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Apple Businesses

OS X 10.1 Coming Today (Sorta) 613

Posted by CmdrTaco from the free-upgrades-that-cost-money dept.
usa35.com writes "News.com has a story detailing the release of Apple's 10.1 update. They say "unveiled" today, probably meaning actually disseminated to us general public folks sometime in the coming days." This is of course the release that regular users can actually use. Supposedly this is a free upgrade. Speed improvements, UI fixes, DVD stuffs. I can't wait to test it out a little. And those new iBooks are pretty reasonably priced (I figure that they can sell them cheap by cutting corners like most of the mouse buttons ;)
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OS X 10.1 Coming Today (Sorta) More

OS X 10.1 Coming Today (Sorta)

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  • This is what 10.0 should have been (Score:4, Informative)

    by Ryan Amos ( 16972 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @11:37AM (#2347045)
    I'm sorry, but 10.0 was a very... incomplete release. It was sluggish, didn't have important things like DVD or CD-RW capabilities, plus it didn't always work correctly. 10.1, on the other hand, is just incredible. The speed increases are phenomenal (from 50-400%, depending on your CPU) and the added functionality and general GUI cleanup are much welcomed. 10.0 always had sort of a beta feel to it, but 10.1 feels like a sleek, finished OS. Kudos to Apple for the great job.
    • Which means you have to wait for the third release (10.2?) for it to be really useful.
    • I'm sorry, but 10.0 was a very... incomplete release.

      oh, that was YOUR fault? well, OK, apology accepted.

  • Legacy Appletalk (Score:3, Informative)

    by wmulvihillDxR ( 212915 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @11:38AM (#2347057) Homepage Journal
    There is also talk of it finally fixing legacy appletalk support (not TCP/IP based). Yeah I know, move to NFS, be a real man, etc... But a lot of my co-workers are stuck in a MacOS less than 10. Makes it difficult. Not to mention that you can't communicate properly with a Linux server running netatalk. I can't wait!
    • Mac OS versions going back at least as far as 8.0 can mount AppleShare volumes over TCP/IP, and 9.0 and later can serve AppleShare over TCP/IP. So can netatalk+asun [anders.com], which I run on my NetBSD box.
      • Yes I know. But our main file server is very OLD. No TCP/IP there. :) Plus about half of my co-workers have OS less than 9 and thus can't share via TCP/IP (people like to dump all sorts of things on their own shared folders). Oh well.

  • Got it.... (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I've been using 5G64 since it was released to us ADC members, supposedly it's the GM. It's everything that Steve claims it to be,

  • it must be spring in some part of the world (Score:4, Funny)

    by paulschreiber ( 113681 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @11:40AM (#2347063) Homepage
    'cause that's when Steve said we'd get DVD playback. :)

    Paul

  • Get an update (maybe) (Score:5, Informative)

    by update() ( 217397 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @11:41AM (#2347067) Homepage
    Rumor has it that Apple Stores have been burning free update CD's for customers who bring in a blank CD-ROM. Sounds ridiculous, but As The Apple Turns [appleturns.com] claims they're continuing to get reports of it happening, and someone wrote to them claiming CompUSA will do something similar. (If it's off the front page when you read it, go to Monday's stories, or search for id#3317.)

    Sounds crazy, but it's Apple so nothing is ever out of the question.

    • crazy? no.

      crazy like a fox.

      apple stores and comp usa both trap you in the store for 10 minutes while the cd burns, and guess what, you browse! it's perfect because instead of just bopping in grabbing a cd and leaving, you spend time in the store seeing all the other things you need. and i'll bet they've got market research to back up the idea.

      it's pure evil and ingenious -- if only i'd thought of it...

  • Macslash (Score:3, Informative)

    by joel8x ( 324102 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @11:43AM (#2347086) Homepage
    Macslash has a thread going about the release and a lot of developers with Betas are reporting some significant improvements in speed - most notibly the time to load apps in native and classic modes.

