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http://www.macnn.com/articles/01/03/21/staples.selling/

Staples selling Mac OS X early

updated 12:10 pm EST, Wed March 21, 2001

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A MacNN reader notes that Staples has begun selling copies of Mac OS X: "Many do not know Staples carries a few Macintosh products including the OS (in low quantities). But not being Apple-savy, my local Staples recieved their copies of Mac OS X yesterday and put them on the shelf. I went home with a new copy last night and proceeded to start backing up my Mac so to start installation today. If you don't want to wait until Saturday, quietly check out Staples."

by MacNN Staff

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03/21, 12:17pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Not so unusual...

Kind like Wal-Mart putting out DVDs before the street date. If it's coming out Tuesday check out "The Mart" on Saturday or Sunday. :-)

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03/21, 12:18pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
oh oh

ooopss..... Steve is gonna KILL those guys!
That will be their last Apple product

;-)

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03/21, 12:18pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Uh oh

Hmm... I wonder how Apple will react to that. :D

Anyway, congratulations on being one of the first owners of Mac OS X Retail. Nice to be hearing from them soon.

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03/21, 12:19pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Eruption of Mount Steve

This will make Mount Vasovious look like a "mole hill"

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03/21, 12:22pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Version!!!!

There is a huge debate on Wincent.org about what is the final version of OSX that will (or has) ship. Could you check on this for us.

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03/21, 12:22pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
I think Steve will be OK

remember, they're deliberately downplaying the launch, so Steve might not be quite so displeased. Then again, he is a little high-strung, so you never know what's going to set him off. (I bet whoever does tech support for his office is *very* efficient. :-)

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03/21, 12:25pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
version, speed, specs!!!?

well... post them allready.
post it HERE! forums.macnn.com goes down every other minute!

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03/21, 12:27pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
I needed the laugh.

This is just too funny. You know that it's going to happen, but to happen because they were stupid... I hope we get some more reports like this, but I expect my copy on Saturday.

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03/21, 12:28pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
"quietly check out..."

By "quietly check out Staples", did you mean post it on a widely-read news website for all to see?

;-)

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03/21, 12:33pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Oh, man.

Assuming this guys story is true, I think MacNN should consider this a big deal. It could have been an isolated mistake.

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03/21, 12:35pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
anybody seen this?

There's a link to this page in wincent.org's 4K78 build review. It's a little empty right now, though....

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03/21, 12:41pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Run to the bomb shelter!!

I bet steve would spit out his fruit juice or bottled water and fire off a few nuclear laced f-bombs at staples (and I'm not talking about the funk bomb either) :-)

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03/21, 12:50pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Yet Another Review

www.macosx.org has posted a review of the supposed Final as well.

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03/21, 12:54pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Staples

The staples in my area is adamant against Mac. So I assumed all the stores were anti-mac.

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03/21, 01:05pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Staples in Burlington, MA

They have it on shelves, minus the one in my hands.

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03/21, 01:11pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Mac OS X Buy Page

I guess I can say this, since it's already out there and Mac OS X is on the shelves... The URL http://www.apple.com/macosx/buy is what you are sent to when you go to the Apple memu and select Mac OS X Software. It's most likely going to be a place for Mac OS X users to find carbonized software, much like Apple's Mac Products Guide.

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03/21, 01:18pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
4k78

Went to my local Mac dealer last night to pick up a cube and saw one of the owners playing with a Ti Powerbook. I hadn't personally seen one yet, so I walked over to take a peak and what do you know, he was playing with OS X. Next to the machine was a OS X box (just like in the photos all over the forums) so I picked it up a looked at it a bit and he said, "You're not supposed to see that yet. Not until Saturday. But I'm not going to rip it out of your hands..." I then said that he "must have decided to try it out" and that he "picked a nice machine to test it on" and he said that in the demo room there was a G4 with X loaded on it as well. I went over to check it out and... the build number WAS 4K78. This was the full on retail version, not some dealer only demo. And the window resizing was nice. Perhaps not as smooth as the OS 9 window outline, but bearable.
... to bad the cube I picked up had a faulty switch and went into an endless loop shutting down and restarting and shutting down and ...

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03/21, 01:29pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
No, It's for real alrigh

Just got back from Staples with my copy. (Columbus, Ohio -- Corner of Sawmill and W Dublin-Granville)

Posting pixs at homepage.mac.com/macmercenary for proof.

Didn't find it on the shelves, but a clerk went in the back to get me a couple of copies. A manager tried to stop the sale at the register, but I did get one copy after some heated debate.

Have someone check in the back and avoid the man, and you might score an early copy for yourself.

Have to repartition tonight, but will offer opinions here tomorrow.

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03/21, 01:47pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
I Got Mine

I got my copy as well from a Staples in Pittsburgh. There were two on the shelves. Now I have to cancel my order from Outpost.

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03/21, 01:53pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
I Tried . . . No Luck!

As soon as I read these comments I went to the Staples closest to my office (13th and H Streets NW) in Washington, DC. All they had on the shelves were a couple copies of OS 9 and AppleWorks 6.

Congrats to those lucky few who found it already.

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03/21, 02:07pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
YES YES

It IS true...

I just went to my local Staples and bought both the copies they had in stock....

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03/21, 02:13pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
He's not kidding

Walked into my not-so-friendly Staples (Sawmill and 161 in Columbus, OH) and have my copy in hand.

It wasn't out on the shelves, but a clerk naively pulled two copies from the back when asked and was ready to ring them up until a manager tried to stop the sale.

After much debate, I left with one copy.

Pics of contents at http://homepage.mac.com/macmercenary/

Forgive the weak page, but eager to post fast. Will repartition tonight and report more tomorrow here (and there).

Worth noting, the box comes with a full copy of 9.1 and Developers Tools discs in addition to OS X.

If you find the right clerk and avoid the man, you too may score an early copy.

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03/21, 02:25pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Me Too

Just got it from the local Phoenix, AZ Staples. None on the shelf; had to ask for it...
Will test it out tonight.

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03/21, 02:25pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
He's not kidding

by 'full copy of 9.1' do you mean that it comes with a CD with 9.1, bootable or not, which can be installed without installing X?

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03/21, 03:43pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
yep...

just picked mine up in Cincinnati... the guys knew they weren't supposed to be sold yet, but they didn't care. installing it now on my TiPB... will let you know the version, etc... in a bit.

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03/21, 03:48pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
West Sacramento, CA

Grabbed both copies they had in stock. Clerk was nice. Staples has never been known for having a clue about PCs much less Macs (better than Office Max tho..)

So far, it's great.. I don't know why people were whining about it only being 4k78 or whatever, it kicks a**!

9.1 CD won't install on the G4/PB tho.. need the G4/PB Software Install CD. No problem tho.

Installed quick, AirPort works GREAT..

IE is kind of a piece of c*** tho..

The Carbon port of Mozilla is working very well, however...

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03/21, 03:58pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
I have it!

I just went to Staples here in Nashville, TN and bought OSX. I just walked in and said I want OSX. The manager went in a room in the back and came out with it. Developer Tools are included and it says on the side of box "Internet Explorer 5.1 Preview". Bottom of box says "Mac OS X v10.0 Retail".
--
Lucas Everett
Lucas@InterfaceLift.com
http://www.InterfaceLift.com
Come on in. Get an InterfaceLift.

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03/21, 04:04pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Score in NH

Saw the posts here, called my (reasonably) close-by Staples to see if they had it. The clerk put me on hold, came back, and said, "Yes we do!"

I asked her to hold it for me, and she did.

