Posted on 03/26/2015 9:48:22 PM PDT by Swordmaker
It’s hard to believe that 14 years have elapsed since OS X — then Mac OS X — was originally released as a supposedly finished product. But it wasn’t quite the first version of Apple’s Unix-based OS to be available to the public. The previous September, Apple sold you a Public Beta, for $29, designed to demonstrate that, first and foremost, the new OS was real and that it would soon be ready for public consumption.
I remember the Public Beta well. The interface was good-looking all right, though I chafed at the “lickable” comment from Steve Jobs. Did he really once lick the screen of a Mac as was reported? One of my editors at the time inserted “cartoonish, goofy” into my description of the Dock.
Regardless, the ideas seemed attractive and all, and Apple certainly put a warm and fuzzy face upon a normally obtuse OS, but what could I do with it? Printing was broken, and it took several releases to get things to work properly. Apple’s solution for Classic Mac OS support, to open the old OS in a separate document window, was clever enough, but I more often than not just rebooted my Mac into the installed version of System 9.x and went about my business.
It didn’t help that OS X was dead slow. There wasn’t even support for graphics acceleration of interface objects in the initial releases, and that added to the perception of sluggishness. I wasn’t surprised that Jobs called OS 10.0 a release meant for power users and developers. That statement was the admission that even the release version was still largely a beta release, with lots more work to be done. But after years of delays, the arrival of OS X demonstrated that Apple was serious this time in delivering an industrial strength operating system to the masses.
Within months came OS X 10.1, largely a bug fix and performance update. But new Macs still booted by default in Mac OS 9.
The situation got much better with OS 10.2 Jaguar, which arrived in the summer of 2002 and delivered major performance improvements. The broken printing system was overhauled after Apple acquired CUPS (Common Unix Printing System), which provided enhance support for most recent printers. I liked the upgrade enough not to pay serious attention to the fact that Jobs continued to refer to Jaguar “jag-wire.”
With OS X 10.3 Panther, I wrote my final computer books. I had grown tired of the routine that favored word counts and writing speed over quality. I also felt that, as OS X matured, and reached more and more people, the need for a computer book was slowly coming to an end.
OS X 10.4 Tiger actually had two public releases. First in the spring of 2005, and yet again in January 2006 as the first Intel-compatible version for new generation Macs. It also marked an end for the Classic compatibility environment for Mac users. In a sense, the situation presaged OS 10.6 Snow Leopard a few years later, the last version to support Rosetta, which allowed you to run PowerPC apps on an Intel Mac.
Apple didn’t look back.
Through the years, Mac OS diehards maintained that Apple dropped too many features in moving to the new system. The extensible Apple menu was largely history. Fast access to the apps you use most often works well enough in the Dock, which I never actually regarded as cartoonish.
As OS X has matured, the ongoing interface changes have been controversial. Beginning with OS 10.7 Lion, some Mac users complained about the alleged iOS-ification of the Mac, the alleged decision to incorporate more of the qualities of the mobile OS. But the actual changes were minor and done mostly for consistency. Reversing the direction of scrolling to “natural” to mirror iOS, is an example. But it’s not as if you can’t get used to the new way of doing things. In fact, when I use a Mac that is set up for the traditional method, I find myself having to get used to it all over again.
Yes, OS X Yosemite has hundreds and hundreds of additional features compared to the original release. It looks different mostly in form, since the basic functions and behavior of legacy functions are mostly similar. The Dock is less 3D, but still works pretty much the same as it has for quite a while. It’s still as user friendly or as user hostile as ever.
Today, there are well over 70 million Mac users, far more than ever. The vast majority never touched the original Mac OS. Over 50% are using OS X Yosemite, a record when it comes to the adoption rate. A lot of that is simply because Apple delivers OS X free these days, and many Mac users can get prerelease copies due to the ongoing public beta program.
While each OS X release has ongoing glitches, and there are still complaints as Apple continues work on a 10.10.3 update, there are rumors that the next major release will be focused primarily on fixing bugs and improving performance. New features will be few, but then again an OS X release tends to have far more new features than what Microsoft traditionally offers. With Windows 10, the major new feature is restoring stuff from Windows 7 with the new modern interface, and stealing a few things from OS X, such as multiple desktop support.
