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Uh, "northern summer" release? One presumes he means "early" summer. And "looks to beat" is hardly an appropriate description. Mac OS X already beats what Microsoft is promising to deliver someday.

Northern summer because it's winter in the southern hemisphere?

Apr 27, 09 - 10:29 am Comment from: macnut222

"Northern summer" referring to summer in the northern hemisphere. Rather than "southern summer" which would be winter in the US, Europe, etc.

Um, I think he meant summer in the northern hemisphere.

Apr 27, 09 - 10:30 am Comment from: macnut222

Note that APC Magazine is in Australia.

Apr 27, 09 - 10:32 am Comment from: silverhawk

"Northern Summer" could mean late summer. But I really don't think Apple gives a hoot because they are not in a "race" to beat M$.

Apr 27, 09 - 10:34 am Comment from: chanM

I agree. "Northern summer" is the silliest expression I've ever heard. Completely confusing and meaningless.

Apr 27, 09 - 10:41 am Comment from: silverhawk

"not in a race to beat M$" to market with OS X.

If it's an australian magazine writing for aussies, using summer without "northern" would imply summer for the writer's home audience, i.e. Dec-feb 2009/2010. No brainer really from a non-northern centric view.

Dear ChanM

Are you a moron who has just popped in on your way to moron school?

Best,

Ken

Apr 27, 09 - 10:45 am Comment from: Mr. Reeee

Since the earth is really flat, GW Bush was a great President and Jesus rode on dinosaurs, I guess the term "Northern Summer" doesn't make any sense, does it?

Cmon MDN commenters, let's show the world (or at least those reading this) that we are smart enough to figure out what a northern summer is. We ARE mac users afterall (zune tang notwithstanding). Australia has summer during our winter months (opposite hemisphere afterall), so a summer release of os x there would NOT be our summer release

Apr 27, 09 - 10:49 am Comment from: Jamie

How about SUNNY SUMMER?

Apr 27, 09 - 10:50 am Comment from: cwa107

Ken,

Are you consulting the George Costanza playbook for insults?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Comeback_(Seinfeld)

--

Seriously though, I'd rather Apple take their time on Snow Leopard and not rush to beat MS. Leopard is already light years ahead of Windows, although it was a little flaky upon its initial release.

Watch your cockiness - the differences between Win-7 and OS-X are relatively minor, especially when online (i.e., "cloud") computing is becomming more and more popular. OS-X is definately falling behind - we're starting to see Trojans on OS-X (via pirated software), and there are huge efficiency problems that persist, making the porting of software and games more of a challenge than there needs to be.

Other than Spotlight, et al, OS-X has remained relatively unchanged since 10.1. Snow Leopard doesn't really pique my interest anymore - we've already done the 32-to-64-bit shift back when the Power Mac G4 was out, so it's sort of old news. OpenCL is a huge unknown and faces strong competition from the established CUDA base and upcoming DirectX-Compute.

Aside from the security of OS-X (which is slowly eroding), both Windows and OS-X share many of the same problems - they're both relics; huge behemoths of code with countless security vulnerabilities; capable of consuming vast gigabytes of memory within seconds - even for something as banal as text editing. Windows is built on the old and scarily out-dated NT kernal and OS-X is built on the slightly-newer and-yet extremely inefficient Mach kernal.

No, OS-X hasn't had much "new" to it for a while other than strapping on some minor utilities or libraries.

Win-7 is a vast improvment over Vista and I personally think that the new task bar is a HUGE improvment over both the old taskbar as well as the dock. If the Windows-XP Mode test is at all successful, then I can see a shift coming from Microsoft where backwards compatibility will be provided via emulation and a whole new infrastructure will be created in its place (e.g., Midori). Sounds familiar? Apple did the same thing a while back with System 9 to OS-X.

So, don't get cocky. Don't think that because OS-X **WAS** years ahead of Windows that by default it always will be.

Apr 27, 09 - 10:55 am Comment from: cptnkirk

Slow day in the Mac News World, hunh?

Guess this whole "northern summer" confusion reveals how northern-hemisphere centric most of the readers here are, huh? (Including me - I didn't fully get it until Quad Core's comment.)

It doesn't sound like Apple is necessarily "rushing" the release of Snow Leopard - assuming they've been working on it since Leopard's late 2007 release, it makes sense to me that they'd be beta'ing it about now.

Positively, absolutely the dumbest MDN comment thread EVER!
(The article was fine.)