When I was checking out, the clerk looked at it and said, "Wow, I think we just got these in."

"Good timing", I grinned.

Thanks to macnn for the heads up.

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03/21, 04:05pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
damn...

I'm right up the street from Burlington, MA... and I can't leave work yet... :(

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03/21, 04:08pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
I have it!

I just went to Staples here in Nashville, TN and bought OSX. I just walked in and said I want OSX. The manager went in a room in the back and came out with it. Developer Tools are included and it says on the side of box "Internet Explorer 5.1 Preview". Bottom of box says "Mac OS X v10.0 Retail".
--
Lucas Everett
Lucas@InterfaceLift.com
http://www.InterfaceLift.com
Come on in. Get an InterfaceLift.

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03/21, 04:09pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
4k78

Being an Apple Developer, i've used 4k78 extensively...

the real deal IS 4k78 (bought it from Staples)...

no difference i see.

only problem, Airport on the G4 powerbook is MUCH lower signal wise than os9. places that give me a 3-led strength are now not showing up at all...bummer.

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03/21, 04:10pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Got it but its broken

Staples in Campbell, CA received 3 copies yesterday. You have to ask for it. They don't know what it is; just another software package. Installed on 2001 G4 OK, but whenever a 9.1 app or doc is launched, OS X lapses into de-bugger mode and the screen freezes. S***t! Guess it's back to user groups for hints on a possible solution on a near-ready release. Re-booting into 9.1 from re-started OS X works fine.

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03/21, 04:19pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
NYC 44th and 5th

Went to one Staples (40th and Madison) to no avail. Walked a few blocks to 44th and 5th Avenue and asked them to look for it. He had no idea what I was talking about, but I told him what the box looked like and $140.00 later I was walking out into the rain with the future in my hand.

I presonally think MacOSX is kind of boring. And i detest the fact that I cannot connect to Classic Mac AppleTalk Servers. Makes collaboration very very hard.

btw, it is v. 4K78

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03/21, 04:22pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Finally works Beige G3

I have it too and for those who followed the discussion yesterday, I've found a way to make OS X run on a beige G3. The trick is not to install the BDS subsystems (customize)and it works great. I don't care about that stuff anyway since I'm not a developper. Have fun!

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03/21, 04:24pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Actually running it...

and it's 4K78.

And it's not usable for us at this location. You can only access servers that are AFP over IP, so anyone running NT 4 servers is SOL.

And the Address Book cannot import anything but it's own file format. . I had high hopes that Apple would have fixed these two small issues from PB to Release, but no...

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03/21, 04:38pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
I got OS/X Today!

Got it at Staples.....got it installed......it's GORGEOUS!!

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03/21, 04:39pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
OS/X in DC Area...

Go to Staples at Potomac Yards....they had about 30 boxes on retail display!

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03/21, 04:47pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Idea

Call up Apple's tech support line and ask for help with your copy of OS X. I would get a kick out of what they would say!

;~)

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03/21, 04:54pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Address book works great

I exported my Outlook Express Contacts, and then used the Address book in OS X to extract all of them. it worked great! Go apple!!!!!!

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03/21, 05:06pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Good Business Tactic...

I would be pretty glad if I was staples right now. They're getting a lot of extra business from the MacNN crowd ; )

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03/21, 05:07pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Fanatics!

I called 2 staples near me in New Jersey. They said they're not getting it for another 2 months. I don't care anyway, mine's coming on saturday morning. Plus I only paid 39.99 with the student discount and 30 coupon from the Beta.

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03/21, 05:13pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
;-) El Cerrito

Seems that some employees are wise to the release date. Find the least smart looking person and ask them to go look for it. Got our copy a few minutes ago in CA.

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03/21, 05:31pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
MacOS X Tech Support

Just got MacOS X a few hours ago, and installed it on my Mac. First, it didn't boot after installing it, but... Apple Tech Support was responsive, if a bit surprised. The two gentlemen I spoke with were both knowledgable, trained and helpful. I'm working on getting my system running.

I'm getting support for a product that I'm not supposed to have. My disappointment is quickly being supplanted by more confidence in Apple's Tech Support.

That is, of course, if I can get OS X to boot. :-)

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03/21, 05:38pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Support

The support people are still undergoing training for MacOS X - be nice to them. :)

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03/21, 05:42pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Got it - Whittier, CA

Works just fine. It was the only piece of Mac software on the shelf... i looked past it 5 times before I realized that it was there... nestled against the floor behind a poll next to Linux.

Man, i'd pay just see see Steve go nuclear on Staples.... that would be fanstastic to watch him lose it. I doubt that Staples will ever sell anything for the Mac again.

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03/21, 05:45pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Sucks for Staples

CompUSA has all their copies too, but it's a $500,000 fine PER COPY sold before the street date. Nice move...

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03/21, 05:47pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
OS X in Southern Maine

a clerk at the South Portland location sounded like he had been asked a few hundred times by the time I called. =P
He said they only had OS 9 in stock, but I did not verify that.

A clerk at the Falmouth location said that they had none in stock, but since I'm nearby I headed over. Grabbed 1 of 2 copies, no idea if they have more in stock.

Looking forward to installing tonight. =D

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03/21, 06:02pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Installation Question

For you who have bought and installed X:

I purchased an additional 60G HD for my G4, mainly just to install X on it. I'd like to partition it to devote one whole partition just for X (just in case...). Can anyone who has installed give me an idea of what size to make that partition?

Also, does it matter if X files live on a slave EIDE disk, or should system files always live on the master? (I'm no Apple master and I have no idea.)

Lastly (this may sound like a dumb question), does 9.1 have to be on the same drive/partition as X for classic to work, or can classic launch a system from elsewhere?

Go Apple! Is this not an exciting day?

David.

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03/21, 06:07pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
If at CompUSA

Heh.. if you do manage to find a copy at CompUSA before March 24th, you'll probably be paying $324.01 for it. Unreleased products carry the street release date as the price.. ie 3/24/01. It arrived at my store on Tuesday.. none of my Manager's would let me near it.. not until the 24th they said!

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03/21, 06:09pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Installation

4K78 installed just fine on a slave IDE drive in my dual g4.

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03/21, 06:14pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Got it in New Jersey

OK, I drove to 2 different staples. The first won had nothing on their shelves, and there was no one around to ask. At the 2nd store, I asked someone, and they told me I had to go to the customer service desk. Sure enough they had them hidden underneath the counter. I got my copy!

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03/21, 06:18pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Yep. Got mine in LA

Woo hoo! Gonna check for audio app capability now.

rob.

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03/21, 06:23pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
San Francisco doesn't...

I just called up our local branch, and they don't have it on the shelves. Sigh. It would have been fun to get going on this... I guess I'll be waiting at home on Saturday, waiting for the goods.

I can't believe how greedy those HotLine operators are with goods which'll be widespread on Saturday. b*******, the whole lot.

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03/21, 06:29pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Union Square, NYC -yes!

staples in Union Square, NYC has a laminated picture of the OS X Cover, and a sign that saiys "ask for it and we'll get it for you." I did and they did.

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03/21, 06:33pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
you b******* ;)

DANG IT!!!!!!
here in chicago, the nearest staples is 60 miles away! damn the man. just cuz i was bored, i went to OfficeMax, OfficeDepot, BestBuy and Circuit City all to no avail. The local MicroCenter (which has an amazing mac dept...never been there before , but will definitely visit again) had them in the back, but i couldnt' get a hold of one. Probably cuz they are an authorized Apple dealer, and are subject to the fines...
oh well, because i have the rest of the week off, and wanted to play.