  • YAHOO! (Score:2, Insightful)

    by dasmegabyte ( 267018 )
    I've been using OSX for a while, and it is a real dog on any chip other than a G4. It's always been usable, but the windows don't have the snap-into-action feel that they need to satisfy an old Win2k afficianado such as myself. Furthermore, the OS was missing a lot of essential features, DVD being the most prominent, that are coming in full effect. Also exciting is the movement of a couple of important indicators to the empty space on the apple bar...my dock quickly fills up and I can't wait to lose things like the battery indicator that don't really need to be so big. Here's hoping the developers of such great dock apps as LoadInDock, Memory Manager, TempInDock (immeasurably useful, so you don't put a 140 degree lappy onto your legs while wearing shorts) and so on. It seems most of the visibility "enhancements" are just the hidden options in OS 10.4, unlockable via tweak panels...but it'll be nice to have more efficient effects like the scale available from a System Preference.

    Ahhh, 10.1...OSX is finally a real operating system. Thank you, blue fairy!

  • OS X 10.1? (Score:5, Funny)

    by kievit ( 303920 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @11:48AM (#2347123) Journal
    I see a pleonasm there. Shouldn't it be OS X.1?

    • That rustling sound you hear... (Score:5, Funny)

      by Wakko Warner ( 324 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @12:29PM (#2347412) Homepage Journal
      ...is the sound of 10,000 Slashdot moderators opening their dictionaries to learn what the word "pleonasm" means.

      Or at least to see if there's a picture of it.

      - A.P.

    • Re:OS X 10.1? (Score:2, Funny)

      by PMAvers ( 449202 )
      Nope, it's 10.1. Try saying " OS X" to a Apple Genius at one of the stores some time. You'll love their responce. ;-)

      When I talked to one and accidently said "X", they said "It's TEN, not "X". Say it with me now, Ten..Ten...Ten... {we pretty much chanted Ten over and over until I got it right, guess they have a course in training on "50 Different Ways to Tell Customers It's 'Ten', Not 'X'".

      One of the other ones that I remember was:
      AG:"How many fingers total do you have?"
      Customer:"Uh, ten."
      AG: "There 'ya go."

      Cheers,
      Paul
      --------
      The day that Microsoft makes a product that doesn't suck will be the day they start to make vacuum cleaners.
  • I used to work for a company that had a mixed environment of Macs and PCs. The one thing we discovered was that some applications (notably Foxpro, etc.) worked far slower on the Macs. I'm not sure but I was guessing that this was an optimization issue... So is there a noticeable speed difference still between apps optimized on the PC and not for the Mac, and vice versa? In our office right now we mostly use PCs but have a couple of Macs for graphic design and audio work.
    • It's a little early to tell, but the design of the OS should get rid of a lot of this. When apps are ported, the peculiarities of the OS get in the way. The original Mac OS code handled apps differently than more modern (though not necessarily better) OSs like Windows. Porting was HARD. Today, I've personally downloaded and installed software written specifically for Linux and UNIX and used it on Mac OS X without modification. Sure, that's not OS X native, but its native enough. For many *nix apps out there, it's a matter of throwing an interface on it to make it available in Aqua.

      My assessment is that, if the application was built for UNIX or cocoa (Mac OS X/OpenStep/Objective C design), it will sing in OS X, especially with the OS X 10.1 optimizations. I'm sure Office v.X will enjoy much of these optimizations, but it's still Microsoft who produces it (although the Mac division does its best to ignore that, it seems).
    • Office for OS X isn't shipping until November, so there's no way to know. But there are rumors that Microsoft will post a free preview version of Word v.X today.
    • I saw a study in a magazine a few years back comparing application speeds between Windows and the Mac. It turned out that all applications they tested were virtually indistinguishable between the two platforms, megahertz for megahertz, except, that is, for Microsoft applications.

      Microsoft applications were two to three times slower on the Mac, although Adobe and other vendors' applications were just as fast.

      Of course, this is just a coincidence. It's not as if Microsoft would have any commercial interest in making the Mac platform seem inferior to Windows.

