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I don't know how many were in this camp, but with every OS X release I was more excited about reading Siracusa's review than upgrading. While I started only wi

by hanlec 11y ago

I don't know how many were in this camp, but with every OS X release I was more excited about reading Siracusa's review than upgrading. While I started only with 10.3, I have found reading the older review as a fine page of OS X history. Maybe Siracusa these should become a book. Maybe Apple should move to OS 11.

jballanc 11y ago
I worked for Apple during Snow Leopard and Lion, and I was still excited for his reviews post-launch. To his immense credit, he would always manage to cover some new feature or other thing I didn't know about, and I wrote parts of the damn operating system.
- marincounty 11y ago
  I was so happy with Snow Leopard and Lion. All my stuff just worked.
  - Angostura 11y ago
    Snow Leopard? Yes. Personally I found Lion one of the worst, slowest, buggiest OSs I've ever come across.
    - Khaine 11y ago
      Snow Leopard was a great release. I hope the next release is in a similar vein. Just polishing what has already been delivered
    - fastball 11y ago
      I guess you never used Vista. Or Windows 8.
    - ghshephard 11y ago
      I concur. I loved 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard), but I was burned so badly when I upgraded (too quickly) to 10.7 (Lion), that I've been paranoid ever since. That operating system was, freeze and kernel panic city for me. I'm pretty happy with 10.8.5 (Mountain Lion), and Its only about now that I'm considering upgrading to (10.9) Mavericks. (Just one operating system before the current (10.10) Yosemite) Of course, Apple doesn't make it easy to upgrade to their stable and regressed operating system - I'm going to have go through all sorts of hoops to upgrade to anything other than the (still not fully trusted by me) Yosemite.
      - coldpie 11y ago
        Oh My God what a mess. Everyone, please just use the freaking version numbers.
      - wyclif 11y ago
        I still use Snow Leopard. It's super stable and functions just fine as a developer OS.
        jasode 11y ago
        The old OS X version can be fine if you're primarily doing Python programming. However, if one is using Xcode to write iOS 8 apps for the millions of new phones people bought a few months ago, you are pretty much forced onto the Apple upgrade treadmill. For example, Xcode 6.3 requires 10.10[1]. Apple decided that OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) released less than 18 months ago is not recent enough. Staying with OS X 10.6 means the latest Xcode you can install is v4 which means iOS 5 is the last version you can write apps for. That would be a severe handicap since iOS 5 has less than 3% marketshare[2]. I'm not sure if Apple servers would even allow developers to submit an iOS 5 app these days[3]. OS X 10.6 definitely was very stable but staying on it has severe economic penalties for many programmers. [1]https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xcode/id497799835?ls=1&mt=12 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xcode/id497799835?ls=1&mt=12 [2]http://david-smith.org/iosversionstats/ http://david-smith.org/iosversionstats/ [3]http://www.macworld.com/article/2080865/apple-requiring-app-submissions-to-be-optimized-for-ios-7-by-feb-1.html http://www.macworld.com/article/2080865/apple-requiring-app-...
    - Keyframe 11y ago
      What was/is wrong with 10.7.5? Damn fine OS.
  - protomyth 11y ago
