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I currently use OS X for all my work and for personal/home use. But I have to agree with the sentiment. I have had nothing but praise for Apple and OS X up unti

I currently use OS X for all my work and for personal/home use. But I have to agree with the sentiment. I have had nothing but praise for Apple and OS X up until Lion release. But this year has been a major turning point. End of XServe, end of Apple java, talk of end of Mac Pro and the whole post PC world thing, turning OS X into fisher price phone OS. Honestly, at this point I have to re-think my future and make a platform switch. I have invested well over $30,000 into Apple so far, but going forward I will most likely end up with Linux for software development and Windows for Photoshop and video editing (personal use). I'm really just waiting to see what post-Lion OS X looks like, and if they keep moving towards iOS/iPhone, then I really don't want anything to do with Apple. I don't need a computer/OS from a phone company.

hackoder 15y ago
Completely agreed. I dont see why valid criticisms of what Apple is doing get such a negative response. A lot of us love Apple software and hardware, and have invested a lot of money in various parts of the ecosystem. We are not windows fanboys who are making a fuss without having ever used Mac OS. A lot of changes I can understand; moving forward may mean annoying a portion of your users. But a lot of these changes do not change anything for the better. There are no reasons for them at all, as mentioned elsewhere in the thread.
theatrus2 15y ago
Have you seen the new Windows? Microsoft is steamrolling down the "new world" path faster than Apple.
- wanorris 15y ago
  TBD. Incorporating user feedback and giving users options are pretty fundamental to Microsoft's standard operating procedure, so my guess is that the next public preview or beta of Win 8 will force a lot fewer changes on the user. Really, the desktop mode of Windows 8 doesn't change all that much for power users, it just replaces the utterly broken Start Menu with a fullscreen start screen. It also makes this start screen the default environment for unsophisticated users, which is probably a reasonable move. Aside from (IIRC) not letting you set a preference to default into the desktop mode on launch, the biggest problem with the start screen for power users was the low information density. This should be a setting, just like the default for Explorer is these giant icons and tiles for files, but you can easily switch it to use "Details" if you like to get real work done. I think the end result for power users on traditional systems is likely to be that they deliver a desktop mode with only modest differences and a start screen that serves as a much more usable replacement for the start menu (and possibly the option to turn it back off). The start screen also provides a better replacement for some other ambient things like the desktop widgets that nobody ever sees because their apps are on top. Meanwhile, that start screen, set to a lower information density (as was previewed), should be a pretty nifty base interface for tablet users and basic/new desktop users. I'm sure there will still be some people up in arms, and possibly rightly so if there are some things they don't fix between now and the final release. But Win 8 has the potential to be a significant step forward without being too coercive on people who already have a good workflow in Win 7.
- Andrex 15y ago
  Same with Ubuntu unfortunately. Seems like one of the smaller Linux variants will have to save us. At the moment, I'm quite taken with Fedora/Gnome 3. Although Ubuntu+Gnome 3 and the upcoming Linux Mint with Gnome 3 are solid options... Yes. I like Gnome 3. Gnome 3.
  - _grrr 15y ago
    Just installed Linux Mint - I love it! A real improvement over the bloated Ubuntu 11.10 release and Unity. It's fast to startup and shutdown, responsive and has a lovely UI.
philwelch 15y ago
Judging from what Apple's done so far, if they really wanted to turn the Mac into an iPad, they would just quit selling Macs and try selling more iPads. Does it actually affect you that Apple isn't selling XServe anymore? It made some sense when Macs had PPC chips and PPC had a performance advantage, but nowadays I can't think of a good use for a rack-mounted Mac. Likewise, I'm going to miss the Mac Pro too, but have you gone to spec one out? It used to be you actually needed a Power Mac to run Photoshop fast enough, or to compile. Now they're just overpowered and overpriced, and Thunderbolt obviates the need for slots. Yes, Apple is consciously conceding the server and raw CPU markets, probably to Linux. I myself would choose Linux over Mac for those applications, too. But when I want to SSH into that server, or Skype with my girlfriend when I'm away from home, or write some code, it turns out my MacBook works just fine for that.
- kitsune_ 15y ago
  Thunderbolt doesn't "obviate" the need for slots. Do you have 10k plus invested in pro audio or video gear that requires pci-e? All those guys are going to switch to Windows...
  - philwelch 15y ago
    There are PCI-E enclosures that connect to Thunderbolt: http://www.magma.com/thunderbolt.asp http://www.magma.com/thunderbolt.asp
    - throwaway64 15y ago
      >If you are a PCIe adapter manufacturer and want to make your product compatible with Express Box 3T, please contact Marketing(at)Magma.com to join our Partner Program or Join our Interest List and let us know that you're a developer. And how many PCIe card makers have patched their drivers to work with this thing?
      - philwelch 15y ago
        So it's a software problem rather than a hardware problem. Fine, maybe it's not a finished solution yet--but Apple hasn't stopped selling Mac Pros yet, either.
rsynnott 15y ago
> end of Apple java I'm not sure why that would be seen as a problem. The situation where Apple were maintaining their own Java implementation was at least slightly anomalous; returning responsibility to Sun/Oracle and OpenJDK makes a lot of sense.