Apr 27, 09 - 11:06 am Comment from: alansky

News flash:

"Porsche looks to beat Yugo in upcoming race!"

nonarKitten ,
you seriously need to re-educate yourself on pretty much everything.

nonarKitten needs a few things set straight:

Other than Spotlight, et al, OS-X has remained relatively unchanged since 10.1. [...] No, OS-X hasn't had much "new" to it for a while other than strapping on some minor utilities or libraries.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA... seriously? I can only conclude you're not speaking from any kind of experience. You've certainly not developed for OS X (despite your attempts to sound like a developer), as there are significant API improvements and added system libraries under the hood.

I was going to reply to your reference to the long-ago debunked "Mach kernel is inefficient" myth, as well as your attempts to make it sound like OS X is inevitably doomed to fall to the same security plague which ravishes Windows today - but what's the point? You can look this stuff up on your own.

So, don't get cocky. Don't think that because OS-X **WAS** years ahead of Windows that by default it always will be.

I don't think Apple are getting cocky. Despite your Windows-tinted glasses, OS X is still indeed well ahead of Windows, by the simple fact that they're no longer dragging Classic support with them into the future - all their efforts can be focused on the future.

Microsoft, on the other hand, is still dragging XP compatibility along out of necessity, thus dividing their efforts as they fall behind. And with the recent morale-demolishing moves MS leadership have been making, it's going to be rather difficult to rally the troops to catch up. Apple will have to fumble pretty badly for MS to catch up - and that's assuming people really *want* Win7, which is by no means a given.

OSX Tiger already beat Windows 7 as has OSX Leopard...

So who's racing?

Maxbloat lost this game 5 years ago.

Apr 27, 09 - 11:18 am Comment from: LTD*

@ nonarKitten:

"Other than Spotlight, et al, OS-X has remained relatively unchanged since 10.1"

Please try using OS X before posting misinformation like that.

Unless you're only kidding.

And here's another gem:

"both Windows and OS-X share many of the same problems - they're both relics; huge behemoths of code with countless security vulnerabilities; capable of consuming vast gigabytes of memory within seconds - even for something as banal as text editing. Windows is built on the old and scarily out-dated NT kernal and OS-X is built on the slightly-newer and-yet extremely inefficient Mach kernal."

Not even close. Not even in the same ballpark. You're comparing a well-tooled Unix OS to Windows. Be serious.

BY DEFAULT, a closed system, like OS X, will always, under any and all circumstances be more reliable and more stable than an OS that must support a vast ocean of hardware, maintain ridiculous legacy support, and one which, in terms of UI design has a terribly jumbled interface.

@SonarPussy errr...nonarKitten, get real. On reliability and ease of use alone, Apple will always be light years ahead of window. Oh...and the ability to make Windows 7 look like XP? Now there is an innovative step ahead that should push back the computing frontiers....not!

@ nonarKitten

Thanks for that post - I fell off my chair laughing.

You have some sense of humour...

Now is the northern winter of Windows discontent
Made glorious northern summer by this son of OS X.

Pitting OS development in a race is just LAME. Honestly, why do people care about such things?

@nonarKitten: Nice try, but you come across as being extremely biased and very ignorant.

And by the way, some truthful commentators are prepared to say that Windows 7 is still useless...

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=windows&articleId=337564

Apr 27, 09 - 11:28 am Comment from: Cubert

norarKitten,
A Trojan does not imply a security flaw. I could write an AppleScript that would erase your hard drive, and if you installed it and ran it, it would be considered a Trojan if it did something other than advertised. Every OS that can run applications (ie. all of them) can have a Trojan written for it.

Apr 27, 09 - 11:32 am Comment from: ron

nonarKitten.."computing is becomming more and more popular. OS-X is definately falling behind."

OSX 'definitely' has a spell checker which may be 'coming' to Windblows 7.

'Glad I went to school in England until I was 15.

Apr 27, 09 - 11:33 am Comment from: Harvey

I am responsible for all the PCs in a 200-employee company. For reasons I can't fathom, we don't image the disks, so I have to install and reinstall Windows and all its trimmings manually on every machine. Vista is an okay operating system, but it is really annoying, and I don't expect Windows 7 will be any better. Windows makes me feel like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, because I have to click three times to get anywhere, and I figure it could cure alcoholism because it is a 12-step program. It's more click-intensive than the cricket in my garage.

