Top Five Reasons that Leopard will be Apple's tipping point

Moments ago I finished reading John Markoff's New York Time's piece entitled, "As Apple Gains PC Market Share, Jobs Talks of a Decade of Upgrades" and it added to my belief that the introduction of Leopard this Friday is going to mark the tipping point of Apple's acceleration in the PC marketplace (disclaimer: I own a fair number of shares in Apple).

Much analysis and opinion has swirled around this coming OS upgrade -- most positive and pleased with features -- but I'm going to point out what I see as a deeper meaning behind some of the top features and why a tipping point will occur:

1) Time Machine: We all have the best intentions to backup but most of us just don't. Now that many of us have both a desktop, a laptop, an iPod and many an iPhone too, keeping everything in sync is a friggin' nightmare. As more new form factors arrive (like the rumored Mac tablet/multi-touch device/ultralight portable), keeping our data synchronized is going to be even more challenging. From what I've seen and played with in the developer version, this is going to be a laughingly simple backup and sync that normal non-techies will adore.

2) iChat: I just cannot emphasize enough what a game-changer this could be. Every single day I connect with someone that wants to show me something or have me show them. Videos, presentations, web sites and more are shared but it just isn't easy. I have an atypical ability to communicate with all the available tools at my fingertips, but almost everyone I connect with gets frustrated because they can't return the favor.

3) Parental Controls: If you don't have kids (and especially a teenage boy like I do!) this isn't a big deal perhaps, but the ease of setting this up, controlling access and some level of filtering is fantastic. I've actually delayed a purchase of a 3rd party application that does much of this in order to use Leopard's...it's that good.

4) Boot Camp: Though I run Parallels on my Mac with Windows XP installed, I've discovered that I almost NEVER USE WINDOWS for anything. There was a period of time where I absolutely required it, but as I write this I'm struggling to figure out what's out there that I can't do on my Mac. Still, I've loaded even old PC games in Parallels and it's just too slow. My son and his pals are pumped for Leopard (two of them are PC users whose parents will buy a Mac but wouldn't use a beta Boot Camp pre-Leopard) since they'll be using the reboot-into-Windows capability to load the machine with games. This will be a game-changer (pun intended) since all PC games will run in a PC environment and a Mac can now be two machines for the price of one!

5) Dashcode: For power users and web developers, I believe this is going to be THE biggest and most important feature in Leopard. Why? Imagine libraries of thousands of widgets as well as every creator of application functionality has widgets as part of what they deliver.  Most people don't know what widgets are and don't care. But for those that do, this extremely simple method of creating them is going to change delivery of applications and information on the Web. Here's a quick tips on Dashcode you might find interesting:

If you think Dashcode will be hot too, peek at these two posts to understand my thinking more:

Will Apple Own Mass Market Web Applications?

Will Safari be an Rich Internet Application Container?

No question in my mind that Apple delayed an iPhone SDK (see "Third Party Applications on the iPhone") until Leopard shipped. There are too many signs pointed that way. Also, the still anemic .Mac service will undoubtedly leap forward with more features after this Friday.

Lastly, I'm surprised on a daily basis with the people that are connecting with me about their decision to buy a Mac and switch from Windows and are asking for guidance. From my cousin Kathy to my Aunt Marlys (PC users) to my pal Kevin, these are people I never expected would switch. When asked why, they all talk about the design, how "gorgeous" the operating system is, how well it works and how hideous Vista is. They're sick of adware, spyware and viruses and the intrusive and bothersome Vista popups making them decide on just about everything that occurs in the OS (or so they think).

Then you read articles like this one from Princeton University's newsletter describing what I've seen anecdotally: "This year, the University's Student Computer Initiative has sold more Macs than PCs. Students were offered a selection of Dell, IBM and Apple computers, and 60 percent chose Macs, up from 45 percent last year."

This evening's Apple earnings call ought to be interesting as I suspect good news about Mac shipments is coming (and iPhone shipments too). This is going to be a good holiday season for the kids from Cupertino, heh?

Comments

[PXLated]

It's amazing the speed at which Apple is innovating. Hard for others to keep up.
Like you, I'm observing a mass switch to Mac by friends and looking forward to iChat, will make little tech support calls easier.

[Geoff]

First: I own 3 macs and 3 iPods but
1. Time machine - nice but does it work with external drives where most of my data lives?
2. ichat - great app but almost nobody I know overseas has a mac so I never use it. My wife's family is from Mexico where there is rarely a mac in sight. Its almost worthless. Skype for me and most others as far as I'm see it. I was angry when I saw apple added glitzy background compositing when cross platform is needed so badly
3. Parental controls - there have been so many iterations of this - why is this any better
4. Boot Camp - nice but adds a lot of cost
5. Dashcode - cool but I never found a reason to use widgets beyond the calculator , dictionary or weather - I have it tuned off now

I will probably upgrade one of my macs (there others are too old) but not right away - next year probably - I just don't agree with Steve B or Steve J so much on this one

[Zach]

While I don't doubt that Apple's new release will be solid, do you seriously think that people are going to look at an instant messaging program as the tipping point between a mac or a pc. That's stupid. Maybe you do alot of messaging, but I don't know the last time I heard someone ask a sales associate when buying a computer, Mac or PC, what instant messaging software came pre-installed.

[esteban]

Nothing original here, just the same fanboy cooing which quickly degrades into the oh so scientific "my aunt, mother, and cousin are all switching, it must be a sign!" drivel.

[Paul Stamatiou]

I think widgets are severely overrated. Sure, when I got my first Mac capable of running Tiger a few years ago, I thought they were cute. I ended up building a few and nothing much past that. Fast forward to now and many, many users associate widget with "something that slows down my Mac" - and with good reason. Search for any "speed up my mac" type articles and it's sure to list disabling the dashboard or shutting down trivial widgets.

Instead, I think "THE" biggest feature for power users will be Spaces. Macs are already great for productivity with Expose, Quicksilver and Spotlight; spaces just helps out that case tremendously. http://paulstamatiou.com/2006/06/01/why-im-more-productive-on-a-mac/

[STELLAR]

What I really want to know is where can I find that badass wallpaper?

[Colby]

Sorry dude, I love Apple and their OS, but this won't be the tipping point until Apple allows for OSX to be installed on any hardware, not just Apple hardware. I see the trends too, but we're not at the tipping point yet.

[Paul]

I think you're wrong about Apple accellerating market penetration in the computer-space.

Linux is handily beating Microsoft already, and most people don't have the kind of $ it takes to get onto the Apple bandwagon. And the quality of their hardware is abysmal. Left Linux 5 years ago to to go MacOS X with a G17. Java support was terrible with bugs that affected my ability to earn a living as a java architect. Saw many people walk away from the lousy support, lousy attitude, and constant $$ upgrades (want java 5? Upgrade, because osx 10.4 doesn't and never will support java 5).

I hope Linux destroys Apple completely.

[jim]

@Zach

dumbass.

It's not about instant messaging. It's about allowing people to connect and share things easily.

"Every single day I connect with someone that wants to show me something or have me show them."

And while I can take screenshots, draw notes all over them with photoshop, zip them up, email them or post them on an ftp server and send a link back to the person....the average person doesn't know how to unzip things!

I never use ichat or msnmessenger or anything like those ever (irc all the way) but at least I know communication and tech support with any of my mac using clients will by 100 times more productive and faster than with any of the windows users.