Guess i'll have to wait til sat.....
;(

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03/21, 07:00pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
I already have it...

As an Apple Solutions Expert, I received my NFR copy today (3/21)in the mail.
Installing it right now on my PB G3 Wallstreet (233mhz/192MB RAM, yes it has cache), so far we already have it on a G4/466 here, looks pretty reasonable. We'll find out in a bit if it's snappy on earlier supported hardware, OS X Public Beta was okay on mine, usable but slightly poky. From what I know, it's been very cleaned up (saw the late betas a few weeks ago at an Apple Education meeting) so I'm betting it will do well on any supported machine provided RAM is high enough. I'll let y'all know.

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03/21, 07:01pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Carracho

Hotline sux with too many PC users, get carracho.

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03/21, 07:08pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
got it

Ft. Wayne, IN Staples on Illinois Rd.

Called 'em up, asked if they had it. Confirmed. Hauled butt across the county and picked it up no problemo. The clerk had to get it out of the back room, none on shelf. They didn't even have a clue they weren't supposed to sell it yet. Heh heh heh.

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03/21, 07:16pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Rt. 22 Springfield, NJ

Got it. You have to ask for it, but I bought it today.

Hi, J

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03/21, 07:25pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Who Cares

Afterall, MacOS X isn't very usable. Might as well wait for
a rev or two until Apple releases the "real" X.

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1006-200-5207388.html

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03/21, 07:31pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
whoooo!

nearest Staples 5,000 miles away, getting on plane soon to states to get it...yes, I am a complete idiot with no life....but I can tell my other dork buddies I got OSEX, er OSX, finallly......

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03/21, 08:02pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Staples in L.A. - $99.97!

On the announcement at MacNN that Staples was selling Os X early, I went to my local store here in Los Angeles, asked for it, and they brought it out to me (none on display). As the guy was ringing it up, I noticed they have a price protection guarantee... so I ask them to hold it for me, rush home, grab a MacZone catalog with their $99.97 price emblazoned on the front cover, rush back, and get it discounted!

A guy in line when I got back was also just about to pay for his version (he also heard about it on MacNN), so he used my catalog to get the discount also! When the cashier called the manager to verify the price discount, he asked me where I heard that they had it available. Said "through the grapevine," and he didn't seem to care. He was more surprised that I knew because they just got them in today, and not because it doesn't street until the 24th. I'm not even sure he even knows about the street date. Oh well... Rock on, Staples!!! Rock on MacNN! Rock on Apple!

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03/21, 08:03pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Moscow, ID has it

Just called local staples here in Moscow, Idaho, they have it in stock as well. I'm not sure whether it's on the shelves or not, but if anyone lives around this area, IT'S THERE!

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03/21, 08:52pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Got mine at staples!

I just picked up the last of three copys from my local staples in Irving Texas. They told me on the phone that they didn't have any copys, but when I went to the store (its nearby) to make sure, they brought one right out. You might want to go to your local store.

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03/21, 09:31pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
YES!!

those living in the Atlanta area...the Staples near North Point Mall has copies. the sales clerk is proud selling already 4 of them

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03/21, 10:28pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
SINCE TUESDAY!!!

One of the stores specifically mentioned here as not having it do in fact. I drove over and chatted up the clerk. He didn't believe me, so he called a neighboring store, which told him they sold both of their copies on TUESDAY.

My guy didn't believe HIM, so he dissapeared in the back. I bided my time, trying to look non-threatening, until he appeared with the three or so units they'd rec'd (but not noticed).

I whipped out a credit card and am typing this on GM, which *is 4k78. (It identifies itself as such in the About this Mac box.)

It's wonderful. If your local Staples store says they don't have it then they haven't looked in the last palette of stuff to arrive. If they say they're out, they're honest.

Of course, with a half-million-dollar fine per unit sold, I guess the store will be out of business by some time next week, so hurry... :-)

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03/21, 10:33pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
IF YOU RAN THE BETA

I just installed GM on both Pismo and Lombard PowerBooks. It flies.

IF YOU RAN THE BETA you may find strangeness during the install process. I had to delete the System / Library folder to get the install to work. (Couldn't set file permissions error message.)

Damn thing rocks!

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03/21, 10:41pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
...damn

Half a Million fine per copy sold early?! Is that for real?! Staples is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Screwed!

lol oh well, Im not rushing out to drop $100 tho.. Im waiting for Next Rev with DVD support so I can run my DVD player...

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03/21, 10:58pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
I GOT IT!!!

WOO HOO! I got a copy at the Concord, NH Staples. I called and they said they had it in. I went there, but it wasn't on the shelves. I asked a dufus clerk and he said they were out back locked up. I asked for a copy and he said "sure, what the h***". I walked out with a big smile on my face. After install, it does say Build 4k78, but its MUCH MUCH quicker then the developer 4k78 I was just using. Maybe the debugger code is out? I don't know. ANyway I have some pics posted here of the box, discs and UPC code : http://www.geocities.com/madmacosx/osxpics.html. can't wait till saturday to download iTines for OS X!! Bye have fun!

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03/21, 10:58pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Re: Price Protection

Staple's Price Protection guarantee does not apply to prices found on the internet or through catalog resellers so consider yourself doubly lucky.

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03/21, 11:30pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
In Sacramento

There were two copies displayed at the Bond Ave. store in Elk Grove. The clerk knew it was a cool thing ('diving right in, are we?') but obviously didn't know or care about Saturday.

I'd had pretty miserable luck with the PB, the release version has worked fine so far.

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03/21, 11:49pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
RE: NYC 44th and 5th

I presonally think MacOSX is kind of boring. And i detest the fact that I cannot connect to Classic Mac AppleTalk Servers. Makes collaboration very very hard.

--

Whats this? I have been running K78 Dev for a couple of weeks and have been connecting to OS9.1 apple talk servers, and connecting to OSX using OS9.1 unless Apple decided to take this feature out I think maybe your system isnt set up correctly. I found that connecting to my G4 at work (os9 ) from home last week I was able to copy files much faster than when I tried under OS9...

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03/21, 11:51pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Got it in Augusta, Maine

Drove 50 miles to the Augusta Staples. None on the shelves. A beautiful young woman asked if I was looking for anything and I told her I was hoping to buy a copy of OS X. She asked the manager on duty and she unlocked the storeroom and came out with a copy in hand. Bought it immediately. Thanks MacNN for the great tip.

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03/22, 12:32am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Staples

I heard earlier today that Staples was currently selling OS X. When I finally had a moment, I went to the Staples in San Francisco on Van Ness Avenue. They unfortunately were already out of stock! I then requested if they could check with their other stores as to the availability there. They contacted their South San Francisco Store. This store apparently is the largest in the area and generally stocks more than the rest of the stores. They told me that they were also out of stock and had received calls from all of the other stores in the area to see if they had any left. Then I asked how many OS X's they got in, and they said we normally don't sell Apple Software and they had received 2.

On a side note, if you really deceide you want to Purchase OS X from Staples, I recommend you go in with a MacWarehouse Catalog where they are advertising it for 99.95. Then ask Staples to match this price. They will! By the way Staples Cost should be around $106 to $108 per package.

Tom

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03/22, 01:02am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Is the OS9 disc BOOTABLE?

That's all I really wanna know right now. I'll ease my way into OS X eventually, but right now I just wanna have 9 so I can use iTunes, iDisc, and the email account and webspace I've already set up at mac.com. I've been putting off buying 9 for months, knowing it would either be included along with X for about the same price, or they'd slash the price of 9 once X came out. But I've read conflicting reports about whether you can BOOT this OS9 disc and just use 9, without even installing X, or whether it will only work from within the "classic environment" of X.