      Tim

  • Links (Score:4, Informative)

    by tomknight ( 190939 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @11:50AM (#2347138) Journal
    Okay, here's a karma whoring link - it's the official news release from Apple. I find it a bit odd that the cnet article doesn't appear to contain a link to them...

    http://www.apple.com/macosx/newversion/ [apple.com]

    Tom.

    • That is just a product page that has been up for weeks, if not months. The news about how it will be released today/friday/saturday morning is in fact, quite a recent development, and mentioned nowhere on the Apple site (except for maybe the support discussion boards :)).

  • Developer Tools (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Zergwyn ( 514693 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @11:51AM (#2347141)
    Besides the obviously needed increases in speed, DVD playback finally works(even better then in OS9 in build 5G64). Also it has much improved Windows interoperability. Apple will be including an SMB client to go with Samba in 10.1.


    However, one thing that worries me is whether or not they will include Dev Tools. I bought OSX 10.0 when if first came out, and it came with the disc. The Dev Tools include important things like a compiler for making other programs from the Terminal, and fun things like a Java browser, OpenGL stuff, etc. However, they were not included with my new computer. While I already owned them, so I just loaded them myself, I hope that people won't have to pay $129 just to get some tools that should come with new machines. Thanks Apple, you based the system on BSD, but don't forget the tools we need to really write with it!

    • Re:Developer Tools (Score:3, Informative)

      by znu ( 31198 )
      The developer tools are a free download from Apple [apple.com] (you have to sign up for a free developer account). I'm sure the new OS 10.1 tools will show up there soon.

  • Lay off the mouse buttons! (Score:4, Troll)

    by megaduck ( 250895 ) <dvarvel.hotmail@com> on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @11:53AM (#2347157) Journal

    Darnit Taco, please join the present. I'm currently using an Intellimouse Explorer on my Mac, and I've got five mouse buttons plus a scroll wheel. They all work quite well, thank you. If you really want a multi-button mouse for your iBook, just plug one into the USB port. You don't even have to reboot.

    I know you meant it as a joke, but statements like that smell a lot like a troll. Please try not to taunt your audience.

    • There's a big difference between putting a $15-$40 multi-button mouse on a desktop mac to replace the crap Apple sells you (just as I would do on an PC because the standard MS intellimouse sucks too), and doing the same on an iBook (or more importantly, TiBook) where it may be *really* inconvenient at times to have to replace the trackpad & button with a whole new periferal. The latter was CT's point.

    • Taco: mac users ain't as reliant on the 2nd button (Score:5, Informative)

      by Ukab the Great ( 87152 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @04:01PM (#2349076)
      1. Q: Why did apple ever go with one mouse-button?
        A: The one mouse button was thought up by a guy named Jeff Raskin who is largely responsible for starting the Macintosh project at Apple. He thought that mouses with more than one mouse button would be confusing for new users. This might seem like an oversight, but when you consider how uncomplex graphical interfaces were back than and the fact that virtually no computers in mass production had mice as an essential navigational tool, it really isn't.

      2. Q: How can you mac users live without the right-click contextual menu?
        A: Because we can use the regular pull down menus to bring up a menu. If you take a look at *NIX & Windows UI's, you often see that not all menu items for the program are in the pull-down menus. Often, there are some commands that you can only access through right-clicking (i.e. the contextual menu). When this is the case, you're going to need a 2nd mouse button. Contrast this with the mac paradigm, where is it a cardinal sin to have commands that are not listed in the pull-down menus.