Disclaimer:
Windows user since 1996, Mac user since 2004, Linux user since 2007.
I hate all 3.

[Balboa Peterson]

Until there is a two butotn mouse/trackpad, then Apple is going NOWHERE. Get over it Steve!!! Bring us two frigging buttons and I'll start buying apples.

(and no, buying a separate mouse does not count - I want it on the macbook trackpad)

[doubtful]

I sell PCs and Macs at a major electronics store. I have two comments on the article:

1) Many people do not want to make the switch to Apple because of cost.

2) The higher rate of adoption will increase the viruses and spyware on Apple systems. Many people that write malicious code are profiting off of that code; either from control for spamming, identity theft, etc.

I think Apple has great products, but cost is a strong deterent.

[Mathew Byrne]

Are you serious?

A messaging client and a widget IDE are going to shift an entire market over to Apple?

Get real, Timemachine and Bootcamp are serious features that may pursued a sector of the PC market to switch. But equating them with iChat and Dashcode? Those features are Apple Fan-Service and are not going to influence a mass shift from PC to Mac.

[subcorpus]

@Jim
you'll buy a mac when they add a button ... ?
man ... people nowadays just blows me away ...
amazing ...

[Forrest]

Apple is the most overrated company in existence. There products are innovative, over priced, and under-featured (the iPod STILL doesn't have an FM tuner). Not to mention that their DRM policies are the most restrictive out there.

Its funny how all the uneducated fan-boys are drawn in by aesthetic aspects of there products.

People complain about Windows - but seriously; if you can't get XP (or your linux distro of choice) to work how you want it too all the time then your an idiot.

[Andres]

@Balboa Peterson:

Macbooks have allowed you to using two fingers on a trackpad to scroll and right-click for quite some time now. It works far better than you'd imagine. So much so, that I wish it were present on both my Compaq and Toshiba laptops as well.

[Rip Ragged]

I disagree that Leopard is the tipping point. Vista was the tipping point. Vista failed to leapfrog anything. It's an incremental upgrade to XP. A huge, bloated, crappy incremental upgrade, but an incremental upgrade, nevertheless.

When Microsoft took seven years to introduce a new operating system, and the eventual operating system they introduced failed to rock, it sucks. Vista does not rock, therefore it sucks.

When Vista was introduced, it was a major yawner. New computers were sold with it installed, that weren't powerful enough to run it. I have a Windows faithful friend who bought a new computer with Vista and couldn't use it until he bought 512k more RAM than it shipped with. In twenty years of using Macs, I've never heard of that happening on an Apple machine.

Leopard is going to sell like Chunky Monkey in Hell.

Microsoft had better reinvent themselves really quick.

[Rip Ragged]

I disagree that Leopard is the tipping point. Vista was the tipping point. Vista failed to leapfrog anything. It's an incremental upgrade to XP. A huge, bloated, crappy incremental upgrade, but an incremental upgrade, nevertheless.

When Microsoft took seven years to introduce a new operating system, and the eventual operating system they introduced failed to rock, it sucks. Vista does not rock, therefore it sucks.

When Vista was introduced, it was a major yawner. New computers were sold with it installed, that weren't powerful enough to run it. I have a Windows faithful friend who bought a new computer with Vista and couldn't use it until he bought 512k more RAM than it shipped with. In twenty years of using Macs, I've never heard of that happening on an Apple machine.

Leopard is going to sell like Chunky Monkey in Hell.

Microsoft had better reinvent themselves really quick.

[dan]

I bought a Macbook pro a couple of years ago and paid Apple 500 dollars for their ADC program (Apple Developer Connection). I used Leopard (legally) for 8/9 months and finally switched to Vista on a Thinkpad. I have my reasons for ditching the Apple platform - but I assure you..."Leopard is not a tipping point for Apple".

[Romeo]

Man oh man .....wait a minute If apple gets more market share she'll (OS X) will be hacked to bits and people will "try" to write spyware/virus :( the good thing about having low market share is no one wants to go after you if only 5% use the product.

[McJohn]

So Leopard is going to allow me to play all of my windows games on mac hardware?

Cause if not, I'm still not interested.

PS: Yes, I get that dual-booting lets me play my windows games under windows on mac hardware. On the other hand, a mac desktop is very expensive compared to a windows desktop.

[Robert]

Easiest and fastest way to tell if a poster is <16 yrs old: there/not/their and rediculous/not/ridiculous.

I'm in for the chunky monkey! Making the switch Friday!

With millions of lines of new code DEVOTED to keeping people from watching "premium content" on their PCs I think that it is MS who has the most restrictive DRM policies out there.

[Rajat Jangid]

Well It excites more with the features which MAC has introduced. But There still exists that More Expectation and less Productivity has always hindered the growth of MAC. They Might Play in trillions if they Introduce Mac to Other hardware support. Well Thats not enough though, but, if you actually see the stats of MAC against LINUX and WINDOWS, They are a bit behind the competition in regions like India, Sri-lanka, Pak, and the gulf region. There isn't much Advertisement in here(Esoecially Indian Sub continent). So, Wel can just say that,..... Lets see how it goins when it comes out...
Rajat Jangid
India

[turander]

Haha, I am amazed. Next thing we learn is they include an ON-OFF-Button!

[Matt Chancellor]

I very much doubt that Mac OS will ever be the dominant platform. I think there will be a "tipping point" when people realize that Microsoft is no longer relevant. That may have already happened with Vista. Time will tell. I think the future is standards based computing. Linux distros have come a long way in the last five years.

Apple, I believe, is and will remain the "Mercedes S-Class" of the new computing world. Nearly every major innovation, crumple zones, disc brakes, seal belts, air bags, antilock brakes, and so on and so on, all made their first appearance with the S-Class. That's like Apple.

Apple's a premium brand. Apple's computers are more attractive than most, better equipped and more expensive. As a result, their market share will probably remain modest.

[I started on Apple]

you're kinda bland sounding..

are these really...POINTS?

god, tell us something new and interesting.. and realistic.

this is just one more tired Mac OS update. they havent done anything truly new in AGES.

are you paid for? do you work for Apple? maybe.... trying to hype up such 'nothingness'...

Cheers.

[Alex Tirrell]

>1. Time machine - nice but does it work with
>external drives where most of my data lives?

Yes.

>2. ichat - great app but almost nobody I know
>overseas has a mac so I never use it. My wife's
>family is from Mexico where there is rarely a mac
>in sight. Its almost worthless. Skype for me and
>most others as far as I'm see it. I was angry
>when I saw apple added glitzy background
>compositing >when cross platform is needed so
>badly

iChat has always had cross-platform support with AIM for Windows.

[meh.]

1. Time machine - nice but does it work with external drives where most of my data lives?

Yes.

2. ichat - great app but almost nobody I know overseas has a mac so I never use it. My wife's family is from Mexico where there is rarely a mac in sight. Its almost worthless. Skype for me and most others as far as I'm see it. I was angry when I saw apple added glitzy background compositing when cross platform is needed so badly

Cry more.

3. Parental controls - there have been so many iterations of this - why is this any better

Built-in.

4. Boot Camp - nice but adds a lot of cost
Your comment does not make sense. Either you have windows and need to use it on your mac, or you don't have windows and don't need it. Either way, no added cost- only value.