So, can anyone who got a Staples Special clue me in for sure? Thanks.

BTW, I'm on a 300MHz Blue&White G3

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03/22, 01:06am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Steve must be pissed

I bet His Holyness King Steve choked on his tofu sandwich when he read MacNN today :)

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03/22, 01:51am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Yes, 9.1 is bootable

The OS 9.1 CD included with the OS X retail box is bootable on my platinum G3 and it has the same part number as on the 9.1 upgrade CD that I bought from Apple for $20 two months ago. It's a full install and doesn't require OS X installation. Unfortunately, wjile the OS X CD has installers for multiple languages, the 9.1 CD is U.S. English only.
As a side note, While the 9.1 CD functioned fine with a non-apple CD drive, the OS X CD would not boot (in order to install) until I put the original Apple CD drive back in.

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03/22, 01:56am | report spam | close Reply | delete
PURCHASED IT!

sweet i have it now! i just bought it, and ripped open the box! OMG, THiS IS SO F*CKING AMAZING! OH GEEZ, I WILL NEVER USE MY 1.2Ghz Athlon, 512MB, dual 75GB U160 RAID, Geforce 2 Ultra PC system again! WOWZERS!

COMPUTER ES GOOD!

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03/22, 03:47am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Got Mine Today Too

This is not an isolated event. My local Staples had three copies of MacOS X and one copy of MacOS 9 on the shelf along with a copy of AppleWorks and several copies of MS Office Mac.

I bought my copy without a hassel.

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03/22, 08:23am | report spam | close Reply | delete
OS X in Virginia!

As soon as I saw the story in MacNN I went to my Staples (just down the street) in Roanoke Va., and there were four copies stacked at the bottom of the software shelf. I stealthily carried the box to the cashier while fully expecting to hear someone call out HALT! The ring up began, and again I waited for some kind of alert at the register, NONE. I left with a new copy of OS X. Didn't get to use my discount from buying the beta though. (Wait a minute... could this have been intentional, an extra $30.00 per copy for the privilege of having a copy three days early? Hmmmm.)

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03/22, 09:48am | report spam | close Reply | delete
beauty in the eye of ...

"Drove 50 miles to the Augusta Staples. None on the shelves. A beautiful young woman asked if I was looking for anything and I told her I was hoping to buy a copy of OS X. She asked the manager on duty and she unlocked the storeroom and came out with a copy in hand. Bought it immediately. Thanks MacNN for the great tip."

I bet she only looked beautiful because she was holding that OSX box...

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03/22, 09:59am | report spam | close Reply | delete
First Impressions

Didn't have the patience to repartition and install a clean copy of 9.1. Opted to use the 1GB partition I'd been using to collect files for Toast instead.

The install itself took maybe twenty minutes, not too complicated. Not sure how I feel about the warm jazz background music that plays throughout the setup phase. Still better than the organ grinder music running during the out of box setup with new systems.

Install was on a SCSI PB400 with 320MB. I was unable to install the full release on the partition and was given the option of dropping the BSD subsystem and the built-in printer support for HP and Epson printers. I've seen one person post that dropping the subsystem allowed for install on a beige G3 desktop and appears to only be critical for those developing apps. Don't mistake this for an absence of BSD altogether. It's definitely there, just under the hood. Installation came up to 780MB minus these two components. I'll forgive the bloat due to the number of preinstalled apps and system wide perks like Quartz's native PDF support and the scope of QuickTime.

I can see some of the "sluggishness" noted by WSJ and forum posts elsewhere. I would attribute this as well to some of the "slickness" of the interface (Genie affect, Quartz and the like).

I'm using a WaveLAN card connecting to an Airport basestation. Works with Apple's Airport software under 9.1, but isn't seen by OS X. Use an Airport at home and work, so until Lucent gets drivers out, my use will be limited to wired connections.

Location switching seems forward enough and does continue support for AppleTalk. Location changes are right off the resurrected Apple menu. I'm used to switching from the control strip, but this is equally functional, though I will miss the control strip until Apple or a third party sees fit to create one for OS X.

Though the speed isn't what I expected, Classic is very snappy, once it is loaded. The Classic environment took the better part of a minute to load, but once it was resident, I could open Classic apps easily. I'd heard someone mention that their classic applications seemed faster under OS X than in 9.1. Sounded unlikely, but I would have to agree at this point. Not sure if it's better memory management of the OS overall, despite not being able to take advantage of OS X features in the Classic environment, but everything I've tried (Illustrator, FreeHand, PhotoShop, PageMaker, etc.) all seem to work fine under Classic with one exception -- I can't seem to print?

I thought it may have been my shallow installation and dropping some of the HP and Epson components, but I can print just fine from OS X, just not Classic. Also, setting up printers under Print Central seems to allow selection of printers only from your own AppleTalk zone. The company where I work has printers and servers spread across several zones. All are accessible under 9.1 via the Chooser,

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03/22, 10:01am | report spam | close Reply | delete
First Impressions (cont)

All are accessible under 9.1 via the Chooser, but under OS X printers aren't visible unless your are in the same zone they are. Very peculiar.

Hard to give criticism without a more thorough test drive, but I'd say as of now it's what I expected. Radical change will always come at a cost. So far, it's probably no worse than 7.5 was before a good deal of patching, or 8.0 or 8.5 or 9.0 for that matter. I'm impressed not only with the departure Apple has made from the OS of old, but with the incorporation of feedback from the public beta users. I trust Apple will show the same level of consideration with early adopters of OS X and that those who fork over $130 to lead the migration will help shape future releases of the Mac OS as well. The summer revision (code-named Puma, if you keep score on such things) will offer DVD support, and hopefully give Apple a chance to smooth out the rough edges of this release.

Obviously the inclusion of a Developers disc with the retail release implies perhaps a new strategy toward user loyalty and building more intimate customer relationships. The success of Linux is due not only to its open technology principles, but also the community approach to advancing and improving the operating system. If Apple can foster this same feeling of shared contribution to a common cause, long-time Mac OS loyalists are far more likely to forgive the growing pains.

crmudgn@mac.com

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03/22, 10:56am | report spam | close Reply | delete
No T-shirt, Columbus

Got mine yesterday afternoon at the Lennox Staples in Columbus, OH. I was so pumped and spent the evening saying, "Oh my God", out loud to myself. It is really something! But alas, no t-shirt from Staples.

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03/22, 11:14am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Let Steve loose on 'em!

I'm an Apple Reseller and am so pissed off about this! I've had several cancelations of OS X because they bought it last night at Staples, and this after Apple wants us to have "Midnight Madness" sales of X and big in-store events on Saturday! I don't think so Steve -- the wind is out of our sales now. I hope a few heads roll for this mistake -- it's embarassing!

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03/22, 11:24am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Question for those with X

I haven't used any of the later builds since PB, so, I was wondering if the ONE major complaint I had was fixed:

Could someone check if Mail.app allows you to set a root IMAP folder? The early version in PB didn't allow it and it makes for a real hassle.

Thank you much!

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03/22, 11:30am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Augusta Staples

"Drove 50 miles to the Augusta Staples. None on the shelves. A beautiful young woman asked
if I was looking for anything and I told her I was hoping to buy a copy of OS X. She asked the
manager on duty and she unlocked the storeroom and came out with a copy in hand. Bought it
immediately. Thanks MacNN for the great tip."

I bet she only looked beautiful because she was holding that OSX box...

