As the Apple Turns: Scene 2507: Low-Key And Laid Back (8/25/00)

Low-Key And Laid Back (8/25/00)

Speaking of Mac OS X (and that's about the best segue you're going to pry out of us for a while), we're only a week away from September-- that magical month which Steve Jobs himself declared would finally bring us the long-awaited Mac OS X public beta. Of course, last January he also told us we'd be getting the final version this summer, so there's a limit to how seriously once can take these things. But given that it's been almost four years since Apple bought NeXT and announced that the replacement for the ill-fated Copland project would be based on the NeXTSTEP operating system, well, heck-- we figure it can't be much longer now, right? So September it is.

But if MacUser UK is correct, don't look for the beta to be announced with much fanfare. Steve wouldn't toss copies of it to a screaming Seybold audience (even if it were going to be done in time for next week's keynote, which we doubt), nor will it grace the stage at next month's Apple Expo in Europe. In addition, Apple wouldn't stage a special media circus just to roll out a pre-release copy of anything. Reportedly the release of the beta will be a "low-key" affair in late September, probably consisting of little more than a quiet press release that says "here it is, come and get it if you feel like working for us for free."

Now, for those of you who disagree with Apple's low-key approach to the public beta and think pre-1.0 releases of software should be high-profile, media-blitz events, we have just one thing to say: Netscape 6.0 Preview Release 1. While the final version of Netscape 6 may in fact turn out to be solid, stable, fast, and laden with useful features, the incomplete, resource-hogging, and crash-prone preview release (introduced amid much media hoopla) may well have been the best advertising the competition could have ever imagined. Yes, we expect Apple's public beta to be much more finished than the Netscape disaster, but the fact is, it's a beta. It's not done yet. When it appears, it will have warts. It may even contain bugs bigger than anything the state of Texas has yet been able to produce, entomologically speaking. So we have to agree with Apple on this one: issue the beta quietly so only the hardcore Mac geeks will volunteer as guinea pigs, keep the press out of it as much as possible, use the beta feedback to craft the most amazing operating system ever to grace a hard drive, release Mac OS X 1.0, and then call the press and push, push, push.

Oh, there's one more piece of potential bad news for the less-patient viewers out there. In January Steve promised the 1.0 release of Mac OS X "this summer." In May he amended that to "January." Most recently, at last month's Expo, he pushed it off still further, predicting a "first quarter" release next year. Well, the Apple source quoted in MacUser's article concurs, stating that Mac OS X isn't likely to ship until March. But hey, get off that ledge-- two months goes awfully quickly these days, and you'll still have the beta to play with.

SceneLink (2507)

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From the writer/creator of AtAT, a Pandemic Dad Joke taken WAYYYYYY too far

The above scene was taken from the 8/25/00 episode:

August 25, 2000: Don't look now, but Apple's new Knowledge Base web site is running one scary operating system. Meanwhile, Apple plans a "low-key" introduction of the Mac OS X public beta as the 1.0 release date slides further into 2001, and Microsoft snubs Intel by working on its own processor for the next-generation WebTV...

Other scenes from that episode:

2506: Eeek! Win2K In Cupertino (8/25/00) Over the years, one of the most entertaining pastimes borne of the platform wars has been Mac Spotting-- finding evidence of Macs or Mac use in unlikely or ironic circumstances. For instance, the classic example from way back when is the old saw about how Intel's 3D animated flying Pentium ad was actually made on Macs...
2508: What's One More Market? (8/25/00) Here's a quickie that's sure to wriggle its way into your most Kafkaesque nightmares: Microsoft is now making chips, and we're not talking about a buyout of Frito Lay. Although the way things are going, we wouldn't be surprised to hear about such a merger soon, with the Redmond Giant looking to corner the snack food market in an attempt to gain a better stranglehold on the developer community by controlling its primary food supply...

Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast...


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