5. Dashcode - cool but I never found a reason to use widgets beyond the calculator , dictionary or weather - I have it tuned off now.

Good for you. Lots of people only use their computers for word processing and think that google is the internet.

I will probably upgrade one of my macs (there others are too old) but not right away - next year probably - I just don't agree with Steve B or Steve J so much on this one.
You obviously haven't even seen 10.5, thanks for your oh-so useful commentary.

[mrp]

Every one of those points is stupid and here is very simply why

1) ghost or the other 500 choices
2) ....lol
3) netnanny or the other 500 choices
4) imitation
5) Not that these havn't been on pc for YEARS (I used to use samurize) but no one cares about these things, mac fanboys love to talk up widgets though because apparently it's important to show how much % your cpu is workin and what the date is 5 days from yesterday and how much the dollar is worth and how to eat a seal etc etc

you can never come up with any feature, no matter how bullshit it is, that hasn't been done on windows 100 times before and 5 years earlier. It's like people don't know you can download programs that do stuff windows doesn't AND osx for that matter

paid for? I think so :)

[Dave]

Does iChat suddenly work when all parties are behind NAT gateways? No? It's still useless then. Skype wins again and is available now.

[Michael Long]

I agree that Apple's iChat could be a game changer. But it's missing one thing: A Windows version.

http://www.iSights.org/2007/10/is-leopards-ich.html

[GaryB]

I want Apple to stay under 5% of market share. IMHO, the biggest reason to buy a Mac is because no one had one and so the virus writers ignored it. This allowed me to buy my wife a Mac and get out of my nightly sys-admin role. If more damn fools buy the machine, I loose the whole reason for the mac premium.

1) Keep the price really high Apple.
2) People, please don't buy those expensive Macs.

[GaryB]

I want Apple to stay under 5% of market share. IMHO, the biggest reason to buy a Mac is because no one had one and so the virus writers ignored it. This allowed me to buy my wife a Mac and get out of my nightly sys-admin role. If more damn fools buy the machine, I loose the whole reason for the mac premium.

1) Keep the price really high Apple.
2) People, please don't buy those expensive Macs.

[Anonymous]

This is a fanboy post.

[Nada]

Good luck with that . . .

[John Smith]

@subcorpus:

You talk about "uneducated fan-boys", but you don't seem to be able to tell the difference between there and their or your and you're. I know this is rather petty, but it is rather hypocritical for you to talk of "uneducated" people. If your grasp of the English language is anything to go by, I would say you need to be re-educated.

[Tapes]

Everyone wants to take a shot at the front runner...

[ManBoy]

There is no tipping point for mac. Macs are always going to be the artsy alternitive. Because regardles about how you feel about there OS they force you to buy their overpriced hardware. If they released OSx for all platforms they probably would have taken over the market in 05. But NO NO NO the mac people are just way to GREEDY! I love the way Mac OS works and looks. I hate things like the Mac store and all that apple philosiphy shit they try to shove down your throat. Not to mention that they try to nickle and dime the fuck out of you with add ons and upgrades.

[Russ @ bombay potatoes]

Not sure I'd agree about "tipping point" but it sure is starting to look like a serious contender for mom and pop through it's ease of use and it's sexy look.

[James]

iChat? Tipping point? Oh dear! And to all those that say Apple OS should be released for all platforms: this is part of the reason Windows is the way it is. Reams and reams of backwards compatibility code, driver issues etc. But the difference is, no big business will run on Mac, because they aren't running 16bit programs from 10/15 years ago, which Windows still attempts to do. Blue chip companies won't be switching anytime soon, so there won't be a tipping point.

[kL]

For me game-changer is Spotlight which in Leopard is going to be faster and work across network.

Now for every "Where did I save that file? Where is it?" I've got answer "There, in Spotlight".

"How do I launch SomeObscureUtility?" "Type it in Spotlight".

it's just sooo easier than "folder this, folder that, click that, menu bla control bla".

Why it's so great? Because it beats Google Desktop. GD is slow (it can't find files that were saved just a second ago, only hours later after reindex), reindexing hammers the disk, and you can't easily use it as application launcher.

[NotSure]

Well I have decided that I am leaving OSX. This trash article os just another example of why the Mac Fanatics are killing the platform. Apple stopped trhying to innovate with their OS almost a decade ago. The few things they have added are copies of Amiga OS and Windows tools, or natural upgrades of tools so long in the tooth that they cant be swung without self castrating itself.

Mac fanatics are the reason I and my family are leaving. They accept and promote their limited and limiting existence. These fanatics also attack any and all Mac users who dare speak badly of Apple or ask for something that is not purely "Apple". Yet they will switch to using copies of Windows tools if Apple "Invents" them, and they will happily use the enemies CPU if Steve Jobs says it is a great idea. In fact, I half expect Steve to stop selling OSX, and have Apple machines preinstalled with XP. And I fully expect Mac Fanatics to buy the innovative new OS because Steve told them to.

This is a cult. Nothing more. There are always people with such low self esteem that they will give up their individuality to follow one crackpot or another. The good news is that followers like these always make up a small part of the population.

My final note is that Apple have recently had the Mac faithful have their traditional second gen' buying spree. I know this is about to end. In USA, it must seem great with a larger than normal Mac adoption, but Americans fail to realise there is a whole world out here, and Apple market share out here is dropping, and Linux is about to become the second largest installed user base in the world. The day of OSX as a viable alternative is nearly over.

[Frisky Dingo]

Have you seen the Search Tool in the Vista start menu? Now for every "Where did I save that file? Where is it?" I've got answer "There, in The Start Menu". any file you dont even need to know the name just type in the first three letters
A mac is NOT a computer that comes with two machines in the price of one, it's a computer that comes with one machine in the price of two, you're perfectly able to make a $300 PC and load both Linux (every distro you want) AND Windows, even Leopard if you're so much inclined, Apple sells you shiny plastic, always did and always will do and people will continue paying their $2500 for it.

Feel free to START hating now

[Steve]

Mac Overpriced?
I don't consider it luck-of-the-draw that I have purchased relatively few Mac machines compared to my PC friends. I have never lost a hard drive or a mother board in 20 years. Never spent a dime or any loss of sleep knocking down viruses. I'm still using several Old Macs on my home networks without issues.
You can pay up now or you pay down later albeit with a much lower value.
Your choice. Your money.

[Steve]

Mac Overpriced?
I don't consider it luck-of-the-draw that I have purchased relatively few Mac machines compared to my PC friends. I have never lost a hard drive or a mother board in 20 years. Never spent a dime or any loss of sleep knocking down viruses. I'm still using several Old Macs on my home networks without issues.
You can pay up now or you pay down later albeit with a much lower value.
Your choice. Your money.

[Steve]

Mac Overpriced?
I don't consider it luck-of-the-draw that I have purchased relatively few Mac machines compared to my PC friends. I have never lost a hard drive or a mother board in 20 years. Never spent a dime or any loss of sleep knocking down viruses. I'm still using several Old Macs on my home networks without issues.
You can pay up now or you pay down later albeit with a much lower value.
Your choice. Your money.

[Steve]

Mac Overpriced?
I don't consider it luck-of-the-draw that I have purchased relatively few Mac machines compared to my PC friends. I have never lost a hard drive or a mother board in 20 years. Never spent a dime or any loss of sleep knocking down viruses. I'm still using several Old Macs on my home networks without issues.
You can pay up now or you pay down later albeit with a much lower value.
Your choice. Your money.

