoft’s thunder by making Leopard available before Microsoft ships Vista, the next version of Windows,” Wildstrom reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo rumblings are getting louder with each passing day. As for Leopard, which Apple has clearly stated “spring 2007” for release, do you think it would be better for Apple to release it just before or just after Windows Vista finally rears its ugly head?
Related articles:
Report: Foxconn secures orders for ‘new MacBook model’ from Apple – October 10, 2006
RUMOR: Apple ramps production of MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo units for holiday season – October 07, 2006
RUMOR: Apple to update MacBook, MacBook Pro to Core 2 Duo in time for holidays – September 19, 2006
Apple faces MacBook supply issues due to overwhelming demand – August 23, 2006
Apple seeks third MacBook manufacturer – August 17, 2006
Steve Jobs to deliver keynote address at Macworld Expo San Francisco 2007 on January 9th – October 03, 2006
InfoWorld’s Yager: Apple will take computing to the next level with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard – September 06, 2006
Development approaches of Mac OS X Leopard vs. Windows Vista yield very different results – August 15, 2006
Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard is 64-bit done right, unlike Microsoft’s Windows Vista kludge – August 14, 2006
InfoWorld: With Mac OS X Leopard, Apple aims to ruin Vista’s chance of gaining early traction – August 09, 2006
Big race? Which will ship first, Microsoft’s Windows Vista or Apple’s Mac OS X Leopard? – August 09, 2006
Analyst: Apple’s new Mac OS X Leopard sets new bar, leaves Microsoft’s Vista in the dust – August 08, 2006
Gartner analyst: It’s a ‘distinct possibility’ that Mac OS X Leopard will ship before Windows Vista – August 07, 2006
New widescreen iPod day of Zune release
New Mac OS day of Vista release
Before- by god before!!
Very misleading headline MDN.
Cj –
Ok fine…I’ll release it before. No need to get all excited.
I like your thinking Mike. Slap M$ in the face and crush their nose with every move they make. That’s what those bastards get for getting into the OS business instead of simply making apps like they should have since the inception of the Mac.
ZuneTV:
Tune in and watch Vista get torn apart like a
gimp water buffalo by some gators and then
we’ll see Zune play LIVE to a field of chirping crickets.
Must see TV
I think they should release Leopard when it’s actually ready, and not rush to market like they obviously did with iTunes 7. The distinction between Leopard and Vista will not be so apparent to the average consumer if they’re both bloated, buggy messes.
October 10, 2006 (Computerworld) — In one of its biggest releases in recent months, Microsoft Corp. today issued 10 security bulletins detailing fixes for more than two dozen separate vulnerabilities — several of which are already being actively exploited in the wild.
But the updates were not immediately available via Microsoft Update, Automatic Update or Windows Update Services because of what the company described as “technical difficulties.”
“Technical teams are engaged and have been working around the clock” to make the updates available by the end of day today, the company said in a statement.
Pity the unwashed masses.
Always better to release AFTER. Otherwise, Vista’s relase – however pitiful that will be – will tend to overshadow Leopard.
I’d do fuller preview in Jan, and release in Spring after Vista (assuming Vista ever gets released
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@just some guy
I agree completely. Releasing a new iPod on the same day as Zune would be a great strategy since Apple is already dominant in that market, but releasing a new version of OS X which already has a far inferior market share won’t have nearly the same impact.
Leopard will ship sometime between March 20 and June 21, 2007. Steve said so, so it must be true. When Tiger was announced, it was given the same time period (“Spring 2005”), and it shipped the last week in April.
While past performance is not indicative of future results, it wouldn’t surprise me if Leopard came out around the same time as Tiger did two years previous.
The real question is, which will ship first: Windows Vista or Duke Nuke’em Forever??
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Nukem_Forever
I don’t think it matters which OS is released first. I think it matters more to not put misleading or inaccurate headlines of the sort for which MDN ridicules other techwriters.
…and two of the patches are meant to fix problems in Vista!
Release Leopard when it’s ready, not nearly ready.
Beyond the confines of forums like this one – dominated by irrational Mac fanatics (at the expense of saner, long time faithful Mac customers like me) Vista will be heralded across the world as the ‘newest’, ‘fastest’, ‘best’, most technically proficient and advanced operating system of all time.
It will absoloutely kill any hope of Apple gaining anything more than less than a percentage point through switching. It’s a travesty, for sure since Vista and Windows is so bad and Macintosh is so good. But, perception is not only the greatest part of reality, it is reality itself.
There’s nothing Apple or its minions making up its tiny market share can do about it.
Apple waited way too long to compete and now we are stuck where we are. I just hope we will be rewarded with hardware and software from Apple worthy of our devotion.
In the words of Englebert Humperdink, “Please Release Me, Let Me Go.”
The story was all old news, except for the part — for me at least — that the Santa Rosa chipset, due in the spring, is actually needed to give the Merom CPU chips real 64 bit capability.
“But, perception is not only the greatest part of reality, it is reality itself.”
Agreed, Peterson, that’s why the Republicans have been so successful over the past 12 years.
Definitely the day before with a few days of pre-release hype. That way the pre-release hype will appear at the same time MS will do their pre-release hype and consequently people will really be interested/excited in observing BOTH. Once Leopard is displayed and everyone goes wow, then MS will come out with their lunch bag letdown. PCers will be depressed and the only way to cheer themselves up is to buy a Mac……..
………to run Vista
(don’t laugh….I bet a lot will do that).
I agree with Buster; it could happen. Even Thurrott is saying you don’t need Vista.
While MS might have the lead in marketshare Apple clearly has the lead in product development and design. It should release its products when they’re ready, within the confines of the retail business requirements regarding shipment and inventory. (e.g. no new products after Thanksgiving)
This isn’t like the movie business where the first weekend can determine success or failure.
@ Peterson
You are so clever crafting such a witty insult for all the readers and contributors of and to this forum.
If you are a long-time Apple user I will eat my hat. More likely you are a jumped up little shit, in, or paid by, other little shits in the MS pr department.
So, if you are so offended, take your custom elsewhere!
(Oh, and as everyone else has already realised, Vista is a sows ear, already receiving critical patches from MS’s infamous “Patch Tuesday” activity. Doesn’t quite support your “‘newest’, ‘fastest’, ‘best’, most technically proficient OS” statement does it? It says it’s more like XP, only worse.)
If we wait for Vista we may never see Leopard then.
Apple needs to spend a lot on advertising to counter the Vista juggernaut. Leopard has to be just as visible to consumers to be considered a viable alternative.
Peterson, existing Mac users aren’t going anywhere, so the gains Apple continues to make before the release of Vista will be retained. Plus buying a Mac to run both Vista and Leopard will be a compelling proposition, so more and more potential switchers will be exposed to the Mac.
Most people don’t buy a computer based on the OS. If you ask Win users if they use 2000 or XP many will not know. Ditto for Mac users regarding Jaguar vs Panther.
Most potential new Apple buys won’t differentiate between the OS and the computer – they’re getting a Mac (or “An Apple”) and that’s all they care about. They care about iMovie, not spotlight. Garageband, not Automator. iPhoto, not time machine. Security is important but they don’t care how it happens.