10/22/2007, 9:20am, EDT
Monday, October 22nd
Jobs: Decade of Mac OS upgrades likely
Apple will likely continue its current upgrade strategy for the Mac OS, says Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Speaking with the New York Times, Jobs notes that the Friday release of Mac OS X Leopard will form the basis for another cycle of continuous operating system upgrades, possibly lasting as long as a decade. "I’m quite pleased with the pace of new operating systems every 12 to 18 months for the foreseeable future," Jobs comments. "We’ve put out major releases on the average of one a year, and it’s given us the ability to polish and polish and improve and improve."
The strategy stands in contrast to Microsoft, which only releases major upgrades to Windows every few years, punctuated by one or more "service packs" to keep systems current. The company has also taken to an approach of releasing multiple versions of its current platform, Vista, a practice which Jobs jokes is misguided. "[With Leopard] everybody gets the 'Ultimate' edition and it sells for 129 bucks, and if you go on Amazon and look at the Ultimate edition of Vista, it sells for 250 bucks."
Microsoft also expects its next operating system, currently codenamed Windows 7, to remain in development until 2010, a timeframe which may give Apple the chance to release two more major upgrades.
Charles Wolf, author of the industry newsletter Wolf Bytes, comments on recent market share gains by noting that of the 100 million or so visitors now coming to Apple's retail stores each year, he estimates that 60 to 70 million are Windows users drawn in by the iPod or iPhone. Some of these people may potentially switch over to the Mac platform, says Wolf.
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Windows Vista Home Premium: 3-4 years @ $220 (Amazon Price) Windows Vista Ultimate: 3-4 years @ $329 Mac OS: 3 updates over 4 years: $129 x 3 = $387. (Plus a quicktime pro license, as I'm sure that will be given a major revision in the next few years).
Don't get me wrong (I can hear the fanboys cracking their knuckles to make a belittling reply already), I have been and AM a Mac OS user for 17+ years and am only now getting Windows on my Macbook Pro now that Bootcamp is out of beta.
However, for Jobs to compare pricing is the truly misguided part. Over multiple years, Apple is far more expensive to keep your system up-to-date with.
On the upside, however, you DO get what you pay for, which is why I remain a Mac user and an Apple stockholder.
That would explain why it is crap, as it is a universally acknowledged fact the sixth release of any major piece of software is crap (look at word 6 and appleworks 6 for prime examples)
Many are CURRENTLY switching! It's an ongoing process that has been accelerating for about a year now.
I don't even have to try and talk people into getting a Mac. An ever growing number of coworkers and family members have switched to the Mac. My department has the only Macs in the entire company (~650 employees). I've been both ridiculed and envied for years.
Now coworkers either call me with questions before buying their first Mac or call to tell me after they've purchased. It's great to see and I can only hope the IT mentality of M$, M$, M$, will start to break down within our company and they'll start looking "outside-the-box".
Leopard, I believe, will only serve to accelerate this movement from Windows to MAC even more! It will also solidify the recent switchers and make them love their computer even more.
VERSUS
one upgrade of Winblows which is quite questionable in its worth.
Boy, if it takes years for each major revision of Windows, just think how much further behind OS X they will be by the time Vista's successor comes out!
Every 24 months seems like a good interval to me. I don't need a new OS every year, but by year 2 I'm looking for something new.
I'd say within about the past year that has turned around 180 degrees. I know get comments like, "My next computer is definitely going to be a Mac!" and I get questions like, "How hard will it be to switch?"
I think much of this is due to the iPod/iPhone halo effect-- people finally see how well designed Mac products are. But also to lesser degrees the persistant fact that there are no viruses "in the wild" for Macs, and also because of the horrible reviews that Vista is getting.
People are finally starting to "get it"!