[Steve]

Mac Overpriced?
I don't consider it luck-of-the-draw that I have purchased relatively few Mac machines compared to my PC friends. I have never lost a hard drive or a mother board in 20 years. Never spent a dime or any loss of sleep knocking down viruses. I'm still using several Old Macs on my home networks without issues.
You can pay up now or you pay down later albeit with a much lower value.
Your choice. Your money.

[Hmmm]

Your kid's watching porn anyway, parental control is a useless thing. Replace that point with Logic Studio 8 :)

[Steve]

Mac Overpriced?
I don't consider it luck-of-the-draw that I have purchased relatively few Mac machines compared to my PC friends. I have never lost a hard drive or a mother board in 20 years. Never spent a dime or any loss of sleep knocking down viruses. I'm still using several Old Macs on my home networks without issues.
You can pay up now or you pay down later albeit with a much lower value.
Your choice. Your money.

[The Admin is Watching]

Mac Overpriced? yes they are. I work for a record company we use Mac & PC. Mac hard drives fail and their motherboards fail like every other computer. but thanks for re-posting your comment 5 times we get it your a fanboy if Steve Jobs wanted a blow job I bet you would be the first one on your knees

[Julian]

Macs are nice pieces of kit, i was going to get one but was forced (indrectly) to get a PC. Like a lot of people i used Microsoft at work on a PC and want to take my work home with me sometimes.

So in the shop i said to the salesman i need excel, powerpoint, etc on the Mac, he said "sure no problem, but it will cost £480 and Microsoft office isn't included".

So i had to get a PC due to the high cost.

[Marc Fearby]

There is no way that Leopard is going to be the tipping point you claim until the following happens:

1) The gaping chasm in the product line-up between the iMac and the Mac Pro is filled with something reasonably-priced that doesn't necessarily have to ship with a monitor.

2) Macs ship with decent video cards; I'm sorry, but those Radeons that ship with the cheap or expensive iMacs simply do not cut the mustard and shows how "seriously" Apple takes the gaming market.

3) Apple fix the Finder and the Dock. I need not elaborate too much here as these have been dealt with by other reviewers more thoroughly, but no location/address bar in the Finder? No way to set details view for everything? Get Info on multiple objects shows multiple Get Info windows? No way to use selection rectangles with your mouse in details view? Not even a splitter-bar mouse cursor when trying to resize columns? The Finder is an absolute joke!

4) Apple ship decent laptops with features we've been used for for a very long time in the PC-world -e.g., docking station support (so we don't have to reconnect a half-dozen cables each time we come to work/leave to go home), decent multi-monitor support, more USB ports, a right-click trackpad button, and some standard keys like PgUp, PgDn, Home, and End.

5) Industry-accepted standard keyboard shortcuts are at least an option -e.g., Home and End to go to the beginning and end of the current line instead of the beginning and end of the document (how often do you have to do that, really?)

6) Apple Remote Desktop is brought up to speed to at least match enterprise management products available in the Windows world (such as Altiris or ZENworks). ARD is a child's toy and is so buggy things like Wake-on-Lan (which is really only just Wake-if-you-have-previously-put-the-Mac-to-Sleep in the Apple world) work half the time. You can't even group tasks and drag and drop (from the supposed kings of drag and drop!) computers onto a folder of tasks! ARD was designed for the dumbest of the dumb kindergarten teacher, seriously!

7) Apple learn how to make updates that aren't simply the whole new version downloaded again. I'm so sick of seeing a 50MB+ iTunes/Quicktime update every week. Learn how to update just the necessary components, for God's sake!

I think that about sums it up. Apple aren't even in the ballpark for a mass exodus from the PC world, not even with Vista causing us all to barf. Sticking with the devil you know, in Aero-clothing, is far more preferable to a computer ecosystem as flawed as I have just described.

[NotSure]

@ Steve

Tell that to the dead husks of OSX machines laying around here. Out of five machines in three and a half years, only two have working motherboards (one is only four months old... still working after four months is good on a Mac in my experience, and Apple do not repair machines in my experience, they do nothing or return a more damaged machine), and OSX has eaten too many HHDs to count now. After the first four dead OSX hard drives (these work after a reformat on a Windows machine, but no data is salvageable) we learned our lesson and set up Windows file servers.

You may not have had any problems, but you are the exception and not the rule.

[apgrard]

alright idiots. All of you run on windows right now and youre never going to go to a mac cause you have no use for it. You spend all your time customizing your laim ass tower piece of trash. Apples are there for ease of use. People who arent mega nerds like yourselves who just complain all the time cause you know the machine you are currently working on will become obselite. Get over yourself guys.

[LOLZ]

TimeMachine will flop. Why? You need an external HD or a second computer to backup to. For this reason most people will never use it.

iChat sucks. I'm sorry but there's no way an IM client is going to cause someone to buy a new computer.

I have yet to see a single benchmark that shows a Mac running any VM ware that gets the same fps as a PC does playing games. Mac's still don't have any good games, and face it, a large percentage of people still buy top of the line PCs solely for games.

Developers are not going to switch to a new platform unless there is a damn good reason to do so. As a developer myself XCode just isn't that much better.

I have no doubt that Leopard will sell well. But, realistically most of the features I like about OSX Apple did not invent. 3-pane view in Finder? Taken from NeXT. Coverflow? Bought. Widgets? Bought. Spaces? Any Linux Distro.

Yes they may be new features to the Mac but that doesn't mean their new.

[JM]

None of those matter to PC centric people (which I am), or are even seen as particularly 'new'. Hence the reactions above (born out of disappointment) to reading the list. If there is significant innovation in the above, it isn't brought out by the descriptions.

Frankly, to me, the return to the bad old days of crippleware in WGA is a bigger point in Apple's favor than any of those listed. In fact, a bigger point than ALL of those listed combined...

You want to say something effective? How about:

"Get a MAC for your parents, it won't quit working on them when Apple's servers get confused."

[ds]

I hate to point this one out Grandpa, but you can't play most PC games on a Mac because the hardware can't handle it. Next time you're at a computer store, not an Apple store, go look at the variety and selection of video cards and sound cards. This is a generation you clearly don't know about.

[Hal]

@Colby:

So you had a bad experience with Apple a few years ago - ever thought about actually checking if you could do your job before making the switch??
Linux will never destroy anything, as long as you have to manually alter a bunch of text files; user-friendliness is key!

I used several versions of Ubuntu, from Warty Warthog to Edgy Eft with both gnome and kde, and had a lot of problems... my last linux distro was Simply Mepis and it did the job. Then, i tried Mac OS Tiger.

It is very, very user-friendly ("in case of doubt, just drag & drop"), stable - i've had my macbook pro for over a year and only one single system crash - and secure!

It it, by far, the best OS i have ever used.

I don't think Leopard will be so spectacular (unlike everybody else's claims), but i think it won't have much problems surpassing any other OS.

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

@NotSure:

"Have you seen the Search Tool in the Vista start menu? Now for every "Where did I save that file? Where is it?" I've got answer "There, in The Start Menu". any file you dont even need to know the name just type in the first three letters"

Spotlight has been doing this for quite some time!