--------------------------------------

Hey, I work in Augusta, ME. and I've been to the Staples.. there are a couple of cuties working there. (Yet another Mainer fighting to counteract the myth that in Maine the men are men, and so are the women... well okay it's not so much a myth as an overgeneralization, but still there are exceptions)

That said, I know where I'm heading during my lunch break!

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03/22, 11:41am | report spam | close Reply | delete
San Digo Staples

Just got my copy. They apparently don't know Steve!

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03/22, 12:14pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Burlington MA

Still has 4 copies in stock. Heading right over...

BTW, I must admit I'm impressed at the number of y'all who have purchased 2 or 3 copies. Considering the upcoming copy protection that MS is adding to WinXP and the next gen office, it's good to see that Mac users will pay for the software they use. After all the leakage around 4k**, I'm pleased that we are, by and large, an honest community.

Makes me wonder about how the RIAA is shooting themselves in the foot by completely shutting down Napster. I've bought more music since Napster (as compared to my purchasing habits before), and, apparently, Mac users will still buy software (multiple copies!) even when they could get it free off Hotline, or at least use the same copy on multiple machines. Hmmm.

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03/22, 01:07pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Re: Who Cares

I hate to resort to petting name calling, but in a situation where someone makes a negative comment about ANY product by ANY company based on a C|Net article, I'm left with little choice.

You clueless moron. Where in god's name do you get off pretending to be an intelligent human being? Everyone who's got X already has posted comments like "seems very responsive", with the occasional person having installation problems. Yet, you decide to listen to C|Net, an organization who is very obviously the most unelightened, out of touch, classless, clueless, piece of sh*t organization that dares report "news" on the web.

That's all.

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03/22, 01:20pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Argh!

You lucky b*******!!! :)

I just checked the Apple Store (Canada) for my order status, and it still lists as "being assembled" (Thursday, March 22nd - 1:19pm EST) .. so it hasn't even shipped yet.

I'll be lucky if I see it by Wednesday at this rate. :(

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03/22, 01:20pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Cost?

More importantly, how much was MacOS X selling for at Staples?

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03/22, 02:06pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
mac/apple at staples?

are the staples i go to the only ones who sell NOTHING for macs? they often don't even have Mac formatted zip discs..... hrmmm what is this all about? oh, and i live in Philly

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03/22, 02:19pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
OS X and Staples

Adding my 2 cents.

Staples in Cleveland, OH has copies of OS X behind the counter. I asked a sale clerk for help and he grabbed the software.

Cost $129 and tax.

I installed the software on my TiBook with no problems. I can't wait until Microsoft, Adobe and Macromedia update their apps.

FYI....Staples has a no return policy on software purchases. The store appears to only sell OS 9.1, Appleworks 6 and MacOffice.

If I were Apple, I would be upset.

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03/22, 02:44pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
got it, & now wondering

I got it at a Staples in Annapolis, MD ($129+), and now wondering if I can use it in a partition that is the LAST 2 megs on my 10 meg drive?

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03/22, 02:50pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Re: wincent rumours

You wrote:
There is a huge debate on Wincent.org about what is the final version of OSX that will (or has) ship. Could you check on this for us.
-------
I have the retail copy in my hand installed, manuals, box & all, so you can take this as gospel. The final is "4k78" build. It says so right in the "About this computer" dialog box.

In the box you get: Mac OS X CD, Mac OS Developer Tools, Mac OS 9.1 CD. Plus manuals, license agreements, coupons.

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03/22, 02:54pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Yep it's here too...

Checked the local Staples store here in Podunk, Montana and sure enough, they had two copies on the shelves. I did not make a purchase as I work in education and will see it soon enough.

Apple should be very upset as this early sale has undermined their entire launch plans. This will also have an impact on Apple stock which was sure to elevate soon after the release.

Folks, we are looking at a huge lawsuit which may end up with Apple owning Staples :)

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03/22, 02:59pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Look for Hybrid deals...

Oh and FYI, I do occasionally find good deals on hybrid software (both Mac and PC version included) at Staples.

Of note:

Warcraft II Battle.Net Edition ($12.99 - best game ever)
Where in the World is Carmen San Diego ($9.99 - discount shelves, works with 68k Macs)
Where in the USA is Carmen San Diego (same)

Hoyle Card Games 2001 $29.99 - not the best price but this is really a great set of games. The Hoyle Board Games is good too.

About 50% of foreign language software and nearly 95% of educational software is hybrid (in my experiences...)

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03/22, 03:03pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
os X

I just got os X at Staples in Dundalk MD. Easy install. seems smooth so far

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03/22, 03:47pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
New York again

bought at the staples on 87th and Lex
again, it was in the back, but they brought it out on request

there's got to be a better place to find the build # out than the about this mac window... (which says 4k78, as we all know.)

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03/22, 03:58pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
I got it

Staples in Baltimore, MD. Sales rep was very glad to give me a copy. He even said he would buy a Mac just to run this for Photoshop tasks.

The whole experience was funny. The Mac OS X box was on the shelf and I asked for it. He didn't know what i meant at first but then he said, "Oh, Mac!". The smile on my face was so sheepish. We even spent time talking about the OS! Glad I have it.

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03/22, 03:59pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Isolated Mistake? Nah.

I doubt this is an isolated mistake - the store in Napa has copies, and was releasing them yesterday.

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03/22, 04:25pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Half-mil fine

Where did this urban legend get started?

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03/22, 04:38pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
NY -- sold out

Went to 3 Staples... Union Sq. was 'sold out', though they had the display out still. The one on Lower Broadway near City Hall was out also, they checked the back for me. 200 Water St. said they sold out today, and it hadn't been on display there.

Oh well... I'll get in on Saturday.

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03/22, 04:42pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Mac OSeX retail

I'm happy to report that I just picked up the last copy at the local Staples here in Orem Utah on my lunch break. Pretty smooth man..

No time to talk, gotta install! Thanks for the tip!

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03/22, 05:08pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Where to find the build #

Look at MacOS X Install CD:System:Library:CoreServices:SystemVersion.plist for the build number.

Could it be possible that everyone here bought the "demo" version of OS X? The version staples was supposed to use and show off on their macs but wasn't the final?

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03/22, 05:32pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
CompUSA doing the same?

I just got off the phone with a local compUSA and asked if they had "Mac OS 'X'" I made sure I pronounced it 'X' so they wouldn't miss it when looking in the back room. Guess what? 40 in stock and they are holding one for me right now, going to pick it up tonight. Funny, I checked all the Staples locations in my area and none of them even carry Apple products! BTW, I live in South Florida.

Manny

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03/22, 06:04pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
I just got it!

I wasn't going to purchase OSX right away, but, I couldn't help myself. My local Staples only had one copy, so I had to buy it!! cant wait to install

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03/22, 06:12pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Still available

I bought my copy of OS X at the Columbia MD Staples store earlier today. I just walked in, asked if they had it for sale, and they brought it out from the back and gave it to me. Cool!

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03/22, 06:15pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Staples price for MacOS X

I hope that everyone knows to hang on to receipts. I work at a Staples in N.J. MacOS X currently rings up for $129.9X + Tax. Today, I just got to see the advertisement flyer for the week of 3/25/01 - 3/31/01, and MacOS X is on the BACK PAGE selling for $119.94 + Tax. Staples has a 14 day "Price Protection Policy", so if you want $10 back, bring in your receipt and grab a sales flyer. I don't know if the sales flyers vary by region of the U.S.