      3. Q: Won't going up to a pull-down menu take you longer to do than right-clicking?
        A: No and yes. Unlike other platforms, macs have the pull-down menubar at the top of the screen instead of on each window, like you usually find on Windows or GNOME or KDE (yes, KDE does have a mac menubar mode, but not by default). A menubar at the top border of the screen has been proven in usability labs to be far faster to access than menubar stuck on a window, because the user can ram the mouse pointer into the top of the screen to click on the inital menu item and they can't overshoot. This illustrates a principle of Fitt's Law, which states that things on the borders are faster to access than things that aren't because they are infinitely large . To learn more about Fitt's law, go here [asktog.com]. This being said, contextual menu (i.e. right-clicking) is faster IF you can do it anywhere to bring up the same menu anywhere on the screen, because the mouse pointer can be anywhere and the menu will appear right under it. Unfortunately, bringing up a contextual menu in windows/GNOME/KDE almost always requires that you first land the mouse on a tiny visual target. If you have to click on a tiny 15x10 pixel icon in an e-mail program to bring up a contextual menu for it, any speed advantage of right clicking is negated.

      4. Q: I hear some mac users say that they don't need a 2nd mouse button because they've go all those keyboard combinations. I don't understand.
        A: The reason that mac users use those keyboard strokes is because Apple was smart enough to have the keyboard complement the mouse instead of replacing it. Just like right-cliking is supposed to do on windows. Notice that the command key most often used on macs for the keyboard combinations is located in a spot that is in the center of the keyboard, so a user doesn't have to stretch their fingers 3 miles to hit an out of the way key. Also notice that keyboard strokes using the command key make use of the two most dextrous fingers of the human hand: the index finger and the thumb. The result is that keyboard shortcuts on a mac are easy to do, and they can be done easily with one hand. Why don't Windows users use keyboard shortcuts as often as mac users? Because microsoft was stupid and tried to have the keyboard replace the mouse instead of complmenting it. They added those underline thingies on all the menus (technically, they're called mnemonics), which are far less efficient because you have to hit two sets of keys "Alt+firstletter Alt+secondletter" to use them. This added so much visual clutter and so jammed the users mental keyboard-menu associations that most Windows users also filtered out the keyboard shortcuts (i.e. Ctrl+letter). There is even less incentive to use keyboard shortcuts on windows because the ctrl key that makes use of them is far at one end of the keyboard, which makes keyboard combinations with keys in the center of the keyboard very hard to do with one hand and impossible to easily with the two most dextrous fingers of the human hand (the thumb and index finger). One final advantage of mac keyboard shorcuts is that the command key is represented in the menu system by a symbol that take up one character's worth of menu real-estate as opposed to "Alt" or "Ctrl", which take up 3-4 characters of menu real-estate.

      5. Q:Shouldn't apple add more mouse buttons?
        A: Yes. I don't think you'll find many mac users who are against having more than one mouse button, but they are against some dumb windows/unix geek who knows nothing about macs and who refuses to learn anything about the way they are designed arrogantly assuming that the machine is unusable in some sort of way.

  • Slightly missing the point of "slowness" (Score:5, Insightful)

    by A_Non_Moose ( 413034 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @11:55AM (#2347171) Homepage Journal
    Ok the 10.0.4 boxes I ran at work and home were slow in the aqua gui, truely, but as far as I/O,
    processing, task switching, serving web/ftp...they all kicked ass to say the least.

    For all the unix'ey love fests that take place on /. most here would be pleased to know that it is not BSD/Darwin that is slow, but the Aqua gui that ppl are bitching and moaning about (with good reason, IMO).

    Lack of features, nope, not for what I used it for: Surfing, SETI, FTP, pr0n watching, vcd (mpg1, naturally), ssh, classic apps...it did it all with nary a hitch (just don't leave a DVD in the drive...kernel panic w/o fail on my box).

    So, yeah 10.1 is a drool inducer ooo-ooo, shiney *blue* objects!!! (kiki the ferret voice) and dvd, speed tweaks and some needed + native cocoa apps are well and good, but I hope the OS's speed does not suffer, gui be damned.
    (can you tell I'm a CLI type?)

    Moose.

    la la laaaaaa

  • Mozilla MP Compatibility With 10.1 (Score:4, Informative)

    by Cheese Man ( 167190 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @12:02PM (#2347233)
    For those of us who also happen to own a multi-processor machine and have been unable to run Mozilla as a native OS X app, it looks like part of the problem was with 10.0.4's MP support and will be fixed in 10.1. For more info, check out this bugzilla bug [mozilla.org].

