Apple’s delay of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard “is a bigger deal than what many people make it out to be, because Apple has painted itself, and thereby customers looking to buy their products, into a corner. It could be that iLife’07 and iWork’07 are delayed for completely unrelated reasons, but rumor has it, that the two suites will be Leopard-only. If true, this means that Apple may as well skip the ’07 iteration and go directly to ’08. Users don’t seem to be screaming for new versions of iLife and iWork (although I wouldn’t mind an improved version of Pages), but it’s still lost sales. For the hardware, it’s much worse. Prior to the Intel transition, hardware updates meant a few hundred MHz of CPU speed here or an integrated iSight there, nothing to get worked up about. However, last year, Apple upgraded the iMacs, MacBooks and MacBook Pros from a 32-bit to a 64-bit CPU. Not a big difference in everyday use yet, but it could be if the 64-bit optimizations in Leopard are as significant as some people claim they are,” Iljitsch van Beijnum writes for Ars Technica.
“Something that should be a big deal for everyone are the screen resolutions… In Tiger, there is rudimentary support for “resolution independence,” a mechanism that allows software to take advantage of additional pixels by making text and images sharper, rather than have everything on the screen get smaller and smaller as resolutions go up. Resolution independence should be much more mature in Leopard, so it makes sense that Apple will come out with updated hardware to take advantage of this capability, although strangely, Apple told developers that this would happen in 2008. I predict that many of the people who buy a new laptop or an iMac with integrated screen between now and the moment the screen resolutions go up will be quite unhappy when they see how sharp text is on a 200 or even a 160 PPI screen. Remember, you’re staring at that thing many hours a day,” van Beijnum writes.
van Beijnum writes, “The fact that Apple introduces these types of new technologies as part of a new Mac OS X release means that such releases, and thereby slipping dates, are at least somewhat of a big deal.”
Full article here.
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“coolfactor: “Are the Core Duo’s really 64-bit? I don’t recall that being the case.”
Yes, coolfactor… They are 64 bit… Now, stop acting cool and asking dumb questions, and look up these trivial bits of info for yourself!”
Er … no, “Man”, they aren’t.
Isn’t it great when a know-nothing tries to act like a know-it-all and executes a ginormous pratfall? Congratulations, dumb-ass!
Leopard delay is NOT a big deal.
Hell, I haven’t even figured out EVERYTHING you can do with 10.4!! LOL!
I don’t care when 10.5 is fit for commercial release or updates to iLife and iWork are eventually released. Obviously, it is in Apple’s best interest to product and release elegant and functional products as quickly as possible. However, I do not want Apple to exaggerate the times of product release or to fabricate rumors of features or functions that cannot be made available by expected release dates. I do expect Apple products to be secure, essentially free of bugs, sold at a reasonable price, and able to function on my Macs with OS X regardless of the processor.
Eventually, the next generation of Apple OS following OS X may include only Intel-based Macs. I don’t see Apple continuing to design OS’s for IBM’s Power PC chips indefinitely, especially with Intel’s 45-nm, 24-nm, and 17-nm chips on the horizon.
Basically, I want honesty and integrity from Apple as much as innovation and improvement in product design.
I’m still getting used to 10.4. What’s the big deal here people? It’s still the best OS on the planet, and will be when October (or whenever) rolls around.
Dare I say that we Apple fans are impatient? Just use your computers and iPods and have a little patience. There will soon be plenty of thing to spend our dollars on (or Euros if you are over the pond…)
Let’s say it again. The iPhone and the TV are not gadgets. They are Macs running OS X while not looking like a computer at all.
Oh and not having to renew all your computers every half a year is usually considered a good thing. Even though Apple products made 2 years ago look absolutely outdated (but still working like day 1)
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The delay is a big deal, but for a good reason. Leopard’s feature set will be what Apple has to live with for the 2-3 years after Leopard’s release. On the other hand, Windows has already been set for the next 5-6 years by Vista’s feature set. Apple might as well put as much distance between Leopard and Vista as possible. If Vista had a strong showing in January, Apple may have compromised and released Leopard with some of those “top secret” features cut or reduced. Since Windows users are in no hurry to upgrade to Vista, why not take a few extra months to make Leopard as complete as possible…?