I'm not sitting on the edge of my seat to see what wondrous things Microsoft hath wrought with Windows 7. I can't even get up the enthusiasm to yawn.

Apr 27, 09 - 11:55 am Comment from: Cubert

Harvey,
3 "click" jokes in 2 sentences - impressive!

For me, I try not to double click in Windoze anymore because it never seems to register both clicks. Right clicking everything now.

Apr 27, 09 - 11:57 am Comment from: KingMel

@nonarKitten
The security of MacOS X is not 'slowly eroding' for me because I do not download stolen s/w or blindly authorize the installation of software, in general. Besides, slowly eroding is still infinitely better than 'never existed' or 'completely eroded and disappeared into the ether' like Windows.

"So, don't get cocky. Don't think that because OS-X **WAS** years ahead of Windows that by default it always will be." Now that is absolutely true. That type of assumption plus incredibly poor strategic planning is the reason that Windows Vista took so long to achieve so little.

Please actually use OS X before you post about OS X.
Snow Leopard needs to be released ONLY when it is finished and tested...not as an early beta like Win 7 will be. Leopard hasn't been
pumped with new features since its inception simply because it doesn't really need any. Screen recording and Youtube posting via Quicktime sounds interesting, but I want a better Finder and under the hood speed and multitasking in Snow Leopard.

Apr 27, 09 - 12:10 pm Comment from: Tommy Boy

@ Harvey: If you are the one responsible for "all the PCs in a 200-employee company" you should be asking yourself why you don't image your disks.

@ nonarKitten: Are you ZuneTang's little sister?

Apr 27, 09 - 12:16 pm Comment from: Cubert

TommyBoy,
No. Zune Tang's sister is Poon Tang.

Apr 27, 09 - 12:45 pm Comment from: Always Right

@ nonarKitten:

Crack must be a really strong drug.

' "Northern summer" is the silliest expression I've ever heard. Completely confusing and meaningless.'

chan has 12 TVs in his house, including its bathroom, with all the tuners welded on the Fox News channel because as everyone knows, there is no life beyond the United States.

Apr 27, 09 - 01:25 pm Comment from: Roger Knights

@nonarKitten:
Get a horse? No thanks.

Apr 27, 09 - 02:21 pm Comment from: ken1w

Apple is not racing Microsoft. Just as Tiger was more than enough to out-do Windows Vista, even if Microsoft released Windows 7 before Snow Leopard, the current Leopard is more than enough compared to Windows 7. Actually, even Tiger would be more than enough...

Apple goes by its own time table these days.

If Snow Leopard and Vista 7 are going head-to-head, then Apple better test like never before. Vista 7 is just a service pack while Snow Leopard is a major under-the-hood change. So the pressure is on Apple not to come out at the same time with a buggy first release. The public won't make the distinction - bugs are bugs.

I still have a PowerMac G3 450 running Panther, and it's still better than XP or Vista. I've let my 5 year old use it since he was three, and now my 3 year old is starting to use it. No problems, yet. When it dies, I'll probably get an iMac for them.

Someone call me in a few years when Windows gets anywhere close to OS X. I'd imagine that it will be sometime after OS XI is released.

Apr 27, 09 - 04:27 pm Comment from: Connor MacBook

@nonarKitten

Even if your assertions were true, OS X still has a major usability advantage, and that is what is driving more people to Macs.

Apr 27, 09 - 05:00 pm Comment from: LTD*

There is still no way to compromise OS X remotely.

Installing a trojan is meaningless. And that trojan will be able to do very, very little in OS X's environment.

Apr 27, 09 - 05:04 pm Comment from: Road Warrior

Hey gang, take it easy with nonarkittten, she has a really valid counterpoint to the articles concept: "Windows 7 and OS X 10.6 are in a race to the finish line"

"If the Windows-XP Mode test is at all successful, then I can see a shift coming from Microsoft where backwards compatibility will be provided via emulation and a whole new infrastructure will be created in its place (e.g., Midori). Sounds familiar? Apple did the same thing a while back with System 9 to OS-X."

See, Windows 7 isn't in a race to the finish line with OS X 10.6. It's in the race to the finish line to OS-X.

Apr 28, 09 - 02:13 am Comment from: ukok

"Other than Spotlight, et al, OS-X has remained relatively unchanged since 10.1."

Or to put it another way, if you ignore all the changes there have been virtually no changes. Similarly, Windows 7 is identical to BASIC on the Commodore 64 other than all the differences. On that basis, MS really are slipping behind Commodore!