    I loved Snow Leopard, but Lion caused me so much pain. The whole "Save As" fiasco is Lion's legacy. Snow Leopard is still my favorite. Mountain Lion was ok and Mavericks and Yosemite have been error-filled and support headaches. I am hoping the next version is better tested.
    - McUsr 11y ago
      My favourites are Tiger, Snow Leopard and Mavericks. And I am more pleased with Mavericks than Snow Leopard which I am more pleased with than Tiger. I agree about the testing, but still I think they have managed to keep the technical debt somewhat in control. I really yearn for the day they license Plan9, and port OS X on top of that. Because I believe that would give bigger opportunities, both with respect to hardware, but also with respect to a better foundation for developing more sophisticated features.
      - protomyth 11y ago
        Did you use Mavericks as an individual or as part of a network of machines? I did like Tiger, Core Image was so fun and lead to the first commercial program I ever released. [edit: I should say that OpenStep was my favorite release and somethings are still not in OS X which is a pity - as to Plan 9 - I do have dreams of OpenStep on top of Plan 9]
lips 11y ago
"..with every OS X release I was more excited about reading Siracusa's review than upgrading." I feel exactly the same. Partially for the content, and partially because I knew that the reading experience would prepare me for the best and worst; cushion the blows, and highlight the bits to be savored.
- tajen 11y ago
  The only (but big) information we missed in 10.9 was the much higher frequency of kernel panics. An immediate review can't unveil such a flaw, so I wouldn't mind if Siracusa made reviews later on.
  - a_c_s 11y ago
    Anecdotes != data: IIRC I've had zero kernel panics since upgrading (which was right after the release).
ende 11y ago
OS XI: Siracusa
esalman 11y ago
"I was more excited about reading Siracusa's review than upgrading" That explains why video game commentary is a thing now.
- emsy 11y ago
  Or it shows the decline of OS X (it's horrendous for me). Or maybe a bit of both.
- Retra 11y ago
  Is it information addiction?
  - esalman 11y ago
    Don't think so; there are better ways to get informed. The comment made by jballanc probably gets it- "he would always manage to cover some new feature or other thing I didn't know about". People look at the same thing in different ways. When we read a review or watch a game commentary, we are really trying to know how another person may look at it.
72deluxe 11y ago
I also really really enjoyed his reviews but his Yosemite review doesn't seem to be as in-depth, and felt like he was brushing over the surface which is understandable given how quickly people want reviews after launch. Still, it felt different to the previous ones. Still informative, just different. A shame that he is no longer reviewing them but thanks to him for all the other reviews. Incredibly informative! And I will be waiting to see what changes Apple make to HFS+ after his in-depth overview of the state of the filesystem in the Lion review.
- ghshephard 11y ago
  Re: Rushing - if you list to ATP, or, previously, hypercritical, Siracusa spent months on those reviews. By the time it came out to launch, he was basically at the point of correcting (and re-correcting screen shots).
  - 72deluxe 11y ago
    Ah I am glad you highlighted that to me then. It was likely my frame of mind when reading it then, and not his article. I can only imagine the stress such reviews would cause; hopefully he hasn't suffered too much from it.