Most Staples employees don't know about the release date. I don't know how upset "Uncle Steve" is about the early release, but Staples sells such little amounts of Mac Software, that I doubt they would be worth the effort for APPLE to go after them.

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03/22, 06:27pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
SKU number for MacOS X?

Can anyone tell me the SKU number?
(Is this the bar code number?)

I need to know -- so the Staples clerk can do a search...

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03/22, 06:44pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Got X?

Got my copy at Staples in Brentwood, TN last night (3/21) after reading the report on MacNN.

$129.97 + tax.

One notable glitch during install... I wanted to install a second copy of OS 9.1 onto a dedicated OSX partition on my PowerBook G4, but the OS9 installer refused to run on this machine. I installed OS9 from my original System CD and everything went smoothly from there.

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03/22, 06:46pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Unsupported Install?!?

Ok, so color me stupid. Since I knew that people had successfully installed the PB on PM8500s, I rushed out to my local Staples on 38th St. in Indianapolis, and purchased one of 2 copies they had sitting on the shelf, right under a copy of OS9. So, I get it home, back up my 2nd drive to CD-Rs, only to find that the Installer WILL NOT do an "unsupported" install! Does anyone know how to get this thing to install on an older machine. I have a PM8500 with a Newer G3 card, 384MB of RAM, and have successfully installed and run MacOS X Server (1.0) under this configuration (in fact it is currently living on a partition on one of my 2nd drive). PLEASE tell me I didn't just spend $130 on a copy of OS 9.1. HELP!

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03/22, 06:54pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Re: SKU number for MacOS

Can anyone tell me the SKU number?
(Is this the bar code number?)

I need to know -- so the Staples clerk can do a search...
-------------------------
Here you go...
According to the Staples sales flyer, the SKU number is 452974.
This is not the same thing as the UPC number.

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03/22, 06:56pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Irritated?

Am I the only one irritated with Staples' completely ignoring the release date?

At first, I thought this was an isolated thing, and blew it off thinking that these things just happen. But in this case, it seems almost calculated. Way back in the day, when I worked for Best Buy, we knew damn well we weren't supposed to sell products with street dates. We were FORBIDDEN to take the tarp of the shipping pallet.

If you got a copy, congrats, however there's a feeling inside me that by purchasing your copy from Staples, you are rewarding them for cheating the system. I certainly hope they get a phone call from Apple legal. It's very unprofessional to violate an agreement, especially one that the entire industry relies upon.

My $0.02.
Derek

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03/22, 07:16pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
I Got it!! I got it!!

i had to ask for it because it wasnt on display, but sure enough they had it back in storage!! YAY!!!

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03/22, 07:24pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Awesome!!

I got my copy of OS X Yesterday. It works perfectly. I even rebooted in OS 9. i love OS X I hope that all of you get it. Good Luck!!!

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03/22, 07:41pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
here too

They're here too (Reading, PA)... its on the shelf and I asked the salesguy and he said he could get it for me today.

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03/22, 08:03pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Re: Irritated?

Derek,
Again I have to say that most Staples employees don't even know about the release date. I didn't even know that we were going to be selling MacOS X until it showed up earlier this week. Most stores only got 3 copies which showed up without any special packaging or notices about the release date. They are advertised in next weeks sales flyer. Based on the comments that I've read, some stores won't even have any in stock next week because they've sold them already. We still had all 3 copies in stock this morning even though I made a display package for MacOS X on Tuesday. Staples does not get that many Mac users, but I help them out whenever I can.

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03/22, 08:42pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Now Shipping...

Just got an email from Apple letting me know that OS X is on its way... two days ahead of schedule. For once! This just puts a smile on my face.

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03/22, 08:44pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Re: Unsupported Install

You obviously didn't READ before you BOUGHT. Apple clearly states that X WON'T WORK on PM's with upgrades!

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03/22, 08:46pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
OS X in Rochester NY

Henrietta, NY store won't admit to having any copies.

Webster, NY store has it, but won't sell it before Saturday.

Greece, NY store has two copies left after I made a mad dash up there to buy my copy. As soon as the backup completes, I'm upgradin'! As a UNIX administrator by profession, Mac enthusiast by preference, this is a dream come true...

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03/22, 08:48pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Staples in Philly

Have had my OS X since yesterday. Pretty cool so far, but having MAJOR Classic issues.

For the guy in Philly that posted, the one at 15th & Chestnut has OS X; don't really know if they carry other Mac stuff, tho.

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03/22, 09:17pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Stockton, CA

After calling and/or going to the Staples in both Lodi and Tracy (near Stockton), CA, neither had Mac OS X in stock. I called Rancho Cordova (east of Sacramento) at about 2pm today (Thursday):

"Do you have Mac OS X available?"

"Yeah. We've got two copies, uh wait, just sold one a while ago, we've got one left."

"Hold one for me?"

They said they would, gave them my name, jumped in the car at 3:30, drove the 40 miles to Staples in Rancho Cordova, asked about the Mac OS X they were holding for me.

"Hi, you're holding a copy of Mac OS X for me?"

"Are you the guy that was wanting us to hold some software? Right after you called, we got a fax saying that we can't sell it until, uh, next week or something."

They pull out the fax (3:30pm timestamp) and show me where they've highlighted the "street date" of March 24th. And they can't/won't sell it before then. They'll be happy to hold it for me until then, but they figured the Lodi store would probably have a copy by then.

b*******.

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03/22, 09:39pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
North Canton, Ohio Store

The staples in North Canton, Ohio (Belden Village Area) has one copy left and they were willing to sell it to me. Unfortunately, I wont be buying it till next week :(

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03/22, 09:52pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
re: who cares

umm.. cnet is clearly not "the most unelightened, out of touch, classless, clueless, piece of sh*t organization that dares report "news" on the web" ... just look at how big the site is.. people wouldnt read it if it was c***

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03/22, 10:21pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
I Got Mine At Staples

I picked up a copy of OS X this afternoon at Staples in Sandusky, Ohio. I had to ask for it as it wasn't on the shelves. The people there had no idea what the h*** it was. They are so ignorant of Apple products it is silly.
By the way, I'm not sure if it was worth it, OS X on my 400mhz. G3 Powerbook is kind of pokey. DON'T even bother trying to run in Classic mode. Ugggghhhh............
OS X has lots of cool features but until all my applications run in OS X I'll only be tinkering with it. Cheers to Apple though for getting this out the door!

Patrick

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03/22, 10:40pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Re: Irritated?

Lighten up Derek. I bought a copy of OS X from Staples and I don't feel like I've "cheated" anyone. For the price I got it for (108$ including tax after discount) I would've bought it from them just as easily on Saturday. I don't believe there's any conspiracy here. Like the Staples employee said, most of their staff simply weren't aware of the street date. If you want to get on a soap box, go talk to the people who will be downloading it from Hotline without paying a dime! I'm doing my part to support Apple by purchasing a copy.

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03/22, 10:43pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Orlando Florida -CHECK!

i went to STAPLES on altamonte springs florida, its near orlando... they only have 3 copies.. i was late.. but they think they are gonna have more copies for tomorrow.. i really doubt it! but yep, its true, STAPLES is selling the mac OS X and they dont know wahts happening on the mac comunity,,, this is something crazy!!!! APPLE needs to call this store!!!

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03/22, 10:59pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
You know...

I was waiting to really see what the reaction to Mac OS X would be after seeing clips from CNN, TechTV, and ZD TV of people standing outside stores waiting to purchase a Playstation 2. I am really hoping OS X will cause people to do the same. I guess we are just seeing the first wave of insanity. People are going out of their way, driving 50 or so miles, taking planes, and arguing with store managers just to get OS X in their hands a few days early! I can't wait to see what happens when OS X is officially released!

