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 phone

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-...