"A mac is NOT a computer that comes with two machines in the price of one, it's a computer that comes with one machine in the price of two, you're perfectly able to make a $300 PC and load both Linux (every distro you want) AND Windows, even Leopard if you're so much inclined"

I'd like to see you try to run Vista on a $300 computer! LOL

"Apple sells you shiny plastic, always did and always will do and people will continue paying their $2500 for it."

Actually for that price you could buy a top of the line ALUMINUM Macbook Pro ^

Feel free to START realizing what an idiot you are now (you too Colby).

[Jim]

Sorry, I hate to burst your bubble, Apple is not changing the game or reaching a tipping point. Apple is a fad now. The world runs on Windows first and Linux second. It doesn't really matter what people choose to use at home (which is really the only market for Apple other than graphic design and media)I've worked with Apple in my current enterprise. We bought Xserves, Xraids hundreds of Mac and were are going to end up abandoning most of it next year. Enterprise computing is built on some level of transparency and cooperation between the customer and supplier and Apple is horrible at partnerships. My point is, until Apple can get into the workplace there will be no tipping point. Also, don't forget, they are pretty much a non-player in Europe.

[Richard Conrad]

When is Apple going to tweak to context-sensitive menus and the wheel mouse?

I know you can use a third party mouse with a Mac, but why does the system start out so deliberately nobbled?

Does Jobs think Mac users are too retarded to figure out the scroll wheel?

[Greg]

It's hilarious you mention the "reboot into windows" functionality as a tipping point when it's been removed from the shipping version of Leopard...

[Corey]

Let me tell you abut my friend, Emily. Emily is a smart girl, about to graduate with a major in film production and a minor in telecommunications. She already has a job lined up as an entertainment professional in Hollywood. She has a macbook, had it for about half a year, but she's never heard of Leopard. Not even once. An updated OS will never be the tipping point for a computer system like Apple's. I'm excited for it.

[Jace]

Wow, so many Windows fanbois...
No Mac's in Europe? I'm in Europe, i have a Mac and ALL my friends have Macs.
No 2 buttons Mouse? My Mac at work and my personal Mac has a 4 button mouse (apple mouse).
Crashing Mac? never have a crash in my Home Mac and 1 crash at work.
Gaming? buy a gaming console, this is a productive computer, not a toy.

You Windows fanbois (how sad can that be!) see the computer world with Microsoft eyes, you forget that a new O.S. is more than just icandy, is new technology,and that is what Leopard brings, in a short time you will see amazing new software for the mac, google "core animation".
And that is just one of the great things you can have with a Mac (dont worry in 2012 Microsoft will bring a new O.S -maybe)

[Michael]

Gosh, every single one of these features is in Vista, aside from bootcamp, which really doesn't signify.

[Rudy]

in my opinion, with leopard out, i dont think there is going to be a bit of tipping point for apple here. Just when apple starts to allow OSX to be installed on any other hardware, then the tipping point can occur such that they'll lose the market on selling the expensive hardware. Mac is using Intel, and i think they mark-up the selling cost of the hardware too high. Come on, intel chip is cheap. RAM is like buying diet coke. Storage is like getting an oversize potato chip. So what's the expensive part about apple? I think we can figure it out :)

[rob]

Im not a macfanboy or a windows fanboy.
but ive learned to make my windows machine outperform and be secure and do what ever i need it to do for the past 13 years.
i avent and will not move to Vista. and ive never owned an ipod.

ive tinkered around with linux for the past 10 years. but not until this week has a linux distro overtaken both OS's

download and try ubuntu 7.0 just run the live disk. youll see.

[Ryan]

To the IGNORANT Windows users. 1995 wants it's way of thinking back.

iChat uses the AIM network, Jabber and Bonjour, so you can chat with people on PCs and Macs.

Apple has shipped a multi button mouse for over 2 years plus you can buy and usb mouse off the shelf and it will work in Mac OS X, this has been the case since 2001.

Don't be an ignorant Microsoft Windows Butt Monkey Lemming, think for yourself unless you love mediocre poorly executed virus ridden products such as Windows.

[Jim]

@Corey

Just curious. What are you doing that is so productive on your Macintosh?

And just for your information. I work in one of the largest Mac enterprises on the east coast, I'm not a Windows "fan boy" It's just a matter of practicality. I worked with Apple and their products exclusively for the last 7 years. So please tell me what I do not know about Apple's systems and how great they are. Maybe I'm missing something.

[WillGonz]

So much hate. Anyway, the Macbooks do have a second mouse button. You just put two fingers on the pad and click the button. I repair computers for a living. Time and time again I see people bring in their garbage computer they bought from some club warehouse. They are guaranteed to work for 6 months. Have you checked e-bay lately? Apple products hold their value longer. Linux is great and all, but it isn't really that exciting. It's boring yawn. It isn't really nice to look at. I am sure it runs well. Dang, why do I have to compile everything before it will run? I might have to get a degree from MIT before I can use it. Linux is for nerds not the normal person. Apple is on the rise, so relax you don't have to be like all the other cool kids and get one. But you'll miss out.

[Jace]

@ Jim

You miss:

Exposé
Bonjour
Ichat
No virus
True Multitasking
No crash
Iwork (keynot is amazing, my Vista presentations are better than the product, LOL)

For your information i work in a PC manufacturer as a Marketeer, my job is to convince you to buy a Vista Computer , and that is a very hard thing to do today.

Its also amazing to see the Microsoft marketing dep. making furious marketing actions.

Our next step will be making PC with Umbutu installed, Vista is ruining us.

You can ask also why a PC company uses Macs? Well we must do business...

[Jim]

@Jace
You can ask also why a PC company uses Macs? Well we must do business...

Oh, you must be kidding! How many business run everyday on Windows as compared to Macs? Let's be practical here. How many of your backoffice systems are Macs? Are you running your financial systems on Macs? How about your human resources systems? What about payroll? Inventory?

[Zippy McPinhead]

I never post on these OS flame wars. But ...

Recently our entire developement team was given MacBook Pros. It's about the best laptop for running Vista. We use bootcamp and parallels to run vista and xp.

Most of us have been developing for pc/linux for at least 15-20 years. You name it, we've done it.

So I was suprised by the results. Even the most die hard Windows developers not only loved the machine but also OSX. ( Well most of us aren't thrilled with the keyboard ).

It's all about seamless integration and ease of use leading to less stress and higher productivity.

As for a tipping point, we'll wait and see. Latest reports had Apple's domestic market share up to 8%. I'm sure Leopard will only make that higher.

[Big Kev]

Knowledge is the key to enlightenment. So let me drop some knowledge.

If you ever had a computer with a bare OS on it, after about and hr of marveling over how pretty it is or what the feature list is, you start to want to do things with it. Then you start looking for programs to do what you want to do. It is at this point that OS's start to separate themselves.

I've been using windows based systems for about 13 years, Apple based for about 9 and linux about 5. I love Linux because it is the easiest to explore and learn on, and the recent released Ubuntu 7.10 (gusty gibbon) is very user friendly.

If you think of OS as a candy store.
OSX is where you pay a hefty cover charge then pay for every piece of candy you bit. And if you go outside you pay to come back inside.

Window is the same, you just pay less for the candy but you have to bring your own bags. You just can't share the candy with your friends.

Linux you don't have to pay to come in. You can taste all the candy you want. You can share with whoever you want. Its just that the candy wrapper is generic looking.