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03/22, 11:17pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Not that big of a deal

People need to stop freaking that they're not getting their preorder first. it's not that big of a deal that Staples decided to release early. They're glad it's just getting off the shelves. the more people they can get to buy this product the quicker Apple can continue their OS and hardware development which means positively a couple weeks for DVD, CDRW, etc.
As far as reports of sluggishness, we need to hear what processor speeds your trying to run it at. OSX is a modern OS that needs fast processors and lots of RAM. It's a modern OS. Modern to me means at least 450mhz and 128MB RAM. I don't think you'll be experiencing GUI redraw sluggishness with a 733mhz X 2 that should hit the $2500 price point by this summer.

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03/22, 11:47pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Staples has you had

Check that version carefully...if you get version 4k78, then Staples is selling you the demo model, and not the real version. 4k83 is what people are getting mail order. In other words a ripoff. The 4k78 I've read won't work on a Powerbook G3/500. I think Staples just wants to get rid of their demo model to make Apple look bad.

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03/23, 12:01am | report spam | close Reply | delete
4k83??

I just bought OSX at Staples today here in Louisville, KY. I asked one employee and he said it doesn't go on sale till Sunday. I found another employee who got a manager to get it out of lock-up for me :)

I don't think staples "had me" as this is the retail version. There is no 4k83..you are just wishing!

Classic runs great on my g4/500 with 512MB ram. I'll never boot into OS9 unless I have to.

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03/23, 12:18am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Re:Re: Unsupported Instal

You obviously didn't READ before you BOUGHT. Apple clearly states that X WON'T WORK on PM's with upgrades!

Thanks for all your assistance -- NOT! For your information, it does NOT say that it "WON'T WORK", on "upgraded" Macs, it merely says they are "NOT SUPPORTED". THERE'S A *BIG* DIFFERENCE in the two phrases in "SOFTWARE-BOX-SPEAK". Since people have been able to do "UNSUPPORTED" Installs of the PB on everything from a Prune Danish to a "Beige" G3, I kind of figured that Apple would not *INTENTIONALLY* alienate ANYONE in its user base; but I was apparently wrong. And I was apparently mistaken that ANYONE would actually try and do anything to HELP, rather than just emitting some bullsh*t snide remark, and especially one that is actually NOT what the PACKAGING (that I *DID* read, btw!) said!

Again, thanks for nothing, you ignorant jerk.

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03/23, 12:26am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Irritated Part II

No no no no no, I'm not criticizing people for buying it. h***, go get it if they'll sell it. And I am NOT jealous for not getting it first. My copies comes Saturday, and I get a much better price than retail. And this has NOTHING to do with piracy, so dont muddy the issue. And, please don't flame me for making these logical points.

Consider what I *am* saying.

1) If companies like Staples put profit before they priciples, you'd have companies jumping the gun to get the sales.

2) Ignorance of the 'law' is a lame excuse, sorry. By agreeing to sell Apple items, Staples most definitely agreed to abide by the manufacturer's release terms, and thus set their own 'law' to abide by. So what if your employees don't know better? That doesn't make it OK to break your agreements. These types of agreements are VERY COMMON, and stores KNOW what is marked for release. They cannot put items out early Thursday, for example, that are heavily discounted in the Sunday ad. So employees practice this reasonable thought process on a regular basis. Yes, s**** ups happen. But, they do not happen day after day, especially after getting this much press, at so many locations across the country. There are reports that managers joke about this. THAT, ladies and gentlement, is a conscious decision to ignore their binding agreement with Apple. Call me a sticker, but there are GOOD reasons these policies exist. If there wasn't a fax memo to every store this morning notifying managers of the policy, then it most definitely is a calculated move, aimed at profit. Staples damn well knew about this at 8am. If you check, people are STILL getting copies today.

3) Releasing it early takes business away from reputable vendors like CompUSA, who respect their agreements. If you buy from Staples, you will not buy it from CompUSA, obviously. In doing so you get what you want, but you send a message to Staples that it is in effect, OK to violate agreements. Buying it is contributing to this distasteful business practice. As greedy consumers, we could care less, but at some time we have to look at the big picture, otherwise this could be anarchy when a truly HOT item is out (Remember Cabbage Patch Kids?).

4) What if Staples did this with Windows 95? Would/should the backlash be any less severe? Would there be a backlash. h*** yeah!

5) Reward your favorite Mac vendor. If everyone played by the rules and waited until Saturday, you would have a choice to purchase OSX from many reputable vendors. I would by mine from my CompUSA store rather than an Office Depot, because I want to reward this store for making an effort to hang with my favorite computer maker when things were tough. When the playing field isnt level, and people are motivated by getting it first, the rationale of 'reward' is diminshed.

You got your copy, great! Thanks for supporting Apple's cool endeavors. You al

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03/23, 12:32am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Re: Staples has you had

I'm typing this on the copy of OS X (4k78) I bought at Staples which is running on a PowerBook G3 500. You're listening to hacks the likes of "Wincent.org". Put down the National Enquirer and go get the facts. This is the release version of OS X, period. Anyone who subscribes to the fantasy that Staples is selling "demo" software and that the "real thing" will be appearing magically on Saturday should contact me immediately about the pending sale of a certain bridge in NYC. I suppose Wincent's next story will be about a leak from a high-level Apple employee stating that Steve Jobs will be personally delivering the "real" OS X in his flying sleigh all over the world this Saturday. Give me a break!

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03/23, 12:35am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Irritated Part III

... but shame on you for dismissing this type of business practice as acceptible. It is truly harmful, and should be discouraged.

Personally, I think it is tragic that an operation like Staples, which is historically not a GREAT mac reseller, get so much business these last couple of days. I hope they lose their right to distribute Mac software because of this. But then again, they wouldn't care.

Derek

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03/23, 12:45am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Not Every Staples

Northeast Indian store refused to sell it. "Apple would be upset with us." I think a few did get out the door there.

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03/23, 12:46am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Not Every Staples

Northeast Indian store refused to sell it. "Apple would be upset with us." I think a few did get out the door there.

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03/23, 03:33am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Re: Irritated Part III

Derek, nobody is "dismissing" anything. I, for one, just don't believe that this situation was pre-meditated by Staples. I think it was simply the result of ignorance. A Staples employee himself said this earlier but you don't seem to want to believe it. Furthermore, how is it "tragic" to buy OS X at Staples but acceptable to go to CompUSA. You're not talking about some mom and pop operation out to spread the Mac gospel. I bought OS 9 from CompUSA on release day and got a nice helping of indifference to fill my free coffee cup. Apple has a lot of issues with the way their product line is handled at CompUSA; some of which may be pushing them in the direction of opening their own long-rumored retail outlets.

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03/23, 03:46am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Very True!

He's right. I pickled up my copy of OS X tonight (Thursday). Thank you staples! And yes, OS X is as great as I thought it would be!

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03/23, 05:08am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Not Staples Fault

Staples gets most of their software from that major distributor Ingram Micro. Mac OS X arrived in their regular weekly shipments of software without notice any release date restrictions. When Microsoft has a new release, their reps are out to each store talking to the associates in addition to notifying management. Have never seen any Apple rep in the stores nor was their any notice passed on to the indivdual store management. For the Apple Reseller who claims he lost so many orders because people when to Staples is a pitiful reseller as most Staples stores only get 2 or 3 copies of any Macintosh product. If they are crying about losing that many sales they can't be that much of an Apple Reseller to begin with...