by hanlec 11y ago

jballanc 11y ago

I worked for Apple during Snow Leopard and Lion, and I was still excited for his reviews post-launch. To his immense credit, he would always manage to cover some new feature or other thing I didn't know about, and I wrote parts of the damn operating system.

marincounty 11y ago
I was so happy with Snow Leopard and Lion. All my stuff just worked.
- Angostura 11y ago
  Snow Leopard? Yes. Personally I found Lion one of the worst, slowest, buggiest OSs I've ever come across.
  - Khaine 11y ago
    Snow Leopard was a great release. I hope the next release is in a similar vein. Just polishing what has already been delivered
  - fastball 11y ago
    I guess you never used Vista. Or Windows 8.
  - ghshephard 11y ago
    I concur. I loved 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard), but I was burned so badly when I upgraded (too quickly) to 10.7 (Lion), that I've been paranoid ever since. That operating system was, freeze and kernel panic city for me. I'm pretty happy with 10.8.5 (Mountain Lion), and Its only about now that I'm considering upgrading to (10.9) Mavericks. (Just one operating system before the current (10.10) Yosemite) Of course, Apple doesn't make it easy to upgrade to their stable and regressed operating system - I'm going to have go through all sorts of hoops to upgrade to anything other than the (still not fully trusted by me) Yosemite.
    - coldpie 11y ago
      Oh My God what a mess. Everyone, please just use the freaking version numbers.
    - wyclif 11y ago
      I still use Snow Leopard. It's super stable and functions just fine as a developer OS.
      - jasode 11y ago
        The old OS X version can be fine if you're primarily doing Python programming. However, if one is using Xcode to write iOS 8 apps for the millions of new phones people bought a few months ago, you are pretty much forced onto the Apple upgrade treadmill. For example, Xcode 6.3 requires 10.10[1]. Apple decided that OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) released less than 18 months ago is not recent enough. Staying with OS X 10.6 means the latest Xcode you can install is v4 which means iOS 5 is the last version you can write apps for. That would be a severe handicap since iOS 5 has less than 3% marketshare[2]. I'm not sure if Apple servers would even allow developers to submit an iOS 5 app these days[3]. OS X 10.6 definitely was very stable but staying on it has severe economic penalties for many programmers. [1]https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xcode/id497799835?ls=1&mt=12 https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xcode/id497799835?ls=1&mt=12 [2]http://david-smith.org/iosversionstats/ http://david-smith.org/iosversionstats/ [3]http://www.macworld.com/article/2080865/apple-requiring-app-submissions-to-be-optimized-for-ios-7-by-feb-1.html http://www.macworld.com/article/2080865/apple-requiring-app-...
  - Keyframe 11y ago
    What was/is wrong with 10.7.5? Damn fine OS.
- protomyth 11y ago
  I loved Snow Leopard, but Lion caused me so much pain. The whole "Save As" fiasco is Lion's legacy. Snow Leopard is still my favorite. Mountain Lion was ok and Mavericks and Yosemite have been error-filled and support headaches. I am hoping the next version is better tested.
  - McUsr 11y ago
    My favourites are Tiger, Snow Leopard and Mavericks. And I am more pleased with Mavericks than Snow Leopard which I am more pleased with than Tiger. I agree about the testing, but still I think they have managed to keep the technical debt somewhat in control. I really yearn for the day they license Plan9, and port OS X on top of that. Because I believe that would give bigger opportunities, both with respect to hardware, but also with respect to a better foundation for developing more sophisticated features.
    - protomyth 11y ago
      Did you use Mavericks as an individual or as part of a network of machines? I did like Tiger, Core Image was so fun and lead to the first commercial program I ever released. [edit: I should say that OpenStep was my favorite release and somethings are still not in OS X which is a pity - as to Plan 9 - I do have dreams of OpenStep on top of Plan 9]

lips 11y ago

"..with every OS X release I was more excited about reading Siracusa's review than upgrading." I feel exactly the same. Partially for the content, and partially because I knew that the reading experience would prepare me for the best and worst; cushion the blows, and highlight the bits to be savored.

tajen 11y ago
The only (but big) information we missed in 10.9 was the much higher frequency of kernel panics. An immediate review can't unveil such a flaw, so I wouldn't mind if Siracusa made reviews later on.
- a_c_s 11y ago
  Anecdotes != data: IIRC I've had zero kernel panics since upgrading (which was right after the release).

ende 11y ago

OS XI: Siracusa

esalman 11y ago

"I was more excited about reading Siracusa's review than upgrading" That explains why video game commentary is a thing now.

emsy 11y ago
Or it shows the decline of OS X (it's horrendous for me). Or maybe a bit of both.
Retra 11y ago
Is it information addiction?
- esalman 11y ago
  Don't think so; there are better ways to get informed. The comment made by jballanc probably gets it- "he would always manage to cover some new feature or other thing I didn't know about". People look at the same thing in different ways. When we read a review or watch a game commentary, we are really trying to know how another person may look at it.

72deluxe 11y ago

I also really really enjoyed his reviews but his Yosemite review doesn't seem to be as in-depth, and felt like he was brushing over the surface which is understandable given how quickly people want reviews after launch. Still, it felt different to the previous ones. Still informative, just different. A shame that he is no longer reviewing them but thanks to him for all the other reviews. Incredibly informative! And I will be waiting to see what changes Apple make to HFS+ after his in-depth overview of the state of the filesystem in the Lion review.

ghshephard 11y ago
Re: Rushing - if you list to ATP, or, previously, hypercritical, Siracusa spent months on those reviews. By the time it came out to launch, he was basically at the point of correcting (and re-correcting screen shots).
- 72deluxe 11y ago
  Ah I am glad you highlighted that to me then. It was likely my frame of mind when reading it then, and not his article. I can only imagine the stress such reviews would cause; hopefully he hasn't suffered too much from it.