Looks like MSFT isn't the only one who had trouble developing an OS. Apple is struggling with theirs also.
Fez
_________________________
Monday May 15, 10:54 pm Eastern Time
Apple final Mac OS X delayed until January
SAN JOSE, Calif., May 15 (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc (NasdaqNM:AAPL - news) said on Monday it would release the final version of its eagerly awaited next-generation operating system software in January instead of this summer to give developers and customers more time to work with it.
Apple executives said, however, that the move should not be considered a delay.
Speaking at Apple's annual software developers conference, chief executive Steve Jobs said the company would release the same version of Mac OS X as previously planned -- some time this summer.
But Apple would instead call it a test version, or public ``Beta'' version, that would be widely available to any customer.
Mac OS X will be more powerful and even easier to use than the existing MAC operating systems famed for being user friendly.
In January, at the MacWorld Expo, Apple said in a press release that ``Mac OS X will go on sale as a shrink-wrapped software product this summer'', meaning it would be commercially available. Apple also said at the time that OS X would be pre-loaded as the standard operating system on all Macintosh computers in early 2001.
SAME SOFTWARE TO SHIP THIS SUMMER
On Monday, Apple said the final version of Mac OS X 1.0 would be available in January 2001 and that it is now just renaming the same software and calling it a beta instead of a final version.
``What we were calling the first final version is now called a public beta,'' said Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing.
``It's the same release schedule. We are calling it a different thing...It's not really the same as slipping a product.''
Apple stock closed off 6- to 101 on Monday on Nasdaq, even as Apple executives and analysts downplayed the changes.
``It was only going to be early adopters and the lunatic fringe who were going to buy it this summer anyway,'' said Lou Mazzucchelli of Gerard Klauer Mattison & Co.
``The issue is when does it show up on the machines, and the date for that hasn't changed.''
Schiller said the change in release dates was primarily driven by developers and customers, who wanted more time to work with the software, and was not because of technical glitches.
``Really, we are delivering the same software at the same time, but with different names,'' Schiller said in an interview. ``Customers have asked us for a public beta... That release will be called public beta, instead of calling it Version 1.0.''
``Each release adds new capabilities and features,'' he said. ``I think what we have delivered today is developer complete. There is certainly more work to finish off the details of it. There is some fine-tuning, but the majority of the product is in place, and it's working beautifully now.''
At the conference, developers received a CD preview of Mac OS X, called Preview 4, which includes a version of Microsoft Corp.'s (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) Internet Explorer 5.0, developed specifically for the Macintosh.
The new version of Mac OS X includes the company's new user interface, called Aqua, and many new features. Jobs told the developers that the new operating system will be a ``super big deal for us and I think for you too''.
DELAY OF FINAL VERSION NOT UNCOMMON
``I'm not really surprised,'' said Alan Powell, a senior systems analyst for the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety in Hamilton, Ontario. ``It sounds like renaming what they are delivering ... Operating systems are never complete.''
Analysts who followed the company were not concerned about any changes in the dates for the commercial version.
``I am never particularly surprised with software delays,'' said David Bailey, an analyst with Gerard Klauer Mattison & Co. ``I wouldn't really worry about the schedule. It (the software) is more important from a strategic point of view. It shows that the company is more than just the iMac and the iBook.''
Apple also said it was slashing the price of its Web applications software WebObjects to $699 from $50,000 to put the technology in the hands of more software developers.
``We have a nice revenue stream, but we've decided to take this technology and put it in the hands of more people,'' Jobs told the conference. He said Apple has over 3,000 customers using WebObjects to create Web applications 10 times faster than other Web development software.
Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple also said more than 50 million copies of its QuickTime 4 player software used to view video over the Internet have been distributed for both Macintosh computers and for those using Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system. |
