Sheridan's Profile

A lot of people look at the applications like iChat, Expose, updated Mail, Safari, etc but in reality these apps showcase the amazing set of frameworks and APIs that Apple have been developing and continue to develop. Apple could have done all the coding under the bonnet for every OSX release but without the "candy" or "carrot" nobody would buy it. What has happened as time passes, is that developers get to grips with the real OS under the hood and produce fab programs like FCP, Delicious Library, Motion, etc. So yes Panther appeared to be a minor upgrade but it was a lot more. With Tiger, Apple had to produce a lot more candy to showcase the Tiger x-factor - which is why it took longer to develop this time around. Apple have already started 10.5 development. However, the underlying technologies under the hood have developers salivating. Even the MACBU at MS are excited. I suspect that 10.5 will be released end of 2006 along with, or shortly after Longhorn. At that point, the applications being produced by developers for the Mac will make XP and just-released longhorn apps look dated. Just you wait and see. MS is all about market share, making obscene amounts of money and making XP/Longhorn the centre of the user's universe. With Apple, they only want to provide the best tools available so users can be as creative and productive as possible. Just look at the task metaphor used by XP (and Longhorn no doubt). This implies users are stupid - and frankly I rarely use any of the tasks thrown in front of my face. OSX is all about minimalist and it works. MS just don't get it. Look at the iPod as compared to the competitors - their devices play music, tune into your favorite radio station, let you record your own voice, etc - all I want to do is listen to my music.