hackoder 15y ago

Completely agreed. I dont see why valid criticisms of what Apple is doing get such a negative response. A lot of us love Apple software and hardware, and have invested a lot of money in various parts of the ecosystem. We are not windows fanboys who are making a fuss without having ever used Mac OS. A lot of changes I can understand; moving forward may mean annoying a portion of your users. But a lot of these changes do not change anything for the better. There are no reasons for them at all, as mentioned elsewhere in the thread.

theatrus2 15y ago

Have you seen the new Windows? Microsoft is steamrolling down the "new world" path faster than Apple.

wanorris 15y ago
TBD. Incorporating user feedback and giving users options are pretty fundamental to Microsoft's standard operating procedure, so my guess is that the next public preview or beta of Win 8 will force a lot fewer changes on the user. Really, the desktop mode of Windows 8 doesn't change all that much for power users, it just replaces the utterly broken Start Menu with a fullscreen start screen. It also makes this start screen the default environment for unsophisticated users, which is probably a reasonable move. Aside from (IIRC) not letting you set a preference to default into the desktop mode on launch, the biggest problem with the start screen for power users was the low information density. This should be a setting, just like the default for Explorer is these giant icons and tiles for files, but you can easily switch it to use "Details" if you like to get real work done. I think the end result for power users on traditional systems is likely to be that they deliver a desktop mode with only modest differences and a start screen that serves as a much more usable replacement for the start menu (and possibly the option to turn it back off). The start screen also provides a better replacement for some other ambient things like the desktop widgets that nobody ever sees because their apps are on top. Meanwhile, that start screen, set to a lower information density (as was previewed), should be a pretty nifty base interface for tablet users and basic/new desktop users. I'm sure there will still be some people up in arms, and possibly rightly so if there are some things they don't fix between now and the final release. But Win 8 has the potential to be a significant step forward without being too coercive on people who already have a good workflow in Win 7.
Andrex 15y ago
Same with Ubuntu unfortunately. Seems like one of the smaller Linux variants will have to save us. At the moment, I'm quite taken with Fedora/Gnome 3. Although Ubuntu+Gnome 3 and the upcoming Linux Mint with Gnome 3 are solid options... Yes. I like Gnome 3. Gnome 3.
- _grrr 15y ago
  Just installed Linux Mint - I love it! A real improvement over the bloated Ubuntu 11.10 release and Unity. It's fast to startup and shutdown, responsive and has a lovely UI.

philwelch 15y ago

Judging from what Apple's done so far, if they really wanted to turn the Mac into an iPad, they would just quit selling Macs and try selling more iPads. Does it actually affect you that Apple isn't selling XServe anymore? It made some sense when Macs had PPC chips and PPC had a performance advantage, but nowadays I can't think of a good use for a rack-mounted Mac. Likewise, I'm going to miss the Mac Pro too, but have you gone to spec one out? It used to be you actually needed a Power Mac to run Photoshop fast enough, or to compile. Now they're just overpowered and overpriced, and Thunderbolt obviates the need for slots. Yes, Apple is consciously conceding the server and raw CPU markets, probably to Linux. I myself would choose Linux over Mac for those applications, too. But when I want to SSH into that server, or Skype with my girlfriend when I'm away from home, or write some code, it turns out my MacBook works just fine for that.

kitsune_ 15y ago
Thunderbolt doesn't "obviate" the need for slots. Do you have 10k plus invested in pro audio or video gear that requires pci-e? All those guys are going to switch to Windows...
- philwelch 15y ago
  There are PCI-E enclosures that connect to Thunderbolt: http://www.magma.com/thunderbolt.asp http://www.magma.com/thunderbolt.asp
  - throwaway64 15y ago
    >If you are a PCIe adapter manufacturer and want to make your product compatible with Express Box 3T, please contact Marketing(at)Magma.com to join our Partner Program or Join our Interest List and let us know that you're a developer. And how many PCIe card makers have patched their drivers to work with this thing?
    - philwelch 15y ago
      So it's a software problem rather than a hardware problem. Fine, maybe it's not a finished solution yet--but Apple hasn't stopped selling Mac Pros yet, either.

rsynnott 15y ago

> end of Apple java I'm not sure why that would be seen as a problem. The situation where Apple were maintaining their own Java implementation was at least slightly anomalous; returning responsibility to Sun/Oracle and OpenJDK makes a lot of sense.