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03/23, 07:56am | report spam | close Reply | delete
os x

Apple has some new QuickTime movies on its Web site demonstrating some bits of OS X. In these, the trash can is in the dock. My understanding is that Apple moved the Trash (and the disk icons) back onto the desktop. Am I mistaken?

And one other thing: why are employees now called "associates?"

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03/23, 08:44am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Sorry Stockton, CA...

Rancho Cordova and Citrus Heights, California.

I'm the guy that got the first copy at Rancho Cordova, apparently. I first went to the Citrus Heights store (near Greenback and Sunrise, on Sunrise north east of intersection, and they had absolutely no idea what I was talking about.

At Rancho Cordova, is asked "Do you carry any Mac Software?" The person looked perplexed, then said "Only something called OS X and Microsoft Office. OS X is locked up in back, because it's too expensive."

I purchased mine and had a huge smile on my face!

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03/23, 08:51am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Fairfax VA Staples

they had two on the shelf. i bought them both. my iMac and powerbook couldn't be happier! (well i'd be happier if my wavelan/orinico card was supported on the powerbook but hey.)

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03/23, 09:56am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Canadian Staples?

Anybody find OS X at a Canadian Staples store?

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03/23, 10:36am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Thanks, Staples! on iBook

Got it -- Installed it!

Thanks to Apple for including the Developer Tools in the box!

I don't see how to active AirPort -- It's not obvious! Rats.
Can anyone point me to related info?

I was playing with rapid sleeping and waking, down on my knees so I can see how fast the wake time is, when all of a sudden the screen stayed black. I couldn't wake the machine up, and in this state it would not go back to sleep, either. It was dead. I had to hold down the power button and then boot the machine again. Well, I like the fast wake time but it's too bad that the sleep/wake system is not rock solid. Keep at it, Apple!

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03/23, 10:36am | report spam | close Reply | delete
It's installed...

Report from the Apple Solutions Expert who got his copy on the 21st....
Myself and one other person in the office both have OS X installed, he on his PB G3 400, mine on my PB G3 233 (model w/cache), both of us with 192MB of RAM.
Suffice to say, both of us run the OS at almost the same speed, which, along with the fact that on both machines it is slow, would lead us to the conclusion that some debugging code needs to be removed still, and probably the OS will be a work-in-progress for some time to come. Application load times for OS X are somewhat sluggish, even when many features are turned down (thousands of colors, hiding the dock, etc.) and some apps like Quicktime definitely aren't up to full speed yet. On the positive side, the interface is great, and Classic apps run very well. Interestingly enough, running Quicktime classic seems faster than the native OS X version.
There are no serious OS X apps out there for the average person anyway yet, so none of the negatives is serious as long as Apple makes a move to patch things quickly and in a method that's easy for its users to work with. Mac OS X appears to be a real diamond....it just needs some cutting and polishing to achieve its true value.

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03/23, 10:41am | report spam | close Reply | delete
"the man" was inquisiti

I was buying OS X at a Staples store here in Utah when a manager-looking guy walked up to the checkout counter. He started asking questions, but it turned out to be because of his curiosity in the product, and nothing to do with the release date. For one thing, after I told him about the Mach/UNIX base and Acrobat-based 2D rendering, he was wondering if he could run OS X on an x86 machine instead of Microsoft Windows...

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03/23, 11:14am | report spam | close Reply | delete
Men In X

I pity the fools who are buying these copies of OS X before the release date. If you haven't heard, all copies installed prior to the official release date auto dial to Apple, serial numbers are logged and sent to the Global Computer Crimes Task Force (GCCTF). Then you'll have to ask yourself, was it really worth it?

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03/23, 11:39am | report spam | close Reply | delete
All your OS X

are belong to US!

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03/23, 11:41am | report spam | close Reply | delete
What an Idiot (Men in X)

I really don't think that a customer who pays full retail on a product, (even one released unintentionally three days early) is going to be penalized. However, Ingram and Staples may have some (splainin') to do.

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03/23, 12:11pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Triad, NC

Checked with the Staples in Clemmons, NC but they did not have OS X on Thursday. But Staples in Statesville, NC had it and sold without question. For macusers In the triad.

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03/23, 12:23pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
MEN IN X IS RIGHT!!

And after several weeks of use of these ill-gotten pre-release versions of OS X, Apple will send a death-beam directly to your hard drive, creating reality-distortion field. Every time you boot up, Steve will appear as a holograph, and swear at you for buying X early. This is a confirmed fact.

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03/23, 02:05pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Re: Men in X

There's absolutely nothing illegal about purchasing the software before Apple's "official" release date. Don't give sites like wincent.org any more stupid material for rumors please.

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03/23, 02:07pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Staples Wised Up

Went to a Park Ridge, NJ Staples where a red-faced stock manager came out of the back after I sent a stock-boy back to look for my OSX box. He said there is a big asterisked note telling employees they CANNOT sell OSx before Saturday. Tis a shame, I am off of work today!

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03/23, 05:00pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Defies Logic

I simply cannot buy the notion that SO MANY Staples employees and managers around the country are complete doofuses. I think there has to be a tacit understanding between them and Apple that if someone came asking they could let it go, pre-release or not.

hello

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03/23, 05:14pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Caught!

I went up to the desk at Staples here in Des Moines and asked if they had OSX. The girl said "What? yeah, ya know, I think so." She went in back and came back with it. I went straight to the cashier, pulled out my card, paid and headed for the door. Behind me I heard, "Come on guys, we got the b******!" I turned around and stared into the barrels of four anti-personnel assault rifles wielded by men in riot gear with large apples on their sheilds. I dived into the restroom, got to the toilet but it wouldn't flush. Trapped! I was hit in the back of the head and smashed into the stall wall. I lay in a daze on the floor as the guy read me my purchase agreeement. I knew I was facing hard time in Cupertino...

Come on people, for Apple the worst new is no news. If Staples wasn't selling them early we'd all have nothing to do today but listen to the trolls.

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03/23, 06:43pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
My Pre-Order

Whelp, got confirmation today that my preorder shipped around noon from Middletown PA. FedEx priority overnite, but then, today is Friday, so I suppose overnite wont even get close here by saturday - major bummer waiting till monday - I will just go on a drinking binge starting today till it gets here - and install with a hangover.

BTW, am i correct in assuming it will need a special formatting? (IE: wont work as HFS+)

Wonder if it can be made to do function in any capacity between it and my install of Yellow Dog Linux....

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03/23, 07:02pm | report spam | close Reply | delete
Re: Cought

... Forver being haunted by those black helicopters? 8-)

Anyway...

I guess Staples selling those copies early will give people fodder if the platform crumbles. "This would have never happened *SNIFF* if Staples... WAAAA!.... Its-all-their-FAULT! if we had (choking back a sob) sued... what if we destroy Staples... what if im g**! - WAAAA!

- gimme a break! please!

Gimme a break. So some ppl got a copy before you so they could put up digcam pics / scans of the box on the net, and lots get whiny.

I can apprciate the frustration for the dedicated Mac channels out there that feel a bit slighted by being upsurped by staples. If i couldve I wouldve got a copy myself though. Theres no channel close to me to pick it up even when it goes on sale though, so i wait for the mail...

i blame that part on Apple a lot, I tried to become a authorized channel, but Apple seemed like they could care less if you sold their stuff or not. This was many years ago - yes, im still bitter about that.

Move ZIG! for great justice..
Someone set up us the X !
.

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Staples selling Mac OS X early

updated 12:10 pm EST, Wed March 21, 2001

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