“I am tiring of these clueless wipes at Ars”
YEAH well, if you don’t like reading about these, maybe quit click on the links that make you mad! Or stop reading the article when you begin to get your panties in a bunch.
I do the same thing when I read people’s responses to my posts and its clear from reading the 1st few words that they disagree with me. I stop reading it and practice avoidance of anything that is contrary to my opinion because I like to be closed minded in my views like you.
64-bits isn’t going to offer much to people who aren’t using huge datasets, and I mean HUGE.
Moving from 16 to 32 bits WAS a big deal, becasue the data we use all the time didn’t fit in a 16-bit memory space.
But 32 bits IS large enough for a LOT of stuff; unless you doing things like database searches of huge genome libraries or something.
Lord of Irony,
The Core 2 Duo has 64 bit extensions and is fully 64 bit capable.
Don’t you look stupid.
Totally off topic but I bet you the iPhone will be a touch screen remote for Apple TV, and more. Those home theatre touch screen remotes typically cost hundreds of dollars (or one I saw was over $1000) so how cool would that be?
Blah, blah, blah, blah, buzzword; Blah, blah, blah, blah, BUZZWORD!
Well guys, I guess it’s official: Apple is doomed. I mean, when was Ars Technica EVER wrong? With a name like that, Ars Technica has to be important. Sure, they’re pedantic techno-snobs, and they pass judgment on things that don’t matter one iota, but hey – this is Ars Technica we’re talking about. The self-anointed, acknowledged experts on all matters technical. Face it: they’re smarter than you are, because – get ready – they’re ARS TECHNICA, damnit!
So, even though Apple’s stock has gone UP since the news release went out last week, and Wall Street’s okay with Apple’s candor, it’s JUST NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR ARS TECHNICA. And remember, THEY ARE SMARTER THAN YOU ARE, AND WE’RE LITTLE MORE THAN SNIVELING LITTLE WORMS NOT WORTHY OF EVEN LOOKING IN THEIR GENERAL DIRECTION.
So face it, kids, Apple is doomed. Just ask Ars Technica. Go ahead. I dare you.
Well, I think that Joy of Tech has it right:
<quote>”Vista sucks, there’s no need to rush.”</quote>
<grin>
** van Beijnum writes, “The fact that Apple introduces these types of new technologies as part of a new Mac OS X release means that such releases, and thereby slipping dates, are at least somewhat of a big deal.” **
Does everyone else notice that he uses cyclical reasoning here?
It’s obviously a disappointment. Users may not be screaming for iLife and iWork, but I know I’m always delighted to have a new version as quick as possible. Nevertheless, resolution independence wasn’t my highest priority. Much more important are the productivity improvements I look forward to in Mail, Safari, iPhoto, etc., that will make a difference in my daily work.
The Core Duo is 32-bit
The Core 2 Duo is 64-bit
Why is everyone trying to be smarter than the other instead of looking at the facts?
The only “big deal” that I see is that some hardware buyers might hold off their Macintosh purchase until Leopard is released. This is really kind of ludicrous as Tiger (and even Panther) are great OS versions, and are quite productive. As far as other software related to the OS (iLife’07 and iWork’07), I don’t have any of those, but I’d be quite happy with my existing versions, if I did. I’m not sure I understand this need to always have the latest and greatest as all that necessary, but maybe that’s just me. Apple will eventually get their money, just not until October.
The Core 2 architecture is 64 bit, BUT little else in the computer is. When the MOTHERBOARD has 64 pathways (like Santa Rosa) and the OS is 64 bit native and the APPLICATIONS are 64 bit optimized, there will be a difference.
This is the really big deal. If we get Santa Rosa based computers with a Core 2 processor (or better) then I say it is time to buy. You can upgrade to Leopard and your favorite programs whenever you want/can afford it, because you know the hardware will be OK.