One of my long-time clients actually has a Power Mac from around 2000 or so still running Mac OS 9, and still working perfectly. He doesn’t use it very much, and it’s been years since I’ve seen it in operation. Unlike many people, I am not fearful of change. A Mac is still a Mac.
Hardware that uses lead based solder tends to last much longer than the newer stuff with tighter dimensions between components on the boards and using tin based solders.
Then you said:
> I never use the Windows 8 so called apps and I bypass the apps tiles. All that stuff is for touch devices such as tablets and smartfones. When I boot up I go from log-on to desktop with ye old start button
You just said two things that disagree completely -- your statements contradict each other. Oh well.
IMO the Windows 8 GUI has a look and feel very much like the Windows 3.11 GUI from 1993. In fact, it's nearly identical. I know, I used 3.11 a lot back in the day.
Face it. Windows 8 is a fine operating system with a terrible user interface which even Microsoft now admits was as misguided as Vista's. Hopefully Windows 10 will be better. The Technical Preview isn't half bad.
OS-X, on the other hand, is a fine operating system with a pretty damn good user interface as of Mavericks. I'm not a fan of Yosemite, it reminds me of Windows 9 too much.
LOL. What a stupid pasttime, arguing about computers. I'm glad you like what you like. You really should start a Windows Ping List. Seriously, this forum is missing one and I've hoped someone who is a Windows fanboy like yourself would start one, I'd join up -- I have 5 Windows machines at home and around 120 at work and would appreciate it.
But please, take your silly self-contradiction about Windows away from my early morning reading and go bother some other thread. This is an Apple thread. Thanks.
> ...it reminds me of Windows 9...
8. The key next to 9. More coffee.
Windows 8 is very sharp and defined via today’s hi-resolution monitors. It is cleaner than Windows 7. It gives me a better feeling using it though I still have and use Windows 7 machines.
The windows 3.1 comparison? I don’t get it. I have seen 3.1 on computers though I really started out with Windows 95
This is a windows/apple thread. All of them are.
Yeah, multiple desktops is one of the things I think Linux does best. I normally run 8. Everything I run regularly has a place, so I always know where stuff is. I couldn't live without multiple desktops.
“Hardware that uses lead based solder tends to last much longer than the newer stuff with tighter dimensions between components on the boards and using tin based solders.”
True - whiskers cause damage.
“... Tiny splinters — whiskers, they’re called — that sprout without warning from tin solder and finish deep inside electronics.”
“... Trouble arises when the whiskers bridge separate parts of increasingly miniaturized circuit boards. They also can flake off and interfere with sensitive optics.
While scientists debate their cause, they agree on one thing: Small amounts of lead mixed with the tin have been remarkably effective at preventing whisker eruptions for decades.”
Tin whiskers are causing failures in missile systems, pacemakers, nuclear-power plants, and many other electronic systems. So yes, the longevity of newer electronics is in question compared to older lead-solder based systems. We’re in a disposable society, so components can be easily replaced but critical systems still try to use lead solder when possible.
The possibly more expensive, but less work, version would be to connect a PowerPC box to your network, install a VNC server on it, and run it remotely. If it’s capable of running Leopard or later, Apple’s Screen Sharing works well. G4 iBooks and Mac Minis are routinely under $100, and sometimes as little as $20, on eBay, and you can do cheaper or free if you’re patient enough.
I still have the Mac Plus I bought used in 1991. I upgraded it to a whopping 4 MB of RAM. I also have a couple of SCSI hard drives for it, and one of my projects (back-burnered for years) is to find a way to set up System on the drive and connect the Plus to the Internet. I have an early-generation G3 Powerbook with both a serial port and Ethernet that I'm pretty sure I can set up as a gateway.
Thank you for telling me! I always come on Apple threads to read what PC users have. It’s just so intriguing! Not.
If there were real pro audio apps for Linux and major 3rd party plugin vendors had linux versions of their products it would be a very happy day here in my music studio.
10.9.5 will be my os till I have no choice but to move to Yosemite. Staying a year or more behind the newest OSX flavor works well for me & my music studio.
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