Jeff: Got a guesstimate for the next system release?

[John Locke]

Hey Jeff,

The subject says it all. The Apple site says "later this year"...but I figured you could narrow that down a tad.

[Jeff Price]

John,

I'm not sure which Jeff you're referring to so I'll give it a go. The last I heard was September. Since then I've seen conflicting stories that might suggest September as being a little optimistic.

There WILL be another fairly major revision of 10.2. The code-name for this revision is Smeagol and it will optimize the code to run in the new G5s. If the G5s truly come out in August, and 10.3 isn't due until September, then you need Smeagol. Any delays and it becomes more confusing. Rumors have it that the first G5s are already in developers hands however. So, maybe September is still right for Panther.

[Jeff Donald]

Jeff is dead on with what I've heard. Panther is on track to be released in September. They have a preview here. I've seen some of the betas and it is very impressive. It should be about the same as Jaguar, $129.95 USD

[Jeff Price]

MacBidouille (a rumor site) has received reports that Panther will be made available in its final form at Jobs' Keynote at Apple Expo (Paris, France) on September 16th, 2003.

The G5 is rumored to be demoed at the MacWorld Creative Expo.

[Heath McKnight]

<<<-- Originally posted by Jeff Donald : Jeff is dead on with what I've heard. Panther is on track to be released in September. They have a preview here. I've seen some of the betas and it is very impressive. It should be about the same as Jaguar, $129.95 USD -->>>

Yet another $129.95 a year, in addition to everything else we have to pay big cash for. Is it true the new iChat A/V will cost $29.95 if you don't buy Panther?

heath

[Jeff Donald]

It will probably be bundled with the other iLife products. The bundle will cost, but will include iDVD. Of course, this is just a guess.

[John Locke]

You mean...you're not one all-knowing entity..."The Jeff"?

(P.S. Thanks!)

[Jeff Donald]

I got an email one time from a member asking why i didn't post a big notice about Apple pricing going up after a MacWorld. He was very upset and partially blamed me for not informing him and the site of possible price increases. I pointed out that i don't work for Apple and do not have any official insight on their marketing or pricing structure. So, now I figure that I'd better add a disclaimer.

[Claude Isbell]

Panther is a new OS, just like Jaguar was. If someone has to update Photoshop, AE, etc. they accept it, but not our OS. I've seen beta tests also. It looks like it's going to be amazing. Windows upgrades are even more.

[Rob Lohman]

You don't have to pay for minor updates (service packs) under
Windows, and they don't come out (a completely new Windows OS)
as often as these OS X updates.

I mean this is the second payed update to os X since its release,
and that was how long ago?

[Curtis T. Stoeber]

Rob is correct about the Windows update scheme. It simply costs more to own a Mac, and there really isn't any way around it. It's either something you accept or you don't. Apple needs to make money somehow since they have such a teeny tiny percentage of the market, and this is one way they do it.

I have been thinking, however... what happens when Apple runs out of cats to name their OS's after? End of the world? :) To be quite honest I do not like to refer to the OS's by their cat names as it gets confusing as they add more cats... Are you talking about Puma, Panther, Jaguar, Calico, Tiger, Siamese, Lion, what? Why the kitty fetish?

[Nigel Moore]

Panther is a new OS, just like Jaguar was.

Not that I doubt it Claude, but if so, why only the sub-point increases? When is OS11/OSXI gonna come out?

Next version of OSX will be 'Cheetah', in recognition of Apple's pricing policy.

[Jeff Donald]

The change from OS X to OS XI was discussed and abandoned due partly to the money invested in promoting OS X. Why throw away all that advertising money spent on X? The service releases are free, major releases carry names such as Jaguar, Panther, etc.

This software is a major revenue source for Apple (and Microsoft). If the economy were doing better, the releases might cost less or even be free, who knows.

The major release's do cost money, but if you are a student or teacher the Apple Education store sells for much less. Amazon even had $30 rebates for a while.

[Claude Isbell]

My whole point is that it's not a "Minor Update" as stated before.

[Jeff Price]

Apple's minor updates, like Microsoft's are free. Microsoft, like Apple charges for their major updates. There is no difference, it's just that Apple performs major OS updates more quickly than Microsoft does. For example - there have been 6 (soon to be 7) .upgrades to 10.2 but only 4 service pack releases for Windows 2000. Apple is just faster in development.

The only difference is that Microsoft uses funkier names and Apple sticks with .y increases - this makes some people think it is an incremental upgrade and should be free.

Asbestos suit on (while typing this on a machine running Win98).

With the exception of the move from 9 to X whether you continue to upgrade depends on whether the features are worthwhile (so, I have 98 on this machine, 2000 on my laptop and 10.2 on both my Macs). One Mac I won't upgrade to 10.3 the other I will.