    Perhaps this could even mean an end to the dial-up disconnection woes, as those, too, were MP related. (For those of you blissfully unaware, MP machines with a dial-up modem connection had a tendency to randomly drop said connection.)

    All in all, very good news, especially since Apple appears to have listened to its customers and will be making the upgrade free.

  • OS 10.1 MS Word v X and fun ! (Score:5, Interesting)

    by SirStanley ( 95545 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @12:03PM (#2347240) Homepage
    With 10.1 not only do I get dvd play back on a "Unix Based" os but MS is releasing a preview version of Word X. Now before you Anti-MS Dolts get your panties tied in a Knot. If you don't use Macs and haven't seen Microsoft's Mac software. You're missing out. MSIE:MAC Runs better than it does under windows. (There goes that whole its only "Faster" Cause its integrated into the OS Theory) And Microsoft Office for the Mac has consistently been the most useful Office Suite on the market. Star Office doesn't have anything on it. And Office:Mac has consistently blown the pants off of Office:windows For a long time.

    But anyways. Check out the Microsoft mac stuff at www.microsoft.com/mac/ and just drool over screen shots of Office v X

    And on a final Note. I love my TiPB I love OSX and I don't understand how I used anything other htan it for all those years.
    • > MSIE:MAC Runs better than it does under windows. (There goes that whole its only "Faster" Cause its integrated into the OS Theory)

      Perhaps not - is MSIE:Mac leaving some stubs running in memory all the time? If so, there's the answer. That's how Mozilla's 'turbo' mode works (only it's not so 'turbo' with v0.9.4).

    • > Now before you Anti-MS Dolts
      >get your panties tied in a Knot.


      >And Office:Mac has
      >consistently blown the pants off of Office:windows For a long time.


      Well, I suppose that explains it. With her pants blown off, the poor gal is tieing the knot just to get some more coverage . . .


      :)


      hawk, afraid he's giving someone an idea for another porn site . . .

  • OS X 10.1 is quite fast (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I installed it on a G3/500 Blue and White over the weekend (build 5G64 - the GM) and it is wildly fast. Boots the computer from button-push to full in 45 seconds. Opens applications easily 15 times faster (I did a check against 10.0.4 on another partition). Makes my old G3 *feel* like a G4. All in all, I'd have to say they have outdone themselves in this release (or spoiled us by giving us a really slow one first). I invite all Linux-heads to give it a shot - you may be surprised!

  • DVD FYI- Older Macs (Score:3, Informative)

    by Zergwyn ( 514693 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @12:15PM (#2347337)
    I have used some of the earlier builds of OSX(though I haven't gotten the latest yet). It should be noted for build 5G64, which I have heard is the Golden Master, DVD playback will not work on Macs that use hardware DVD-decoding(ie. B&W G3 or Yikes G4/PCI with DVD piggyback card, Lombard G3/400 models and perhaps Wallstreet PB G3s with the DVD decoder PC Card). Since some of these computers are the very ones that would most benefit from an OS speed increase, potential owners should check with Apple, or they might have to be prepared to continue using OS9 a little bit longer. Newer macs that use software decoding work great.
  • 10.1 was supposed to speed things up, Linux on the Mac is reportedly pretty fast, given the upgrade to 10.1, what' the "fastest" os for a new Mac?