Bottom line is that software makes the os. With the help of a lot of big names, Linux is starting to have more and more useful programs, which in turn is driving its adoption.

Windows is almost dead, because a lot of the programs that drive windows are mature and doesn't have much innovation just polishing. OSX is the same, they just have a better packaging company, that sell you the same old crap over an over and call it innovation.

At the end of the day, you will not convince a business man strapped for cash and looking to keep cost lost to buy Apple. Or, get a Video or magazine editor to buy Windows. Or, get a gamer to go Linux. Give it up, you're not going to convince one of the other.

[Steve]

The comment about the tipping point being Vista I think is more accurate. It's a flop. Dell & several other vendors had to backpedal and continue to offer XP. But the tipping point is happening not with MACs but with Linux. Dell also now offers computers preloaded with Linux. Linux's adoption rate just doubled recently. Doubled. Europe is already awash in Linux and the standards based movement is picking up a good head of steam. The rest of the world is jumping on the open source bandwagon with governments passing resolutions to have their documents stored in open non-proprietary formats. Need Excel, Word and PowerPoint? Use Open Office. It's free, works in any language and opens all Microsoft Office files. I'll suffer through whatever failings the current state of Linux is in but it upgrades often (free) and improves constantly. Besides that, it never tells me what I can and can't do with ANY content I run on it. And the only cost is the blank CD to make the install disk. Plus it will run on virtually any hardware with 512MB of RAM or even less if you use a compact distro. I went to Linux after I realized most of the useful software on my XP machine was open source like Firefox, Gaim(IM), Open Office, Mplayer, Audacity, and Gimp. The only difference was the OS. The future is open source and standards based computing.

[Larry]

I'm not smug enough to buy a mac.

[roach delacroix]

@ all 45+ computer rebuilding morons, and fat smelly no-shower-taking PC gamer freaks, who no doubt account for %95 of these anti-mac posts, you are all HATERS!!!

Keep crying about you dump box Windows machines, while Apple stock rises and rises and rises and rises!!! Hahaha, us young people are buying these machines, and when you all die out, we'll be sure to bury you with your alienware big-box toilets that you call "GAMING MACHINES!!!"

HAHAHA, haters.

[Bob]

"I hope Linux destroys Apple completely."

Yeah. We've been hearing "This is the year of LINUX ON THE DESKTOP!" for.. what, 9 years now?

And it has achieved diddly squat.

Linux isn't going to destroy Apple any more than it'll destroy Microsoft.

/Bob, a RHCE

[NotSure]

@Ryan

And here I am on my Macbookpro (what a retarded name Steve came up with for this heap o shit)... and I HATE the one button trackpad as I hated it on my (now dead) iBook and my (now dead) Powerbook.

The scrolling is good on the trackpad, but the dual finger left mousebutton tapping is anything but easy or useful. Now tell me smart guy, where can I buy a two button trackpad replacement? Such a critical flaw on any other platform in the past would have launched a dozen small companies to create a replacement part you can install yourself. Not on Apples useless platform. The fanatics would never accept that Apple cold be wrong by buying and installing a two button trackpad, even though half of the Mac laptop users I know hate the one button trackpad as much as I do.

[ebernet]

@Richard Conrad, Balboa Peterson

Two button mouse, two button trackpad (hold down two fingers and tap), Scrollwheel (actually, ball - allowing up down AND left right) have been standard on the Mac for 2 years

Context sensitive menus have been around for 10+ years on the Mac, supporting 3rd party mice since then (and now all of Apple's pointing devices)

@dan
Not sure how you used Leopard "Legally" for 8-9 months, since the 1st developer preview came out in June, a scant 5 months ago, and it was in no way ready for prime time. The only version ready to actually deploy came out about a month ago, and was still a preview. But I am glad you made your decision based on that - I take it you used Vista preview as your deployment oS as well - Oh wait, MSFT DISABLES previews, don't they?

[James]

Umm...@the meganerd and 40+ old man comments:

I've just turned 19, have been using linux, windows and mac for the past nearly 10 years. I used Macs at school and now university, linux at university and windows at home. Mac is the most frustrating, irritating piece of fancy looking shit I've ever come across.

1) the stupid fucked up mouse - the tiny scroll button thing stops working on the up scroll after only a few months, maybe longer on some computers. What is the problem with putting a second button on the mouse?? Is it really so important to look sleek? Who the fuck cares about how your computer looks as long as it does what you want/doesnt break. And the mousepad on laptops... only an idiot with his fanboy brain locked into defend Apple at all costs mode would think that "putting two fingers on the touchpad then clicking" is convenient or even as good as simply clicking the 2nd button on your mousepad.

2) Home and End keys - seroiusly...I have had to put up with this stupidity for many years now, to write code and write documents etc. (Word processing and programming). How often do you want to go to the top of the document? Never. Compare that with wanting to get the end or beginning of the line? Many times - an incredible infinitely higher percentage of times.

3) Vista - yes Vista is also a piece of shit. It's frustrating, slow, and runs like XP except much worse with a couple of new features. However Vista is still preferable to a Mac. A lot of the frustrations inherent in a Mac have recently surfaced in Vista, some of those being the uncustomizable interfaces and settings of a lot of things and insistance of doing it automatically. What the hell is the use of not providing me with the ability to edit the settings, for example on a wireless connection? Yes it may work fine automatically a good percentage of the time. But for all the times I need to change the connection type or add user details, I can't do that. Good stuff numbshits.

4) Hardware - you can't replace or upgrade your computer. It has to be sent in to the apple shop or another city entirely. This is stupid, I don't have the time and/or money to wait for it to be fixed. It may be fine for computer illirate/hardware illertate people who expect that of a computer anyway, but even for them: a PC can be taken into any of the common stores found in a city to be fixed. A mac would have to be sent back to the apple store or shop, often in another city entirely, adding much to the expense and time required. What if such a person knows someone (son, friend) who may have been able to quickly replace his hardware part/fix the software problem cheaply or probably for free? A mac user does not have this option. I can fix or upgrade my parents/their friends PC's easily and for free. @the mac hardware doesn't break comments: this is bullshit. 90% of the mice in the labs at school have non-functional scroll buttons, the HD's as mentioned by previous commenters break down often or even more than quality HD available from independant manufacturers of PC hardware, and the motherboard the same. The keyboard is also a pain in the ass to type on. And believe me I've used many keyboards in my life, from age 8 until the present. Every single one has been better than the stupid mac keyboard. Including laptops. Doesn't this say something?

5) The finder: please refer to one of the above for all the problems with the finder, all of them frustrating and uneccessary. Stop wasting time animating the dock or whatever, when the most used thing in the whole system is a piece of shit lacking obvious and necessary functionality.

6) Market Share - OMG it's increased from 5 to 8%!!!111 WOW Macs are taking over the world. Get real idiots. Even if this 'huge' rate of increase carries on, that would mean less than 1/3 of people in the world would have a Mac in 10 years time.

7) iChat - Windows has had for a long long time the Remote Assistance facility. It allows the person requiring assistance to be shown in real time how to fix their problem. Exactly as if the helper was right there beside them. Files can be send over msn or whatever system you are using. 'nuff said. Cross platform support with AIM and jabber? Please. Most people in the world use MSN. I am a student, in the middle of what is going on right now. I stay on campus at university, in a big city. I'm aware of most that's going on in this generation. And guess what? I don't know, and haven't heard of a single person using AIM. Amazing. Please get a map, as advocated by Miss Southern Carolina, and check out the rest of the world outside of America. Shit I should write my own article. And wtf is Bonjour??

