  Featured 12/2k-OS X launch |
The Path to OS X Most Mac people are incredibly aware and savvy of their machine and news surrounding the niche industry that is Apple. Part of the reason I try and give a real down-to-earth perspective on OSX, is due to the fact that if you're here reading this, then you aren't a flat-out novice. You probably clicked through a site like Mac Surfer, (although some might be surfing other Skewed articles or stories and jump in) and the average Mac interest is high... We're weeks until the unveiling and it's worth looking at what the public knows and expects from OS X, after all they're the ones that will make or break the OS, not the already converted. Apple commercials have been common and created a consistent image for the latest products such as iMovie, iMac and the new Titanium Power book. The latter has gotten rave reviews from very visible sources, including Fortune magazine. Believe me, whether or not MacAddict gives an Apple product a good review couldn't effect the public less. The masses expect to glance at a MacAddict cover and see glowing pictures of Apple products. But when it graces the cover of, say, Redbook...well then we have something. Too bad we didn't have a Super Bowl commercial, but maybe next year with a beefed up, 900mhz. Dual Processor SuperDrive OS X G4 "Commando" line. The bad news is, pre-release news is weird news for an Operating System. People just started really pre-ordering movies and games in the last few years, so any news on an OS they can't see for themselves just confuses the issue. On the same day I heard about Microsoft's new Windows iteration for this summer, I heard a radio commercial for a local company who wants to help your company upgrade to Windows 2000. Digest this. Most people don't use Windows 2000 at home, and apparently enough companies don't for this commercial's taste. And an even newer one is about to debut. So they're a wee bit late. My office recently installed a new computer---BRAND NEW I might add, and it came with Windows 98. What?!? At least Apple can begin spreading the OS love as pre-installed on all machines-- but until they do they'll scarcely make a dent in the public consciousness unless they get mainstream press and exposure. So we do a search. Even novices jump online and use a search.
So, let's pretend we don't know what we're doing (no jokes please)
type in "OS X" to Yahoo! and see what the first couple
responses are: Apple can't do this alone, and they know it. If you want to release a new game, you hype the crap out of it, make people drool over screenshots and movies and in the end they might buy it and love it, hate it or find out they can't even run it on their computer. A new OS is a triple threat. Not only is it possible that an old Mac can't run it, but an OS jump always means you'll lose some of your favorite programs. Well, while OS X has it's "classic" environment to save your old Apps, highlighting its existence means highlighting that you are not running native products that take advantage of the system's (and therefore hardware's) power. Sure, you can say "but at least they have backwards compatibility" and that is a boon all us PS2 owners are thankful for...but in the computing world, and especially the novice-perspective, you damn well better have backwards-compatibility. If I just plunked down a single-user purchase of Dreamweaver 4, I better be able to use it. And if a company like Macromedia expects me to buy an upgrade so I can use it on a new OS (after just paying for the new OS as well) then you're crazy. But that means I already have a Mac. Those looking for computers when the OS X wave hits need to see that if they get a new Mac, and it's gonna run OS X, then they have a word processor, and some of the tools they heard will be great on the Mac... But what will those tools be?.... We'll look next time... |
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