    • I use Debian PPC on a PowerBook G4, and it's a little slow. For everyday interactive use like email and web browsing, it is the equal of all my other systems. For anything that taxes the CPU, it's a pig. For example, compiling ethereal takes over 7 minutes. On my desktop (1.4 GHz athlon) it takes a little under 1 minute. That's not really proportionate. People claim that GCC doesn't produce efficient code on the PPC, but I don't know the technical details of that. I do know that OS X takes advantage of the AltiVec unit on the G4, while almost no Linux software (only mpeg2dec to my knowledge) does so.
      • On all RISC systems, compiling will take longer than on CISC. The binaries will also be larger. This is due to the way the architectures are defined. In broad strokes ( so as not to start a flame war ), RISC moves a lot of the complicated stuff over into a compiler that is designed to produce code that will execute more efficiently on the Reduced Instruction Set that is available. CISC relies on moving all of those complex instructions onto the actual chip, making the logic and instruction sets more complex on the chip. RISC should run faster than a similarly clocked CISC, but with a larger binary, and longer compile time. Good book on this - _A Practitioner's Guide to RISC Microprocessor Architcture_.
  • You can send for a CD for $19.99, or you can go to an Apple retailer and get a free update there at no cost. Also, the CDs will be in stores this Saturday. I would list the URL of the site doing live coverage of the keynote today, but they are already swamped. /.-ing them would certainly bring them down for good. If you are Mac news savvy you can easily find it.
  • Does anyone know if the update can be downloaded for free, or can it only be obtained on CD?

    • Re:Download (Score:2, Informative)

      by sjonke ( 457707 )
      It will not be available for download, or so reports tell us. However, it is supposed to be available for free at many Apple retailers, not just Apple Stores.
  • I'm using a USB Kensington 3 button mouse, with the wheel, on my TiPB without any special software loaded. All the buttons work fine, and support is even better in the X.1. Basically, the right button works the same as a control click, and the wheel scrolls the Finder windows and application windows. Functionality in Classic mode is dependent on software.

    Oh, and the buttons work as intended in XFree86. Rootless X works really well.

    X.1 is running great, as advertised. Even my G3 runs well. I have over 300Mb in each machine, so I'm sure that helps. My only complaint is that I need driver support for my older printers. I can use them from Classic, but that can be a pain since I'm pretty much using all OSX apps now.

    - Don

  • OS X info (Score:2, Informative)

    by Mr. Quick ( 35198 )
    from macslash:

    "OS X 10.1 will be available in stores this Saturday and a free upgrade for 10.0.x owners will be available in stores at no charge. As expected you can also order a CD containing the update for $19.99."

  • New OSX user (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Bluetick ( 516014 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @01:21PM (#2347783)
    I've only been using OSX for about a month now (got my first mac then). And I love it. It's a recent Quicksilver model, so honestly, I don't know what people are talking about when they say it's slow, but I guess it probably is on less recent hardware. What I really would like it more customization for the GUI, there's really very little you can do to change the appearance. They have two sets of button colors, and you can change the magnification and size of the dock, as well as the size of icons. Gee, that's fantastic, but that's it! Also coming from X and Windows, it's hell of hard to keep track of applications (maybe just because I'm switching from a taskbar to a taskbar clone- dock). But I seem to get flustered when I have too many applications open. I really wish they'd incorporate multiple virtual desktops like in X.

    As far as features and stuff, well honestly I haven't noticed any lack of them. The OS is the pinnacle of compatibility and versatility. I can open MacOS9 in classic mode to run Microsoft Office (ya ya, Microsoft sucks, but if you haven't tried their version of Office on a Mac shut up), Internet Explorer under OSX along with whatever else I need, and I with the click of a button I'm transported to a Gnome desktop running my *nix X programs (the ones I don't need to run from a terminal). Oh yeah, and it's got a terminal. Using Fink it's a snap to install Unix software (granted not all the ports I want, but more are coming). It's funny the way it works, Microsoft products are actually much better on Macs. Or of course I could just log out of Aqua all together and run pure Darwin alone, or with X.

    I was going to install NetBSD or Linux on the computer, but now I don't think I'll need to.
  • I don't know if anyone else has noticed this yet, but look at http://www.apple.com/macosx/theater/dvd.html (yes, it requires QuickTime). Apple is showing a video of the opening of X-Men running on a Mac desktop. It could be faked, but it'd be a hell of a fake.

    So it looks like it is possible to capture DVD video under Mac OS X 10.1...does the MPAA know about this?