8) Parental controls: this may stop your kids age 13 and below from accidentally coming across illicit materials on the internet. Past that, if your son wants to watch porn, he will watch it. He certainly knows more about the computer and how to bypass systems than you. Failing that, a quick trip to a friends house will solve anything. Get real.

9) Viruses: this is an "advantage". However, in the past 5 years I have only been hit by one (easily fixed) virus. Install a good firewall and virus checking software and you will be fine. My virus software is just for additional safety. The firewall protects me from everything - the only time I a virus was from a PC at school, transferred by my USB drive. Fixed by formatting the USB. It didn't get onto my laptop thanks to AVG virus software. The only way other than that to get a virus is by manually installing some random file you get off a dodgy site yourself. If you do that, you deserve to get viruses.

10) Gaming: a huge portion of people in this world want to play games on their computer. Can you do this on a Mac? No. Some old, less resource intensive game, yes. Anything else? No. 'nuff said.

11) Price: covered adequately above.

I don't have time for anything else so yeh have fun with your shiny Apple product. Linux or XP for me anyday, if forced I would probably use Vista in preference to a Mac.

[Steve]

I am a Mac user but not one persuaded that software technologies will pave the way for Apple. As much the info above attests, these are too subtle as distinctive features, certainly in the consumer arena. By contrast, the iPod succeeded as a hardware winner, not software, and as a platform to deliver content that wasn't being offered cheaply, unfettered, and legally by others. That lightning won't strike twice.

Having said that, I cannot imagine knowledgeable people recommending for HOME users anything but Macs. I know too many HOME users who have more than once lost mail, contacts, files, and disks to viruses, none of which occur on Macs. For a professional to not recommend Macs for HOME use strikes me as unethical.

[sickandtired]

I can't get over the number of smug ignorant Windows users here posting their hate. If you don't like Macs, then fine, just fuck off and leave the rest of us alone.

More surprisingly though, the number of Linux fanboys here claiming it blows OSX out of the water. I've used many distros of Linux, Ubuntu is great, but it fails the basic "parents" test. That is, if I installed an Ubuntu distro for my parents, would they be able to get themselves out of trouble if they had problems with it. Absolutely positively fucking no way. If you think dropping to the commandline, compiling code and editing text files is a perfectly easy way to go about stuff (when the Package Manager fails), then you've got your head up your ass. A computer for most people should be an appliance, not a science project.

Linux is great - but it's NOT ready for prime time, simply isn't. OSX is the logical medium between something like Windows and something like Linux for most average people. The power/stability of BSD underneath, with the ease of a GUI like Aqua on top.

Honestly.. :P

And to those ranting on about marketshare being linked to the lack of Virii on the Mac - what a load of crap. Here's a challenge - I challenge you to write a Virus for the Mac that doesn't involve user interaction for an escalation of priveliges. Go on - I dare you. Write a bona fide Windows-style virus (not just some script-kiddie crap) that just fucks your shit right up without having done anything more than visit a malicious webpage. We will be waiting..

And waiting.. And waiting..

[Ed]

@jim. The Apple mouse has 2 buttons, although you don't see them. Actually, it has four :) No, wait! It has five when I include the 2 dimensional scroll-wheel...

Does that scare you, jim? Get your facts straight.

[Heuristocrat]

The tipping point was when Apple put iTunes on Windows and made iPod a success.

The maintream market probably doesn't comment on blogs. Apple is clearly doing the right things based on the numbers. There is no quesiton that they are expensive relative to other hardware solutions but people are buying software and design. That's what selling to consumers is all about. Too bad for Dell they haven't figured that out yet.

I enjoy Apple products, find them more enjoyable to use than Windows but I'd get just as much done with Windows. In fact if I really focused more on price/performance I might have stayed on Windows.

People like the Mac and the iPod and now the iPhone so they find excuses to justify the purchase and Apple makes a lot of money.

No tipping point here, just more of a formula that is provably working. Over time I'd expect other players to give Apple a bit more of a run for their money.

[LOLZ]

@Steve

If Apple's target market is people who don't know how to use a computer, then I guess I can see your point about the "parents" test. But, that's a pretty small target audience - one which I would assume Apple would want to increase upon.

I guess your forgetting the QuickTime buffer overflow that gives you root, simply by playing a video? But I guess you would say that doesn't count because it's not a vulnerability of OSX it's a vulnerability of QuickTime. The same goes with Windows, people rarely exploit a Windows API it's always a subsystem that gets attacked and opens up the OS layers. It's the exact same thing get over it.

You do realize there are viruses for *NIX right? Maybe not many but they do exist.

Why would anyone waste their time doing such a thing anyway? Ohhhh my new virus affects 5% - sorry 8% - of personal computers. Wow. There is not purpose is doing such a thing.

I'm not saying Leopard isn't a good step up to Tiger, better then the step made from XP to Vista, but it's still not anything that's going to get the masses to switch.

I dual boot Vista and Ubuntu, and honostley prefer Ubuntu but I can't play the games I want. A console will never beat a top of the line Windows box for the latest gen games. Example? A PS3 can't even play all the maps for Unreal 3.

[Reboot]

I'm a Windows user and it's clear to me that Apple isn't just about computers anymore. They are a bonafide electronics company catering to the mass market.

From Music (iPod) to Television (AppleTV) to Cell Phones (iPhone) and.. of course, computers.

People want flexibility. They don't want to be tied down to their desktops. Apple's transition from a computer company to an electronics company is what's making them such a valuable tech firm. This transition also clearly spells out a gameplan that few other companies can match.

Microsoft, in contrast, has no clear roadmap. They duplicate (often terribly) the efforts of other companies that do have a gameplan. Their efforts are badly implemented, their goals unclear and disconnected.

Today it's web services, tomorrow it's a gaming system. They talk about interoperability with Linux sell-outs but they can't even accomplish this within their own product lines. MS is all over the place and missing nearly every single mark.

I don't think Apple is bring anything awe-inspiring with their latest OS release. They are, however, continuing to tweak their different products for increased interoperability and making them all work well for 'most' users.

At whatever percentage of the market they currently own - Apple is a success by any measure you care to use - precisely because of their expansion into different markets; taking each one very seriously and tying their products together seamlessly.

When Apple makes their OS run on any Intel/AMD platform (and they will... eventually... when they are ready) - their foundation will be so strong (cellPhones, TV, OnlineSolutions, AudioPlayers, etc) - they are going to be a powerhouse.

[Reboot]

Also... don't think of Apple as a 20-30 year old company. They were reborn with the release of OSX.

Think of them as a fairly new startup working toward modern-day digital integration for the mass market - effectively using the desktop and the web as tools to penetrate other markets.

In contrast... Microsoft IS a 30 year-old company still thinking and acting like it was the mid-70s...

[sickandtired]

@LOLZ - Congratulations, you win the booby prize. What you described is an EXPLOIT. A particularly nasty one, yes, but you fail my challenge because it's not what I was describing. Also, full points for propaganda, the exploit does not in fact allow an escalation of privelliges. Not even close. It proves the security model works - the exploit is contained (unless of course you're using root as your faffin around on the web account). On top of this, the remote user still has to "trick" the OS X user into playing their .MOV file. They can run arbitrary code, sure, but with root access? Nope. So try again.

