Nobody thinks it would have been smart to release Leopard prematurely. Where Apple went wrong was announcing a release date that they couldn't meet. It certainly caused some problems for me - I delayed an upgrade last Fall (including a new server), in anticipation of a Spring release. Then when the delay came it seemed reasonable to wait again. Of course the server died in the meantime. Slight pain which would have been avoided if they hadn't announced early.
Why does Apple do things the way it does? Their computer profits come from hardware and accessories, which are presumably desirable due to OS X and design features. If they sold a version of OS X for a generic box, their hardware sales would suffer, but they gain a new source of revenue. Maybe they don't think the average consumer would switch over, at least in large enough numbers to make the move profitable. To me, who thinks OS X is vastly superior, it almost seems like a public service obligation. Now that Apple is switching to Intel processors, you can be sure that they'll be in a position to make the move at the drop of a hat. Will they ever do it? I sure hope so, but who knows...
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Nobody thinks it would have been smart to release Leopard prematurely. Where Apple went wrong was announcing a release date that they couldn't meet. It certainly caused some problems for me - I delayed an upgrade last Fall (including a new server), in anticipation of a Spring release. Then when the delay came it seemed reasonable to wait again. Of course the server died in the meantime. Slight pain which would have been avoided if they hadn't announced early.
Why does Apple do things the way it does? Their computer profits come from hardware and accessories, which are presumably desirable due to OS X and design features. If they sold a version of OS X for a generic box, their hardware sales would suffer, but they gain a new source of revenue. Maybe they don't think the average consumer would switch over, at least in large enough numbers to make the move profitable. To me, who thinks OS X is vastly superior, it almost seems like a public service obligation. Now that Apple is switching to Intel processors, you can be sure that they'll be in a position to make the move at the drop of a hat. Will they ever do it? I sure hope so, but who knows ...