    -jon

    • That's just the movie running in Apple's DVD player app. As per the edicts of the MPAA, it does not allow you to take screenshots or recordings. Hopefully these guys [videolan.org] will come through with a non-crippled player.
      • Yes, I know it was a movie of the X-Men DVD running in the Apple DVD player app.

        But they were able to grab the DVD RUNNING FULL SCREEN and capture it to a QuickTime movie that you can download off the web and watch on any QuickTime-enabled computer. Once you get full-screen DVD to QuickTime, you can convert it to anything and distribute snippets of it, just like Apple is currently distributing a snippet of X-Men via its web site.

        I don't think this was done by pointing a video camera at a Mac screen, though I could be wrong.

        -jon

        • Duh, completely missed your point, I get it now. My guess is that Apple used a "special" version of the DVD player that doesn't have the capture restrictions to create that movie. It's possible that the shipping DVD player app has a secret "fair use" mode that could be enabled via assembly tweaking, but that seems unlikely since I doubt they'd want to do anything that could potentially make themselves a legal target.
  • 1. If you have never bought OS X, it is $129.

    2. If you own Mac OS X Retail now, it is a $19.95 upgrade (*including* manuals, developer CDs, the works).

    3. If you have an Apple Store near you (not store.apple.com ;) -- you can get it for free from them, while supplies last.

    Well worth it -- OS X is truly amazing (even for the biased- impared :-)
  • To get the upgrade, you have to fill out a form by hand and mail it in with Proof of Purchase. Then you get to wait 6-12 weeks for them to send it to you. Plus, they give no indications as to where you can get instant upgrades, nor does CompUSA's site have any info on it. Seems pretty unacceptable to me.

  • Relax.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Wadesworld ( 172449 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @03:48PM (#2348966)
    For the Windows and Linux bigots, relax. You don't have to get so tense. If you don't think OS X is worth your time, then just ignore it.

    On the otherhand, if you have a bit of an open mind, you owe it to yourself to check it out. (Make sure you're checking out 10.1 and not 10.0.x)

    It really is cool to have a mainstream commercial app like MS Word and say GIMP running rootless right next to it.

    It really is cool to program with the Cocoa dev tools. (Yes, it requires you learn Obj C, but if you're a true geek, you love trying another language)

    It really is cool to have a BSD-based system that even your grandmother could install and use.

    It really is cool that the BSD-subsystem is available for anyone to hack on (Darwin).

    It really is cool that there's a commercial company (Apple) guiding the OS and putting in all the most sophisticated plumbing (Aqua, IOKit, etc) that probably would never have gotten done or would have gotten done poorly otherwise.

    It really is cool that all the major commercial app manufacturers have already pledged their support (many have already delivered) and that many apps which have never been on the Mac before are now coming over.

    It really is cool that there's going to be a decent selection of games for this platform. Not Windows numbers by any stretch, but all the major titles and certainly more than Linux.

    In short, if you take the time to look, it really is a very cool OS. Now, maybe you don't want to spend the extra money to buy a Mac. No problem. But that doesn't make it any less of a product.

    Wade

  • Availability of the upgrade (Score:3, Informative)

    by DragonPup ( 302885 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @05:51PM (#2349787)
    There's 2 ways to get this upgrade.

    Option 1, the so called 'instant upgrade'. Starting on September 29th, Apple resellers(including the Apple store and other retail outlets. probably CompUSA, MicroCenter, etc) will get CDs that will upgrade from Mac OS X 10.0.4 -> 10.0
    Cost: Gas to get to the store

    Option 2: The Apple Mac Up To Date program [apple.com]. You print out a PDF form and mail it to Apple. They mail you back the OS X 10,1 CD, as well as the Mac OS 9.2.1 CD and Developer Tools CD, I believe.
    Cost: $19.99, a 6-12 week wait(according to the PDF form)

    I think I'll swing by a CompUSA saturday, which is when they hand out the CDs(yes, saturday is the release date. Saturday is always the day retail Apple OS's go on sale it seems...)

    -Henry

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