Also the ancient, tired old "small target" argument fails on one really obvious level. Most Virii are designed with profit in mind - trojans and the like, designed to pinch people's credit card or personal information with a view to stealing their money. Now, if PC users ranting on and on about how Macs are "a premium product" and are "too expensive" believed their own rhetoric, then the small target strategy would be rubbish. Because to the virii writers / Credit Card/IDentity thieves, Apple users would also be a "premium market". That is even though there are fewer of them, there's more incentive to rip them off, because they have MORE MONEY. Think about it.

And as for your statement that people who don't know how to use a computer very well are a "pretty small audience" - you have obviously never worked on an IT support line. Newsflash : that's 50% of the population. It's a potentially massive market. And I wasn't even talking about them per se - if you think most "average" people would have the patience to jump through the hoops you have to jump through when, say, an Ubuntu system update or an update to Beryl goes terribly wrong, then you're not living in the real world. OSX is so good because it is both a powerful OS, and as easy to use as an appliance. The same can NOT be said for Windows (too many security problems, too much maintenance) or Ubuntu (please grep the man file and remove comments at lines 32, 54, 66 and 78, then compile the file ubuntuishard.c into the /etc/ubuntuishard directory (which you have to create, manually, cause you don't have privelliges within GNOME to do so, etc., etc., etc.,).

[A grain of salt]

@Bob

"The scrolling is good on the trackpad, but the dual finger left mousebutton tapping is anything but easy or useful."

Bob, have you only got two fingers or are you just very uncoordinated. If you find 2 finger scrolling easy, then using the right mouse button function is just a click. I'm not sure what method you use, but I do the following:

Middle finger: cursor.
Middle and Ring fingers: scroll (360 degrees.
Index: left click.
Middle, ring and index: right click.

Now, before anyone says that it sounds quite complicated. It's not. Your middle finger is always in contact on the track pad, your ring finger is hovering above the track pad and your index finger is on, or hovering above, the button. Everything is in place in a natural position. If you are moving from the keyboard, as long your index finger lands on the button, your fingers are all in the right place. Dead simple, with efficiency of movement. Come on Bob, even you can do it.

But to stay on track. I also don't think Leopard will be a tipper for Apple. I do though think it will help. There are many useful features for the end user and and developer alike. One of the problems for the Mac has been the lack of applications. From what I have read (I'm not a developer), the improvements to the development side of OS X are quite attractive to developer, thus providing developers with a good and growing platform to work on and provide applications for. The end user will love things like Quick Look, the new Finder functions, Spaces and stacks. All are very useful. Many will love Time Machine for the ease of backup. Wannabe programmers will like Dashcode (I may even have a go myself). Bootcamp, just an added incentive for those that can't live without Windows. But as I said, on its own, Leopard will not be a game changer. As a part of the Apple ecosystem though, Leopard is a strong performer that will help Apple grow.

As for Apple being just a bit player or fad with a small market share. I don't call having 15 - 20% of the American laptop market a small player. Just as a small aside, I was in a small Starbucks store last week in Seoul, South Korea. It was late, there were only four people in the store including me. The other three were working on laptops. 2 Macbooks and a Samsung. I use a MacBook Pro. A small example, but Mac is growing and will continue to grow.

[Jack]

Here's the one sure way to hit a tipping point: Make a computer/OS that will reboot in a few seconds. I'm still astounded that while Google can find 15 gazillion internet sites related to anything you could ever think of in .005 seconds, it takes Bill Gates 5 minutes to turn my computer on or off! I don't know how long mac takes, but like pc, there's been talk of 'instant-on' for years, but so far it hasn't materialized.

I had planned to upgrade to a new computer with vista as soon as hybird hard drives hit the market since they held promise of faster boots and faster startup of programs; but now it sounds like those are a disappointment and don't really help that much. Then I heard that mac might be the first out with instant-on, so again I was disappointed when Leopard didn't do anything with it either.

Features are nice, but in the end, the most important part of your computer experience is "snap" - the feeling you get when a new screen appears or a new program starts up before your finger even comes off the button (and I hope soon when a computer springs to life when you press the on button - like a radio or a lamp!)

If Apple (or anyone else) could finally make that happen, millions would tip.

[monst]

I did a clean install of 10.5 within an hour of getting home on friday night.
(15 month old macbook pro 17" 2 gHz).

It took 45 mins to install the OS and a further 3 hours (thanks ADOBE) to install the rest of my software. And I have to say, that whilst the points you have made are valid. I cant help but think that the finder is by far the biggest improvement and most maccy of all the enhancements to the os.

In fact, I think All are application based. with the exception of parental controls, which is part of the system. But I would have to agree that in time, time machine will be a huge advantage to those of us who handle a lot of files and data.

I have had leopard rockin' at work now for the past two days (yes I work on sundays) and I can tell you that Sorting through my artwork and file browsing in general has been substantially accelerated. Using coverflow and quick look I can check file content for amendments and page counts without opening acrobat or word. You wont find that stuff on vista. cos its the good stuff.

The finder is as it should be. Easy to use and functional. As you would expect.

New vista users take note; your lives just got that little bit more miserable.
Especially you novices out there. Don't let anybody fool you about the cost of a MAC. Any comparable 'p.c.' made of equivalent parts and specs WILL cost you the SAME amount of money.

[Reboot]

Jack,

"Here's the one sure way to hit a tipping point: Make a computer/OS that will reboot in a few seconds."

Great point and something that is often overlooked in alot of OS conversations. I did this once years ago. I was running Win98 and was curious how DOS/Win3x would respond on my Pentium350.

I created a dual-boot and set up OpenDOS to boot into Win3.1 (using Calmira = gives Win3x a Win95 interface). It was an amazing experience though the software available was getting rather old.

Damn Small Linux running completely in RAM (DDR) with the latest hardware is incredibly fast (haven't tried PuppyLinux).

I have always been a little surprised that handheld-based OSes (Palm, Windows CE, Psion, The Linux-based Zaurus, etc..) never tried to expand into the desktop market as part of a larger market penetration move. These sytems are generally written with ease of use as a strong selling point.

I thought Palm might when they acquired BeOS or that WindowsCE might draw more attention when AMD released their appliance (PIC).

Speed and instant on/off capabilities would be a exactly what's needed whenever talking about mass-market, user-friendly features.

Toss in 3 different interface settings (Newbie (something similar to the OLPC interface), Intermediate and Advanced (Mac/XP style, Beryl, full access)) and it begins to hit all the sweet spots.

[poushag]

The Admin is Watching said:

'Macs are nice pieces of kit, i was going to get one but was forced (indrectly) to get a PC. ...
So in the shop i said to the salesman i need excel, powerpoint, etc on the Mac, he said "sure no problem, but it will cost £480 and Microsoft office isn't included".

So i had to get a PC due to the high cost.'

I hope you kept your receipt because NeoOffice for Mac has a full suite of Office apps and is easily configured to save in M$ formats. I have been doing it for years, and never had a problem with files that went back and forth whether or not they were edited, and the cost for NeoOffice is $0! After a year, I chose to donate and support this excellent software. But it is not required.

[poushag]

well it appears I attributed the quote in my last posting incorrectly - It was from Julian (and not The Admin is Watching).